Zeffy94
Senior Member
- First Name
- Matt
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2017
- Threads
- 77
- Messages
- 1,850
- Reaction score
- 1,486
- Location
- Doylestown, PA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2017 Mazda3 GT Hatch 6AT, 2018 Honda Civic Type R (traded in)
- Vehicle Showcase
- 1
- Thread starter
- #1
Hey guys, when I bought this car 18 months ago, the hype surrounding the purchase and the heat of the moment may have caused me to put myself in a fairly bad place. The reason is due to the fact that when I was budgeting the car, I was really planning for my 2017 coupe to fetch at least 21K - it fetched about 16K, and to compensate I threw a bit more money down (almost 14K) on the purchase so I could "afford" the monthly payments. (My original plan had $450ish... after taxes it was close to 40K and then the negative equity pushed the price to close to 47K, which is where I threw the cash down to bring it to something more affordable) Afford is a relative term here. I am paying $526.37 a month for 72 months. I had read that I should not be pushing a loan out this far, but I really wanted the car. Plus, all the hassle of getting the dealership to get it in, ugh, I felt obligated to do it, even though a part of me was like "that's way too high of a payment". I also did not factor in how much more I'd be spending on fuel compared to my 2017 coupe.
A little background about me... I'm 25 years old, with a stable job but I still live at home. I don't plan on living here forever, but I would rather live at home compared to living in an apartment (sorry, that kind of living just doesn't suit my tastes, not to mention rent up here isn't really cheap). I am fortunate to be able to live at home, but I have to contribute to the bills and such (around 700 a month). So, what I've been saving up for (slowly..) is a down payment on a modest sized townhome, within the next 3-4 years hopefully. My job nets me a salary of $48K before taxes, which should increase over the next year because it was mentioned to me more or less that a promotion is coming. But that's still months away, so I'm operating on 48K before taxes.
Well recently, it just feels like I'm burning through cash left and right. So I took a few hours to deeply analyze all my spending, and I would be partially right about that. Between the monthly payments and fuel costs (which is about $34 a week because even with 28mpg a small fuel tank don't hold anything), I'm spending almost $700 a month to own the CTR. Now, in terms of emotions, I'd say it was totally worth it, considering the times and smiles the CTR has given me. But ultimately I have a habit of focusing on the present and not the future.
My car related expenses are about 25% of my monthly income, and that's not including the thousands I've spent on tires, modding my exhaust, and two insurance deductibles. It's honestly a lot.
One of the things I could do - not that i even want to think about it - is trade this in for something that might not kill me financially and wouldn't totally suck my soul out. (Don't really know what that is but...) The only reason I figure that I can do this is because the resale value should still be high enough to close my loan without earning me negative equity. Or, I could try and refinance, but my fear is the maintenance that is creeping up will still be pricey. At least I don't need tires again this year...
Anyone have any advice? This is the only place where I can feel like I can actually get advice so I'm hoping someone has insight on what is best. This is a really special car and despite all the pains I love it dearly still, but at the same time I don't want to be stuck at home at 30 years old. I'm also in no risk of defaulting any time soon; I have a decent amount in savings I keep for emergency funds. Plenty in there to keep me afloat even if I lost my job.
A little background about me... I'm 25 years old, with a stable job but I still live at home. I don't plan on living here forever, but I would rather live at home compared to living in an apartment (sorry, that kind of living just doesn't suit my tastes, not to mention rent up here isn't really cheap). I am fortunate to be able to live at home, but I have to contribute to the bills and such (around 700 a month). So, what I've been saving up for (slowly..) is a down payment on a modest sized townhome, within the next 3-4 years hopefully. My job nets me a salary of $48K before taxes, which should increase over the next year because it was mentioned to me more or less that a promotion is coming. But that's still months away, so I'm operating on 48K before taxes.
Well recently, it just feels like I'm burning through cash left and right. So I took a few hours to deeply analyze all my spending, and I would be partially right about that. Between the monthly payments and fuel costs (which is about $34 a week because even with 28mpg a small fuel tank don't hold anything), I'm spending almost $700 a month to own the CTR. Now, in terms of emotions, I'd say it was totally worth it, considering the times and smiles the CTR has given me. But ultimately I have a habit of focusing on the present and not the future.
My car related expenses are about 25% of my monthly income, and that's not including the thousands I've spent on tires, modding my exhaust, and two insurance deductibles. It's honestly a lot.
One of the things I could do - not that i even want to think about it - is trade this in for something that might not kill me financially and wouldn't totally suck my soul out. (Don't really know what that is but...) The only reason I figure that I can do this is because the resale value should still be high enough to close my loan without earning me negative equity. Or, I could try and refinance, but my fear is the maintenance that is creeping up will still be pricey. At least I don't need tires again this year...
Anyone have any advice? This is the only place where I can feel like I can actually get advice so I'm hoping someone has insight on what is best. This is a really special car and despite all the pains I love it dearly still, but at the same time I don't want to be stuck at home at 30 years old. I'm also in no risk of defaulting any time soon; I have a decent amount in savings I keep for emergency funds. Plenty in there to keep me afloat even if I lost my job.
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