Bad idea?

[Cookie Monster]

You're missing the point. Don't give your parents the choice of a car now, or a bike later. Give them the choice of a car now, or a bike now.
You have to play hardball.

Well they'll let me get the car and not pay for insurance and so I'll have 2,000 lbs of metal sitting out front.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Well they'll let me get the car and not pay for insurance and so I'll have 2,000 lbs of metal sitting out front.

They said this just now? Get an insurance quote for yourself. Get a job. Pay for insurance. Pay for gas. Pay for m0dz.

[Cookie Monster]

They said this just now? Get an insurance quote for yourself. Get a job. Pay for insurance. Pay for gas. Pay for m0dz.

If I had a job then I wouldn't even care about asking.

[Rupert]

Insurance won't be cheap, necessarily.

[Eye of the Tiger]

If I had a job then I wouldn't even care about asking.

If your parents are just going to be evil dictators, then get a fucking job and GTFO of the house.

[Rupert]

Suriously.

[Cookie Monster]

If your parents are just going to be evil dictators, then get a fucking job and GTFO of the house.

They will probably say no anyways since I don't even need a car...

Psilsos, will it really be that expensive to insure 1 person on a 20 year old car who uses it occasionally?

[The Pirate]

Save your money.  If you're purchasing a sub-$1K car, you really should have $2K in the bank for repairs, insurance, etc.

[Cookie Monster]

Save your money.  If you're purchasing a sub-$1K car, you really should have $2K in the bank for repairs, insurance, etc.

But even if my parents agreed to pay for gas and insurance it's a bad idea?

[The Pirate]

But even if my parents agreed to pay for gas and insurance it's a bad idea?

I think so.  You said you have $850.  That leaves almost nothing for repairs.  First time something shits the bed (which it will), you'll be parking the the thing til you save up money for a repair. 

I still say it's a bad idea.

[Rupert]

They will probably say no anyways since I don't even need a car...

Psilsos, will it really be that expensive to insure 1 person on a 20 year old car who uses it occasionally?

Lesse, yer 18, male, been driving for how long? Yeah, it'll be a bit, relative to the price of the car.

[Rupert]

I think so.  You said you have $850.  That leaves almost nothing for repairs.  First time something shits the bed (which it will), you'll be parking the the thing til you save up money for a repair. 

I still say it's a bad idea.

Big deal.

I had my Novarolla with a job, but still no money, and ditto the Miata (*gasp*). Guess what? No big deal. It's part of being young, doing stupid things.

I say, rag, if you want the car, can afford the car, can afford the insurance, can afford the gas, then get the car.

[The Pirate]

Big deal.

I had my Novarolla with a job, but still no money, and ditto the Miata (*gasp*). Guess what? No big deal. It's part of being young, doing stupid things.

I say, rag, if you want the car, can afford the car, can afford the insurance, can afford the gas, then get the car.

Hehe, not my philosophy at all, but whatever works, I guess.  I'd be more inclined to agree with you if he had a job, but he doesn't, so income is going to be tough for repairs, tires, etc.

I do understand where he's coming from though.  When I was 16, a buddy was going to sell me his ~1988 Chevy S-10 (super base model - no power steering, no power brakes, 4-cyl 5-speed 2WD).  The body was in rough shape, but it ran.  Five hundred bucks and it would have been mine.  My parents said no, and I was incredibly pissed for a long time.

[Rupert]

Income is an important step, anyway. Were I him, I wouldn't buy a car without insurance and gas money. But it's no big end of the world thing for a kid with no money to have a shitty beater.

[Cookie Monster]

Big deal.

I had my Novarolla with a job, but still no money, and ditto the Miata (*gasp*). Guess what? No big deal. It's part of being young, doing stupid things.

I say, rag, if you want the car, can afford the car, can afford the insurance, can afford the gas, then get the car.

Thing is, an old 5 speed Civic is more fun than any of my parents' cars. Cars are my passion yet I don't have my own car... I also want a stick. My parents will save money on insurance by insuring me in this car only and not in their cars, and gas because I won't have to drive their cars around. My dad could also save on gas and drive it to work when I'm not around if it's reliable enough.

Plus, I'd still have $250 or so for repairs after paying the fees.

That should cover some things, unless it's something huge like the engine/tranny asploding or the clutch dying.

[Rupert]

Haha, no. That Civic is almost certainly a piecer. I managed to have a pretty good time with my Novarolla, and you can, too. It's not like the Civic is gonna handle any better then either 'Rolla with that many miles, anyway. The Nova has a 5-speed. That $250 would cover a bit on an old junker like that, but only if you do all the work. You might be surprised how much simple parts can cost. I paid over $100 for some damn molded plastic connector for the Ranger last May.

