I admire your willingness to explain your situation and also that you are going to school and working enough to pay for everything. If you were my kid I'd try to steer you to drive a beater for at least 2 years and save a lot of that money by dumping it into savings and retirement accounts. God I'm old. I just hate the fact that you're paying all this money and at the end of the lease you don't have anything to show for it. However, you seem like a smart guy and if this turns out to be a mistake you'll certainly learn from it. Good luck!
Also, by comparison I bought my first new car in 1988 at age 23 for $11,500. After a $1,500 down payment my payments were $210 for 60 months at 9% interest. Full coverage insurance was probably $50 a month. Gas was about $1.20 a gallon. Also, after taxes I brought home $1,200 a month so car was taking up about $300 out of my $1,200 a month or 25%.
Thanks guys I agree, I should have probably financed to have something to show for it! But in the end you live and you learn We'll see how it ends up, but I really do appreciate the advice and i'll use it going forward! You guys made great points and it really means a lot to me that you took the time to give me advice to help my life! You guys are great and I really will go forward next time with your words and advice in mind. I think its fair to say you guys have a few more years experience than I do on the buying cars front so i think you guys have given me some pretty reliable advice cheers guys!Maletone we both appreciate your willingness to listen and not be offended. You're obviously a smart kid too and its important to enjoy life as well! It sounds like you're doing good, have thought things out and understand what you're getting yourself into. Congrats on the new car, enjoy!
These threads are never started by people in a bad situation lolI know, a lot of us don't even want to think about this lol. Still, it's sometimes a good wake up call just to see how much money car ownership costs nowadays. For myself:
Car payment: $0
Insurance: $60
Gas: $120
Maint(est): $20
Upgrades(est): $0
Total per month: $200
So there you have it, 200 bucks to drive 1,100 miles a month. Right now my maintenance consists of oil and wiper blade changes, of course it will go up as time moves along.