When I had my civic I went through two winters with regular all seasons.

But for my s2k I immediately got snow tires as it was my dd. You NEED winter tires if you're going to drive during colder months.

you don't 'own' the car - you owe more on it than its worth

and this is your idea of 'enjoying your youth' - driving around in an s2000? that's waht you want to tell ppl about when you're older? when you're 24 or 30 or whatever, you think some girl is going to be impressed that you drove an s2000, but now don't have 2 pennies to rub together and live at home b/c you still owe money on it?

fuck, ppl are losers these days

you should be enjoying your life, not enjoying getting there... that's what cars do - and yes, i've had nice cars all my life, but i worked hard to get them, not just borrowed

Hmm you said you paid cash for all your cars but sometimes it's smarter to finance or lease. Being able to pay cash outright is great but not everyone can do it.

And aren't you being a bit presumptuous by assuming he doesn't work hard? If he's working a good job while in school and can afford to set aside some money for monthly payments towards a car then why not? Isn't that why we work in the first place? To be able to get what we want? You also mention being able to enjoy life... Well driving an s2k is a great way to enjoy life.

Of course OP should be smart about where he spends his money. If getting the s2k will stretch you too much then it's better to wait. If you can comfortably afford it then go ahead.

I'd say driving an s2000 would be considered enjoying life. Perhaps he will fall into auto-x after he gets it. I'd say that would be pretty enjoyable. Life isn't just about impressing some vagina at age 30.

Your post is chalk full of assumptions:

- That Araadi's idea of enjoying youth is based on having an S2000 alone.
- That he gives a shit about impressing a girl with his car.
- That he won't have 2 pennies to rub together at 24 or 30.
- That he will be living at home at those ages.
- That enjoying his life is solely based on what he drives.
- That anyone gives a fuck about how hard you have worked for the supposed nice cars you've had.

That's a lot of assumptions on which you base your assertion that "people are losers these days".

Having posted a similar thread recently and been given a ton of insightful information from RS members it's a shame there are people like you on this forum who utilize this place to stroke their own ego.

Kev

Araadi, I checked out the car you are talking about (grey '06 from Land Rover Richmond). I believe it was traded in on a new Range Rover Sport. Unfortunately, it looks like it was modded in the past with a lot of ill-fitted body pieces like large rear fender flares and a poor-fitting front lip.

IIRC, the car was listed privately on craigslist for $19k for a couple of months before it was traded in. Therefore, I'm guessing he/she got about 13-15k on trade for it. You could probably offer 17k and see what happens assuming the car is still there.

And if it's gone no big deal. Winter is coming and I imagine the market will soften up a bit for S2000's (until next summer!)

Kev

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...26553393_n.jpg

Must be this one, I quickly peeked at it and the front bumper fitment was :rukidding:

Its ironic you even mention finances when you're purchasing "nice cars" all your life, the depreciation value of any vehicle is almost always 50% after 4-5 years, this especially goes for the european cars, as well as domestics.

Unless your car is highly sought after (ITR, WRC WRX, NSX) its not even an investment to begin with. You don't even have the rights to call anyone losers.

@OP: It's a better idea to not re-finance the loan, your money pit gets bigger. But if you live by "YOLO", don't let the opinionated stop you from doing what you want.

You make it seem like everyone who finance a car is dumb,how is me paying for my car monthly not working hard to get a car.Driving around in a s2000 is part of enjoying my youth, I don't do things in life to brag about it 10 years down the road, and if you need a car to impress a girl there must be something wrong with you or you're going after the wrong girls.

And for the rest of you guys, thanks for the input guys, I am in no rush to grab the s2k, the one at land rover was just the first one on craigslist that fit my price range. I wouldn't get the car if my monthly payments increased, I am pretty good with finances and wouldn't make a decision unless it is manageable to me.

If your budget is around $19k you should have no problem finding a good car. Low mileage AP1s or early AP2s can be had for that money.

Edit: or not? I just looked at Craigslist and it seems like s2000 prices are holding steady or are even higher than before...

2003 Honda S2000
Chu Blue is best blue :troll::troll:

Don't worry guys, I'll pick up a north face asap for top down winter driving.
Yea my budget is about 20k, so I can have room to haggle and make a deal.

woah thats the moonrock grey paint... super super rare color, was only offered for 1 year on 06's i believe, it looks really nice imo, almost like a ferrari grigio grey almost

That's what caught my eye with the car, I loved the colour.

the car is not good for the winter, it's made for spring/summer. If you decide to get it, i would highly consider a winter beater.

btw, don't forget about mpg+, 91+ octane

Im pretty sure the OP doesnt sell dimebags....the guy is actually going to school and works a legitiment job...something you should consider as being a dimebag dealer isnt something you want to brag about when you're 30.

