Doh! Missed that. Still might be room for improvement though...

 

I will have to disagree about the pricing. I was with Safeco up until about 6 months ago and was paying about $310/month! I switched to Geico and with the same deductibles I ended up paying $224 per month. Then to make it better, my policy just renewed last week and it dropped down to $196 per month. I'm 21 and I have a perfect driving record. I just went and got quotes from the 2 sites you previous mentioned and esurance.com quote me $319 per month and the other one quoted me $350 per month! I understand a lot of people hate Geico, but from my experience they are one of the cheapest insurance companies.. at least they are for me.

 

1. If you can exchange the lease for a civic or accord without a big penalty, I'd do that.
2. Check out different insurance companies for whatever car you end up with.
3. When I was young and spent more than I could afford, I'd just worked more overtime, or added a part time job. Since you're not making much per hour, you also have the option of finding a higher paying job.
4. Don't get tickets!

 

That's pretty suprising, it's vice-versa for me with Geico. Just goes to show you how much insurance rates can differ between individuals - depending on age, driving record and location...

It pays to shop around until your face turns blue for the best possible rate you can find for yourself....

 

1. that's the best option. the car likely has not been titled yet. TIME IS CRITICAL! Once a title is issued it is a USED CAR worth $4000 less at trade.

2. good idea. the person who said that it is OK to insure it in dad's name and drive it on "errands" needs to know that in many states, if the driver is not on the policy...NO COVERAGE!!!!!

3. He needs to go to school. If he doesn't, he'll make the equivalent of $11 an hour for a long long time. he might get lucky, but even if he does, it'll be backbreaking work. SCHOOL IS CRITICAL! The S could cost him well over $750,000 in lost wages. He needs to dump it. Usually the benchmark is you can afford a car that costs HALF your yearly pay. He is at FOUR TIMES THAT.

4. Oh, yea. If he gets tickets, he'll likely get dropped. He would have to pay for a car he can't drive.

 

Holy god

Some you people are being WAY too harsh, and giving totally ridiculous advice.

Half the people here just seem bitter that he's driving a nice car at his age. "You will NEVER make it through college with this car. Congrats, you just paid $750,000 for it?" Give me a break. Most college kids live on student loans anyway. There are LOTS... repeat... LOTS of people I know who drove nice cars through college, working to pay both their bills and their tuition.

At this point, you're best off to keep the car. People are telling you to go trade the thing back in. That's going to cost you at least $2500. Right there is the difference between your original quote and the new quote for two years. Besides, you obviously haven't shopped around yet. There is no way that's the "best" rate you can get if you have a clean record. Insurance is always going to be expensive at your age though, even if you're driving a Yugo.

 

You're missing the whole point. It's not that he couldn't pay tuition at a public school while having a nice car. The problem is going to school while working full time! It's really tough and some people don't have a choice. I don't think it's worth it just to drive a $30K at 18. But that decision has already been made...

 

I've got 2 things that might help if you keep the car and the same job.

1. Call around and see if you can switch your whole family to a new insurance company if that will help you get a lower rate(might be the only chance of getting rates lowered).

2. You've gotta be REAL careful with this one and you should skip it if you're not good with money... Your paycheck withholdings sound a little on the high side. Find out if your parents are claiming you as a dependant. If not, you can claim yourself. Use a tax calculator(yahoo, turbo-tax) to figure out what your taxes will be for 2005 if things stay the same. If you are having more deducted than you should, file a new W-4 with your HR department and your take home pay will be adjusted properly. DO NOT CLAIM EXEMPT or you will really be up shit creek in 10 months. My friends have done that(they also have bankruptcies...). I could easily see this as adding an extra $120 to your take home pay but, BE CAREFUL!

 

[QUOTE=steven975,Jun 15 2005, 02:56 PM] Usually the benchmark is you can afford a car that costs HALF your yearly pay.

 

Putting that much money into a car before college is just not smart. There is no worse place to have your car than on a college campus where door dings are the least of what damages could happen. You don't need the stresses of a high car payment either. Not to sound like a parent, but you could have a variety of sudden costs arise. What if you gott sick and couldn't go to work?

Anyway, the first year I got my S2K, my insurance was very low (much lower than average). I have a very clean record with no accidents so I didn't think anything of it. Turns out, the following year, my insurance went up $200 a year because the insurance company didn't have the correct point value of the S2K. They gave me the premium as if I had an Accord. Well, the higher amount wasn't that much so it didn't really bother me, but the point is, these things happen and you must be prepared for unforeseen costs.

SOLUTION: Your best bet is to trade in the S2K at the dealership you got it at for an '05 Honda Civic. Like people have said, maybe they will take pity on you. Mosts dealerships are selling these at near invoice prices because of the '06 versions. Now, you might get a penalty for the broken lease but you can make it up by the discount you get on the new civic. It would be almost as if you were paying MSRP, but at least you'd be getting something (and not taking a complete hit). Fight with the insurance companies (if at all) at a later date. You are just going to have more frustration and further costs on your plate if you go that route. If you don't have that many miles on your vehicle, the dealership might even assist you on working with the finance company. If you have to pay a high documentation fee, at least that is better than taking the large hit. The whole thing comes down to the fact the loan company doesn't want to go through the trouble of repossessing anything if they don't have to do it. I believe they will work with you albeit some cost to you.

Bottomline, no matter who is at fault, you should never buy anything that puts you in a vulnerable financial state. Too many costly reasons are just around the bend.