You could live in a gated apartment complex with controlled access ;)

Works for me that my parents garage with all of my tools is only 30 mins away.

Bottom line is owning a home or renting should really have no bearing on whether or not you have a nice car.

Do what you want with your money. You can't take it with you when you die.

glad someone shares the same thoughts. lol :tup:


yah, i lived in pretty upscale apartment complexes long time ago after college landing my first job 2200 miles away from home...was gated and had 2 levels of assigned parking garage. i rented 2 car spaces. long story short, it didnt work for me for my car hobby. i needed power, access to tools, and a wall to block off all the noise at night and most of these apartments loitering is not allowed in parking areas for safety.

i also had some arse kick the rear bumper leaving shoe marks, hand prints on the glass from people looking inside the car, bird crap?, valve caps stolen, no privacy while detailing the cars.. :shakes head: there were actually cars stolen from the parking garage too. and you'd think shitt like this dont happen in a nice gated community in a nicer part of town. wrong!

i had (still my buddies) friends about 30min away who owned a car repair shop i could use to do mods, but still, just not the same borrowing tools and space cause i didnt have the flexibility with time. not like i can hop on over there at midnight to start a coilover install just because i got back from a late flight biz trip. :D

i learned very quickly that if i wanted to really get into this hobby like i meant it, i'd want a nice garage of my own that i have access too 100% of the time.

so if someone was asking about the Z for overall operational cost to keep in mind, i think that's a valid question... smart for someone to do research especially if they are money conscious and just starting out. (how's that for getting back to topic? lol... :D )

Tires are the killer. I change my own brake pads and oil so there's not a whole lot else other than those damn tires!! :icon14:

True kenchan, living in an apartment with a nice car is a serious pain in the ***. At times, almost more stress than it is worth. I live in a nice place, very nice part of town too. I also rent a private garage which helps a lot, but is nothing compared to having a real house garage/driveway (especially when I need to wash my car).

[QUOTE=
See what you did, ken? Epic derail. Now bring us some charburgers and cheese fries. :icon17:[/QUOTE]

Lol, Classic. :bowrofl: That made me smile .... Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. I love this place the sidebars are priceless.

I'm not taking it too seriously... were just mucking around right now. Enjoy the show. :happydance:

:iagree::rofl2:

Do what I do: live in an apartment with attached garage.

I think something on you shrunk up a little? If you have a good job it is a buyers market. Plenty of foreclosures and homes on the market. Coupled that with low interest rates its buy buy buy. I agree the house etc. followed with some toys is good planning. I am sorry but their is no reason not to buy a house if you can afford it. More times than often it is good money spent over time. Right now we have a 15 year morgage at less than 3.5 percent. Crazy good! I think the original poster should look at something else. I do give them kudos for setting down and looking at overall cost. Very smart and honest assessment on his part.

I didn't want to sound like im preaching that's all. :D obviously my way of life is different from others. I did however learned quite a bit along the way as I've already posted. :p and I'm doing pretty good.

They both have their own purpose, but the Z is definitely more expensive to run purely because of the tires. Average cars have tires that last 30K, you get 15K in the Z off the truck. There is also the transmission fluid and diff fluid change, but they are <$100

If you have 20% in down payment sure. If not, you are screwed.

Cossie, you're exactly right. Home buying is a fine goal, but it certainly is not for everybody. Some markets have such a high cost of living that scraping together 20% is practically impossible. I'm fortunate enough that I got my home bought before lending tightened up, but the idea that started this thread derailment that I need to get a house before buying a car is preposterous.

OP, here's the thing. The only thing that matters when looking at a car is whether or not the purchase negatively affects the style you've grown accustomed to living in or the style you're prepared to live in. If it does to an extent that it makes you uncomfortable, hold off and look at the purchase at a later date. As the others have said, I respect you for looking hard at the numbers, that's the only way you'll truly know if you can afford it. Whatever you decide, good luck!

S.

Hey nice to see another Minnesotan on here. I purchased my 370z last June. The only major problem I had was I ran over a nail about a month of owning the car and had to completely replace the back left tire. Cost me about $400 from tires plus.. As for the oil change my last oil change was $30 bucks.. I don't know where you got this $120 from but I do know people were talking about getting the more expensive oil which is around $90 which I heard is just recommended?

Anyways, Where are you looking at getting your Z from? I purchased mine at coon rapids nissan.