$18000 of disposable income, what car do you buy?

[PLAINWHITE T]

Driving around in my '86 T-Type today, I saw lots of late 90's early '00s Camaros, Trans Ams, Mustangs, 'vettes....they are all over the place! My advice is to budget $10 grand for a really nice TR (as long as it's '86-'87) and save/invest the rest for a rainy day, because trust me, you will have a rainy day if you own one of these cars. But, you'll have something unique and something you don't see on every street corner in America.

Just my 2 cents...and that's about all it's worth.

 

[boostfreak]

Let me guess. USAA loan? If so, that is one of the best loan rates you will see in your lifetime. My question is, do you think it's the best idea to use 18k for a dd? I would put a little bit of that money away. I don't know if you plan on going career, but things are changing. I'd feel much better with a 10-12k car with a little coin left over. I don't know how long you've been in the military, but cars get stolen on post everyday. I'm not saying don't enjoy your money.

As for a ride, another thing you have to think about is how it will be leaving it while on deployments. Older cars get a lot more gremlins when they sit for a while. I love my TR, but it normally needs a lot of tlc when I get back. I would get something a little newer maybe. Especially for a daily driver. 4th gen camamro or something to that effect. Or, if you really want to do it right, get a commuter car cheap that is reliable and gets good gas mileage. Then get a toy you can lock up.

 

[charlief1]

to clarify,
-locked garage
-safe neighborhood
-low mile commute to school, could see road trips being a mile eater
-military-most likely stationed in So CA in the next 18mo

for awhile i looked at the latest gen GTOs, why buy the ugly australian model when i could spend as much money and get something with a little heritage?
my expectations- motor 8/10 and body 6-7/10...

Ok, to clarify this. You're military? That means you're subjected to deployment at any time and you want to get a car that isn't the best to leave for long without driving it. Even on a military base there's theives. These cars are really easy to steal whether or not you have it locked up. Get a simple vehicle that you can work on. It doesn't have to be "hot", just reliable. I'm presuming that you're a PFC and young. No insult intended here. As far as the car loan, right now is not the time to take a loan out on anything that won't appreciate in value. Cars generally don't go up in value unless they don't get driven and are 100% garage kept. Sorry to be a downer here but I will remind everyone of another newby that was last heard of in Iraq and he bought a really nice GN only to blow it up just as his deployment came up. I believe his name was Iliv4gns.:frown:

 

[boostfreak]

Charlief1, I think we were reading each others minds.

 

[86turboSix]

I'm young, yes you presume correctly. Nice call on the USAA loan, right again; and with the Marine Corps drawing down from ~225,000 to ~175,000, I realize that times are changing...the particular loan I'm applying for is their pre-commissioning loan. I have a year and a half before I commission as a 2nd Lt, then 6mo of The Basic School and another "x" amount of months before i graduate my designated MOS school (i.e. two years before eligible for deployment, until then I'll be stateside).

I humbly ask, does this change my situation at all? Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

[chopped39]

Buy a Honda Fit. Nobody will steal that:biggrin: I would not spend over half your loan on a 20+ year old car. I would buy something new and reliable .If its newer you can get a 0% interest loan and not even touch your money. The last thing I would buy would be a Gn orTta .To much maintence and the speed bug will cause you to spend every penny you have and then some. I would not bother with a old muscle car as you will never know what you have till you take it a part. A camaro with an ls1 would be a great choice.They are cheap and reliable. Like said above by Charlie Im not tring to be a downer either but Trust me when I say be smart with your money real smart. good luck

 

[boostfreak]

Well, as a person that took the very same loan, I would just say be smart about your money. As an officer you set the example for the enlisted. While having a nice car is awesome, having debt is not. Nothing will get your clearance taking away quicker than debt problems. Not saying you'll get into it, just something to think about. I say by all means get the car you want. You deserve it. I just think you shouldn't put so much into it. 18k will buy a great ride in this economy, but so will 12k.

