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SKYFALL · 05-20-2014, 12:36 AM

I'm 18 now but I was in your exact situation one year ago. I'm not trying to talk down to you but here's how I handled my situation and I'm extremely pleased with the outcome.

I've also wanted a Camaro since I could remember but I wasn't able to get one until May 2013. Like yourself, I'd had a substantial amount of money saved up in July 2012 and I wanted to go buy a brand new Camaro and I figured I could pay the monthly payments on the rest of it. I then quickly realized what a stupid decision that would be.

First: Brand new cars depreciate the second they leave the lot. That means that they instantly lose a good chunk of money, meaning several thousand dollars, because the car is now classified as "used." So don't buy a new car at all, especially at your age. It's dumb and it isn't worth it. I went and bought a reliable used one instead. It even smelled like a new car and I saved several thousand dollars.

Second: I wanted a V8 really badly but I decided to go with the V6. My insurance rates are darn high right now because I'm classified as a newer driver and my Camaro falls under a high performance vehicle category. However, my rates would have been much higher had I gotten a V8, and they would have skyrocketed if V8 had been brand new. It's your car and your money, but a V8 didn't make much sense to me except for showing off to my friends.

Third: (Here's the part you're going to hate) Wait until you have all of the money saved up. Yes, that means saving another $10K - $20K, which sucks because you're already set on buying a car (I was in the same mindset back in July of 2012). Trust me, this is well worth it. If you decide to put $10K down right now and pay monthly, you're screwing yourself over for the future. You're charged interest every month you pay your monthly fee, and so over time, you're going to not only have to pay for the whole car eventually, but also all of the interest that has accumulated. In short, you're going to pay a TON more for your car because you chose to pay for it monthly. Why would anybody in their right mind want to pay more for something that isn't worth more? You're going to end up paying a few thousand dollars extra in interest fees for sure. That's how jacked up the system is. If you don't use the monthly payment system and instead pay it off all at once, you've just saved yourself a couple thousand dollars that you can put towards mods.

In short, this whole discussion comes down to immediacy vs. practicality. If you decide to buy a car right now, you'll have your car right now (which is awesome), but you'll also overpay for it because of the interest rates and you'll be in deep trouble if for some reason you can't start making the payments. Practicality calls for saving up all of the money in advance and then finding a gently used vehicle for much cheaper. This is what I ended up doing and I'm so glad I did that. Yes, I did have to wait about a year longer to get my dream car, and it would kill me to see other people driving Camaro's out on the road while I was puttin' around in a Ford Escape. But now I have my own car that I payed for entirely by myself and I don't have to deal with monthly payments. That in itself is worth it.

Sorry this has been so long but I don't want you to do something that could financially screw you over. Remember that I was in your exact position a year ago and I ended up choosing practicality and I'm SOOO glad I did. It's common sense really: don't buy something you don't have the money for. In this case, you don't have the money for a car because you only have $10K right now. I didn't have enough money for a car back in July 2012, so I couldn't buy one. You can say, "Well, I plan on paying the payment every month." Well, life happens, and the last thing you want is to have to give that precious car up that you worked so hard for. Now you're out your hard-earned $10,000 and still owe more money. That's what happened to guy who owned my car before me; he couldn't make the payments, and they took it back.

If I were you, I'd save up enough money to go buy a reliable used Camaro in cash. But that's completely up to you.

05-20-2014, 12:36 AM	#32
SKYFALL Drives: 2011 CGM LT Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 34	I'm 18 now but I was in your exact situation one year ago. I'm not trying to talk down to you but here's how I handled my situation and I'm extremely pleased with the outcome. I've also wanted a Camaro since I could remember but I wasn't able to get one until May 2013. Like yourself, I'd had a substantial amount of money saved up in July 2012 and I wanted to go buy a brand new Camaro and I figured I could pay the monthly payments on the rest of it. I then quickly realized what a stupid decision that would be. First: Brand new cars depreciate the second they leave the lot. That means that they instantly lose a good chunk of money, meaning several thousand dollars, because the car is now classified as "used." So don't buy a new car at all, especially at your age. It's dumb and it isn't worth it. I went and bought a reliable used one instead. It even smelled like a new car and I saved several thousand dollars. Second: I wanted a V8 really badly but I decided to go with the V6. My insurance rates are darn high right now because I'm classified as a newer driver and my Camaro falls under a high performance vehicle category. However, my rates would have been much higher had I gotten a V8, and they would have skyrocketed if V8 had been brand new. It's your car and your money, but a V8 didn't make much sense to me except for showing off to my friends. Third: (Here's the part you're going to hate) Wait until you have all of the money saved up. Yes, that means saving another $10K - $20K, which sucks because you're already set on buying a car (I was in the same mindset back in July of 2012). Trust me, this is well worth it. If you decide to put $10K down right now and pay monthly, you're screwing yourself over for the future. You're charged interest every month you pay your monthly fee, and so over time, you're going to not only have to pay for the whole car eventually, but also all of the interest that has accumulated. In short, you're going to pay a TON more for your car because you chose to pay for it monthly. Why would anybody in their right mind want to pay more for something that isn't worth more? You're going to end up paying a few thousand dollars extra in interest fees for sure. That's how jacked up the system is. If you don't use the monthly payment system and instead pay it off all at once, you've just saved yourself a couple thousand dollars that you can put towards mods. In short, this whole discussion comes down to immediacy vs. practicality. If you decide to buy a car right now, you'll have your car right now (which is awesome), but you'll also overpay for it because of the interest rates and you'll be in deep trouble if for some reason you can't start making the payments. Practicality calls for saving up all of the money in advance and then finding a gently used vehicle for much cheaper. This is what I ended up doing and I'm so glad I did that. Yes, I did have to wait about a year longer to get my dream car, and it would kill me to see other people driving Camaro's out on the road while I was puttin' around in a Ford Escape. But now I have my own car that I payed for entirely by myself and I don't have to deal with monthly payments. That in itself is worth it. Sorry this has been so long but I don't want you to do something that could financially screw you over. Remember that I was in your exact position a year ago and I ended up choosing practicality and I'm SOOO glad I did. It's common sense really: don't buy something you don't have the money for. In this case, you don't have the money for a car because you only have $10K right now. I didn't have enough money for a car back in July 2012, so I couldn't buy one. You can say, "Well, I plan on paying the payment every month." Well, life happens, and the last thing you want is to have to give that precious car up that you worked so hard for. Now you're out your hard-earned $10,000 and still owe more money. That's what happened to guy who owned my car before me; he couldn't make the payments, and they took it back. If I were you, I'd save up enough money to go buy a reliable used Camaro in cash. But that's completely up to you.