turbotoaster

Im not one for making threads about stuff like this but ive been thinking about cars and stuff all day and would like some input

ok this is my current situation......ive changed jobs, dropped to a nice easy driving job for hertz rental, nowhere near the money i was on before but fancied something with no stress where it doesnt feel like im at work

now my yearly wage is 12.1k which after tax i worked out at £835 (still waiting for my first wage slip)

now i live in a shared house, which i really like, have no ideas of moving out at all for a good few many years

now i pay £250 a month for that, that includes all bills, basically everything(i just send her 250 a month)

i pay £25 for my internet

i dont drink or smoke

and heres the big one, i pay £370 a month on my loan(being young, fast cars, credit cards, not being responsible) that will be paid off within the next 2months

so after nearly 2yrs without a car i feel the need for one quite badly

to say i dont spend much on food is an understatement, normally £10 a week max so thats another £43 a month

so ill be looking at paying £318 a month to basically live from the start of june

which will leave me with about £500 a month to do as i please.

i started looking around at what i should buy and i cant drive a slow car or a diesel, ive had stage 3 saff, 300zx, 12sec r5......basically quick cars so id rather walk everywhere than drive a 1.2 corsa

one thing thats important is i dont get something that could potentially rust on me and be reliable, so no cossies again for me.

that led me onto fwd cars which i like alot and ive been reading alot about vtec engines

so ive decided on a integra type r 98spec, they seem to be going for about 7k

my bank will let me have a loan after mines finished being paid of 7k which is £170 over 4yrs

and my insurance will work out at 130 a month(im 23)

so basically im looking £300 a month to have the car, now i walk to work(and will continue to do so) so this will be a weekend toy

im looking at £620 a month , the other £200 will be for fuel and just general crap

after reading all that crap(if ur awake) am i making a silly decision thinking about this or do u think that this isnt to bad, some people will say save the money up for one, but ive done 2yrs without a car, dont think i could do another 2yrs of saving!

Barry_GTi

Mate my honest opinion is if you can't afford it don't do it. I have been in the credit circle and now clear, I will never again get a loan for anything other than a house.......

sturat

Nooooo dont do it!! im in that situation now, i got about £459 pm out goings, im the same dont drink or smoke it was ok for the first couple of months then there was christmas birthdays and stuff,i got 2 mot and tax the car next month so that another £150 there so im left with fook all again

Dave McB

mate, save up and spend a couple k on a car cash and dont bother with finance.

Ur a fair way below the UK average wage at the mo and u shouldnt really be spendin masses of cash on a car. it will only end up neglected and in the long run costin u more.

Insurance is a killer, as is the repair costs.

Buy a cheap vauxhall vectre v6 or sri or thatand run that for a year to c how u get on, then think about another perfomance car.

Iv been there and tried running a stage3 saff with a shit wage and the car only suffered cos of my lack of funds. Fortunately, im doin alright in my old age and can keep it as a 2nd car (now get a works van home too) so that helps with the saff running costs.

Bear in mind as well as insurance and loan there is the upkeep/service and (whats becoming more insane by the day) petrol costs.

300+fuel+repairs+eating and having a social life begin to add up! It may end up tight......

turbotoaster

anybody for this or is it as bad as it sounds lol

ill be only doing about 200miles a month tops...but then i have to add tax and mot....oh dear

FletchCossie

iTrader: (4)

Everyone will tell you to NOT get finance, etc. I persoanlly hate finance and did clear off quite a major chunk of my debts this year!

If I was in your situation I would look for a 5year loan and pay off more on the loan if you have it spare over. You dont know what the future brings and if work goes tits up you won't have to pay so much back each month, making it easier to find the cash.

I was looking at 15k cars for my daily runner, but couldn't justify £300-£400 per month on finance as if it went wrong I would be fucked. Brought a 2wd Cos in the end which atm suits me fine. As said above look for a cheap V6 Vectra, nice cars and Vauxhall are pretty reliable. I was looking at them for a daily car also, but I wanted RWD for fun

Good luck

BigChuck

as above it all works out good on paper, but there is the "what if" factor. what if the car has a major breakdown, what if you lose your job, what if you get sick and are on sick pay. its things like that you cant plan for.

