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Here's the thing: I'm an 18 year old college student living at home and working part time at a toy store. In August I am going to become an assistan manager there, and with that comes a nice raise and guranted 30 hours a week. I'll be bringing in lil over 1000 per month (after taxes). Right now I pay 300 a month for the Civic...well I give 300 to my dad...the loan is in his name. Lately I've been considering getting rid of the 2k1 when I won't be upside down on it, and getting an older Honda...more like a 95 Del Sol. I really want a Honda, I want to be able to have fun with it, and I love the removable hard top thing. Also, with a car like that, I could get a used car loan for it and be paying around 120 or so a month. That would be great, especially if I am looking to be getting an apartment soon. What should I do? I hate having a new car because of the cost, and the Civic just isn't fun...its boring to me. I love having a new car because its new, and no worries about it running or not (well...I've had some problems, but nothing major). I've made 10 payments so far on the Civic...put 2000 down on it. I really would like to get the Del Sol, but I just dont know....and how in the hell can I convince my dad to let me do it? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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I think you should just stay with the honda civic. Don't think about doing a condo yet until
you finish college and get a real job. I wouldn't trade in the new civic for a much older delsol.. not worth
it.

 
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<< What should I do >>

Don't get married and have kids if you get the del sol.



<< and how in the hell can I convince my dad to let me do it? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] >>

Start by telling him you can't afford it? Go into telling him you finally found a car you really want (in details on why you want the del sol... if he's a car guy, I'm sure he could understand.)

 
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It's your money man...If your dad won't let you sell the civic, tell him to take over the payments since it's in his name. That sounds really harsh, but maybe then he'll get the idea that that is what you really want to do.

 
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just be a terror to your parents and then tell them exactly what you just wrote and then they will be happy you want to make lesser payments on an older car so you can move out.
Or just tell then what you just wrote and see what they say.

 
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Did Britney get approval of this? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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It's your money to do what you want with it...are you sure the loan would only cost you around 120 a month? When I was 18, I had my car in my father's name as well as he had a much more extensive and established credit history then I and could obtain far better rates...I got an apartment my senior year in college (about a year and a half ago) and am still living there but am now looking for a bigger place now that I am employed... Just do what makes you happy...

 
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i would keep your civic, at the moment, it's the most relieable thing besides your job, a lot of crap changing cars

 
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Do what's gonna make you happy. Express yourself to your parents and remember you don't want to **** them off cause you're gonna need their help sometime or later. My advice- stick with the civic, it's a better car and since it's under warranty there should be no engine issues while a used car, you could spend much $$$. I know cause I had a used car and then recently got my civic. Payments suck, but its better to make payments then keep putting money into an old car and getting nothing in return. You still have plenty of time later in your life to buy a different car.

 
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I hate to replicate what everyone else is saying, but keep the Civic. I was recently in the same boat as you, except backwards. I had a '95 Accord V6 that I loved. My (check this out) girlfriends father wanted me to get a new car. We have been dating for 6 1/2 years and we just moved 300 miles away for college. Although she has a 2000 Rodeo, he wanted us both to have new, reliabe cars that we can keep through college and travel home worry-free. I've had a couple of small things happen to my Accord that cut me short on money, C/V Axles, Tires, and my ignition coil. So then I had all my bills, plus my car payment and then car repairs. Living on your own in college is rough, its definately no cake walk. Unless your parents are loaded on paying for everything. So to make a long story short, he co-signed my Civic for me (it's hard to get a good loan rate while being a full time student) and I now have a car that I can keep all the way through college without the worry of any unnecessary repairs. Think of it this way.. if you buy a '95 Del Sol now.. In 4 years when you graduate its gonna be 11 years old. I know its a Honda, but you have to expect normal wear and tear problems. That last think you want is to have to throw out extra money for car repairs, you gonna need every dime you can get your hands on. Living on your own for the first time is definately a wake up call.

 
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i hate to be the bad guy on this one, but if you and your dad went into such a big purchase for a car, why the hell didnt u buy the car that u wanted in the begining? i mean, thats just plain stupid! and if u changed ur mind about your car after u bought it...well i say TOUGH ****...learn to deal with the consequences of making big decisions. i think its pretty whack for anyone to suggest throwing the car loan back into the fathers face... its not his fault that he has an indecisive son. im not tryin to be a jerk, but after having bought this 7thgencivic....it would be really dumb on ur part to turn around and get an older car. not only would u lose HELLA money in the value of the new civic, but then u would be turning around and buying an even OLDER car which has the potential to be a LEMON. seriously put some thought into this one! g'luck!

