joe mama

"A good rule of thumb for buying a car is never pay more than 4 months' salary for a car."

Are you serious?!?!?..

are you saying if the Sti costs 30k then you should not consider buying it unless you make 90k?!?! If that was the case most people wouldn never buy a car. A car is a five year investment, not 4 months.

its called budgeting. being so young you most likely never made one but I highly suggest you do this way you can figure out how much you can afford each month.

m41surette

Hell, if the STI came out when I was 21, if I had $10k to put down and had no bills(no school loans? no rent, living at home for a while?) I probably wouldn't think twice about the purchase!! you're only young once!

my first job out of college I made $43k but had bills, school loans etc and took on a payment of $380 for a brand new RS...now, I did have my parents co-sign for me but that was with a down payment of only $1k....with such a big down payment, they might not worry about a co-sign? every dealership will handle this differently. and on a 60 month loan, I would think that you could get around 6%, but really they can't tell you that exactly, you'll have to wait and see what the rates are in June/July timeframe

on the flip side, with that kind of $$$ in your hands to start, the "smart" move would be to put a down payment on a house or something, alot depends on where you see things in 4-5 yrs

Br1t1shguy

Yes absolutely. Christ, my dad taught me all I know about money (he was the financial dude for a large corporations entire north american section for awhile), and he bought a 25k WRX on a 120k income and considered it a large investment (although he did buy it outright). 90k sounds about right be comforably owning an STi, although i might say you could go as low as 60k if you are willing to spend some serious time working it of.

m41surette

I guess I would agree with Stiger to a point, regarding people making poor decisions, etc... (there are plenty out there) but I think the 4 month thing is a little too extreme, I know many responsible people out there right now who wanted a new car and would not have that new car (including me right out of college 4yrs ago) if they stuck by that rule...it really all depends on your responsiblities at the time....I really think if we stuck by that rule, WRX sales would probably be less than half of what they were 2 yrs ago, leading to less of a craze for that type of vehicle, leading the U.S. not being a good market for cars like the EVO and STI, leading all of us to still wait and hope to get what other countries already had, I applaude all bankrupt, impulse buyers of the WRX!! (alright, that might be extreme and I'm rambling now) but if Ryan was a kid just out of college with student loans, a downpayment of like $1k, I would say no way! just wait it out, but depending on what that $10k actually means to him, if he does put that for a downpayment...he's really looking at payments and debt for a $20k car, not abnormal for a 21 yr old with a $35k job that I will assume will only increase over time?
my $0.02

Kostamojen

iTrader: (2)

I dont know, I think your situation is better then folks here are making it out to be. No bills, a big down payment which means you wont have very high payments... I havent seen the rest of your budget, but I think you can afford it.

joe mama

Were talking about a 21 year old right out of college.....

I'm sure he could give a rats-*** about a 401k and investing (to a degree) or IRA;s or purchasing a home. I remember when I was there. Do this then - figure out the average monthly payment, insurance and gas and see if you can handle it.

Then ask yourself this - how much do you spend on beers and partying with your friends? I was about 40-50$ a week, times 4 = 200- $250 a month on entertainment. Throw in the occasional nudie bar, Sox game, dates, ski trips, ...your looking around 300 a month, easy. Now cut out most of those things and you'll have the money.

You just have to ask yourself what is going to put a bigger, **** eatin' grin on your face?? - sucking back MGD's with your buddies while a nice set of jugs are plopping around an inch from your face, or dropping down to 3rd gear on a 90 degree turn while losing the a$$hole who has been riding your *** for the past couple of minutes?

it's a tough call...

clamdip

iTrader: (3)

tough call, well, not really, depends on what he/she has and if you really want to smoke somebody because he/she is riding your a$$, then you should look into something like a supra or audi or S2000. i think personally that you should do what you want, it's your money. however, just think about this, how will having a car benefit you in the future. 35K isn' really that much when you REALLY start to pay bills ie: car bills, rent (unless you plan on living with your parents for the rest of your life), insurance, etc. it all adds up. don't worry about the STi being the hot car right now. just remember, when there's one, there's always one better. i can pretty much guarantee that there will be something better than the 1st generation USDM STi in a couple of years technology progresses. here's an idea, why don't you just buy a used WRX, and just make a STi full engine/transmission swap, and start from there. it may not be an "STi", but very damn close. that's why, i actually think it's cool that the STi is coming down here, maybe more parts for my WRX, also, the american model won't have twin-scroll turbo, which the 2003-04 JDM STi's have, so in that case, i think i'll do a JDM STi swap (big fan of twin-scroll design), just as good to me and not many people will have it. also, my warranty is voided already anyway, why stop here. well, but power to you if you really want the USDM STi, good choice for a new car.