Im gonna say get a used sedan of some sort. (like an 04-06) and drive that for awhile. You get a newer, nicer car, and at a price you can afford.

Im only saying this because by the time you can finally afford a G, it will probably be a Hybrid or some lame a** car that has no similarities with the Gs we have now.

Thats what made me make a car payment on one, i want it before it goes away and i may never have the opportunity to own one with a VQ again.

Find a used one, and trade the 'rolla. The first gen sedans arent that bad.

 

I am only going to say this because I just got my G and I am a full time employee and I make a LOT more than 13 K a year.

I have a 800 a month rent
Utilties are about 200
Food 300
Gas 500 (at 3.55)
Insurance - paid by rents since I work for them.
Payment 416 with 13K down

Would I do It again? NO WAY love the car but it is expensive.

If you need a car get one I would not go that high and also trust me when you graduate you might wanna move out.

I feel the pinch in my pocket before I bought the car I never thought about my finances, now it is all I think about we all want you to get this car but it is expensive to own.

Just my 2 cents btw I'm 23

Good luck

 

What he said.

Would I do it again? HELL YES. When you drive as much as I do, you gotta love your car.

(280k miles in 4 years)

 

dont buy it. youll enjoy it for a year then it will become a burden. what happens if you need tires, brakes, or a clutch? a lot of the time warranty will not cover those. Say you fry the clutch, youll have to park the car for 2 months to save for the repair with what youre making. maintenance is expensive on these cars. youll be a slave to your car and no matter how good it feels driving the car youll be broke otherwise.

i bought my G 2 years ago when i was 22, making 4000 after taxes a month still living at home and it was a bitch to pay for. Right now my mortgage is as much as what my g costed me.

drive the corolla and youll be happier.

 

I'd keep driving the Corolla if I were you. It's the financially smarter thing to do. I drove my Civic for almost 9 years before it finally broke down and I didn't feel that I could get places reliably with it anymore even after fixing it before I finally bought my G. I personally think 9 years is a pretty decent amount of time to own a car. I really loved having no car payment.

If you have extra money that you aren't using, then do something financially smarter with it, like putting it in a Roth IRA, unless you already have one and are maxing it out. The power of compounding interest is pretty amazing.

I have a lot of younger friends that are just getting out of college and want to spend money buying a nice car when they have a perfectly good working car. I always give them lectures about money and if they've saved for retirement, put money away for emergencies, and started saving to buy their own house.

Don't fall into the pit of being in debt like so many other people do. It's hard to get out.