Why buy a car you can't afford?

[gohighhhehrr]

Apartment/renting is a waste in my opinion. Just suck it up, live with your parents, save up and buy your own house.

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[Stupefyer]

He looks livid. As if I've told him the worst possible thing ever. He mentions how I don't even have a CTR and I'm driving a prius. At least he has a Type R. I immediately apologize because I didn't want to offend him and he apologizes as well saying it's just hard for him to sell the car.

The fact that he got angry over that comment proves how he knows you're 100% right. The truth hurts unfortunately. Im 26 as well and could probably afford to buy a CTR. Would that be a good decision? Probably not. Best use that money to save for a house and more important things. I can always buy a CTR later. I have a friend who bought a brand new BMW and pays $700/month for his car payment but he still lives with his parents. Its like sick BMW bro but its funny how you park it in your parent's driveway lol.

 

[ez12a]

Apartment/renting is a waste in my opinion. Just suck it up, live with your parents, save up and buy your own house.

This also.

But there's a difference between living with the parentals and actually saving vs living with the parentals and still living paycheck to paycheck lol.

Living back home due to wfh and will be moving out of my apt shortly. Got a house to save for now and some other big life purchases.

 

[CivilciviC]

But at that age, driving a Type R will pick up more girls than a responsible car... and at that age, you’re not taking them home anyway. Back seat of the Type R or a motel room if they’re lucky.

but yeah when you’re ready to actually pursue a relationship, your own place goes farther than your car, I agree.

I don’t know what kind of girls you’re around, but to date, 99.9% of women I’ve ever come across in my life couldn’t care any less about what a guy drives, so long as it isn’t a heap of garbage.

The only time they care is when it’s an actual supercar. But supercars make everyone’s head turn.

if you have to even remotely explain to someone what a “Type R” is, chances are they don’t give a shit one way or another.

I have owned and driven some pretty cool sporty cars over the last decade and not once has any one of the cars got me any sort of positive attention from the opposite sex. I know for a fact it’s the same for my car-loving friends also.

 

[Mcclaughry95]

Made those poor decisions at like 18 fresh out of bootcamp. Didn't get caught up until around 22 and never doing that again. But hey on 24th birthday bought a house and a month later my 19 Type R. And car plus house is still under 50 percent income. And the young girls mostly can care less what you drive but they don't mind a quick car either.

 

[CivilciviC]

One thing I remember an older guy telling me is:

“Don’t buy a nice car until you’re fully established. If you hold off for ten years now, you’ll be able to buy something way nicer than if you spent money now.”

Instant gratification now hurts you In the long term.

Also, people need to stop worrying about what others think of them. Keeping up appearances is a fool’s errand.

 

[Musclebadger]

This isn't really specific to the CTR as it goes for any car, but this story does revolve around a CTR, hence, this thread.

So, I went to do some grocery shopping today in my wife's Prius (this is important) and on the way home I stopped to get some gas. I pull in and I'm like "that might be a CTR?" as I pull closer, sure enough, it is. A Crystal Black Pearl. NICE! I start getting ready to put gas in the car as the owner walks out, young guy in his 20's (26 I believe is what he said). I look at him and go "Dope Type R dude!" He looks happy that anyone notices what it is and we start talking. I ask him if he's done any mods since I saw an eibach sticker but he says that's from his old civic he traded in and his R is completely stock. He then goes on to mention about how this car is amazing and I should test drive one if a dealer allows. I tell him I should have one in a few days and he asks me for mods I'm interested in. This carries on a few more minutes and he says "Damn dude. You must make baller money". I tell him no I don't, I just save up.

He asks what I do for a living and I told him that I'm a lead software developer. Now he's convinced I must make six figures+ (hint: I dont'). He mentions how his dad loves his CTR but he wishes he didn't buy it because now he's financially struggling to afford it. I have this puzzled look and he says that his mom gets angry when he washses his car at home since he uses a lot of water, so he says that's why it's dirty. My internal thoughts are "you bought a $40k car and you live with your parents?". I tell him to just be patient and pay it off but I also mention that he should probably look into an apartment. He says how he's barely able to afford this car so an apartment is out of the question.

