Tell Taylor What To Buy 2k17

[Jake]

Keep and track Miata, it's not a collector car or show car, it's a purple Miata.

Sell the Tacoma. I know it's your baby and you love it and whatever, but it serves zero practical purpose for your life.

Take all the cash from the Tacoma, use it as a big down payment on a used 4Runner, Grand Cherokee, Explorer, etc. Any of those will happily tow the Miata when the time comes, will all drive and ride very well, and if optioned high enough, should have 900-way heated leather seats that will treat your back well.

[JPolen01]

I'm with Jake. You have already told us the miata is uncomfortable for you to daily so why not turn it into your track car? And seriously think about putting down a good chunk for a down payment on whatever you buy. You might be able to afford a $500 a month car payment but that really is a lot of money to be spending on a car. I know people who have car notes of crazy amounts $500+ and it just makes me cringe even thinking about that.

[SlimKlim]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

This. As a nice to have, tracking a car sounds romantic and all but you may actually not have the time or resources based on being in a new job for several months.

Also, do you have student loans?

[JPolen01]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

Why are you trying to introduce logic here?

[V1GiLaNtE]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

Why are you trying to introduce logic here?

Because we'd like to see Taylor be successful out of school in his career rather than loosing sleep over an offroad, comfortable, fun, DDable, affordable, trackable, miata towing vehicle.

[Ken]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

+1 million.

I get that you're just planning here, which is nice, but I cannot stress enough to do nothing until you've been "living" for at least 6 months. Yes, it is in fact different than college currently where, yes, you are currently paying your own way. Seems like you are thinking that way, but it's worth reiterating.

[Ken]

Okay, let me clarify.

If you had ~$8000 from selling my truck

HE CAN'T SELL THE TACOM... wait, are we not doing that anymore?

[D_Eclipse9916]

Dude come on. In one post you said you want something to track, something to DD, something to tow your track car, something to offroad, and something comfortable. How can we possibly with with that?

Clearly he needs to just get the biggest loan any crazy bank will throw at him and buy all the vehicles and equipment that DJ and his wife have. :lol:

:lol: Took a long time to get where I am

I say track the miata till you realize Miatas aren't fun anymore in the current HPDE crowd. Or slough your way through HPDE and go racing Spec Miata as soon as possible. Seriously, these aren't the days anymore where a miata "makes it up" in the corners.

All of us started small (and the smaller you start the more likely you can have a better financial plan). You know what I bought out of college? A $2,000 Lexus SC400 that I "daily"ed till I bought my $7k E36 M3 with the proceeds of parting out my Eclipse GSX which I netted 11k and saved the rest. Drove that for a while, then a 16k Yukon with a $1800 econo trailer. (2.5 years out of college). Pay with cash, pay off your loans, and work your way up. I see all these people buying $30-40k new cars out of college and then call me "baller" when I can spend a couple grand because I don't have loans on new cars to pay every month. :dunno:


Oh my vote? Sell the Taco and daily the miata for a bit. It won't kill you to save some money and then decide if you "really" want to go HPDE/Racing.

[WRXtranceformed]

I'm with Jake. You have already told us the miata is uncomfortable for you to daily so why not turn it into your track car? And seriously think about putting down a good chunk for a down payment on whatever you buy. You might be able to afford a $500 a month car payment but that really is a lot of money to be spending on a car. I know people who have car notes of crazy amounts $500+ and it just makes me cringe even thinking about that.

Car notes are all relative really. If you like nice shiny things (ie not driving busted older vehicles), have good credit and rates are low like they have been, why would you tie up cash in a depreciating asset like a luxury car or a big expensive truck when you can leave it in your investment accounts? A good rule of thumb I have always lived by with cars has been to only finance what you can afford to pay for in cash assuming the interest rate you will get on the loan is less than your average portfolio rate of return. If I had paid for my Jaguar in cash, I would have lost an assload of money after the 2 years I kept it (way more than the little bit of interest I paid and the interest I earned with that cash in portfolios). It's all how you game the system and who you are as a car buyer.

I agree with DJ though, just work your way up. If you're more comfortable paying cash for things start small and work your way up as you get a better feel for your career progression and cost of living wherever you end up. Don't be afraid of carrying healthy debt though and living financially responsible, it will greatly increase your buying power for big purchases in the future and potentially save you a LOT of money on interest (like a mortgage)

[rherold9]

I see all these people buying $30-40k new cars out of college

I'll comment on this. I say if you can afford it do it as a big diesel or other toy will more than pay for itself in the end other than that don't. Get a cheaper truck if you want to race every month or do other things. Or buy it and don't track every month. Do an HPDE or TT a few times a year. Instruct and it will save you tons of money.

