as much as i love my mustang i wouldnt.. the cars paid off, thats just me.

 

Wow...you're at THE crossroads man. You might think that as you get older, the pressure to own a car like a mustang or own the big house or other society pressures ease as you get older but in fact I think they get worse. It's the keeping up with the Joneses... The decisions you make at this point will have a bigger impact on your life then you know. I'm the big 4-0 and there's older MF'ers here too.

I'm not giving you "fatherly" advice. I'm going to give you financial advice. Keep your Mazda and move on with your life. Taking a car that's fully paid for and trading it in for a used car payment that will likely stretch your budget is a financially stupid move. Take that 400-600 dollars that you are considering spending on this car and invest or save it. You can use that money for a down payment on a house later on if that's the right lifestyle for you. DO NOT waste it on a frakkin wedding when you meet the right girl. Or if you save it, you can walk into a dealership in 3 or 4 years and pay cash for a brand spanking new mustang, have lower insurance costs, etc...

When we wanted to buy a house, we set aside the difference in our rent at the time and what the mortgage payment was going to be to see if we could even make it work financially for a year. Turns out we easily could and then we had more money for the down payment going in too!

Save the money and use it wisely later.

This is coming from a broke mustang lover

 

100% agree.

 

Sound advice from wcgman, from someone also the same age.

 

Just Turned 23 about a week ago and for my 2012 Loaded GT. I pay $443/month and I paid my insurance for the year up front (just so i could make sure my finances were in order) and it cost 1360 for full coverage, with 500 deductible in NJ

Both the loan and the insurance are through USAA

 

Personally,

Keep it for a year and really evaluate your finances. Make sure you have started your retirement account. Make sure you have everything in line for your future (i.e.. school, emergency money, good job) Then after that year if your adding to all these other accounts and still have the money left over, get the car. IMO your young like me start your future savings now so they grow and you don't have too start late in your life. You will be glad you did. THEN get the car.

 

Also i kept my hoopdie... 2002 ford Taurus. She's been paid off and the car for the snow (although i just can't help getting in the pony....)

 

Mine is a 2001 Explorer Sport. I call it The Goat. Reliable as heck and snow is no challenge to it at all

 

Sir, thank you so much for the "fatherly advice" I really do appreciate it and I think I'll keep the mazda although I love mustangs so much. I will probably get one once I actually have a good stable job. For now, you are right and I'll just save it for the future. Thank you so much!

 

Thank you for the great advices guys! I really do appreciate it.