At the age of 13, I started saving for a 350z. I worked part time at a hot dog cart, and later I worked summers in my dads auto body shop doing paint prep and sanding and such. As a younger kid I always loved Japanese cars, and the 350z was always one of my favorites.

After messing around with an 89 240sx project last summer, I dumped it and started looking for 350z's. So about 2 months ago I got one that needed a bit of work for 6500 Canadian (which is a steal), but I decided to finance so I could immediately put money into the car (wheel baring, winter tires, brakes etc).

So now I'm 17 years old and finally have my 350z, my insurance is close to 500 dollars a month, my payments about 400, and my financing was... wait for it... 30% I'm just proud that I'm working my ads off and paying for the car by myself 100%. I know I'll probably get some flack because I'm so young and "can't handle the horsepower" or any other excuse to rip on me. Bottom line is that I worked my *** off for the car, and most of my life revolves around it now. Cars are an immense influence and passion in my life. I'm just here to talk with like minded people, find the best quality parts, and learn as much as I can about my car so I can treat it right.



When I first bought the Z

The Z had a really stupid looking front lip and side inserts. I think the lip was a knock-off style king lip. So I got the looks back to OEM, and put on some winter tires on steelies just in case. It already has some sort of air filter setup (probably K&N) and a borla exhaust system. Anyways, I hope to learn a lot on here, and build up my car progressively.

 

Welcome.
Nice z, take care of it and don't rice it.

 

I will say 30% is loan sharking. I would not have taken the loan if it was more than 12%. That is highway robbery.

I would assume you had no credit or down payment, nor long documented work history.

 

Welcome!. Glad to see another Ontario member.

Be sure to check out the east canada forums as well

 

Welcome. Glad to see someone from the younger generation working hard to pay for their own car.

BTW: Love the color!

 

I personally couldn't give anyone the satisfaction of absolutely raping me at 30% unless it was a heart or kidnies or some shiit...............

Congrats

 

Thanks for the supportive words, I know 30% is terrible but I took the loan out myself at 17 (Dad cosigned, but under my name), and I have absolutely no credit. It does suck but it will help build my credit prior to student loans etc.

Anyway thanks again!

 

Welcome and congratulations.

 

I hate to sound like your dad, but you need to get your priorities straight. Best of luck with car I hope some day you get better with your money.

 

How long is your loan term? The "low cost" of 6500 CAN dollars (~5400 USD) will KILL you if you aren't able to pay off the car ASAP.

I'm not here to bash on you but you will end up paying 10-12k for a car that is depreciating by the SECOND. I would save EVERY penny you don't put towards gas/maintenance/insurance and pay extra every month. I'm sure this will get beat to death, but PLEASE listen to us. We are giving tough love because I know I was careless when I bought my Z:

I owed 12k on my RX8 and planned to sell it as soon as I found a Z. I found a Z, couldn't wait, had to pay 2 car notes. Mechanical issues in the 8 DRASTICALLY reduced the value and I sold an 11.5k car for 7500 after I was being bled dry from the two payments. After the RX8 sold I paid extra every month and paid off my 5 year loan at ~6% in 34 months.

You can't plan for the unplanned (duh) and I jumped the gun thinking everything would be peachy selling the RX8.

ANYway...... I'm glad you ditched the lip, those side add ons are nice (when they aren't paint chipped to hell as yours looked to be)

Welcome to the forum and best of luck......... You're going to need it.

 

Thanks for the advice, the loan is only two years, but I'm working full time this summer and plan to have it paid off by the end of the summer. I understand that the loan will swallow me if I leave it too long. Also, I just got $200 a month knocked off my insurance, so I'll probably begin rolling that into the monthly payments, or saving that to help pay in the summer.

Again thanks for the advice, and as far as getting my priorities strait... I'm attending University a year early this year, wrapping up my first peer reviewed book with a University of Waterloo Professor at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (Balsillie School of International Affairs) and writing a second book on my own. This car is something I love that distracts me from that, but in a healthy way.

 

Thanks for the opinion. I know it wasn't a great financial decision but I'm making things happen for myself with the situation I'm in. Refer to my previous post.

 

You are a good sport. You haven't got mad about any comments. I am not meaning to beat up on you, and I am glad you are paying your own way, I just feel you are going to look back on this as a bad decision. When I was young I wanted it all too. What you do without today will give you so much more tomorrow. I hope you are on the track to a good future career, then you will actually be able to afford cars like this one day.

It makes me angry that there are lenders out there that take advantage of people this bad.

I hope you enjoy your car, and please look after it as best you can so that you can get the most money out if it, otherwise you will find it to suck when you are still paying for a car that you don,t own any more.

 

Those side add ons are Veilside......took me a week and a random facebook post to remember... if authentic they would be worth a decent amount even bunged up. I'd research them, post em for sale and put that towards your loan

 

Thanks, I'm working hard at school and my jobs to pay this car off as soon as possible so I can begin saving for better thins (R34 Skyline after Uni maybe?) My plan is to stay at home for Uni (saving me 7-10k annually), work all summer to pay for the years tuition, and then save during the year to try and come up with about 9k a year. After 4 years that's 36k or enough for an R34 GTR I plan to have my car paid off after this summer so when I start school next year ill only have my 260 in insurance to worry about monthly. And I might buy a little civic hatch off my friend for 1500 as a winter beater and to save me 120 a month or so in insurance. I am lucky enough to have heated storage space for free for the cars as well so I do not have to worry about that. Thanks for the concern but financially I am in the black.

 

Thanks I doubt they're authentic, but I know veilside makes really good stuff. I'll look into it though!

 

R34 GTR idea is awesome but insurance for those in Ontario ain't going to be cheap. In Ontario it's getting increasingly difficult to get RHD insurance, unfortunately...insurance companies here hate RHD. Going through facility seems to be the only option these days and they will rape. Probably even harder than your lender. I seriously looked into it and said f that, save a little more for the R35 GTR. Maybe get it registered out of province but it's all too annoying if you ask me.

 

I know, I originally thought of buying an R32 Gtst or a 180sx, but RHD insurance is a pain. Recently though, started working with an insurance broker who my dad has been friends with for 20+ years, and I've known for about 5 years. He managed to get my insurance (with me as primary) down from $471/month to a minuscule $263 a month, which is less than some of my buddies running civics. As far as RHD goes he said he will try an help me out when the time comes, so long as it isn't my primary car. So R34 GTR will be something to look foreward to with mild optimism, so long as I'm done school and making enough money to float by.

 

CongratZ to you! If I may pass along this bit of advice.....

If possible, if their is a road course race track in your vicinity, check to see if they have track days open to the public. They will have an instructor ride with you and coach you to handle your car, etc.

The benefit of this is that you will learn a LOT about the handling characteristics and limitations of your car and your limitations as a driver. Better to learn there than on the street.

I actually recommend this for all Z drivers, re. of age but especially at 17.

Good luck!

 

Congrats on the new Z, & power to you for owning up and not asking daddy to pay for it. I know the position you're in with the insurance, I had a multi car collision with my last vehicle and now I pay little over $3600/yr for insurance. Best of luck and hope to see some updated pictures later on with your own touches to the Z.