One Day, One Day, One Day...

[98_Camaro]

I keep telling myself that one day, I'll be driving down the street in an xLT/RS Camaro.
Being slightly under 16, I'm not quite allowed to enter the work force yet (at least from my current understanding). As you can imagine, that's making things go painfully slow for my Camaro fund. On top of that, there are things I need fairly badly, but I'm doing without them in an almost fruitless effort to save up for my future car. To date, I have a little over $200 in the span of a two month period. Not much to work with, but it's a start.
Having done the math, if I work 20 hours a week during the school year, 40 hours a week during the summer weeks, and doing a few odd jobs on the side for two years, even at minimum wage (which is highly expected), I can earn about $20,000. It might seem like a lot of work, but I'm fueled with a passion and a burning desire. I know that after pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into earning the money for it, it'll be the best car in the world (at least to me). It'll be something that I can truly appreciate.
My goal is to buy one when I'm 18. That way I can legally own the car myself and make insurance payments in my name. I'm trying very hardly to keep my grape ape and get a 2010, but we'll have to see how that works out. Worse comes to worse, I'll have to wait another year.
So yeah, that's me. A crazy high school junior with a dream.

On a side note, I am taking donations. If you wish to donate, feel freeto do so.

[ljustin293]

never let anyone say you can't do it..get yourself a good job..I did and will be buying one when it comes in in a few months..I'll be 20 or 19 if it gets here early enough..I've worked hard and I know how you feel..good luck and keep your dreams alive!

[navmaxlp]

Just make sure that when you are in school, you put that much effort into your school work. Get good grades and get a good job later and you can afford the car and a house. Just don't want to see you get so focused on the car, you lose sight of the big prize.

[98_Camaro]

Originally Posted by ljustin293

never let anyone say you can't do it..get yourself a good job..I did and will be buying one when it comes in in a few months..I'll be 20 or 19 if it gets here early enough..I've worked hard and I know how you feel..good luck and keep your dreams alive!

Thanks a lot. Your support is really appreciated.

Originally Posted by navmaxlp

Just make sure that when you are in school, you put that much effort into your school work. Get good grades and get a good job later and you can afford the car and a house. Just don't want to see you get so focused on the car, you lose sight of the big prize.

No worries. School before anything. Taking 4 AP classes and Pre-Calculus with Spanish 3 thrown in there is not going to be easy, but I'm hoping I'll pull through.

[drtwo]

worry not, by the time you are 18 you could probably get one used for $5k with $15K for gas

[CloudXTC]

its a great story and i appreciate your enthusiasm... but dont forget your youth... and the awesome stuff that you can only do in that age... had a friend who did the same thing and missed out on a lot of the fun things in life... note he had his mustang very early... but still he regrets it now ... not a flame... just my opinion

[JewelZ]

You'll be able to get one much sooner with about 75% of what you listed. 15k will get you a decently used on about the begenning of 2012 you'll be able to hit up those 1lt/rs's which have piled miles on them. I know by the time I hit an 18 month ownership on my car which should be about Jan of 2012 I will have piled about 55k on my car if I don't maintain it and drive it carefully as I plan to. But being my daily driver my 100k/5 year will be up by the time 4 years and change comes around.

[carsismeZ06]

If I were you and had a car that was 1 of 481, I'd try to squeeze every penny out of it to go towards your 5 Gen.

