i don't think anyone can really tell you. some people have brought up very good points about the other things that you need to consider before purchasing the car. you definitely need to figure out how much you're currently saving, and how much money you would be happy saving.

one thing i would say is that you definitely need to be saving about 10% of each paycheck for misc. expenses, maxing out your 401K/IRA, and remembering to pay for food/gas/insurance/rent/etc. if you feel you've already considered all these things, and feel you can still pay the 500-600/month to own a new car, then you should do it.

i'm 24, make a little more than you, but am in the same situation. in the last 6 months i've been working, i've managed to save about 20% of my income. everything depends on how frugal you are, and how much a car means to you. life is a balance, you don't want to live paycheck to paycheck, but then you don't want to be a miser.

whatever you do, make sure you do your homework. if nothing else, talk to your parents or accountant at work.

 

1. First, become independent. Get your own place. Yeah, chicks will dig the car, but once they find out you live with your parents, forget it. Set up a budget and stick to. Determine what it costs to live each month and periodically compare it to what you actually spend. Items to consider are rent, food, utilities, auto, insurance, entertainment, clothing, etc.

2. Second, accumulate 3-6 months living expenses in case you lose your job, a giant tsunami hits, etc. Emergency fund.

3. Make sure you're adequately insured. Health, disability, auto, renters, and life if you're married.

4. If you have a 401(k) at work, contribute at least 5% of your wages, or whatever it takes to max out your employer's matching contribution. More if you're smart, because despite what someone said earlier, Social Security probably won't be there for you in 40 years. If you don't have a plan at work, contribute the max ($3500) to an IRA each year.

5. Buy the car.

 

Sixfive why do you speak in ebonics? Are you trying to mock something i said or just in general? If you are, do you forget my earlier post about putting money in a high risk mutual fund, 401k for your future. Some people are blessed and have the ability to think smartly and be able to still have some fun.
I don't have a G now b/c i know its not worth it. But as someone said have the G and take a girl back to your parents place and really is that getting you somewhere. While im in college my parents pay my rent and take care of me. And when i graduate i think i will move back home just to save money for the FUTURE. I figure if your living at home for a REAL reason other then you are a nobody, it doenst matter.

And for the guy saying he drives a crappy car and is just savin for the right time he has the perfect idea. My parents got my a g20 going into college and yea i'd love to get another car and keep the g20 but that car payment i've never had isn't worth it!
All the items i buy that i dont need are assests. Like my sportbikes ive bought them all knowin i can sell if needed too. Like i sold one a few months back to start my business. The same will come with the G35. It won't be my daily driver.

And finally sorry for hijacking this thread For yourself the original poster just see how much your bills are and if you dont care to save money see if you have some money left over......

GET THE CAR!!!

 

This is a refreshing thread... It is nice to see the practical advice.

My dad always said "By a home and you could buy anything you want!" Well he was right, I bought my house and it is manageable. My accountant said I needed some write off's so I decided to lease my G. I drove a 1997 Grand-AM GT for just over 6 years and honestly loved every minute of it, well until I got my G.

The problem was the Grand Am was paid for and was not depreciating anymore. I loved having no car payments for 4 years but giving the government more tax money was not an option! At least driving an older car by choice gave me the opportunity to buy a really nice car. So the moral of the story is if you suck it up and sacrifice it pays off in the end. Of course not knowing your age and or overhead it would be very difficult to help you. You should head into your bank and have a little chat with your rep. He/she will be able to answer this question in minutes.

One last thing....

As for the discussion of cars depreciating, I would have to agree on daily drivers but when it comes to Muscle Cars especially Mopars and even more specific Cuda's and Challengers there is loads of money to be made on these cars if you have the right one that is properly restored. You guys don't even want me to give you any examples, it will honestly blow you away.

Check out my site www.cudaworld.com to see the prices of some of these cars! A little off topic but I felt the need to say it.

BADG35

 

These are all great replies and I am definitely learning a lot in here. Been in the same situation and for the past 2 months, I've been thinking over and over about this very question. My answer is that I can afford it now but I'll be sacrificing so much (future plans, etc.) if I do so. Looks like I either get it now at age 25 or later after a house when I'm about 28-32. But I love the G35 coupe 6mt so much. AHHHH!!!

 

im 23, and i've got 300/150/50 coverage from mercury for $932 for 6 months. i live in one of the less desirable areas of Socal too.


thats witha 15% engineering professional discount though.

i make close to 60k a year, but well i live on socal which is expensive. first thing i did was move out of my parents home, pay off all debts.

saved a bunch of money when i wasnt making nearly as much (maybe 45k or so).

saved up enough over a couple years including odd jobs in college , and of stock investing and being very very cheap that i had enough to buy the car and about a year worth of living expensive in case my job fell apart.


i dunno its just a car, if you already have one, you should try to take care of all the loose ends first , and if you can do that, well reward yourself and get it because its a damn nice car.

 

Basically, but i say do what's practical (Get It ) No but seriously, dont count money you dont have or else you are in debt! If you have a good job making even 40k that is a reliable source of income, and have money to lease or finance the car with insurance with some extra money left over for gas, food etc. do it! Also where do you live? If you need an everyday car through winter and everythign it might not be the right car, it isnt great in the winter!!

 

Thanks again for the replies.

Here's my situation in more detail:

I'll be completing my junior year of college this May. My birthday is in late April and I will be getting a car soon after. Now, my dad is "helping" me with this. He's giving trading in my first car ('01 Ford Mustang, which will amount to around $0) and co-signing. Whether he'll give me a downpayment remains to be seen. Anyways, so he's going to make payments on the car while I'm still in school (until May '06), whereafter I have to find a job and take over all my expenses.

