Ok it's kinda a long story, but here goes.

Ok about 4 months ago I bought a 96 EK hatch with 87k miles on it. It is my first car. I took a loan out to get it, and the only reason I got it is because I saw it on autotrader for cheap, it was $2,900 and the loan came out to $3,300 with tax and license.

So over the past 4 months I have been making the minimun payments and spending all my money on fixing the car up.

00 front end, rims, tires, new paint, lower etc.

I still owe about $2000 on the loan, and honestly I regret getting the civic. It is so slow and I really do not want to put any more money into it, and I dont want to do an engine swap because of cops and smog and stuff, and with the oney I use to make it faster I can just get an S2K and even if I fix the EK up a stock S2K would still be faster.

So what I want to do is sell the EK ASAP, pay off the rest of the loan and start fresh and drive my dads van to work until I have ebough for a used S2k.

So basically I am wondering, should I keep the EK and continue making payments, or sell it and start saving for an S2K right now?

 

I would just finish paying off the ek and use it as a dialy and save up for a s2k... Thats what i would do and take your time looking for a clean s2k(with a hardtop).

 

yeah keep the ek, sell all your aftermarket parts, use that money to put towards paying off the loan, return the ek to stock, drive that around, get good gas mileage, and save up for the s2k, and keep the ek as a daily driver when you get the s2k, as the s2k isnt to daily driver friendly

 

you sound as though your not a very wealthy person.... i would advise against taking a much larger loan on an s2k and struggling to pay for it....

enjoy your money and enjoy your fuel efficient car...

 

Since you mentioned the EK is your first car, I am going to assume you are a fairly new driver.

Early model ('00-02), high mileage (75k+) S2000's are typically in the $9000-10,000 range these days. First consideration should be monthly costs. Your current monthly payment would at least triple and you would most likely see a hike in your insurance rate Are you prepared for that increase? I am not implying that you can't afford it, only questionning if you have examined the ecomonics involved in the upgrade.

The S2000 is also a more expensive car to own and maintain. Premium gas must be used and the OEM staggered wheel arrangement prevents rotating tires. This means the rear tires wear quicker. Your traditional consumeables, brakes, rotors, etc. are all more expensive than comparable Civic parts. Also don't forget that if you are looking at an older, miler mileage car you need to be prepared for increase maintenance costs due to wear.

Do as you wish but you've been given great advice by the previous posters. Pay-off your EK and keep it as a economical DD and purchase a S2000 when you have saved some money.

 

If you can hardly afford to pay off the loan and mod the ek, the S2000 is not for you.

 

you took a loan out for a $3k dollar car and still owe 2/3's of the loan... doesnt sound like s2k pricing to me... fix the civic, pay it off and enjoy a very maintenance free car... u might have to wait a year or 2 to get the s2000 but ill be worth the wait...

 

Umm yeah.

If you cannot purchase a $3000 in cash and had to get a loan for it AND can't even pay it off then you most certainly are not going to be able to handle payments that will be 3-5 times as much a month for an S2000.

Not too mention insurance, maintenance, etc. Which I'm wagering you're on liability and don't do anything but oil changes on the Civic.

*edit*

This is what my Dad told me when I wanted a car:

- Make a budget in Excel for the initial price of car, how much down payment, how much of a loan, use 3y/36mo @ average financing (look at several places) and figure out how much you will be paying at the end of it
- Budget for gas (which isn't stellar in the S2k when compared to a Civic I get around 25/26 right now)
- Budget for oil changes and routine maintenance
- Budget for insurance
- Budget for tires
- Budget for unexpected maintenance/mechanical issues

Do that for the life of the car and see what it comes out to be, I guarantee you're not going to be able to afford it without going absolutely broke. I say that because you can't afford a $3k car.

 

what i was thinking. having trouble with the 2-3k worth of a loan on the civic is really pennies compared to an S

 

who pays loans uy everything cash and yea the gas and maintenance is not good because on the s2k you can aford to buy second best products.

 

I make $1,200/month, I can afford a $300/month loan payment and my insurance will be $160/month for full coverage. That leaves me with $740/month. I dont have any other bills or rent or anything. I just am terrible at spending my money which is why the civic isnt paid off yet, I have only had the loan for 4 months and I have been paying the minimun if I put the money I did into fixing the car it would have been paid off long ago.

 

THIS disturbs me

 

The S2000 is not the car for you if you just got your license. It should not be your first RWD car either.

 

 

I wouldn't put my **** on the block, not in this economy, to buy an S. Hunker down and live well within your means, things are gonna be sketchy for the next few years. Horde cash meantime and when some desperate owner has to dump his car, pick it up cheap.

 

i agree with everyone else here....just cause you make $1200 doesnt mean you should splurge it all on the s2k. assuming you do get a loan for the car, your payments would be alot more depending on the interest you get. longer loans = bigger interest payments/less principal payments.

i suggest saving up a little more before getting one. that way you have a cushion for yourself if you do need the extra cash in desperate times.

 

hey hey hey, add "in my opinion" for relativeness it's fine to the tamed driver and will be okay to learn to drive "fast" in if the driver gets the help he/she needs. just like how a literbike isn't the best choice to start on, but people do it all the time and the majority of them are still alive.

 

You guys are right, i'll get an S2000 once I get a better job, I think im gonna get an integra GSR, and then turbo down the line, should smoke a stock S2K.

Im looking at a 00 black GSR with 100k miles for $6,500 OBO I Can get him down to $5k

$5k GSR with 100k miles > $10k S2K with 90k miles IMO.

 

I think you should pay off the car you have and keep that for awhile and save your money.

No sense paying off your current debt to go into more debt immediately.

 

I look at it like this.

I still owe $2,000

If I sell the EK for $3,500 (already have a buyer)

I can PAY OFF the loan and have about $1,500 left over.

I just got paid today ($630) and I paid another $170 twards the EK so now I have $460 so if I combine that with the $1,500 I make off the EK I will have basically $2,000.

Now I just save up for another month and have $3,000 and get another loan for $2,000 and buy that GSR.

I will be in the same place I am now, BUT with a much better, faster car.

 

it's like xmas - the longer you wait, the better it is..

 

WHAT HE SAID

 

I'm going to show you a little math so you can see that you're going to lose money by selling your EK.

You took out a loan on the vehicle for $3,300. You said you owe about $2,000 dollars still on the loan, which means you've paid off $1,300. Dividing this by the 4 months you've had the loan - you've been spending $325 on your car payment a month.

You say you make $1,200 a month. I am going to assume this is take home pay and not gross. Taking out the $325 from your income leaves you with $875 dollars a month to spend on everything but your car. Let's assume that your living expenses (of which you claim to have very few) including insurance would be 25% of your paycheck. That's another $300 a month on gas, insurance, going out to eat, whatever.

Assuming you aren't saving any money - which you claim you aren't because you "have been making the minimum payments and spending all (your) money on fixing the car up" - this means that you are spending $575 a month on your car either fixing it up or buying it rims and other goodies.

Over 4 months you've spent $2300 on the vehicle. Add in the price you paid for it, means that in order to break even on this sale you have to sell it for $5600 as is.

Unless you are taking the majority of the work you've done to the car off, I'm not seeing how this could be a wise financial decision.

Also remember that you'll get used to how fast the GSR is / bored with it and want to mod that as well.

I also suggest, if you aren't saving money now - start doing it.

 

Good luck getting a loan on a 10 year old car - either S2K or GSR.

 

Anyone will give a loan out for the right yield...