Hello, and good day gentlemen,

first of all, thank you for making this forum what it is, an awesome place that I spend most of my time checking threads with knowledge, and most importantly, AMAZING pictures.

My situation is as follows
wrapping up my degree, and moving, selling my current car (2010 STi) and looking for another car (mostly for DD purposes)

I have about 85k in what you would call student loans (international student ) and have been saving up for quite a while to pay the loans off and be debt free for a while

Got a very nice job offer (oil industry) where they'll pay off the 85k, and I'll get paid reasonably well but have to sign a 5 year contract with my current employer which is not an issue

Been toying the idea of putting down what I get from the STi, and what I have saved to pay back loans, and buy a nice (expensive to me car), such as a GT-R or a 997 C2S for example.

After the LONG history, here is the important stuff

The adult in me wants to take it easy, finance a nice small house, and buy a cheap DD, but the sometimes I think to myself, I have a pretty good job stability and I can do that later, but I may not be able to enjoy myself and accomplish my dreams once kids are added to the equation.

so the options are, buy a house + a cheap DD now, or buy a nice car now and worry about the house later (the company pays a big part of the rent on my behalf)

if I decided to go the cheap DD route, what are your recommendations, I'd like to stay in the 20's range, prefer brand new (for reliability and warranty), and the car will be in extreme weather conditions, so please keep that in mind (the main reason I don't wanna take the STi back)

I know it's my decision, but I'm asking for your opinions, I'm pretty sure many of you here are successful because you made the right choices when it mattered the most, and I'd love to learn from your experiences.

 

house first

 

the only reason I'm having second thoughts is I should be able to afford a much nicer house a few years down the road.

but then again, the house is a pretty good investment and is much smarter than paying for somebody else's house (rent)

Thanks for your valuable opinion

any recommendations on the cheap DD thing, trying to put a list together for comparison

-AJ

 

1. I wouldn't buy a house
2. There will always be great cars. I would wait on anything exotic. What is your hurry

 

^ so do nothing lol

i would do a C5 Z06 but your insistence on new may cause a headache.

 

Solid advice.

 

House prices may be cheaper in the near future but your financing costs will probably be a lot higher than they are now. 4.25 fixed on a 30yr conventional should be very comfortable for you. That and with the mortgage tax write off you are most likely paying at or less than what rent would be.

My 2 cents: Small house, modest DD, and get enough cash in the bank to pay for either the fun cars in full, a down payment on a much larger house, or FU money to take a few months off to travel.

 

Depending on the housing market that you are in, prices aren't going anywhere for a while, BUT, rates will almost certainly be higher. So if you buy a 250k house today, in say two years, the house may be the same price, but the mortgage payment will be more. I will never try to pick the bottom of the rates, but we are currently at record lows, so now is a good time. Of course, if your market is declining, all bets are off and get a nice slightly used car that will not depreciate terribly while you wait for it to stabilize.

 

I need a car to drive around, I'll be moving out of the US and will have to get something to drive

The house thing is a necessity, it's just when is the perfect timing for me to buy.

The exotic will come one day down the road, I'm just trying to make the best decision right now to increase my chances of owning an exotic when the time is right, and of course I will have to have a nice DD to keep the exotic company in the garage.

The C5, or even C6 Z06 are great choices, but warranty and reliability plays a huge factor for me as it'll be a DD

also I prefer something with rear seats as we are planning on having a baby soon, so that'll save me a trade in

-AJ

 

my advice is live within your means

don't buy a nicer car just cause you don't have a mortgage payment. that won't always be the case and i wouldnt want to be that dude who lives in a tiny appartment but drives a 100k car

also don't put "non recurring" cash down on a car. its also an easy way to spend more on a car than your means justify. if it was accumulated over a long time or was a one time thing, chances are you won't have this cash next time you buy a car.

btw i though STi's were great extreme weather cars?