As an E-3 I wish I bought a new Camaro. Here’s why

[5dmkiii]

I bought a new Toyota Camry for 25k. Today I googled the MSRP of a new Camaro and it was also 25k. I honestly wish I just spent my money on the Camaro. To all of you A1Cs wishing to buy a Camaro my advice would to you is definitely cop the Camaro as you really aren’t getting a bad deal ONLY AND THIS IS A BIG ONE, ONLY buy it if your credit score is good. My credit was around 720 when I bought my Camry so I was able to finance a cheap loan through Navy Federal for 2.6% APR. Please don’t be dumb and buy a new car with no credit history. That’s just shooting yourself in the foot. Anyways hopefully this post was able to help someone as I sure wish someone told me this 3 months ago. Have a wonderful Air Force day folks.

 

[molinsmarconi]

@5dmkiii This is shit advice or a troll. If troll, ok funny but there are better subs for this.

If serious, no. Cars lose value, always. New cars lose value fastest. Sports/muscle cars lose value fastest.

It's like buying a stock and having it drop 40% value overnight and then continue to drop 5% a year, forever.

 

[5dmkiii]

@molinsmarconi But I also enjoy the finer things in life. What’s wrong with buying a sports car if it brings you joy?

 

[marina777]

@5dmkiii Because E3s with sports cars tend to thrash the shit out of them to the point they wear unnecessarily fast. Couple that with domestic build quality vs Japanese build quality and you'll be driving your camry to work for a long time while all the camaros are "in the shop".

 

[5dmkiii]

@marina777 I thought Camaro were decently reliable?

 

[marina777]

@5dmkiii "The Chevrolet Camaro Reliability Rating is 3.5 out of 5.0, which ranks it 21st out of 24 for midsize cars.". That's for normal daily driving, consider that alot of people who get these cars, especially young, hormone rich, E3s are not driving them like a Toyota camry. Cause nothing gets the ladies going like burning your tires in the parking lot.

 

[2piusx]

@molinsmarconi "Sports/muscle cars lose value the fastest"

Not always true. Used sports cars have been appreciating in price lately. Example? The Nissan 370z. 5 years ago you could buy one with less than 70k miles for less than 13k.
Now? Good luck finding one under 15k with less than 100k miles (a manual one at least)

Also, any car enthusiast would know that cars such as the Honda Civic Type R, the C8 Corvette, and many other brand new sports cars are being sold used for MSRP. Of course these are outliers, but my point still stands. Just because you buy a sports car doesnt always mean you're getting fucked.

I will agree in most cases for most new boots, a toyota corrolla or camry would serve them way better financially. But for someone who knows what theyre doing, I feel like can be just as well off financially, assuming they are smart about it. I think thats the point OP was trying to make.

Ah yes, downvote me to oblivion for having a different opinion. God forbid I say anything different than anyone else on this sub.

 

[davidkampisch]

@2piusx Aside from the corvette, Nissan and Honda tend to have a longer life, cheaper maintenance, and less problems than a Chevy would... makes sense for those cars doesn’t make sense for a camero. Definitely not the same category of vehicles.

 

[2piusx]

@davidkampisch I agree the Camaro is definitely not in the same class of cars that I mentioned, I was mostly trying to emphasize the point about how you aren't necessarily going to get screwed financially just because you bought a sports car. You can buy a 30k v6 camry and get fucked just the same as if you bought a 30k sports car. It all just simply depends on the car and each individual situation.

I know there is a huge stigma on this sub about sports cars, and honestly its for good reason cuz of all the new boots going out and buying way more car than they can afford. I just think people on this sub should put more thought into it besides just "SPORT CAR BAD. ONLY PRIUS GOOD" mentality

 

[fallencolin]

@2piusx Get out of here with your nuance!

Buy a 14k used Civic. Eat ramen. Don’t ever go out. If you buy a sports car because it is something you love in life despite investing and having good credit, you will still die destitute.

 

[davidkampisch]

@5dmkiii This is the worst advice I’ve ever heard. Not only because a Camero and Camry don’t even compare when you talk about life, longevity, and maintenance. I am sure you are comparing a stock no upgrades camero to a middle tier Camry and not the base model for 25k. In addition, if that’s irrelevant then you didn’t stop to think about mpg comparison of both vehicles and which has the better mpg which will most likely be the Toyota. To take it a step further your insurance will most likely be higher with a camero opposed to a Camry. With that being said and not going even further into the pros and cons please refrain from giving first term Airmen, soldiers, marines, sailors, and coasties advice. Or giving financial advice at all to anyone cause this was pretty terrible and not well thought out.

 

[yuki213]

@5dmkiii Lol. You missed a large part of the point when you skipped the $25k sports car...to just spend $25k on a different car. Your Camry will still be a better financial decision in all likelihood between insurance, maintenance, and gas costs. But the point is to NOT go blow that kind of money on a car when you’re an E3.

 

[5dmkiii]

@yuki213 But all the used cars were almost as expensive as new ones

 

[dreamscapestars]

@5dmkiii I actually encountered this in 2009 as well, and bought a new sedan. The lower cost of maintenance, better mileage, and better resale value offset the higher insurance (did that math in 2018).

However, that's in a very limited price range around $10-18k. I wouldn't encourage junior enlisted to spend even $20k on a car in today's market, let alone $25k.

 

[5dmkiii]

@dreamscapestars Why

 

[dreamscapestars]

@5dmkiii Diminishing returns. A car that costs $10k is much nicer than a car that costs $5k, and one that costs $15k is considerably nicer than one that costs $10k. Above that it plateaus quickly. Put a 2019 Hyundai Sonata with 40k miles (~$18k) next to a $25k Camry. What's the difference? They drive about the same, same mpg, same interior space, are equally reliable, neither is embarrassing, etc. Importantly, they also have about the same low total cost of ownership (insurance/tires/gas/maintenance) for the next 10 years, whereas buying the $5-10k car is going to run a greater risk of maintenance issues. So, I'd suggest someone making $25k a year reach the level of a good, reliable car they won't be eager to replace, which is unlikely to suddenly drop a $5k repair in their lap, and call that good enough.

Side note: considering how screwy the new and used car markets have been lately, I'd recommend anybody avoid buying until it stabilizes. If you're living in barracks, there's always someone not using their car who'll let you borrow in exchange for a tank of gas (I did this for 3 years). If not, figure out a one-car household: bike, public transit, hourly car hires (e.g. Zipcar), carpool, etc. We sold our second car last year and I used the federal mass transit benefit to ride a van to base for free.

 

[andreeamarshal]

@5dmkiii I think when people give the advice to buy a Camry to young enlisted they’re talking about a used one that doesn’t 75% of your yearly salary.

 

[5dmkiii]

@andreeamarshal Thanks to COVID the used ones were almost the same price as a new one

 

[resjudicata]

@5dmkiii Wtf did I just read? This reeks of low IQ.

 

[racheljay50]

@5dmkiii Troll post?