I told him "Not to be all up in your business and I definitely know the struggle. You could downsize to a cheaper car because you don't want to end up at home forever, you know?" He looks livid. As if I've told him the worst possible thing ever. He mentions how I don't even have a CTR and I'm driving a prius. At least he has a Type R. I immediately apologize because I didn't want to offend him and he apologizes as well saying it's just hard for him to sell the car. By this time it's been a solid 15 minutes or so (and mind you, it's hot as hell in Louisiana) so he says he needs to go. I tell him to keep his head up and good luck with whatever he decides for his future. He looks a little disappointed and says that he can't get rid of the car because everyone he knows him knows he has this car and it would ruin his "image" to get rid of it. He gets in his car and rolls the windows down and says "thanks for the talk." and he drives off. We exchange a wave and off he goes.

All of this is to say, why do people buy expensive cars that they can't afford? This is not a poke at anyone but I can't understand that feeling. Why work yourself to death over a depreciating asset? Not only that, but why buy such expensive luxuries while living at home with your parents? Shouldn't you be looking to move out? I know people who live on the west coast can't just up and move due to how expensive it is but wouldn't that mean you should save up more and not throw money into a car?

Sometimes people just want the status symbol. I had met this guy who decided to purchase a Dodge Charger scat pack. He bought it in the dark blue color. I’ll get to that piece in a second. He and his girlfriend lived at the girlfriends parents house, and his girlfriend was telling him to get a used suv to assist with any future kids. He never listened bought the charger (he has a rich friend who happened to acquire millions after his parents past away) and then decided he wanted black racing strips on his dark blue charger. So yeah I don’t get it either, I think being able to live at home gives kids/people the false sense of having a lot of money.

 

[Gruber]

The best thing in this thread is the guy who bought himself a car, but can't afford to pay for the water to wash it.....

Younger people, and a few of the not so young ones commonly misunderstand the notion of "afford". I believe everybody who has a warm body and breathes in countries like the US can "afford" a CTR in the sense of actually getting it home and driving it, maybe except chldren and totally lazy unemployed or in some way or another handicapped folks. But this is not the meaning of "afford."

 

[jincheol]

Kids these days gets angry/embarrassed that they are handed down something on the level of an RSX and not CTR level. Im 30, have a bachelors from UC Irvine and still stuck driving my RSX that I had before college. Also because I going through hell to find a boost blue at msrp; but thats another story. Although my RSX is the nicest stock RSX you have seen in a long time.

 

[Zeffy94]

Apartment/renting is a waste in my opinion. Just suck it up, live with your parents, save up and buy your own house.

I hate the idea of apartments so this is exactly what I’m doing.

 

[charleswrivers]

my RSX is the nicest stock RSX you have seen in a long time.

There's a 88.7% chance girls would dig your 18 year old clean RSX more than a new CTR as well. That's verifiable math.

 

[Deleted User 1886347]

Apartment/renting is a waste in my opinion. Just suck it up, live with your parents, save up and buy your own house.

Eh, I don’t quite agree with this.
Where I’m from, housing is near impossible to afford even as a nurse unless you have the opportunity to save up. The market is absolutely ridiculous in Southwestern Ontario, along with rent prices.
I’d gladly move back home again to save, but because I’m in school and I love my own space (my moms place is a hostile environment), I’ll gladly pay my rent until I meet someone and move in with them.

That being said, I can reasonably afford my rent, my Civic Si, child support, and pay all my bills and stuff. I wanted a Type R and had a perfect opportunity to get one, but I figured that the payments would be ridiculous. Could I have afforded it? Sure, but barely.. If I lived with my mom, I could easily afford a Type R and pay it off in 2-3 years and still have spare cash. But keeping my sanity is worth more than a dream car.

