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Huge wall of text ahead, I am sorry but I like to explain things clearly.
I read the thread, the huge thread on how to maintain the car along with SO many other sites. To be honest I dont know much about cars, Im a computer programmer (Going to school for it), however my father does. So maintaining/maintenance I can rely on him to help me.
That aside, I really would like some help here. 21 years old, working a slightly higher than minimum wage job. Trying to buy a '05 Mazda RX8 from a long time friend, and I have actually ridden in the car. I noticed not one problem (Aside from the fact I wasnt driving it!) It's my dream car. I want it more than I want to live at this point. Because we are good pals (Among other reasons), he is selling me it for $8500. 60k miles. Now here's the question.
Financially (And Im a little embarrassed revealing this) I make $220 a week, and at the lowest, $160 The loan AND insurance would cost me aprox. $80 per week, and I would be planning to park the car for winter, so it would be only ~$40 per week in the winter. I currently drive a '95 Escort that for the life of me is beyond reliable (My '00 Focus died before this car???), and has no problems. By next Spring I will be in an intern program at my college (U of M) and will be making 17+ an hour, so money wont be so much of a problem then.
I am stuck. I want this car. More than I ever wanted anything else. Im obsessed with it. Even with the bad news I read all over this site. However, I dont want to get stuck in a financial bind. I can afford the car, mathematically, and I really want an opinion on buying this car. At the very least, I can sell it for more than I bought it for. Half my income will be tied up for 3/4 of a year, and I will only have ~$1000 in the bank for ANY emergency that may arise.
Should I get it? Can it be parked in Winter without any concern? Or should I just bite the bullet and wait 2+ years before I can afford this car again?
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Are you taking a loan out from a bank or is it a private "buddy" cash finance?
My gut says wait till you are more financially sound. There's more to "cost of ownership" than just car payment and insurance. Especially with this car. More so than your 17 year old escort believe it or not.
As good advice, not at this time. Wait until your financial situation improves before getting into that much debt with your income. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but keep in mind that from a maintenance standpoint as well, this car can be quite expensive. Save up some cash and keep your dreams alive.
Don't buy an expensive sports car when you're in college, or just starting out in life.
You can't afford it, and it will make things way more difficult than they ever need to be.
Wait until you've finished with college, and then scored a good job, then you can concentrate on adding toys to your collection. Until then, keep driving that Escort, and saving up money.
Don't rush it. There are plenty of Rx8's out there. And will probably be even more in a few years when you are financially sound. At this point if you have anything even semi-major go wrong with the car your going to be stuck with an Rx8 lawn ornament. Parts to fix our cars tend to be more expensive then other cars.
Don't give up on your dream, just wait a little longer. Or at least until your Escort kicks the bucket.
just think of it this way... there will be plenty of other RX-8s around, at that price or better, when you aren't going to break the bank for it.
when the RX-8 first came out, i was going to take out a loan and buy it from a dealership. i didn't want to wait to save enough money to buy my own place first. i just wanted a cool car right away, when i was young and could appreciate it.
three years later, i bought one (used) at less than 1/2 the sticker price, outright with cash. i undoubtedly wouldn't have owned the home i park it in front of everyday and likely still would have been making payments on it too.
I will chime in, I'm same age as you, and I too wanted nothing more than to drive an 8. I've wanted y came out, but you really do need to wait until you can afford it. That being said, I belive in the philosiphy that you only live once, so get the most out of life you can. When you can comfortably afford it, go for it. You may have to come to terms that you don't have the massive amounts of disposible income you did before, but if you're like me, its a fair trade off!
Wish you the best of luck regardless of what you decide to do.
Don't buy an expensive sports car when you're in college, or just starting out in life.
You can't afford it, and it will make things way more difficult than they ever need to be.
Wait until you've finished with college, and then scored a good job, then you can concentrate on adding toys to your collection. Until then, keep driving that Escort, and saving up money.
If you can't afford it, don't buy it...is that simple. Anyway, you still have a car to drive from A to Z. You might regret it in the long run if you do this. As other people said, save up until you could afford it, just my .02 cents.
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U.S. Army Tanker 1994-1997
2004 Mazda 6i (Hellasunk)
2005 Mazda RX8 (Hellasunk)
I would never dream of selling a car to a friend, nor would I buy a car from a friend. I just bought my 8, but i am financing at at ridiculously awesome rate. Which lets me have money left over per month to actually save for maintenance and running expenses. I made sure I was financially ready to own a high maintenance car before I pulled the trigger on it.