Another thing is, how handy are you with a wrench? TR's need a good deal of work. It's a not a car you can just own and drive around with no issues. You have to keep on them. Some would argue that is the pleasure/pain of them, haha. An older camaro might still need work, but dealing with a carburated SBC/BBC is way easier than a turbo v6. I think you should do something wise with the majority of your coin. I would say invest, but maybe now is not the time.

All in all, I still say get a commuter for everyday and a toy for the weekends. You'll be much happier. Remember, as an officer, you are an example to follow. Don't be a bad example by being bad with your money.

 

[86turboSix]

Hey, how much of a downer could it be? In the end, its just a matter of me spending less money that I don't have anyway. What about a blacked out crown vic with a mean barricade front end? I'm confident that I can find a reliable car for, say, 12g, but I drove my dad's 97 civic for 4 years (stick shift gave me the speed bug LOL) and like you said, I've earned something better than that. I'm privileged, I know that, but at the end of the day I want a car that I'm happy driving home in at the end a long ass day. I have a pretty unique opportunity to upgrade from what I once had.

tl;dr : lets try 12k bad DD's that are relatively headache free as far as maintenance but fun to drive

 

[charlief1]

I'm young, yes you presume correctly. Nice call on the USAA loan, right again; and with the Marine Corps drawing down from ~225,000 to ~175,000, I realize that times are changing...the particular loan I'm applying for is their pre-commissioning loan. I have a year and a half before I commission as a 2nd Lt, then 6mo of The Basic School and another "x" amount of months before i graduate my designated MOS school (i.e. two years before eligible for deployment, until then I'll be stateside).

I humbly ask, does this change my situation at all? Thanks again for everyone's input.

Yes it does. Until you get out and are a full fledged member with a budweiser and bars on your collar don't do it. At this point anything can happen and being in debt is not a good thing. If you get finacially strained you can be discharged as a risk. I had a friend that had this happen. Get a cheap car that you can either work on or something you can afford to have worked on. I've seen this with college students many times. Something happens and they get screwed over because they're so far in debt they can't get out of it. Until you get to the point of some money in the bank (at least 2K) get what you can and drive it back and forth to work until you can afford a play toy.:smile:

 

[PLAINWHITE T]

Since you mentioned Hondas, would an S2000 be an option? A buddy of mine has one and they are a lot of fun!! Don't see them all the time either.

 

[TexasT]

Just to say it, borrowing money is not creating disposable income. Going into debt is foolish ,and doing it just to do it stretches that even further. Don't be offended, you are young, and have a lot of time to buy a fancy car.

Buy a beater. Learn about repairing, budgeting, put some effort into some type of retirement program.

Then when you really do have disposable income you will be able to make informed decisions.

 

[Rivical]

If you insist on taking a loan to buy some supsect vehicle that you expect to use as a dd,,,

You're gonna get plenty of a action in your career that you don't really need big muscle to unwind, or worse, screw yourself. Go with style instead.

/something like this is very highly overpriced in this market and in this condition.

Cadillac : Eldorado | eBay

You can pick up these bad-ass late 60's Eldo's and other "fullsize" cars which are great with the ladies, have huge motors, and mileage that's measuable by the block, for next to nothing! Generally a 67-9 Eldo with low miles and short on number of owners goes for 5-7K! Want a fullsize Merc, or just about any fullsize car thru 73? Bout the same for primo condition. Muscle is GREAT, but at your age, you might consider something less common and more attractive! The world is yours, do it in style, you'll have all the time in the world for fast cars that eat money when your youth and your hair is gone, but you've money in your pockets to burn after the kids are thru college!