 
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Yeah well it looks like I have to hang on to the Civic for a bit longer....I would break even right now if we sold it, but we've spend 6000 bucks on it in just 10 months and that would be stupid to just sell it now...prolly closer to the end of the year...till then I can decide on what to get. 99 Si maybe..or Integra...something with more potential than what I got now.

 
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<< i hate to be the bad guy on this one, but if you and your dad went into such a big purchase for a car, why the hell didnt u buy the car that u wanted in the begining? i mean, thats just plain stupid! and if u changed ur mind about your car after u bought it...well i say TOUGH ****...learn to deal with the consequences of making big decisions. i think its pretty whack for anyone to suggest throwing the car loan back into the fathers face... its not his fault that he has an indecisive son. im not tryin to be a jerk, but after having bought this 7thgencivic....it would be really dumb on ur part to turn around and get an older car. not only would u lose HELLA money in the value of the new civic, but then u would be turning around and buying an even OLDER car which has the potential to be a LEMON. seriously put some thought into this one! g'luck! >>

Jason, didn't you call me a traitor for wanting a Integ Type R? [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] I'm sellin' the Civic in about 5-6 years from now, but of course I gotta get the Type R asap if I want the best one... and if you want a decent del sol, you better look NOW. Well, he can do what he wants with his money and if there are consequences with getting the del sol, I know he'll be willing to handle them as long as it doesn't get his sol taken from him from some financial fling! I'd go for it... I wish I could sell my Civic but I'm happy with it, and it'll be gone after I dump like $7,000 in it. Let Phil live and learn. If it's something he wants (it's something you want, right Phil?) then I say go for it if you're aware of what lies ahead.

 
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I dont know what I want right now...my heads all over the place...car, work, girl, school...I hate being an 18 year old...well I am certian about a couple of things...and one of them is that I'm sick of this Civic...when I was originally told I was getting a Civic I had dreams of a pile of mod's and such that would be on my baby, but no...turns out I get the new Civic with just about no potenital at all compared to earlier ones...the car has became a hobby for me...replaced video games as my favortie thing to do (hahahha yeah im a dork [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] :tup[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG], so I would like to be able to enjoy my hobby....Del Sol or whatever...lower payemnts..more money I can spend on the parts that are actually out there and ready to be put on...this Civic is great and all...just not what I'm looking for...

 
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<< I dont know what I want right now...my heads all over the place...car, work, girl, school...I hate being an 18 year old...well I am certian about a couple of things...and one of them is that I'm sick of this Civic...when I was originally told I was getting a Civic I had dreams of a pile of mod's and such that would be on my baby, but no...turns out I get the new Civic with just about no potenital at all compared to earlier ones... >>

I learned this also, but too late after getting a new car... but I didn't need to find out that it's hard to fix up a new car, my bro just told me as I was getting into cars! It's not impossible to fix this car up... it's just that no one really knows how to yet. This is a new breed of Honda engines, and the i-VTEC is no different... except that it does have the benefit of already being a powerful engine. But yeah, if you wanna fix up a car, it's best to start with something older... start with something totally stock... rebuild the engine, use better parts from better engines, and take advantage if there's a lot of aftermarket support for the car. If you waited a couple of years at least, I'm sure you'd be able to do something to your Civic in terms of performance... but as always, it's also always nice to fix up a car that's already fast... and the del sol VTEC is a winner with it's B-series engine.



<< the car has became a hobby for me...replaced video games as my favortie thing to do (hahahha yeah im a dork [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] :tup[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG], so I would like to be able to enjoy my hobby....Del Sol or whatever...lower payemnts..more money I can spend on the parts that are actually out there and ready to be put on...this Civic is great and all...just not what I'm looking for... >>

I stopped playing video games, too! [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] I feel you, though. I'm enjoying this new hobby of working on cars and I think I'm getting into the habit of taking things apart in my car just for the heck of it... and putting it back on. But if you want a show car, your Civic is your ticket. A new car alone looks unique, and by altering it's appearance somewhat (with a body kit, or custom body kit or whatever you do) then you'll blow the doors off the competition with your car that can't compare to the few that look similar to it. The del sol is a kew looking car, yes... (I'd get one if I could!) But if performance is what you want... then go for it. You'll figure it out eventually... I mean, just look at the car you have now and ask yourself if this is something you really wanna be commited to? Work, girls, and school... you can still find time to work on your car with the money from work... without a girl, hey... you got more attention to your car! School promises you a healthy career so don't give that up. This is my two cents... live and enjoy your life. A del sol is a smart choice if you got the money and time to get it. Even if you end up not having time to put work in it, I hope you'll be happy with it's fair performance.