$160-220 a week is going to be rough, but it might be doable..
things you need to factor in is replacing parts when you first get it, not to mention if something breaks.
at 60k miles you should inspect the cat, they typically go at around 60-100k, boom thats like $1200 right there.
you should check if your friend ever changed the plugs wires and coils, if not then it probably has been misfiring and blew your cat out, boom $1500 right there.
oil changes every 3k miles. ~$40
adding oil every other fillup. ~$5-9
not to mention the terrible gas milage. I typically fill up once or twice a week at ~$49-$60 per fill.
at 60k the tires should be changed, boom $492, cheapest i could find on tirerack
not to mention any other little pieces of poop that breaks.. oh and expect to pay x3 for that part compared to other cars.
Hopefully you still have money at this point, and hopefully you dont get the modding bug and start dumping money into it. Then you have little to negative money.
if you can afford it without doing general maintenance, then expect to pay 3500-5k for a new engine because you didnt change the $300 plugs wires and coils.
Let me just say, I wouldn't buy your buddy's 05.
Doesn't matter how much of a friend he is, when it comes to money no one is going to hand over thousands of dollars for something that's not a necessity. If he's selling it for $8,500 to you, chances are he knows there are hidden problems and is trying to seem like a good guy... I could be wrong but I just know this from experience. Anywho... $8,500 is not that great of a deal anyway for you to not feel comfortable. If it's an '05 sport (cloth seats no sunroof) or touring (18" wheels, bigger brakes, HIDS, etc) that's around the price of an '05 with that amount of miles.
I would say, save up, get enough for at least 50-60% of the total cost of the car as a down payment THEN buy the car.
$320 a month for a 7-8 year old car (depending on build date) with 60,000 miles seems a bit steep and it's not really your car till it's paid off, just remember that.
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SOLD 2004 Mazda RX8 Grand Touring| Titanium Gray Metallic| Koni Yellow Sport Shocks w/ Tein-S Tech Lowering Springs|
2007 Mazda Rx-8 Grand Touring| Crystal White Pearl | Authentic Mazdaspeed Front Bumper, Sideskirts, Rear Spoiler, Rear Underspoiler | JDM Clear Corners | Michelin Pilot Super Sports | RacingBeat Rev8 Catback | AEM CAI |
Dont' buy it. in fact, at your financial state you should NOT buy any car, not even a Civic as a beater.
Forget about the cost of the car, owning any car cost money, ok you can even forget insurance for now.
But what about Gas? no matter how cheap it gets it still gonna cost you say, 40-60 bux a week.
what if something "Breaks" ? do you have the money to fix it? it can be as simple as a flat tire, which cost around 30 bux to fix it "properly", to something intensive like Engine/Tranny/etc replacement, which can cost couple hundreds to couple thousand bux.
So yeah, u should not buy that car, nothing. Save the money up and get it a year or 2 later. u will thank me (or us)
I was 21 once and I know how it feels like to "OMG I WANT THAT", but seriously, u NEED to control that or else it's going to **** you over pretty badly, don't ask me how I know -_-, but I learn quickly ... and couple years later, I got my first car, which is the RX-8 I'm driving now, and I was 25 at that time ...
Edited : Forgot to add, don't ever, EVER buy a car from your "friend/buddy", unless you are ready to break the relationship, just don't do it. Buying a used car from someone u know for years is like you know this hottie friend since you were 5, both were drunk at party and u are thinking should you just bang her. If u do it, no matter how great the sex is going to be, you both will not be friends anymore.
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Feel free to ask every single little thing on this forum. a lot of cool dudes will answer your questions accordingly
Dont' buy it. in fact, at your financial state you should NOT buy any car, not even a Civic as a beater.
Forget about the cost of the car, owning any car cost money, ok you can even forget insurance for now.
But what about Gas? no matter how cheap it gets it still gonna cost you say, 40-60 bux a week.
what if something "Breaks" ? do you have the money to fix it? it can be as simple as a flat tire, which cost around 30 bux to fix it "properly", to something intensive like Engine/Tranny/etc replacement, which can cost couple hundreds to couple thousand bux.
So yeah, u should not buy that car, nothing. Save the money up and get it a year or 2 later. u will thank me (or us)
I was 21 once and I know how it feels like to "OMG I WANT THAT", but seriously, u NEED to control that or else it's going to **** you over pretty badly, don't ask me how I know -_-, but I learn quickly ... and couple years later, I got my first car, which is the RX-8 I'm driving now, and I was 25 at that time ...
Edited : Forgot to add, don't ever, EVER buy a car from your "friend/buddy", unless you are ready to break the relationship, just don't do it. Buying a used car from someone u know for years is like you know this hottie friend since you were 5, both were drunk at party and u are thinking should you just bang her. If u do it, no matter how great the sex is going to be, you both will not be friends anymore.
a lot of cool dudes will answer your questions accordingly 
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