As for the 20 something year old guy that bought a Type R, lives with his parents, and can’t afford to even wash it, I’m sorry but that’s pathetic. He should get rid of the car. Not much of a status symbol if you can’t maintain the freakin thing..

 

[wildbilly32]

True this.

The most people I see swooning over a type r are young guys. Girls don't even know what it is, or think it's just a civic with a huge wing.

 

[FK7DEMON]

I bought my hatch last year before I moved out of my parents house. I definitely would have been better off sticking with my 11 ex coupe. It was paid off for a while at that point with 70,000 ish miles. I really wanted the 19 ST hatch and decided to take the plunge. I'm in an apartment now married and doing well. I still think about it what if I had just stuck with my old civic etc.

 

[REBELXSi]

This isn't really specific to the CTR as it goes for any car, but this story does revolve around a CTR, hence, this thread.

So, I went to do some grocery shopping today in my wife's Prius (this is important) and on the way home I stopped to get some gas. I pull in and I'm like "that might be a CTR?" as I pull closer, sure enough, it is. A Crystal Black Pearl. NICE! I start getting ready to put gas in the car as the owner walks out, young guy in his 20's (26 I believe is what he said). I look at him and go "Dope Type R dude!" He looks happy that anyone notices what it is and we start talking. I ask him if he's done any mods since I saw an eibach sticker but he says that's from his old civic he traded in and his R is completely stock. He then goes on to mention about how this car is amazing and I should test drive one if a dealer allows. I tell him I should have one in a few days and he asks me for mods I'm interested in. This carries on a few more minutes and he says "Damn dude. You must make baller money". I tell him no I don't, I just save up.

He asks what I do for a living and I told him that I'm a lead software developer. Now he's convinced I must make six figures+ (hint: I dont'). He mentions how his dad loves his CTR but he wishes he didn't buy it because now he's financially struggling to afford it. I have this puzzled look and he says that his mom gets angry when he washses his car at home since he uses a lot of water, so he says that's why it's dirty. My internal thoughts are "you bought a $40k car and you live with your parents?". I tell him to just be patient and pay it off but I also mention that he should probably look into an apartment. He says how he's barely able to afford this car so an apartment is out of the question.

I told him "Not to be all up in your business and I definitely know the struggle. You could downsize to a cheaper car because you don't want to end up at home forever, you know?" He looks livid. As if I've told him the worst possible thing ever. He mentions how I don't even have a CTR and I'm driving a prius. At least he has a Type R. I immediately apologize because I didn't want to offend him and he apologizes as well saying it's just hard for him to sell the car. By this time it's been a solid 15 minutes or so (and mind you, it's hot as hell in Louisiana) so he says he needs to go. I tell him to keep his head up and good luck with whatever he decides for his future. He looks a little disappointed and says that he can't get rid of the car because everyone he knows him knows he has this car and it would ruin his "image" to get rid of it. He gets in his car and rolls the windows down and says "thanks for the talk." and he drives off. We exchange a wave and off he goes.

All of this is to say, why do people buy expensive cars that they can't afford? This is not a poke at anyone but I can't understand that feeling. Why work yourself to death over a depreciating asset? Not only that, but why buy such expensive luxuries while living at home with your parents? Shouldn't you be looking to move out? I know people who live on the west coast can't just up and move due to how expensive it is but wouldn't that mean you should save up more and not throw money into a car?

Eh, I think you both mishandled this. I wouldn't be giving strangers unsolicited financial advice and I also wouldn't be discussing my finances with a stranger. He opened up way too much to someone he doesn't know and clearly has issues if he was offended with your, what I'm assuming, was well-intended advice. There will always be people living way above their means, it's life. Some people care more about image than being responsible. Responsibility doesn't get likes, apparently.

I hate people that think you're jealous because you too arent over extended

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