need help with girl's brother (car decision)
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On The Tree
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 173
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From: San Antonio Texas
need help with girl's brother (car decision) He is hooked on fbodys and thinks he is gonna get one. Well thing is he doesnt turn 16 until december. What he wants to do is get an old v6 for 5 or 6k as his first vehicle. Now thats all good but his sister is offering to give him her dodge neon which is a 2004 and is still like brand new for around 250 a month with no interest at all on the loan. It only have 30 something thousand miles and he still thinks he should get a v6 camaro that is 5 or 6 thousand bucks just because. What do you guys think???? I say he should take that car and run, the way gas prices are, the reliability, and a 100,000 mile warranty on the car.
Seeing that he is only 16 yrs old. He will automatically make the decision that will make him cooler or more attractive to the ladies. I know because we all did it at one time or another. I say let him get what he wants or should I say what his parents want to give him.
Having a sports car at a young age is something evry car fanatic wants.....but the way gas is now i would take the neon..he will have a dependable ride ....he can get an LS1 later when he gets a little older.
yes...gas is bad but shouldn't he save the $250x36=$9000....and drive the jeep that he has to drive for 2 or 3 years instead of driving a neon he doesnt like and then use that money towards the ls1 that he wants? 
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At 16, does he really want a note for $250/month....on a Neon? I'm not going to talk a whole bunch of crap about Neons, but they don't hold their value for crap. If he wanted to trade it in, he'd be so upside down he'd regret having that car. If he's worried about gas, I'd go the import route, since they hold value. But for $250/month he could get quite a few thigns. Let him get what he wants even if its a V6...I had one in high school and loved it and now I've "worked my way up" to the V8
in high school my car situation went like this. Moms durango>piece of ****>smurf trans am. I got the car towards the end of sr year, and yea it was worth the wait and people did start talking.
fugg that, I'd hate to live the rest of my life telling my car buddies that a "Neon" was my first car. That would instantly put you in poser gearhead status, causing you to work twice as hard to earn your credibility among the other gearheads. LOL!
My first car was a 69 Camaro. See, isn't that more refreshing to hear?
Instead of a V6 f-body, find an older or equally priced V8 f-body that can be worked on and fixed up.
My first car was a 69 Camaro. See, isn't that more refreshing to hear?
Instead of a V6 f-body, find an older or equally priced V8 f-body that can be worked on and fixed up.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 600
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From: Coppell,TX
nine - guess what thoose kind of cars cost now? plus can you actually drive that car on a regular basis. Think of all the damn maintinance you prob did. It prob took you twice as long to buy your dream car (of course your 69" is my dream of dream with no budget car) after that because you had to pay for the maintinance.
My first '69 Camaro was a rusted out heap, light green on a light green interior. I bought it when I was 15, while working at McD's. The engine was shot, and the TH350 was slipping.
I spent just about every evening outside working on that car for a year, and spent every dime I had on it. I learned how to do body work, interior restoration, and engine rebuilding. My Dad and I would go to every swap meet in South Texas looking for used parts, we built the car on a budget. I completed the car a week before I turned 16, with a total investment of $4K, and the car looked like new.
Kids nowadays don't look at a car and see the potential of the car. They tend to not want to put any elbow grease into building a car, preferring to buy them already completed. So, they end up with stuff like Neons and Civics.
I'm probably going to buy another '69 Camaro rolling chassis locally for $1K next week. The cars are out there if you look around for them.
I just sold my 98 1LE Z28 for $3K. All it needed was an engine and tranny, which would be about $3K from any junkyard. could have had a $6K Camaro with 40K miles on the body, that should have run 12s stock.
Tony
I spent just about every evening outside working on that car for a year, and spent every dime I had on it. I learned how to do body work, interior restoration, and engine rebuilding. My Dad and I would go to every swap meet in South Texas looking for used parts, we built the car on a budget. I completed the car a week before I turned 16, with a total investment of $4K, and the car looked like new.
Kids nowadays don't look at a car and see the potential of the car. They tend to not want to put any elbow grease into building a car, preferring to buy them already completed. So, they end up with stuff like Neons and Civics.
I'm probably going to buy another '69 Camaro rolling chassis locally for $1K next week. The cars are out there if you look around for them.
I just sold my 98 1LE Z28 for $3K. All it needed was an engine and tranny, which would be about $3K from any junkyard. could have had a $6K Camaro with 40K miles on the body, that should have run 12s stock.
Tony
TECH Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Cypress, TX USA
Let's also don't forget about being 16 and getting the HUGE insurance bill he will get, by getting a V8 "sports car".
My real first car was a 84' V6 Mustang LX, biggest piece of crap car I ever owned, but it still had that sports car feel and somewhat of a look of one.
My real first car was a 84' V6 Mustang LX, biggest piece of crap car I ever owned, but it still had that sports car feel and somewhat of a look of one.
I don't think he should get the neon...A v-6 camaro isn't a bad first car at all IMO. They have enough power to make a 16 year old think he's got something, but not so much power that he's going to kill himself (hopefully), they look good, and they're really pretty good on gas.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 552
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From: Pearland/Houston, Tx
Originally Posted by Nine Ball
fugg that, I'd hate to live the rest of my life telling my car buddies that a "Neon" was my first car. That would instantly put you in poser gearhead status, causing you to work twice as hard to earn your credibility among the other gearheads. LOL!
My first car was a 69 Camaro. See, isn't that more refreshing to hear?
Instead of a V6 f-body, find an older or equally priced V8 f-body that can be worked on and fixed up.
My first car was a 69 Camaro. See, isn't that more refreshing to hear?
Instead of a V6 f-body, find an older or equally priced V8 f-body that can be worked on and fixed up.
My first car was a 1993 Geo Storm
Then my brother totaled it and since my next door neighboor was the finance manager at Beck and Masten on 1960 He was like go pick out a car So I grabbed a 1998 Silver TA Nothing like jumping from 3 Cylinders to 8
Ginger Hater
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,464
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From: College Station, Tx
yea seriously, he should not even consider the neon for reasons listed above PLUS they aren't that reliable. do what nineball said, find an older car and build it up, plus at the age of 16, just get liability on the car, theres no reason to get full coverage on like an 86 z28....its probably dinged and beat to hell anyway.