mrb63083

iTrader: (4)

If you buy one right before college, just keep in mind that you'll need money for gas and maintenance. Get a small, part time job to afford the gas and save every other dime you have incase you have a big mishap come up. I knew a guy that had an FD in college for 4 years. He didn't have payments on his car, but to afford it he gave blood!

Keep in mind; these cars look good out of the box, so I wouldn't be too worried about body modifications. As far as motor mods go, you might just have to wait until you have money available to purchase such. Keep a good cushion of money aside, though. Most of your modifications might have to wait for birthdays and/or Christmas.


If you really want the FD while in school you'll have to make sacrifices. It's attainable.

kgphmp

I agree with other posters that you should try to pay for all (or a large majority) of the car up front. In these economic times, you shouldn't be taking on more debt, especially if you're still in school and potentially have student loans without a consistent source of income.

mdpalmer

iTrader: (24)

I didn't read all of the posts... but seriously, if you have to consider "affording" this car--or any material thing for that matter--while in school, you can't afford it. As some of the others in this thread alluded to, cash is king. You're much better off buying things outright, especially these days, than getting a loan.

What anyone in college should really focus on, IMO, is taking advantage of everything you possibly can while in school. Everyone's situation is different (financial, social, health, etc.) but you really should have that attitude to grab the bull by the horns, so-to-speak. The greatest thing I ever did for myself was finish college in very good standing, have great internships, made a lot of professional contacts, and go to grad school. If you play your cards right, you'll have plenty of $$$ and time to mess with a car as amazing as an FD later on. In the meantime you can do your FD homework too, study up, because this car is not your average turnkey simpleton

My $0.02

JdmRX

iTrader: (7)

live at home through college and worked all through it saving all my money with no bills, then i bought it.

1985GSL

iTrader: (4)

I was lucky enough to buy my first FD at 18. It is my 6th rx7 and the only reason i bought it was keeping an eye out on craigslist. i picked mine up for 7grand.... that was with a motor with 6k rebuilt turbos, apexi PFC, full intake, exhaust, fluidyne rad, huge FMIC, boost controller coilovers, fiberglass hood, straight body ect. I borrowed the money from my parents and filed my insurance through them to use the discount. i have only bought rx7s cheap and fixed them for profit. One fb i bought for 400 and it totaled out in a parking lot for 2300. theres 1900. bought one for 450 and sold it for 900. Worked on an FC on the side, Made 900. bought FC-1000 sold for 3000. then i let someone drive the FD and they crashed it. I gained 3500 in profit after through insurance. I am currently putting a shine auto widebody on. I have also worked as an assistant manager at a lube shop over a year making 10.50 plus comission.( around 14 and hour usually) This is all while i have been attending UTI in Avondale AZ. I am now in the BMW training program and still loving the FD. just learn how to budget and when to spend money on what could turn into an "investment". BTW i turn 20 on the 27th. Also when i was in WI i worked 2 jobs and lived at home to pay for my boosted FB.
Charlie

1985GSL

iTrader: (4)

Oh and also school scholarships i got over 2 grand in cash.

jstrunk

iTrader: (10)

i afforded mine by graduating... its only 4 years IF you just got in... use that time to do a lot of research, get a beater and save up. Cars will still be here.

latinFD

iTrader: (5)

Bought mine with a little money from selling my old car and working during co-op (paid mechanical engineering internship). And a "little" loan from my grandpa. It was just barely enough to pay for my FD....until the engine was cooked due to that coolant seal failure.

The next thing I did was stupid:

I used about 90% of my second term co-op assignment and pulled an extra $7,000 student loan for rebuilding the motor, maintenance and upgrading it to a single turbo with all the goodies. I figured that I wanted to have what I wanted right there and then...and I will pay for it later....6months after graduation this spring. I raised my debt quite a bit. Do I regret it?.........hell no. I got my dream car with the mods I've wanted....I can pay for it later...lol

berfles

Sorry to bump this up, but I was searching for insurance rates here... That's really the only issue I'll have affording an FD. I'm 22 and make enough that I could handle the car payment, but my problem is I'd want to insure both the FD and my Probe that I currently own because I'm not driving my FD in crappy weather conditions. I have no clue how much it would be to insure both of them, I guess I need to make some calls.

I mean other than that I have no real bills, I pay room/board at home and buy my own food and stuff but it's not much at all. Just don't know how insuring two cars will pan out.

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

You would get a multicar discount, and you should also state the the probe is your primary vehicle and the fd is a weekend warrior/pleasure vehicle only. That is one way to get a better deal. Also, having no tickets helps.