Ok Mommy.

While I drove my S in the winter, I agree with jbsali.
The gravel and salt mixture that they used in Burnaby sandblasted the fenders on my car. There is about a 1 cm part where the fender liners do not cover. :okay:

mpg isn't that bad in the S. As long as you are hard on the gas and in Vtec, I was getting 11L/100 km on a regular basis and got it down to 9.5L/100 km when I was on skinny snow tires and 5w20 motor oil.

4444 has a point though. OP, I understand you want to enjoy your youth, but at the same time is it worth all the debt which will affect your later years. Drive the civic, save up your money and when you are financially secure, get the car of your dreams. You are 20/21 so you still have plenty of youth left.
BTW, how much $$$ down were you planning on putting down for the new car?

Roach can get the car because it isn't his DD car and he can afford it.

After you sell/trade in your civic, how much are you going to put down on the s2k ?

Doesn't look like you'll get anything back so if you put 0 down, your payments will be like $5xx per month for 36 months. You'll have to work slightly more hours to make up the difference. Whether that trade off is worth it is up to you.

When I bought/financed my first new car back after I graduated, I got bored of it after a year and a half as well. I was set on trading it for an older pre-owned Miata. I crunched some numbers and realized that in that 12-15 months, my car had depreciated about 30% (~$7500) in value vs. what I was to pay by the end of my financing term. Essentially I was 'paying' ~$500/month in vehicle depreciation, plus the $300/month financing, so really I was paying a total of ~$800/month for the first year and a half I owned the car. This is when I learned that leasing really isn't the devil I thought it was and works out really well for those who want to change things up every 2-4 years or so.

So I decided to just suck up my car lust, paid out what I owed on it to save a few hundred bucks interest, and drove the car and used it as an appliance for the next few years, and I still have it now 6 years later. It's been perfectly reliable and cheap to operate which was why I bought the car in the first place, and has gotten me from A to B with no drama. This allowed me to save up for a condo and to build a personal reserve fund to go back to school without having to take out a student loan. Sure I'd have more fun in a 2 seater drop top, but that was a good lesson for me to learn and I'll never be buying a brand new car off the lot again unless I win the lottery.

Just thought I'd offer up an alternate to the yolo view.

Nice is relative, and I've only bought one new, but I would change any of these decisions - I don't need a lesson on vehicle value depreciation, but thanks for trying to look smart

Owing $16k on a low end civic tells a story in and of itself, that the car is not easily afforded, and chances are if fella loses his income, parents are taking over payments, which is so fucking lame - I bet girls love a guy who drive a car they can't afford (and if they do, quality girls, those) - and yes I'm assuming this guy is buying an s2000 to try to pick up ladies

sometimes financing is 'better' from a purely investment standpoint (returns on investment vs payment in financing - but also consider post tax returns on investments), although I don't buy this argument - finance rates are low, but you can always negotiate a better purchase price with cash. I also doubt most ppl invest properly to get the better marginal return

As for leasing, only time this makes sense is through a corporation for the better tax write off

If the kid had cash or perhaps 50% cash to buy the car, I wouldn't care less, but do you ppl even realize that easy credit and buying everything on credit has totally helped fuck up the north American economy (no not the only reason, I'm not interested in talking about the economy in depth here), so many ppl 5yrs later end up regretting buying 'toys' once they realize how life didn't quite turn out as planned (ie no $100k salary straight out of university)

Haha, what? I am the furthest thing from a drug user or dealer, Im a multiple designation suit and tie businessman, thanks all the same

this thread is giving me a fucken headache

Good for you for sticking with the car, but that's the exact reason why I don't believe in buying brand new cars early in one's career. Its such a money sucker and you WILL get bored of it.

Buy a used car, preferably 2-3 years old while there is still some warranty left. It'll take some time to look for a good one and let someone else take the depreciation hit and let them fix any minor defects and problems with the car. I just bought a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3, $18,500, 40,000km. Car is like new except for a few minor chips on the hood. I saved almost $20k compared to buying new. Yeah it took a while to find one I liked, but I would totally do it again. In 2 years if I get bored of it, I can probably sell it for $12k and its only a couple of thousand in depreciation.