How did you afford a car when you were 16-17?

[InverseOfNeo]

How did you afford a car when you were 16-17?

I didnt

 

[poopaskoopa]

I think I worked about [sob story]35hrs/wk for $4.25/hr[/sob story] to buy a 1986 Civic 8 years ago(paid $2000). I can't remember exacly how much I was paying for insurance(USAA), but it was less than 150.

 

[notfred]

ZI bought an old truck for $250, and paid $63/month for very basic minimal liability only insurance. I worked about 16 hours a week.

 

[Thegonagle]

My dad kept his 86 Dodge Omni around for me when he bought something new for himself. The Omni was 8 years old with 106,000 miles. He sold it to me for $550, around 1/2 book value, which I paid to him in 4 monthly installments. It was a good deal for a well maintained, not-rusty car for a 17 year old, and I was glad to have it.

I remember liability insurance starting at around $100 a month with State Farm, until I got a few tickets and was dropped by State Farm. I started paying well over $150 per month for a long time to come after that.

 

[TNTrulez]

Wow I'm really lucky my dad just give me his car. =)

 

[Colt45]

Well let see...

I've got a vega wagon with a blown engine. and ive got a vega hatchback with a ford 9" rearend in it, for my vega wagon.

Then I got a few 350 blocks and cranks sitting.


Some day i'll put it together.. someday


Still don't have my damn liscence!:Q (I'm 18 now).

I guess having uncles that run a wrecking yard helps, when you need parts

 

[Kinger]

My first car was a 1984 Chevy S-10 Blazer that I got when I was 16 for $1000. I had to work my ass off for three months to save up enough to pay for the car itself plus sales tax, title, registration, and a dwon payment on insurance. My Dad was cool about it and he let me insure it under his name so that saved me some $$$.

 

[txgixer]

I worked odd jobs until I was 15. When I was 16, I started working a steady job 20-25 hours a week. I saved that money and paid $2000 for a 1983 Subaru.

I also paid for the gas and insurance.

 

[SpongeBob]

Originally posted by: mithrandir2001
Didn't own a car until I was 21...when I was on co-op and making $550 a week.

16 year olds should not buy cars. I don't care if they think they have the money, they really don't. Cars are one big money suck so bum your parents' cars as long as you can.

Buying a car when I was 16 was probably the smartest purchase I ever made. First of all, I learned how insurance worked and how to get it. Second, i learned the responsibility of taking care of the car and how to fix things on it when they broke. Lastly, I drove that car for five years with minimal cost of maintenance, and for a car that cost $3000, i think i got my money's worth.

Probably the best part of owning your own car when you're 16 is that it is another step towards independence from mom & dad. That alone makes it worth it.

 

[BigJohnKC]

My Dad and I split the cost of my first car up the middle. I had worked mowing lawns every summer before that, so I had some money saved up. It was a 1989 Ford Taurus, brown, 4-door. Boring car, low insurance costs, but my Dad paid for those. We split everything except insurance - all repairs, gas, etc. Somehow I managed to be able to aford the car - got it about 6 months before my 16th birthday.

 

[Tiger]

I had a part time job in highschool at the local grocery store.
Time to join the real world. Life is about making choices.
If you want or need the car more than anything else at this time then you will find a way to work the hours to pay for it.
There are only so many hours in the day so something with less priority has to be shelved for the moment.

BTW, I was making car payments before I had a license.

 

[StageLeft]

Had no chance of it - I used my parents' cars. None of my friends had their own ones either. Insurance plus car we simply couldn't do.

 

[JayHu]

Originally posted by: toph99
I have been looking for a beater to drive around for a year or two, and insurance is nuts! over 150 a month for a 12 year old S10 or Ranger! i'd have to work 21 hours a month just for insurance. Of course this would be if i had it under my own policy, but i'm not looking to spend more than 800-900 on a vehicle. Not to mention i'd have to get it emissions tested, so i'd end up spending a bunch on exhaust :disgust: how did you all pay for your insurance and such?