So let's assume I find a job soon after graduation making at least $40,000:

Scenario 1: housing payment of around $500/mo

Scenario 2: live at home for a while ($0/mo)

How can I work this situation to get the best car possible now that I will be able to keep when I take over the expenses?

I hope I explained this fully but it's 2:20AM and I'm tired.

Thanks.

 

Well i live in my parent house, im 19 and my second year of college. I work for my father basically full time and go to school full time, i dont make ALOT of money but enough to afford the new payments on my M3 with a chucnk of money down adnd help with insurance, yes i am greatfull and have it pretty well off but i am also working my *** off to pay the car off!

 

But it is in Omaha - enough said.

I live on Long Island - Own a House, A G, A Pathfinder - and live extremely well. It is all relative. There is no need to rush out and buy a car you cant afford. Save for the house - it is the only investment that is a sure thing over time...

 

Tell me about it!! I just finished the restoration on my 73 Charger last year. I've had it since high school and its had many life's. Since the cars been in my possession its doubled in value (not including all the performance crap I've done to it). The number of these cars are less and less every year, but it takes a lot to maintain and bring one back to life. Think I've put $15K in that car since 1996. Not a lot really in the restoration world. Its not cheap restoring a Mopar! Here's a pic and my site My Charger Resto Site Not the best pics but all I have right now

 

you have to make a decision, future or now...

i'm 26 and had a '00 honda accord paid off for the last couple of years. it's incredible not
having a car payment. it's helped me to buy a house in northern va, buy a ring
and save up for my wedding in 3 months.

even still i was really contemplating on whether or not i should get myself
into debt for the next 5 years. after talking to my insurance, dealership, my
parents (my most respected advisors) i made the plunge because of the
situation and the deal. My situation was the next car i'll be buying/driving are
probably automatic tranny 4 doors or minivans.

I was going to go used until the dealership gave me a great deal to get an '04 out the
door. 6MT with premium package. trade in + 4 K down and 2.90% APR got my payments to
$430 / month. and if you think about it, even loaded accords and camry's are creeping right
around the 30's mark.

my advice is look how much money you have coming in and how much you got
going out for rent/food/fun. worst case scenario, if you were to lget laid off in the next
6 months, what is the plan?

good luck with the decision.

 

After graduating, I worked for about 2 years go work down some debt I had accumulated from college. I sat and made a very conservative breakdown on my monthly income vs my monthly expenses. Only you, and you only know how you spend and what you spend on. I basically took my income after taxes/insurance etc monthly and summed up all my expenses...(gas, food, rent, student loans, credit cards, beer money, insurance, cell phone, ps2/xbox games, clothes etc) after making a very sizeable list of all things I could/would potentially spend money on I saw I still had around $300/month to spare AFTER paying $500/month for my G AND after depositing $250/month into savings. My only prob. was I didnt think I would be doing any mods b/c my mentality b4 I had a G was 'I JUST WANT A G!! BONE STOCK!!' and I woulda been happy. Now I find myself looking at how long I can make my mod list in my sig!! jk. But just sit compare what you make to what youd spend and ur good to go. Nobody can tell you these items b/c everyone is diff. and nobody knows you better than urself.

 

Anyone in this entire thread who is paying rent has ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT to give any kind of financial advice to someone thinking about buying a car.

Ok, Lets say that in most places to get a place on your own (your own apartment, house, etc.) you'll be paying between $600 and $1500 per month on rent. That comes out to between $7,200 and $18,000 per year that you're just flushing down the toilet. Let's say you have a FULLY loaded 6MT, you'll be paying mid $500's to maybe $600 per month plus roughly $150 to $300 per month on insurance (if you pay more than that, sell the f*cking car, I'm 23 and pay $166 a month with FULL coverage), that's $650 to $900 per month, max.

Now, thinking long-term, in 5 years of "saving" by not buying the car and paying rent, you will have BLOWN between $36,000 and $90,000 on rent. Say "bye bye!" to that money forever and the worst part is that you've got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to show for that.

In purchasing the car you would have paid roughly $41,000 over the 5 years including interest, plus the $9,000 to $21,000 on insurance (no matter what you need to have a car, it cost me $15 more per month to drive the G over a Subaru Outback, insurance is a FIXED cost of living). That's a total of between $50,000 and $62,000 of total car expenditures, less gas.

NOW, for the past 2 years our cars have been listed as one of the top ten cars to hold its value (they have stated that the car will be worth approx. 56% of its original cost). That leaves you with a $21,560 ASSET (based on a fully loaded 6MT @ $38,500 sticker) in addition to whatever money you have saved. Now you can sell the car and put the money toward another investment (ie. house or apartment, the best investment of anyones life).

Finally, taking the exact average of both scenarios, you could either BLOW $63,000 and get nothing for it, or you could spend $56,000 less the value of the asset after payoff, you've spent $34,440 on the car... that's almost $30,000 you've saved yourself from spending on rent.

Now! Since insurance is a FIXED cost, I will now run the same scenario without the cost of insurance since you NEED to drive a car to get to ANY job (this doesn't count if you live in a city with mass transit, in which case this argument would never be happening).

CAR: you've spent $18,440 (if you choose to sell the car after 5 years) or $41,000 (if you choose to keep the car after 5 years) to drive the G over a Subaru Outback or whatever sh!tbox you currently drive.
RESULT: You've got a G!

RENTED APARTMENT:you've spent $36,000 to $90,000 on rent with nothing to show for it.
RESULT: You've got an Outback and FAR less cash!

YOU TELL ME WHAT THE BETTER INVESTMENT IS

 

i just turned 16 and got the G as my first car. yeah, i know i'm spoiled but just have mommy and daddy pay for it!!