Zell

 
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Hey, I just had to jump in.

Anyway, I was in kinda of the same situation.

I am 21, 20 when I bought my 2k1 civic. I put the car under mine and my mom's name (for lower APR) and basically, I didn't know $hit about cars, but needed something right away for school and work. I currently drive around 300-500 miles a week.

So I went to the dealer looking for either a 99-2000 model with low miles, and around $12,000 budget. Well I left with the dealer lot with a 2k1 Blue EX for $17,000. 1000.00 down and paying $525 for 3 years.

I was pretty satisfied leaving the lot, I could afford the payment, liked the car so what more can you ask for. Well, I started to look deeper into the car mod buisness and found this site and many others. For a 5 year plan, I even could've afforded a Honda S2000, or with the mods I have putten into the 2k1 I could be owning a WRX or RSX.

So for a while, I was thinking about giving my 2k1 away, to give back to my mom and have that car for my brother. My mom would've re-embirsed me for the mods I put it on, or my brother would pay me for the mods once he recieves the cars.

Reason for that decision, was because I wanted something FASTER, something with more go rather then show. It sucks when you know most cars can beat you in a race.

But I changed my mind. First of all, I couldn't do that to my mom, she didn't buy the Civic. *I* did. Its under her name, but I'm paying for it, in the end with the dealer, I made the choice of the car *I* wanted.

Basically, because I am not a racer and I do not *NEED* to go fast, the main point of me having a car and ultimately the goal of my car was get me to A and B without any hassle.

So right now, I am completely happy with my decision, and happy with my car. As for preformance wise, I am looking in buying an old 92 hatch and then fixing it up to be my preformance weekend car. While keeping my 2k1 as my weekday work/school car.

Point in all of this is, you shouldn't make decisions until they are well thought out.

Did you have a say when your parents and you got your civic? Did you want the civic?

Honestly, if you knew you wanted the civic and later found out it didn't have that much potential because only after you bought a car was when you started getting into the hobby (like me) then honestly, tough luck. Like any big investment in your life, you should always do your research.

We all make bad decisions, and we have to live with it. For alot of people, they don't have their dads or moms to bail them out.

But hey, if you can get your dad to pick up the tab, then $hit, do it and get what you want but just think about things throughly before you end up looking like an @ss.

Ray

 
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Yeah I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and it looks better and better everyday. Yes a car is basically to get me to and from school and work, but I want a little more from it. The whole removable top is what wins me over....I'll barely be able to fit in the thing with the top on (yeah I'm 6'2"), but it well be one hell of a ride on a nice sunny day (Houston weather is kinda good for drop tops [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]). Add to this the fact that I would most likely be getting the base del sol and putting a B16 in soon after I aquire the car. It just makes sense to me, cheaper, something thats funner, and its what I want. My dad's only hang up on this is the fact we invested so much in the Civic already. No I did not want the Civic from the start...origianlly I was planing on getting a Mustang, but that dream was shot down by my speeding ticket in my sister's new mustang....[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG] My parents wanted me to get something slow, relaiable, and gets good gas milage....Civic! Well I didn't like the idea at first...I didn't really know to much about cars then, but I did see tons of loud annoying slow 4cyl Civics running around town. Well...cool I though...at least if I get a Civic I can have some fun with it and learn about cars. Well...almost a year later here I am...hating the 300 a month I have to pay for it and almost no aftermarket products out for it compared to older Civics and such. I'm tired of waiting...but it looks like I have to...hopefully closer to the end of the year I will be able to do the trade...untill then I can just research the lil del sol and make plans. With the money I will be making, I could make one sweet del sol....swap...turbo....nice stealth apperance on the outside...no kit...no stickers..no altezas [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]...all engine work [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

About the whole "I dont play videogames anymore" thing...yeah when I got the car it changed my life. Before then I never cared to much for cars, knew about them, or hanged out with buddies and did car junk.

 
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It is your money and your decision. I know I would live at home as long as I can, especilly if money is tight.

 
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Well, after listing to everybody's advice and having some good talks with my paretns and current Del Sol's owners I have decided to keep the Civic. It seems like the smartest thing to do, plus I have grown attached to the car after almost a year. I'm just gonna be happy that I got a car and make the most out of it.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]