How did you get 150 a month? Did you put that in CDN? I pay about 220/month on a 94 ranger, under my parents plan, and I'm 21.
Where are you getting your insurance from?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Ultima

Originally posted by: Scouzer
I can expect to pay $275/mo for insurance and thats liability only. Thats with all discounts from driver's training and having my parents plans with the same company as me.

yeeshh.. americans must really suck at driving for insurance to be so high. That is sky-high.

Nah these figures are similar to what I'd have been paying for my own car in Nova Scotia. If you are primary driver and only one on insurance you get reamed when you're 16. I was mad that I never had my own car back then but in retrospect it would have been stupid.

Lets see what I did have:
Liberal access to parents' vehicles which were all late model with free insurance. All I had to do was _sometimes_ pay for gas.

Alternative:
Spend my high school working some crappy job to be able to afford an 8 year old car that is nothing special at all.

Choice seems obvious to me.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: JayHu

Originally posted by: toph99
I have been looking for a beater to drive around for a year or two, and insurance is nuts! over 150 a month for a 12 year old S10 or Ranger! i'd have to work 21 hours a month just for insurance. Of course this would be if i had it under my own policy, but i'm not looking to spend more than 800-900 on a vehicle. Not to mention i'd have to get it emissions tested, so i'd end up spending a bunch on exhaust :disgust: how did you all pay for your insurance and such?

How did you get 150 a month? Did you put that in CDN? I pay about 220/month on a 94 ranger, under my parents plan, and I'm 21.
Where are you getting your insurance from?

wtf? I'm only 19 and I have quotes of $50 a month and some $40 a month (CDN).

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Ultima

Originally posted by: Scouzer
I can expect to pay $275/mo for insurance and thats liability only. Thats with all discounts from driver's training and having my parents plans with the same company as me.

yeeshh.. americans must really suck at driving for insurance to be so high. That is sky-high.

Nah these figures are similar to what I'd have been paying for my own car in Nova Scotia. If you are primary driver and only one on insurance you get reamed when you're 16. I was mad that I never had my own car back then but in retrospect it would have been stupid.

Lets see what I did have:
Liberal access to parents' vehicles which were all late model with free insurance. All I had to do was _sometimes_ pay for gas.

Alternative:
Spend my high school working some crappy job to be able to afford an 8 year old car that is nothing special at all.

Choice seems obvious to me.

Hmm. I'm 19. I got quotes of $500 - $900 a year for comprehensive + liability.

 

[Electric Amish]

I had a job after school. My monthly loan payment was $72. My parents payed for half of my insurance.

amish

 

[thebestMAX]

Easily! I Didnt!

 

[SexEPid]

My '82 Tercel was $700.
Only had 124,000 Km's on it too.

Quite the steal.
Especially when I have someone who wants it for $1000
Hehe.

$40 a month for insurance for me.

ANd...21 hours a month? I can work that in a day and a half.

Pid

 

[toph99]

Originally posted by: Ultima

Originally posted by: toph99

Originally posted by: mithrandir2001
Didn't own a car until I was 21...when I was on co-op and making $550 a week.

16 year olds should not buy cars. I don't care if they think they have the money, they really don't. Cars are one big money suck so bum your parents' cars as long as you can.

i'd love that but both of my parents work and i need a car to get to work. For now my mom books off days that i have to work so she can take me there, but that isn't very smart financially considering she makes so much more than i do. I just want a beater to get myself to work/school and back every day.

where do you live, the country? Unless "work" is more than 1 hour away by bike or two hours away by bus, I don't see why you can't take those options.

i work a town over, and i live in 'rural suburbs'. Biking would be ok in the summer, except there is no way in hell i'd bike on the road to my work. it's a country road, 80km/h and very narrow. Now that is only for the times when the snow is off the road, between april-june and october-november. I have a clean driving record, and the quotes i got were from yahoo.ca's insurance center. Those quotes are liability only, nothing else. I don't have the ability to work more during the school year, as they told me i'd be getting a maximum of 16 hours/week.