Remember, your goal is not most car for littlest money (OMG DIS FERRARI IS AWESEIM FAST AND RUN PERFECTLY $500), but best odds of a reliable car for not much money. It's not like you have an income to keep paying for parts and stuff on a high mileage car. You should look for simple mechanicals, lowest possible miles, and everything important working without signs of fuckery. If you really want a manual transmission, fine, but at that price point, there isn't gonna be a huge difference in how a Civic drives versus a Nova drives.

[AutobahnSHO]

For that money you can't go for super shiny (perfect body) BUT you need to be looking for something that looks MOSTLY taken care of- too much rust or abuse means the owner probably didn't change the oil, etc...

The cheaper a car is means the less the owner cared about unloading it.
My current Subaru was $2600 from a shady used car dealer- blue book is near $3700-5200. (private party vs. dealership "Good").  It obviously had a bad axle when I drove it (he fixed it) but the dealership wants $1300 to fix the AC and the transmission seems to have some kind of issue that will need work AND it needs a serious valve adjustment.
Drives FINE (I'd take it cross country) but if I don't take care of that stuff soon it will eventually asplode.

[Cookie Monster]

Haha, no. That Civic is almost certainly a piecer. I managed to have a pretty good time with my Novarolla, and you can, too. It's not like the Civic is gonna handle any better then either 'Rolla with that many miles, anyway. The Nova has a 5-speed. That $250 would cover a bit on an old junker like that, but only if you do all the work. You might be surprised how much simple parts can cost. I paid over $100 for some damn molded plastic connector for the Ranger last May.

Remember, your goal is not most car for littlest money (OMG DIS FERRARI IS AWESEIM FAST AND RUN PERFECTLY $500), but best odds of a reliable car for not much money. It's not like you have an income to keep paying for parts and stuff on a high mileage car. You should look for simple mechanicals, lowest possible miles, and everything important working without signs of fuckery. If you really want a manual transmission, fine, but at that price point, there isn't gonna be a huge difference in how a Civic drives versus a Nova drives.

That is true. Plus the Nova is made in Japan right? I wouldn't really trust any American cars from that time period.

Although, you can have lots of fun in a Civic of that era.

[hotrodalex]

Some of you guys need to learn when to pull the trigger on things and when not to. Don't just buy crap because you can. It might be fun, but saving your money up a little longer and buying something nicer is even more fun. Plus, if you start building your savings, you can start going for fun projects - like how I just bought my Elky. It's a lot more fun to save up, buy a car, build it up, have fun with it, save up more money, buy another car, etc. then to keep going from beater to beater.

[Rupert]

Some of you guys need to learn when to pull the trigger on things. Don't just buy crap because you can. It might be fun, but saving your money up a little longer and buying something nicer is even more fun. Plus, if you start building your savings, you can start going for fun projects - like how I just bought my Elky. It's a lot more fun to save up, buy a car, build it up, have fun with it, save up more money, buy another car, etc. then to keep going from beater to beater.

Gotta start somewhere...

[Rupert]

That is true. Plus the Nova is made in Japan right? I wouldn't really trust any American cars from that time period.

Although, you can have lots of fun in a Civic of that era.

Yeah, it's actually a Corolla, hence everyone calling it a Novarolla.

Lots of American cars from the '80s will be just as reliable as a crappy Toyota, but they'll be cheaper.

[hotrodalex]

Gotta start somewhere...

So start somewhere good.

[Rupert]

Yeah, but good costs money.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Some of you guys need to learn when to pull the trigger on things. Don't just buy crap because you can. It might be fun, but saving your money up a little longer and buying something nicer is even more fun. Plus, if you start building your savings, you can start going for fun projects - like how I just bought my Elky. It's a lot more fun to save up, buy a car, build it up, have fun with it, save up more money, buy another car, etc. then to keep going from beater to beater.

Whatever

[Tave]

Some of you guys need to learn when to pull the trigger on things. Don't just buy crap because you can. It might be fun, but saving your money up a little longer and buying something nicer is even more fun. Plus, if you start building your savings, you can start going for fun projects - like how I just bought my Elky. It's a lot more fun to save up, buy a car, build it up, have fun with it, save up more money, buy another car, etc. then to keep going from beater to beater.

You're using that phrase incorrectly.

[hotrodalex]

You're using that phrase incorrectly.

Oops, forgot to write half of the sentence.

It was supposed to say "Some of you guys need to learn when to pull the trigger on things and when not to."