From my personal experience, right now until I have enough experience that I can instruct and save the money to drive, I can't afford to race my car every single month. This is due to having such a large truck payment and probably living by myself this summer and on. Also why I picked up the Miata to run auto-x instead when I can't track until I can commit full time. Just think of the trade-offs for each and every thing you do.

Yeah a big truck payment or SUV may suck but after it's up and you keep it for an extended amount of time it will pay for itself. You'll be glad you future proofed because you won't have to get another huge hit in car payments by having to expand to another vehicle or you can wait and have more fun in the present. Totally up to you though and want you want to do.

[JPolen01]

Lee of course is relative. You're situation of buying a high end luxury car is the complete opposite spectrum of this discussion though. People get excited getting it off college and don't really know what they can afford without living for 6 months like joey said. They end up paying 500, 600, $700 a month on a car payment only to realize they can't afford it. Unless you find a dealer with one of those recent grad low rate programs I can't imagine a fresh graduate is going to get such a low rate.

Already having 2 cars in the fleet I would do what joey said and wait. The miata can get you around just fine for a short commute. Have you figured out where you are living yet? Depending on that situation you might not even be able to park multiple cars. Saving money out of school is very hard to do but if you do it properly you will be so much better off. My wife and I were able to buy a townhouse one year out of school because we had strict budgets and saved a ton. Now in a couple years we are on track for a single family home. Yes I still drive my SI but it's paid off so I'm just banking that money. My fun street car and project will come later.

[WRXtranceformed]

Lee of course is relative. You're situation of buying a high end luxury car is the complete opposite spectrum of this discussion though. People get excited getting it off college and don't really know what they can afford without living for 6 months like joey said. They end up paying 500, 600, $700 a month on a car payment only to realize they can't afford it. Unless you find a dealer with one of those recent grad low rate programs I can't imagine a fresh graduate is going to get such a low rate.

Yeah of course, but I did start out "small". I was also working for and financing cars in college so I had a better handle on my finances when I graduated than a lot of people probably do. But yeah, my point was don't let people scare you off from financing a vehicle you can afford if you do it smartly and within a budget that you have experienced and established.

Once you get that handle and settle in to working life, yolo man. If you want to drive something nice, you do you. Nobody here is going to judge you

[Jake]

All of us started small (and the smaller you start the more likely you can have a better financial plan). You know what I bought out of college? A $2,000 Lexus SC400 that I "daily"ed till I bought my $7k E36 M3.

^ Good point and I agree with what Joey said as well.

When Joey and I graduated, I distinctly remember us thinking we'd be rocking CPO'd BMWs within a year or so out of college and living the good life. Instead, we had a too-costly apartment and some old cars. My Miata had been paid for since I bought it in cash and all I could afford to daily drive was a $2k 5-series that had painted-over rust on the doors and no functional HVAC to speak of. Joey had the yellow M3 and his "project car" was a $500 Miata that he threw a clutch in and sold for a profit.

I should have just driven the Miata and stuck with one car for the first year, but I wanted something more comfortable. Financially it was very hard and I ended up working a LOT of side gigs to end up with any sort of savings account. I have no idea how I got approved for a loan on that Focus ST given the money I wasn't making, but I put a shitton down and lost my shirt on it when I sold it.

Point being, life is more expensive than you think it can be. I was paying bills and shit in college and thought I'd be equipped to handle it all, but it still took a while to feel comfortable.

If you want to ignore all of this, then figure out whichever corner Ryan works on during his weekend nights and start sharing.

[HAULN-SS]

Do nothing until you've actually been working and paying bills for six months.

+1


I was going to say "buy furniture"

[rherold9]

If you want to ignore all of this, then figure out whichever corner Ryan works on during his weekend nights and start sharing.

No debt out of college I think is the biggest advantage. No loans or anything. Mazda3 was paid off. :dunno: Corporations pay well and have good benefits. Cost of living is nice and cheap. Don't go out tons and spend a lot on other things besides car stuff and beer. Not sure what else to say :lol:

[D_Eclipse9916]

I was going to say "buy furniture"

Don't, your future wife will throw it away anyway :lol:

[HAULN-SS]

I was going to say "buy furniture"

Don't, your future wife will throw it away anyway :lol:

true...i just meant in general..have a plan that involves not sleeping on the floor at whatever rental you end up at

[WRXtranceformed]

I was going to say "buy furniture"

Don't, your future wife will throw it away anyway :lol:

+1 :lol:

I came home from a business trip a few months after we got married, and my favorite lime green Craigslist special couch had mysteriously made its way to the trash curb. To this day I still don't know how she got it out of there :lol:

[Apoc]

The obvious answer is do none of this and buy a really nice watch.

Everything else will be bestowed on you because people will assume you're a baller.