First car advice

Monsieur

Junior Member
hey
im turning 16 next summer so i have about a year and a half to save up for a car. i am wondering how much other people spend on their first car and how well it worked or didn't work. plus whether or not you had a job before you bought the car and if you had to pay the insurance or not.
im asking this because when i asked my mom if she would buy me a car she laughed in my face.
so yea thanks
 
I got my first car at 17 in 1984. It was a 1972 4-door Chevy Impala that we bought for $300!. Talk about a tank! Luckily, gas wasn't expensive then and it did the job for me for about a year. Manual windows, can't remember if it had air conditioning and while it did have a radio, no tape player or anything. And yes, I had to pay the insurance on it.

I would have never dreamt of asking my mom for a car at 16...she would have, and should have, laughed in my face if I did. When did kids start expecting a car just because they turned 16? It's not a right, it's a privilege. (See this is why I never had kids, they would hate me!)

If you must have something, find something cheap, somewhat reliable and make sure you check on insurance prices BEFORE you buy. Insurance for a 16 year old male is crazy expensive and any car that even hints at being "sporty", i.e. has sport in the name, has a spoiler, or less than 4 doors, is going to be even more ridiculous...even though it may not look like much.

You have over a year to save so you should be able to come up with something. Just don't forget all the extra costs to figure in, monthly insurance, gas, oil, regular maintenance, possibly tires, etc. There's more to buying a car than just what you have to pay for the car itself.

Good luck! I hope this didn't sound to harsh...just giving you a dose of reality. I really hope you find something if you need it.
 
I'm 17, got my license last March, got a car my neighbor sold me for $100.00 Toyota Tercel, 1992. He bought it used, and a guy bought used before that, it's a 4 gear standard, runs good, he put $5,000 of work on it couple years ago, new engine, and tires, and such. Only thing that doesn't work that well is the defroster, let it run for a bit and it does. Funny to, cause it's only a two door, but some how I manage to fit my drum kit in their for concerts. Only safe seat left is drivers, pain cause during shifting my elbow kept hitting the bass drum, also I don't have a job, my parents pay for insurance, love them for the stuff they give (most of the time something I want like a computer, new cymbals, I have to pay half)
 
I got my first car at 17 in 1984. It was a 1972 4-door Chevy Impala that we bought for $300!. Talk about a tank! Luckily, gas wasn't expensive then and it did the job for me for about a year. Manual windows, can't remember if it had air conditioning and while it did have a radio, no tape player or anything. And yes, I had to pay the insurance on it.

I would have never dreamt of asking my mom for a car at 16...she would have, and should have, laughed in my face if I did. When did kids start expecting a car just because they turned 16? It's not a right, it's a privilege. (See this is why I never had kids, they would hate me!)

If you must have something, find something cheap, somewhat reliable and make sure you check on insurance prices BEFORE you buy. Insurance for a 16 year old male is crazy expensive and any car that even hints at being "sporty", i.e. has sport in the name, has a spoiler, or less than 4 doors, is going to be even more ridiculous...even though it may not look like much.

You have over a year to save so you should be able to come up with something. Just don't forget all the extra costs to figure in, monthly insurance, gas, oil, regular maintenance, possibly tires, etc. There's more to buying a car than just what you have to pay for the car itself.

Good luck! I hope this didn't sound to harsh...just giving you a dose of reality. I really hope you find something if you need it.

Mine was a similar situation. Getting a car in high school wasn't even a remote possibility. We were a family of 6 living on a teacher's salary and my two older brothers were in college. Instead, I drove my father's little Datsun until I graduated from college and got a full time job and had to move out of town. I thne bought a 1975 Olds 98 for around $400. I got custom plates that said MY BOAT, because the car was about 21' long and took up 2 parking spots. The paint was shot, the windshield leaked, the tranny was slipping, the AC didn't work, and it got about 10 MPG. But it was mine! About a year later when I got myself established, I bought my first new car, a Nissan Sentra.

I gave my oldest daughter my Grand Prix when she was a senior in high school. It was about 5 years old and had 100K miles on it, but it was in good shape. Next year my youngest daughter is going to be a senior. It is too soon to give her my present car, which is not even three years old and less than 60K miles. So I've been looking on line for a used car, and I'm amazed how expensive it is to get anything with less than 100K miles. Yesterday I found a 2007 Honda Fit with about 60K miles for around $7K. I don't want to spend a lot of money, because my daughter is not the greatest driver, and I know it is going to get scraped and dented up. So there is no reason to buy something that is in excellent condition. I'd like to spend under $5K, but at some point you are going to be paying sooner or later for repairs and I don't want her to get stranded on the road.

Oh, and getting a car is contingent on her getting a job to at least pay for the gas and maintenance.
 
The Cash for Clunkers program (US) raised the base price of all used cars to $5,000 at the time. Finding anything reasonable is still taking time to adjust.
 
I'm 17, got my license last March, got a car my neighbor sold me for $100.00 Toyota Tercel, 1992. He bought it used, and a guy bought used before that, it's a 4 gear standard, runs good, he put $5,000 of work on it couple years ago, new engine, and tires, and such. Only thing that doesn't work that well is the defroster, let it run for a bit and it does. Funny to, cause it's only a two door, but some how I manage to fit my drum kit in their for concerts. Only safe seat left is drivers, pain cause during shifting my elbow kept hitting the bass drum, also I don't have a job, my parents pay for insurance, love them for the stuff they give (most of the time something I want like a computer, new cymbals, I have to pay half)

if you don't have a job, how do you pay for any of what you get?
 
I got lucky with my first car, my parents got my brother a car for I think his 21st or 23rd birthday, and then he moved to Alaska and it got passed down to me. Its a I believe 2008 Scion and I am extremely lucky to get to drive it. Needless to say I am extremely careful with it. Just follow these rules. Don't take unnecessary risks, just because you can make it doesn't mean you should try to make it.
 
if you don't have a job, how do you pay for any of what you get?

Saved up with money, my grandfather used to send birthday money to me, and I would save that up, like $300.00/year. He was a bartender from like 20-83/84 years old, used to own 3 resort clubs at 5 star resorts in like the Caribbean, made a lot that way.
 
there are only 2 important factors in cars

1. can it fit your drums
2. is it reliable enough to get you to gigs

anything else is a bonus
 
Drums, car, what money is left for strip..., uh, nice girls you may know..??

I just edited to "nice girls" to keep the lad out of trouble
 
You may take our lives, but you'll never take away my ability to post some really interesting images.
 
Saved up with money, my grandfather used to send birthday money to me, and I would save that up, like $300.00/year. He was a bartender from like 20-83/84 years old, used to own 3 resort clubs at 5 star resorts in like the Caribbean, made a lot that way.

ok, so you've not really paid for it yourself then have you? Honestly mate until about a year ago i had trouble making the same distinction but once you get a job and start earning your own money, you'll get the idea.
 
My first car cost me $1,000 and yes I payed for insurance.

Didn't read all the posts here but I will give you some advice. If you can't afford to buy a new car with a good warranty make sure you buy a used Toyota. lol
 
Well Buddy buying car is another issue and you can't mix it with your job..!!!
Because if you belongs from a rich family then getting or buying cars doesn't matter and if you are poor guy then you should first get the good job and when you will feel that you can pay all the expenses while having a car like petrol charges,service charges,maintenance and car insurance charges then you can buy one for sure..!!!
 
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