I had a 1989 Mustang GT. Someone pulled out in front of me an totaled it! So I bought a 2006 G35 Coupe. Well it was nice to have a car for almost 20 years, 16 of those years without a car payment. I bought the G for 25 thousand and change. Although I put down $12,000...I still have a payment of about $289 a month. It sucks! Don't get me wrong....I love the car. I don't like havin to pay for it. Finish school and get a good job.

 

That's what I did! I bought my IP coupe back in may and went through the credit union for financing.

For me, I had a 99ES300 Lexus I ended up selling a few days before I was able to buy my G.

Actually, I ended up selling my Lexus on Saturday and picked up my G coupe Monday night. It wasn't easy on my end because I had two deals going at the same time but it all worked out.

There were no 05 Ivory Pearl Coupes with the miles/features/pricing my car has anywhere in 800 miles for months. I was patient and did my research and then determined what it would take to get out of my old car and into a G35.

I worked out a deal with my bank and basically had to pay off the remaining balance on my Lexus to clear a new check for whatever car I wanted.

Then opportunity struck and I went for it. I saved up some money from work, and listed the Lexus for sale on craigslist and autotrader. It took me roughly 2-3 weeks to sell the Lexus to the right buyer. That plus some prayer but...it all worked out.

I'm enjoying being stock for now. I want to pay off the G first before I seriously start modding. I've got a couple little things I want to do here and there right now but as far as describing the experience of so far, I'd have to say if you can realistically place yourself in a situation where getting the G coupe limits your liabilities and allows you to have this car without putting yourself into crazy debt etc, go for it!

I'm assuming you've already done the test drive right?

 

Well I thought I'd share my opinion on this matter.
Considering the age at which you are at there are more cons in getting a G then pros.
I have a little brother (to me he's little but hes 23yo) and he drives a 91 Toyota GTS. Needless to say the least he has burned through 4 sets of tires in roughly 5 years on a car with 130hp and front wheel drive. If you drive like my brother at his age, be ready to change tires every year or so depending on the riding habits which are not cheap, unfortunately.
Car maintenance is a little more expensive then the average Japanese 4 banger. Oil is expensive, gas consumption is expensive and any part on the car will be more expensive to replace compared to your previous car which is also paid off.

I am turning 30 this year and finally bought a G; I wish there was no payments for the car but have to pay 174$ every two weeks which sucks, so comparing that with my old Toyota it sucks. A working good car with no payments is amazing, can sleep better at night not having to think of payments and other repairs. Another problem with the G's is they like to be driven fast/hard and it begs to be modded.
In college you should have fun and get to as many parties as possible while keeping the grades up and after all that you will afford a new car in no time with no headaches. Sure driving a G will bring more attention on yourself and get you more a,ss but what good is that if you need to sustain two jobs just to afford a car...

 

I guess I'll drop in my $.02

Your BEST bet is to worry about school while you're in school. What college students tend not to think about is cost of everything else surrounding the car. I had a 95 boosted Neon a few years ago as well as a lightly modded 350Z. My nephew was starting college and wanted either car. I'm just going to break down a few of the cost that prevented me from selling him the cars even though he could've handled payments.

1) Cost of tires. Fast cars+young men=fast speeds...i.e. you go through tires a lot. On my Neon, I had 16inch Nitto tires on all corners. My Z had Toyos. That's 120-150 per tire. One flat tire and you eat Romen Noodles for 3 weeks.

2) Gas. While it was relatively cheap back then, and the Neon was still a 4-banger, it had to use 92 Octane or better to facilitate the turbo. The Z had 93 Octane most times because I raced it. Even if you went with the cheap stuff (which I wouldn't recommend), you were looking at 30bux in gas a week easy....in 04.

3) Maintenance. Unless you know how to maintain a car yourself, you're going to be paying between $65-$125 bux an hour to have anything done to your car. And 3000mi per checkup is a minimum to keep the car running well (assuming you don't do any motorsports).You could easily rack up a $200+ bill at any given service appt.

Now, those are just 3 instances from cars that cost less than the G. Keep in mind, the G is a luxury car first and foremost (on paper at least) and you might be on the high end of all that.

Also, at 19, your insurance is going to be through the roof for a sports coupe.

All that being said, it's your life. Life it how you want to. If you do get the G, expect to spend all your money on it cuz they're not cheap. I don't think you'll enjoy college much with one. Sure, it'll pull more chix, but they usually will give you play as long as you have A car...any car. And you got a newer one. I wouldn't do it, but you have to be happy.

