• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Student Car

bluemagic

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
2,974
Reaction score
1
I'll need to get a car soon. I am pretty economically disadvantaged. The most luxurious things I can hope to get before I graduate from professional school is used stuff on B&S.

What car should I get? Should I lease? Should I buy used? I'll need this car for about 3.5 years. It would be my first car.

Northeast.
 

username79

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
2,102
Reaction score
15
Originally Posted by bluemagic
I'll need to get a car soon. I am pretty economically disadvantaged. The most luxurious things I can hope to get before I graduate from professional school is used stuff on B&S. What car should I get? Should I lease? Should I buy used? I'll need this car for about 3.5 years. It would be my first car.
If I had to pick a cheap reliable daily driver car, I'd pick an RSX. Unfortunately they are holding their value extremely well, with used examples with 50K miles selling for 4-5K less than brand new retail (Wtf?) My first car was an '01 Acura Integra. I put 70K miles on it and spent $300 in non-preventative maintenance (split hub bolt/stud). Preventative maintenance was around $20 every 5000 miles for a Mobil One oil change I did myself and around $800 for a major service including a valve adjustment. In total the car cost me around $1500.
 

Stazy

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2006
Messages
7,025
Reaction score
432
What is your budget if you were to purchase?
 

acidboy

Stylish Dinosaur
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
19,672
Reaction score
1,555
Get a used Civic in good condition.
 

huy

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Messages
238
Reaction score
0
Buy a certified used car. Do not buy new or leased especially if you don't have too much money.
 

turboman808

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
856
Reaction score
0
can never go wrong with a honda or a toyota. Not gonna get you laid but will get you around cheap.
 

SOHCitTOem

New Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I'd buy a used car of a friend or someone you can trust. A lot of people selling their used cars are kinda shady. Most importantly KNOW your budget. That is the end all be all of your dilema. And to save money do your maintenence. Changing oil is SO easy and it takes around a good 30 min. while changing oil filter. I built my own motor without any background in cars. And I'm taking up nursing. Invest in tools, they will save you a lot of money. A cheap craftsmen 100+ set will do you good. For regular maintenence you only need basic hand tools anyways and some elbowgrease.
 

RedScarf7

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
482
Reaction score
0
I would take advantage of the 0 down 0% financing available for new cars. You could get a decent new car with all the options any student would need for about 250 a month. If you only need it for 3.5 years I would be less inclined to go this route, but I think it is an option.
 

unjung

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
Messages
6,346
Reaction score
14
Volkswagen. If you want luxury, a mid-90s Passat will be cheap (a couple grand max) and has a lot of creature comforts. Try www.vwvortex.com.

Don't buy a new car until you're financially established, or when you have a job that absolutely requires dependable wheels. They're money pits; only worth buying when you're buying it for the car (as in, you absolutely must have that particular year and model because it is sex, and can afford it), versus buying it because you need a car.
 

bearlydavid

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
171
Reaction score
0
I am still in college and have a 98 Corolla. Yeah its not the best looking car, but I don't have to make payments on it and it gets great gas milage.

They are holding their value pretty well as of now. I think when I bought it which was 6 years ago we paid 3,200 and there now worth around 4,000.

But, overall there very good cars. A few things we had to replace, but nothing too serious.
 

forex

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
6,684
Reaction score
235
Do a TCO analysis and see how much each option is going to cost you.New car vs. used car,you'll be surprised that sometimes it is much better to buy a new car. But if I were to buy a used car,I'd just go with Toyota Camry or Corolla,nothing beats their reliability.
 

bluemagic

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2008
Messages
2,974
Reaction score
1
Originally Posted by bearlydavid
I am still in college and have a 98 Corolla. Yeah its not the best looking car, but I don't have to make payments on it and it gets great gas milage.

They are holding their value pretty well as of now. I think when I bought it which was 6 years ago we paid 3,200 and there now worth around 4,000.

But, overall there very good cars. A few things we had to replace, but nothing too serious.


Was it your first car? How did you get it? That would be a great price for me.
 

Steve B.

Go Spurs Go
Joined
Mar 2, 2002
Messages
10,286
Reaction score
134
Originally Posted by SOHCitTOem
I'd buy a used car of a friend or someone you can trust. A lot of people selling their used cars are kinda shady. Most importantly KNOW your budget. That is the end all be all of your dilema. And to save money do your maintenence. Changing oil is SO easy and it takes around a good 30 min. while changing oil filter. I built my own motor without any background in cars. And I'm taking up nursing. Invest in tools, they will save you a lot of money. A cheap craftsmen 100+ set will do you good. For regular maintenence you only need basic hand tools anyways and some elbowgrease.

Why would anyone change their own oil?

You save MAYBE $15.00, and the opportunity cost of the time you waste on it more than negates that $15.00.

Plus to be safe about it, you need to factor in the cost of an acceptable ramp.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,161
Messages
10,579,004
Members
223,882
Latest member
anykadaimeni
Top