Is this a good first car?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

12k is more than my parents would spend, so I would be chipping in a few grand. Insurance for a teenage boy in NJ is around $2700, much more than anywhere else in the area.

Where in NJ are you? I know of only a few towns in which the majority of teenagers would drive such expensive cars.

[Pyroboy597]

Cherry Hill. I would be very suprised if that was not in your handful of towns. It is in Camden County, South NJ.

12k is the listed price, I have a good friend who's dad worked with one of the sales associates there for years, and he said he could probably drop the price to 10 without too much trouble. The car comes with a Honda Warranty and has been inspected by their mechanics. There are no scratches or dents in it, and the interior is very clean.

It is still a long adventure, looking around trying to find what I want that meets what my parents want.

[Steelrat]

It's a good car. I'd be happy buying one of those for my kids.

[maxama10]

off topic but when i was about 7 i lived in Hamilton Square...anyone know it?

[Pyroboy597]

I am assuming you mean it was in NJ? I have heard of it, but I do not know where it is.

[maxama10]

Yeah in NJ. Hmm its close to Trenton. I remember going to cherry hill to go to the mall there once or twice.

[kosmo]

Dude, get an 88 Z28 Camaro or something of the like. Dirt cheap, incredibly obnoxious, and you can beat the crap out of it without caring about what your crappy car looks like.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

off topic but when i was about 7 i lived in Hamilton Square...anyone know it?

Yeah, I have been there. I have no idea why, but I have been there.

Cherry Hill. I would be very suprised if that was not in your handful of towns. It is in Camden County, South NJ.

You are actually pretty far from me. I am about 2 hours North/Northeast of you. I am right on the edge of Somerset and Hunterdon County; 30 minutes north of Princeton.

/highjacking of thread my Jersey guys
//Pennsylvania drivers are horrible in Jersey

[Pyroboy597]

///Yanks are even worse.

[Pyroboy597]

Yeah in NJ. Hmm its close to Trenton. I remember going to cherry hill to go to the mall there once or twice.

It is about 40 minutes or so south west of trenton, very close to Philly (about 15 minutes to the Ben Franklin bridge)

[Al_Steel]

It's a horrible first car but not because the car itself is bad. Here's why... you start out life with an expensive depreciating asset that will be worth absolutely nothing in 5 years. In that time you will be in debt and paying full coverage insurance (which is silly high for a young male driver) on a used car.

Here's what you SHOULD do. Have your parents give you the $2000.00 you will need for the down payment and open up an IRA or investment account. Then have your parents contribute the same amount they would have for a 3 year, $8000.00 loan (including interest) to that account for the same amount of time. In the interim save some money and buy a junker for around $1000.00. If you are 16 now, in 3 years you will have $12000.00 in the bank and a GREAT head start financially over your peers. I really just shake my head when I see some kid driving a $20k car and then they boast that they paid for it all themselves. They'd be a lot better off driving a $2k car and putting that money in the bank. But as every wise old man will tell you, youth is wasted on the young.

Additionally, if you get an investment account and you do well with it you could have lots more than $12000.00. Take that money and put a down payment on your first home (preferrably a multi-family unit so you can rent out half and let that pay for most or all of the mortgage). Then at or around age 22 you will have your first home which will likely only appreciate in value. Then you can leverage the equity in that home to buy investment property. Play your cards right and you could be financially independant by 40 or earlier!

OTOH an IRA with a value of $12000.00 at age 22 will be worth ummm.. about $750,000 (using the rule of thumb that it will double every 7 years) when you retire if you just sit on it.

That's my advice... if I had it all to do over again that is EXACTLY what I would do. But I'm 20 years behind the curve and am only now waking up to my mistake. TIME is your best financial asset right now, don't squander it on BS like cars and flatscreen TV's. I know it's tough to see right now, but in 20 years from now when the Honda is a distant memory and you are driving the car of your choosing you'll be a LOT happier. It sure beats working at Wal-Mart at age 70.

But other than that... sure it's a nice car.

[Pyroboy597]

The only problem with that is that this car has to last through me and my sister, and thus cannot be a junker that is intended to be replaced in three years. I will have this car until 2009 and she will have it after that. My parents are concerned with safety, and like that you can get a car with side air bags and ABS for a little bit more. If they were to just give me 12 grand and tell me to do something with it, I would invest it or just throw it into an account that gains interest and let it sit, maybe put it in bonds since I won't need it for a little while.

Any car we buy will be bought in cash (paid for in full), no financing or lease.



I am already saving for MY first car (this one I guess could be called a third family car for a family with only three drivers, aka it's mine to use) which I hope to get maybe junior year of college.

[Pyroboy597]

If you are 16 now, in 3 years you will have $12000.00 in the bank and a GREAT head start financially over your peers. I really just shake my head when I see some kid driving a $20k car and then they boast that they paid for it all themselves.

I'm going to guess that 70% of my town is Jewish. Out of that 70%, maybe 50% has a Bar/Bat Mitzvah in which they get 15k+ for a car from family/friends. If I wanted to compete with some of my peers, an Audi TT wouldn't even do. I would guess that the average year of a car in my highschool parking lot is 2002, just based on looking at them. There are a few 2007's, including a Mercedes SLK (might actually be a 2006) and a Nissan Z.

[warbeak2099]

That's a great first car. It's cheap and easy to maintain, doesn't break, decent on gas for its class, easy to drive, etc. I'd go for it if you can afford it. I got stuck with a domestic simply because I couldn't afford a Honda. I wish I couldv'e gotten a civic or something. Domestic cars are money pits.

[TheAngryDrunkenRussian]

I personaly wouldn't go the SUV route for your first car. Granted you have 1 yr of driving expirence which is not enough. Buy a car, remember learn to crawl before you walk ecspecially before you get behind a SUV.

SUV's handle alot different then a car, van, jeep, or truck with their body roll that tend them to be top heavy vs. the other four.

Personally I'd look at a jeep 4 banger. A its a proven design. B 4cyc are extremly good gas savers. C if you want to have fun take the top off during summer. D if you like working on cars or what not jeep 4 bangers are easy to work/learn on.