 

[GNBRETT]

You have low expectations. 18k will get you a f***in' nice car in this economy.

sure will

 

[joey316g]

Dude, you only live once...get what you want..if you want a TR, get a TR....im just sayin, if you get one of these, prepare to wrench alot....that link in Post#17 is a beautiful beautiful car....one of the nicest cars I have seen for sale on here...if I was you, id buy that one and drive it till the wheels fall off and then drive it some more

 

[86turboSix]

chuck-I've driven a friends S2000, he has a mild track set-up and is definitely fun to drive, but older cars have definitely got the appeal/look I want. As for the caddy...I'd want a later generation, that ELDO is a little bit ghetto fab for a Liutenantmobile. Seeing as 90% of posters have said DON'T DO IT, I think it would behoove me to wait on blowing the entire loan at once. I've lowered the ante to 10k or less. Here is a sample of what I'm looking at. Please feel free to comment and make any suggestions, this loan won't be available to me until December. *Note-Girlfriend lives in CA, I visit her from time to time during the year, any purchase out here would need to be driveable back to Indy...

1968 Plymouth Fury III Commando 383 v8 for sale or trade

2003 Mercury Marauder!!!

 

[86turboSix]

And if i completely lost my marbles and could live without consequences it would be this

1967 camaro rs

 

[Turbo Indian]

to hell with a damn car, buy a fast boat and don't look back. I had tranny issues @ turbobuick.com nationals (one of the best Buick races in the country) back in March. Janis sent it back to me in April & it has been setting in a crate beside the car since then. I will get it put together for the nationals but probably not until the day before. LOL

 

[need boost]

Do like turboindian and me Dont' buy a camaro, its like a mustang. Everywhere you look. We both have first gen FIREBIRDS Think his is the same as mine on year 68 you should see the people leave the camaros and walk over to mine when I pull in just because its different !

 

[chopped39]

To many miles on the marauder and salvage title they are nuts asking 10 stacks for that. I have replaced 2 of those engines and those cars had just around a 100k on them and that car posted was beat on for sure . That why people buy them:biggrin: The camaro is nice but in the ecomomy good luck geting that money. I would buy the Fury for that price and put a trans in it and then save your cash . That camaro is nice and it one of my favorite cars of all time. Your changing my mind now. Throw 12 grand at the camaro and see what he says.But get it inspected on a lift look at the rear section real good for rust around the upper shock mounts and rear valance. Like I said before . With a muscle car you dont know what you have till you take it apart. If there is lots of undercoating walk away. I found that out the hard way a long time ago and got burned on a 70 Gs Stage One car that I thought was mint like I was told by the seller and it ended up being a pos when I went to repaint it

 

[TexasT]

chuck-I've driven a friends S2000, he has a mild track set-up and is definitely fun to drive, but older cars have definitely got the appeal/look I want. As for the caddy...I'd want a later generation, that ELDO is a little bit ghetto fab for a Liutenantmobile. Seeing as 90% of posters have said DON'T DO IT, I think it would behoove me to wait on blowing the entire loan at once. I've lowered the ante to 10k or less. Here is a sample of what I'm looking at. Please feel free to comment and make any suggestions, this loan won't be available to me until December. *Note-Girlfriend lives in CA, I visit her from time to time during the year, any purchase out here would need to be driveable back to Indy...

1968 Plymouth Fury III Commando 383 v8 for sale or trade

2003 Mercury Marauder!!!

O
Well, I love a Camaro. They are everywhere, and now can be built from a catalog. Not the thing if you want unique.

The Marauder is tight, but the fifth line kills that one for me. Especially at that price. $6500 tops if it is real nice and checks out good. Overdrive trans is what makes it nice if you plan to drive back n forth from Indiana and California.

That Fury is great for unique but a 40 year old car out on the open road. I sure hope McGyver is riding shotgun because Fixin it on the side of the road will be a regular thing. To me it is the best deal of those choices. I'd have a later model overdrive trans swapped in and then you will have something.

That said, I was driving my GS when I bought my '84 T-Type. I then managed to trade that in on the '87 I have. Probably not the best decision, but it made sense to me at the time. I thought I was buying a reliable car. Little did I know the trans would be a large problem. I managed to get the warranty canceled and had to buy my own, though it made its share of payments late at night around Dallas back then.

You gotta do what makes you happy but man, some lessons are expensive and can't be learned any other way.