Micky The Finn

£10 a week on food,and your still alive!!

turbotoaster

yeh £10 a week, tesco, every little helps!!

i just buy tesco brand stuff, bread, tuna, meatballs, spent £12 today and thats for 2weeks worth of food but ill prob spend a £5 on cakes and stuff from there next week to give me something nice, ive never spent much on food.

been thinking about a uk version as i can get them for about 4k, but gonna read up on the differences, i know the gearbox is a little longer and the front end isnt as nice, ill see as i could bring my loan down to 85 a month so id be looking at 200 a month with insurance which might be more reasonable

coleman

Are you the same turbotoaster that use to have a 5GTT with a massive front mount?

booner999

i personaly would look at the 7 grand your goig to spend, then see what else yuo can get for your money mate.

my bro got a nice audi s3 for 7 grand

also mate, tell your boss to shove it up his arse.

Coldo

Dont do it mate. Ive done it and its a pain in the arse most of the time!

I graduated from uni last summer, since then ive been taking home a similar wage to you each month in a part time job (Incidentaly a driving job for Arnold Clark Rental!)

Beginning of last year i had a S2 escort turbo, 160bhp atw which i sold after summer and bought an e36 bmw 325i, 2.5 192bhp. Both of which cost me an arm and a leg to keep on the road!

I have little outgoings each month, no loan or finance debts, just a £35 phone bill, £100 car insurance and no major living costs as im still with mum and dad. Looking at it like that, i could run any car no problem as most of my wage is disposable income.

HOWEVER!

Take into consideration;
Fuel (I done £60 odd most weeks, just buzzing about, never used it to commute)
Tax - £200 for the year when it comes around
MOT
Repairs
Social life! Going out, meeting people, seeing the country a bit, i now value this more than any fast car, friends are important!
Food, drink etc.
Holidays
Birthdays, Christmas', Nights out for other occasions
Clothes and shoes
Girlfriend!

Then consider losing your job? Crashing your car? A £400 repair bill on your car etc?

None of my cars have been exactly what i wanted them to be like because i couldn't really afford a £400 intercooler, £800 diamond cut 7 spokes, m3 interior, 19" snitchzer wheels etc etc, so the edge of owning them was taken off as i couldn't afford to get them as i wanted. Hence

It all adds up mate, trust me, running a nice, fast car when your young and on a low wage is not the thing to be doing, enjoy life a bit then in a few years, better job etc, you have a bit more money to spend and a bit more scope when it comes to buying a nice car.

Steve the Plumber

iTrader: (11)

12k a year, mate there are a lot more stress free jobs out there that pay more than that, get a better paid job, then you could a better car and still have some £ in you pocket.

Rhys

i think its wrong for people to comment on job/money. So let go with the situation your in.


TBH you had two years without a car by the sounds of it, so imo i would wait for a while and save up the cash. Why dont you just save the money that your currently paying of your cards etc once you paid them off? This would soon build up into a tidy lump sum! you would get a car, without having to worry about paying it off, thus leaving you money in bank to do other things other than cars, and alos gives you spare £ if anything goes wrong.

imo of course.

turbotoaster

im am yeh, the first guy to run an rs500 cooler on a 5 lol, also won 2005 knock out competion at renault national day, at my first ever time at pod, did i ever meet you there of something?


i know what everyone is saying and ive decided to lower my target down to a uk spec integra for around 4k.

if by sheer will power i can save £400 a month for 10months(which i should since im losing 370 every month anyway and doesnt hurt that bad now im used to it) i can buy one outright which will be nice, just in time for summer......next year lol

Rhys

Do it that way mate!!!! You will be so happy then as you will have the car plus still able to save nearly 400 a month etc.

S1rst

I wouldnt get a loan mate. Id save up until you can afford what you want.

Ive always been taught that if you want something, save up for it.

coleman

No never meet, i just remember you getting flamed for the size of the intercooler and turbo on RTOC, but then pulling a 12 i think at the pod.

turbotoaster

haha yeh, alot of people took notice after i did that.

thing is the reason i went for an intercooler and a turbo of that size was for the future, basically my engine was what i call stage 1 which meant everything apart from the cam was standand

in the next build i was gonna do something similar to stuarts 11s car, (pistons, wild cam etc) but just ran out of money.

id love to build a 11sec or maybe even a high 10sec car and i prob could do but all the money and effort and worrying about rust and breaking things just really isnt worth it anymore.

problem is tho i know im gonna end up turbing the type r and going back to pod to run some 11s lol

vinnyvangough

Yea save for it mate. I've been signed off work for 5 weeks now and i cant even afford to do asic service stuff and general repairs to my corsa so continuing my van project is out the window at the moment.

Fil

you must be proper skinny tenner a week on shoping, i spending more thn that a day in tescos, without trying!

now im think steak for dinner.


but back on topic, i wouldnt consider 500 per month finance even if i did have over 1k spare, still not a safe enough margin