I know my agent got me a multi car discount and then a multi policy discount with a hospital income policy. it cost me $12 per month for the hospital income policy, but I saved $22 per month from my auto insurance because of the multipolicy discount. At a savings of $10 per month, I could care less if I never use the HI policy.

berfles

Yeah I planned to say the Probe was the primary, I'm not even sure what I'm paying for that off the top of my head. I've had no accidents or tickets either, perfect driving record. After reading some other threads here it seems like it's not near what I thought it would be, but I'll still have to call around and find out.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Get multiple quotes and understand that some of them will require the car to have no mods and/or drive less than 5k miles/year. Some insurance companies won't even insure an FD.

Also consider how much you paid vs. replacement cost vs. blue book value. If the car cost above blue book you could have a really hard time if the car gets totaled.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

Very true although im NOT happy when its time to drop money into the FD lol, it is rewarding when you have the extra cash to do so.

I also think this is why our cars' rep becomes worse and worse, because of people who really cant afford the FD.

They spend all their money on mods, have a job that pays 10 bucks an hour and still have the loan and insurance to pay for the car. So when they beat the **** out of it during their daily grind and it breaks, they sell. And then the next person has a shitbox to work with, and probably makes the car worse etc etc.

Then the chain effect starts.

My car isnt in the best shape in the world. Im still non seq with bolt ons and my body if i had to rate it myself would be like a 8.5/10. But i try my best to keep it running (even if that means take it out once a week), just to satisfy my hunger to drive it.

Its my life going project, i have my entire life to be happy with it. I want to take my sweet time working on it and making it better and better. So hopefully in the future, my paint and body would be flawless, ill have a nice single under the hood and ill be tracking the car every so often

purerx7

iTrader: (61)

Drug dealer.... Problem solved. How do you think I have $30,000 into my fd and I am 21?





On a serious note. I have busted my *** day in and day out for the last 6 years, every dime I have ever earned has been put into this car. In retrospect, that was/is quite a poor investment, I would think ROI would be -70%.

Integrals

I ditched the girlfriend, saved a ton of cash that way. Plus i have a daily

DeeSan

iTrader: (2)

received 20 k from granny at 18 and I bought my FD with that! I dropped another 30 k in it in the last two years ! and there's a lot more to come :P. But yeah I appreciate that my parents and family back me up. I also work for my dad's company and I save like 10% of everything i earn into my bank account ( going for my own company financing) and the rest of it is spent with my girlfriend and mods for the Seven!

LERRY

iTrader: (12)

i'm 20 and bought my FD cash. i've been through about 6 cars starting from high school. i'd fix up my honda by doing all the labor myself, and sell it for a little profit. did that with a couple of cars and i finally attained my FD. i'm a full time student while working part time. have a strict budget set and you can achieve your goal within time. just work hard in school, and whatever is left in work. i haven't lived with my parents since i was 16 and never received any money from them since then, all hard earned by myself. trying to finish up college so my struggle will pay off and i can finally make some serious money!

darkphantom

iTrader: (2)

i had started saving after i graduated high school. i worked 2 jobs for 2 years.

-promised my first car would be a rx7 and i ended up getting a moded one for 8k once the car was mine i went to school.

here i am with a 600hp fd going to school & work at the same time. with 2yrs left. which meant for those 2 years saving i took the bus & train everywhere i went!

However i did reliability mods first since this is a DD and my only car

24 btw and i only pay for books. financial aid pays for school ( and no i cannot afford full coverage insurance)


when i graduate in 2011 id promised myself a 3 rotor.

staticguitar313

iTrader: (2)

Before I shoot myself in the face let me say this. I love getting myself way in over my head.
After owning four FC's I was only slightly entertaining the idea of owning an FD, after looking at a few locally for what I thought where great deals I stumbled upon mine. Picked it up for 12k with quite a bit of goodies.

1. I work as a store supervisor for CVS/Pharmacy, the pay is actually much worse than you think.
2. I chose to live with my family and have an FD instead of live out on my own with an FC, rent is FREE and so is food. I have a garage for the car and what not, but like I said, I live with my freaking family and its really gay.

I've have my FD for almost a year and I've driven it for about 2 months out of that time. This is due to continuously changing my mind on mods, procrastinating and being broke. I'm almost ready to get my car tuned :/

Would I do it all over again? Yes, yes I would.

pyro_racer_0016

if you don't have a rich mommy and daddy or a huge trust fund from you grandparents then you will be working full time making $20+/hr. I make 18.50/hr. and time and half and double time and i still don't have enough to spend on my fd and because of that my FC sits gutted waiting on motor mounts and oil pan brace untill the FD is happy again.

staticguitar313

iTrader: (2)

^ you need to budget better, I could work wonders with that pay.

Integrals

word...

I honeslty spend about 2k a year to maintain / keep the FD alive. In the last 3 years its had 4 months downtime total.

sp_amend

iTrader: (4)

i tried so many times to get an FD back in college, but couldn't.

i now have one and realized it was better off not having it back then cuz it costs a lot of money to maintain the car.

anyways... GOOD LUCK.

banjo

live at home and saved up.

muibubbles

iTrader: (36)

mom sponsored... waiting for decals...