GL with all that.

 

I am 23 and I think i should put in my input or "story" behind my car purchase. I finish school first, and just pay off all my school loans. My intentions were to drive my 8yr old xterra another 1-2yrs while i save up for my first home, but the cost to fix it, and title still under my parents name...it was not worthwhile, nor did my father wanted me to fix it.

As my situation is a bit different then most, I have the privilege to live at home until i am financially stable. In our culture it is nothing to be ashame of(i am from Hong Kong, living at home is actually a good thing, and most do not move out til they get married)

So then comes the question, am I going to keep this car til the end? My answer is yes. My family drives all our cars to the end, and if i was not so stupid in my high school and college years and treated my Xterra so badly, it would have lasted longer. As a result, my father and I went car shopping for new cars only and it has to be good in minor snow as i need to drive my younger siblings around.

Cars or SUV with AWD or 4WD were all quite pricey and hit 25-30K easily which i think is touching the limits. Finally we stop at infiniti, with no intentions as it seem impractical as my first car purchase, and especially since i just started working in a commission based job (Hairstylist in a high end salon) for the first 2 months.

Before we knew it, new 08s were slashed down to 9,000 dollars off, and the dealer gave me 4,000 dollars for my 01 xterra with...be ready for this.....broken front and rear bumper, 3 major dents, broken spare tire lock, broken water coolent thing, timing belt needed a change soon, transmission was basically grinding and shaking the car when downshifting, brake light comes on randomly, broken radio, paint chips and rust, and the rear door won't open from the inside. Most dealer would not even give me 2K for it. The ones that gave me 3K were not giving me as much discount off the new cars.

This made it a very reasonable purchase for a car i hopefully will drive for another 8yrs or so...with payments at exactly 529.00 and some change. Out the door price was 27200.00 dollars. Would i have loved to invest that money into stock shares or add in to my condo fund....sure, but buying a toyota/nissan/honda SUV for long term run did not sound as reasonable when the price was finally negotiated. Thankfully, I also work in my parent's diner on Sunday, which is my "play" money..which is almost enough to pay off the payments each month, so it barely affected me financially.

After reading my story, you have to ask yourself these few question before you purchase any car over 20K without a stable income.

Are you purchasing the car because you need it to commute?

-if not, and you have a good working car....wait and save up, or even save up for a condo. A girl would be more impress with a home then a shiny car. No car payments makes life alot more fun.

Are you planning to keep the car for long term use?

-if you are, wait and save up until you can buy new. Sure, the value drops once its driven out, but the warranty in the next 4-5yrs would be worth it. As for me driving it for over 8yrs, i pretty much squeeze out all its value.

-if not, then buy used....only if you need the car.

Are the payments going to dent you in anyways?

-the answer is pretty apparent. Even though I am using money from working leisurely on Sundays for my parents, that money could have been invested or saved...better yet....buy me new toys or take vacations. Only way i could justify is if i need to buy a replacement car.

Did you count in Insurace money?

-my xterra insurance was only 100 a month..which is still alot, but with the G35..it went to 150.00 a month.

Again, the same question.....DO YOU NEED IT....or JUST FOR FUN?

-answer that, and you will know if you want to buy it or not.

Better yet, once you buy the car, do you have plans to save up more money for other necessities in life throughout the next few years with the car payments in mind?

-if you don't...well my advice is to wait until you can have better planning of your current money, or future income.

-if you do....well...i say go for it, but really ask yourself this question thoughtfully.


at some points...i may seem like i contradict myself, but because i needed a car, and i need it to run me at least 8-10yrs *hopefully*, buying a new car was a better choice for me IMHO. In addition, with discounts of 08s costing just as much as 09 normal cars, the choice made it even obvious, especially with the good records from nissan long term reliability. I could of bought a Chevy trailblazer or another Xterra for 7K less....but...this is where my non responsible side kicks in......it won't be as much fun! So decide for yourself.


For me, i better start promoting myself to the beautiful ladies out there that need 2-300 dollar hair color done every 4 weeks...and turn them into my clientele! I love girls! Can't live with them, can't live without them...and in my case, hopefully they are going to need me!!!



GOOD LUCK!!! hope it helps!

 

^^^ well, according to this, i made a very bad decision...