[DkknightX]

Originally Posted by 98_Camaro

I keep telling myself that one day, I'll be driving down the street in an xLT/RS Camaro.
Being slightly under 16, I'm not quite allowed to enter the work force yet (at least from my current understanding). As you can imagine, that's making things go painfully slow for my Camaro fund. On top of that, there are things I need fairly badly, but I'm doing without them in an almost fruitless effort to save up for my future car. To date, I have a little over $200 in the span of a two month period. Not much to work with, but it's a start.
Having done the math, if I work 20 hours a week during the school year, 40 hours a week during the summer weeks, and doing a few odd jobs on the side for two years, even at minimum wage (which is highly expected), I can earn about $20,000. It might seem like a lot of work, but I'm fueled with a passion and a burning desire. I know that after pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into earning the money for it, it'll be the best car in the world (at least to me). It'll be something that I can truly appreciate.
My goal is to buy one when I'm 18. That way I can legally own the car myself and make insurance payments in my name. I'm trying very hardly to keep my grape ape and get a 2010, but we'll have to see how that works out. Worse comes to worse, I'll have to wait another year.
So yeah, that's me. A crazy high school junior with a dream.

On a side note, I am taking donations. If you wish to donate, feel freeto do so.

The dream is grand and noble indeed man, but you also need to consider what is going to happen to your insurance and figure out what to do about the financing of the vehicle. Make sure you have all your bases covered or you'll find yourself in a position of returning the car, selling it or having it <gulp> repossessed. Don't be blinded by passion. Many people, especially crooked salesman, prey on people like us all the time and in blind passion, they will take complete advantage in every way possible. If not overall price of the car, it could be with the finance rate. Who knows? Just watch out man and handle this maturely. Anybody at any age doing legitimate blue collar labor to buy this car has my respect 1000%. Hope to see pics of you and your new Camaro when you get it!

[chevyridinghigh]

Originally Posted by drtwo

worry not, by the time you are 18 you could probably get one used for $5k with $15K for gas

5k??? I don't think so. Camaro's have excellant resale values.

[Forrest]

I feel ya. I had APB Physics, APC Pysics, AP English comp, AP Calculus B and C, and two engineering courses. Its doable. Im 17 and I ordered mine this summer, between my Junior and senior year. Will be driving it to school the first day of senior year. And Nobody knows about it yet Not even my best friend haha. But yeah, its doable, try All-State. They seem to be good with youngins. Here in FL they quoted me 155 a month for a 2SS/RS. Not baad. Was going to go with allstate for 405 a month, then was like, HOLD THE PHONE!!!!! 155?!??! REALLY?!?!?! But really. Its doable, and its an awesome feeling getting it done :c lap: Many kudo's.

[ncstatered21]

I'm 18 and want a Camaro just as bad. I am currently enrolled in the upcoming semester at Wake Tech which is a local community college. I would suggest to get you career going first and get through school before you worry about the car. Once you graduate and get a stable job you can think about getting such a nice car. Just my 2 cents.

[action03]

I'm 5 months under 16 and have been saving for a Camaro for the past 4 years. When I was 12 and 13 years old, I had an under the table job with my uncle, which was working on his 52' boat. I had to scrub the entire boat after he went out on it. For the last two years, I have worked for $7.25 an hour for my entire summer, under the work permit issued through my school. The work permit had ridiculous guidelines, such as no more than 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, no working before 7am and after 9pm, etc. Even with all those hurdles, I have saved up $4500 and my dad said he'd match me dollar for dollar, so essentially I have $9000. That still means i need another $20,000 for a well-equiped Camaro. I wish you luck, but you have a long ways to go. And on top of all that, I have been a full time student in a private high school, taking all available AP courses. Last year I took AP Biology, and this year I am taking AP Chemistry, AP US History, and AP English. I also managed the Varsity soccer team and was the lead 3D Modeler on the Robotics Team. like I said, I wish you luck but I don't see how it is even feasible to save up $23,000+ for a Camaro when you only have $200 to work with.

