feelgood13

what is the purpose of this thread?? if you have the money, then buy it - if you dont, then don't.

rugbybrado

-Ah hah. i get what u are saying, yes i did start working on june 5th but i have yet to see the rath of taxes on my paycheck (get the first one this friday), another thing i didnt take into consideration is that the orginal poster was also canadian and ive heard taxes are killer up there.

cibs

yes taxes are killer up here... I started working full time 4 weeks ago and the wrath of taxes on my paycheques is enough to make you cry. Honestly go through all your finances and your goals and then make the decision for yourself. Or go talk to your financial advisor. I'm just out of uni making 50k and i got a TSX, i have no debt and found that i will still be able to save as much as i planned on saving anyways, regardless of getting the car or not, getting the car only decreased my disposable income that i hadn't planned on doing anything with...

at the end of the day it's really up to you.

Zoopa

I keep like 51% after taxes, insurance, 401k. Yes a lot of us can afford to this car, but some of us carry debt, and some of us sacrifice other things like a vacation in favor of a big car payment. So yeah, a lot of us have other priorities. Buying a cool car like a TSX when you are young is not controversial. Some parents give these cars to the kids when they turn 16, some kids buy them for their first car. Buying any expensive car at the sacrifice of other life priorities is controversial.

bradykp

it looks like you've broken it down a bit. what i recommend doing is writing up a budget in excel. first of all, don't buy the car before you start work, make sure you start, get a paycheck, and know what you have coming in (after taxes and 401k and benefits), and what you have going out (monthly expenses).

since you have no debt, i think you can certainly afford it. $26,000 that my fiance financed at 4.99% translates to $474/mo payment. Insurance could be around another 100-200/mo, depending on where you are. The things people forget about is maintaining a new car. You should be able to handle maintenence costs for a car, no matter if it's a 30k car or 20K car.

The question to ask yourself is what would you do with $200ish/month that you would be saving if you went with something like a civic?

Would you be putting it towards buying a house? towards partying? what else would you spend it on?

My opinion is that you should probably start considering saving for a place, as well as things like emergency fund, savings, investments, etc.

The experts say you should have 6 months salary emergency fund, which takes a while to build up. You should max your 401k to the point of company match, and plan on increasing your contribution every year (which you won't even notice the difference since you'll be getting raises as well).

break it down in excel, you'll see if you can do it.

qweezyq

why not by a slightly used one. Let some other sucker take the hit of the steep new car depreciation. Get a certified one and the dealer will give it a pretty close to new car smell.

bradykp

well the TSX holds it's value well, so it's easy to justify buying new instead of used, especially if you plan on keeping it a while

waTSX

Hmm...you've effectively called every member here who bought new a sucker...and it only took 6 posts

bradykp

i looked at used TSX when i got the 2006 back in nov/dec 2005. i must say, paying $3,000 extra for a new one was well worth it, especially because of the few extra ponies, the blue tooth, memory seats, and the aux in. definitely worth it.

oh yeah, and the new navi is slightly nicer, but only because it's a bit faster processor, plus the new maps (i think the disc alone is like $300 to get the new maps).


well worth getting the new one.

psteng19

Yup, and since I was getting a stick, I was also paying for peace of mind.
I like knowing that the previous owner did not use the car to teach 5 of his closest buddies just before selling it.

OlyTSX

You will make plenty of money to afford a new TSX......and a mortgage (depending on where you live)....

I laughed after reading your post. I would guess that most single (assumption) people that make $65k wouldn't have asked the question - they already know the answer.

As far as an investment, any new car is a bad choice.

bradykp

65k isnt that much in NYC

OlyTSX

Details > me

JapsRule

I wouldn't laugh at all.. I make more than 3 times that much and
still took me a while to decide. Financially, an auto (consumer) debt
is very bad, he is going to spend half his gross in a car! thats
about ~0.5 bad debt ratio!

potential_TSX

Glad i went with the legacy GT NEW for 22500 before tax. I actually like this car better and i paid less!

bradykp

it's awesome if you got the car you like better. i personally didn't like the legacy at all when i test drove it.

Michael05

I agree with several other members who said this -- only you can look at your complete financial picture and truly tell whether or not it's a smart move.

But the fact that you're about to be making $65K and you're even asking this question, I think it shows that you have good financial instincts and you're probably smart with money. The majority of 22 year olds who got a $65K starting salary would say "screw it, I'm getting this car right now" without even giving it a second thought.

joerockt

Still here because?