Originally Posted by SQuaLZ

Listen to your dad. I wish I listened to mine when I bought my Civic. I finally listened to him when I bought the Z, I wanted a new 370Z and at the time could barely afford it and he told me to get a low mileage 350Z. It ended up being the best move for me, I have a great car that I love and I have payments that don't hurt my pocket at all.

Originally Posted by clarkah

At age 26 I'm making 5750 before tax about 4g after

Car payment 370
Fill up my tank once a week @4.55/ galleon = maybe 364 a month or less
Insurance: 100
Bills, student loan, rent, food, shopping, going out= around 1g
Still a plenty left.

Although you always have to save some for unexpected spending

Example: tires aren't cheap..

However, you have to look at the big picture.
Will you be able to find a decent job right away when you graduate?
Are you willing to be stuck with bunch of loan?

I would rather to live debt free than having to worry about am I going to be able to pay my bill on time

Originally Posted by clarkah

At age 26 I'm making 5750 before tax about 4g after

Originally Posted by Mikeman92

I'm currently attending FIU, I got a few friend from cooper, but they don't own 350zs :P

Originally Posted by jah70

your in college man, the only thing you should be worrying about is studying, shredding up the sugar walls from the chick professors, teacher's aids, and freshmen chicks, drinking, and partying! I went through the same thing your going through and i advise you to save, and not make any large purchases and wait until your senior year when graduation is right around the corner. If you play sports like i did or have some type of scholarship it will make things easier for you to save and you can pocket some of the money to put towards the car or blow it on spring break trips in florida, coke and high class hookers in vegas like i did lol. Relax man, don't be in a rush to get one just yet. Sit back and enjoy college. Because after that you'll enter the crappy real world working a 9-5 job for a ugly dumb b!tch that thinks your her slave and sitting behind a stupid freaking desk staring at a computer screen punching numbers. Save now, wait until later, and enjoy life now. Your going to regret working all the time and missing the crazy things on campus. Unless your a commuter.

Originally Posted by The_Assassin

lol small world, am attending fiu in miami too. The main campus.

Originally Posted by Mikeman92

Nice, hmu if you ever want to chill.

Originally Posted by Deteria

This is what I would do. Make sure you have on hand enough $ to cover the entire cost of the car. The only reason you get a loan is because it's safer to have cash on hand in case of emergencies, so the loan will allow you to keep that original amt in case you lose your job, and you can pay off your debt.

Also, since you are not working a salary job, so your employment status is not so permanent. I would not take on the risk of financing.

Also the Z is overall expensive. Gas, Insurance, Mods, you really won't have much $ left with what you are making. Life ain't all about having a cool car. You still need $ to go out and have some fun driving the cool car to get you to places to have the fun. I'd advise you not try and purchase any car on a loan until you can make ~$15-20/hour equivalent and have enough $ to cover the full amount of the loan somewhere in the bank.

Originally Posted by Mikeman92

That's what the plan is!

Originally Posted by Syner

If you do end up getting a loan, only hold it for 3 months then pay it off. Credit reports are only sent every 3 months (you'll build your credit) and there is no sense in losing money on interest.

Originally Posted by The_Assassin

Why only hold it for 3 months. Millions of people pay it off in a year or 2. I don't see why it would really matter to the credit company if he pays each bill on time.

Originally Posted by Syner

Because he is losing money on interest. If he gets a loan and pays it off in 1 month, credit companies will never see it - it's like it never existed. If he keeps the loan for a year he is paying a needless amount of interest. It may not seem like much, but it adds up. If he keeps it for 3 months, he will bump his credit score and only pay a minimal amount of interest - it's the best of both worlds.

The concept of "saving" and getting loans baffles my mind. Invest your money (let your money work for you, rather than sitting and waiting to be used), and borrow as little as possible (don't lose your money to interest payments).

Originally Posted by Mikeman92

If i decide to get it I'll pay for 80-100% of it all at once. A car payment + insurance will be hard, even with a $20 an hour job. Even if it's not hard, it'll be annoying, so I'd rather pay it off. My dad also gave me an incentive to pay for most of it all at once, he'll put the car I'm driving now (which he doesn't give 2 ***** about), as a down payment.

I'm raising my credit score slowly with things I can manage like gas, my specific groceries I need for working out, and small stupid stuff. I don't even plan on modding till I can afford to fix the whole car assuming something goes wrong.

I'm not dumb enough to put myself in a situation I can't afford. Once the car is bought, all the money I make is going to insurance, gas, and money on the side for tires or something in case something shitty happens.