[98_Camaro]

Originally Posted by action03

I'm 5 months under 16 and have been saving for a Camaro for the past 4 years. When I was 12 and 13 years old, I had an under the table job with my uncle, which was working on his 52' boat. I had to scrub the entire boat after he went out on it. For the last two years, I have worked for $7.25 an hour for my entire summer, under the work permit issued through my school. The work permit had ridiculous guidelines, such as no more than 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, no working before 7am and after 9pm, etc. Even with all those hurdles, I have saved up $4500 and my dad said he'd match me dollar for dollar, so essentially I have $9000. That still means i need another $20,000 for a well-equiped Camaro. I wish you luck, but you have a long ways to go. And on top of all that, I have been a full time student in a private high school, taking all available AP courses. Last year I took AP Biology, and this year I am taking AP Chemistry, AP US History, and AP English. I also managed the Varsity soccer team and was the lead 3D Modeler on the Robotics Team. like I said, I wish you luck but I don't see how it is even feasible to save up $23,000+ for a Camaro when you only have $200 to work with.

Way to go. Hope that works out well for you. Don't worry about me. Minimum wage in CA is $8.25 (I think). I've worked out all the details to the T. Hell, I even ran it through my calculator a couple times just to be sure, taking in several scenarios and considerations.

And besides, you're forgetting that cars depreciate in value over time. While they're $23k now, they won't be in a few years. By late 2011, I'm expecting the price to drop at least 25% of what it is today. In that scenario, even a 1LT/RS would be close to 20k brand new, but with added miles and wear, it would be even less. Not to mention if I buy through a private party, I can avoid dealer fees, and taxes to a certain extent (I can tell the DMV I paid less than what I actually did. ).

Originally Posted by CloudXTC

its a great story and i appreciate your enthusiasm... but dont forget your youth... and the awesome stuff that you can only do in that age... had a friend who did the same thing and missed out on a lot of the fun things in life... note he had his mustang very early... but still he regrets it now ... not a flame... just my opinion

Thanks for the advice. I know I'm still a kid and I do have to enjoy myself from time to time. The other day i was thinking about how old I've gotten (it's that kind of thing that hits you when you're a teen) and how much I've missed out on life already. I'm in my prime years of youth, and i'm ready to enjoy them.

Originally Posted by JewelZ

You'll be able to get one much sooner with about 75% of what you listed. 15k will get you a decently used on about the begenning of 2012 you'll be able to hit up those 1lt/rs's which have piled miles on them. I know by the time I hit an 18 month ownership on my car which should be about Jan of 2012 I will have piled about 55k on my car if I don't maintain it and drive it carefully as I plan to. But being my daily driver my 100k/5 year will be up by the time 4 years and change comes around.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. 15k for a 1LT/RS would be the best case scenario (or maybe second best. 13k would be the greatest).

Originally Posted by carsismeZ06

If I were you and had a car that was 1 of 481, I'd try to squeeze every penny out of it to go towards your 5 Gen.

But that's the problem. It's 1 of 481. I've got a feeling that this Cash-for-Clunkers program is gonna make it spike in value considering that a good portion of cars from the 90's are going to be crushed. I'm also hoping that those Camaros will be come classics in another couple decades. That's when it'll really be worth something, but even then I won't sell it. It's my first car, you know? It'll always mean something to me, and it'll mean more knowing only 480 (more or less) other people get to experience the same kind of car.

Originally Posted by DkknightX

The dream is grand and noble indeed man, but you also need to consider what is going to happen to your insurance and figure out what to do about the financing of the vehicle. Make sure you have all your bases covered or you'll find yourself in a position of returning the car, selling it or having it <gulp> repossessed. Don't be blinded by passion. Many people, especially crooked salesman, prey on people like us all the time and in blind passion, they will take complete advantage in every way possible. If not overall price of the car, it could be with the finance rate. Who knows? Just watch out man and handle this maturely. Anybody at any age doing legitimate blue collar labor to buy this car has my respect 1000%. Hope to see pics of you and your new Camaro when you get it!

Yes, I've taken that into consideration too. I plan to take a part-time job or two during college to pay for insurance and gas. Luckily, I'll be going to a local college, so gas shouldn't be too bad, but insurance for a kid (I say kid because 18 is fairly young) would still be pretty high.