Oh stop lol, she’s moving to NJ and will eventually get a place there which means she’ll also have a NJ D/L . She’ll be eligible .
Edit: but with her income nearing close to the poverty line, she should invest in a monthly bus pass LoL.
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It’s a total lease cost of $13,600 for 36 months in NJ on the m3 rwd plus the free charging he mentioned.
OP should just list her budget because I don’t know what else is close to that amount with a 45k msrp.
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I think we’ve also had conflict among us as to what the primary goal is here. Maybe I had overlooked it, but what exactly is the primary goal here?
-Are we looking to drive the nicest, newest, car with the lowest TCO? (Even if it potentially means returning a lease, $0 is returned & you start from scratch a 2nd time)
OR
-Are we looking for a vehicle that would likely be the better investment over a 2-3 year span? (You would/should have some sort of equity to trade or sell at the end)
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All the people recommending Tesla, the insurance will destroy her.
NTM the excess wear/tear from parking in a student lot or on the street.
And hope it doesn’t get keyed.
And hope an inexperienced driver doesn’t spin out in the snow in a torque-y RWD car (for a PhD student with no place to store a second set of tires for winter).
Speaking of, hope the advisor and fellow students don’t judge you too harshly for showing up in a brand new Tesla while they all drive beaters.
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Maybe worry about housing first? Find a place on or near campus. Rely on ride share for short trips, errands, etc.
If it doesn’t work out, re-evaluate once she’s situated. I don’t think she needs to rush into a car just because she’s moving to suburban NJ.
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The additional cost of a lease could provide a steady higher expense but peace of mind for unexpected repairs. The difficulty of finding a good used car can be time consuming and or require a few pre purchase inspections. Even the old man down the blocks car could have neglected maintenance or 5+ year old tires with a bit of rot. However that I come level I too agree with bus pass possibly and carpooling. Also how many years is the program?
While a ten year old car has airbags etc, there are better safety systems in newer cars, so there’s that to consider for a new driver in a part of the country that has seasonal drivability issues
Meh.
Keep your eyes on the road, and not on your phone are you’ll be fine, especially in a Crown Vic.
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We had a few Crown Vic’s in the family back in the 90’s when I started driving. They were great cars and cheap to buy/repair as old police units or taxi/livery cars
I remember I hydro plained in one on the belt parkway and ended up into a divider in Brooklyn. No bad damage or anything, just a scrape and dent on the quarter panel.
Parked it in the garage thinking my old man wouldn’t see it until the next day he did and I got a slap to the back of my head.
$500 later it was fixed and painted . Good as new
Thank god I have the means to drive a nicer car nowadays but wouldn’t hesitate to get another if I was in the poor house and needed a vehicle.
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A crown Vic is probably stronger then 90percent of cars on the road today.
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Don’t I see a Nissan in your profile picture?
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dont forget the skateboard
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I think this is all probably moot because once you deduct rent and other necessities from an annual $35,000 in a high COL area, I challenge anyone to come up with any remaining disposable income to pay a monthly payment on a brand new car PLUS the insurance premiums for a brand new insured party in a very high premiums region.
Sorry but TBH this analogy doesn’t hold water. Having watched friends do PhDs and residency, it’s just two entirely different universes.
MD: defined 3 year residency vs PhD much longer (average 5-6).
Current income: the extra $15-20k a year that residents make is the difference in having disposable income for a newer car vs having a beater.
Future Income: doesn’t shoot up anywhere near as much for PhDs from what I’ve seen. You just go from poor to being middle class or just above. It doesn’t make any sense to go into deeper debt than necessary when doing a PhD.
Expectations: a typical PhD student without family wealth is basically living just above poverty. They are all driving beaters. They will all continue to be driving beaters for the foreseeable future. Car trouble is just part of life. (And a reliable car means it’s not a frequent part of daily life).
Residency has different expectations. It’s a much shorter period of relatively frugal living with almost certainty of a huge pay increase. For some, piling on more debt is just shrugs while for others they’ll continue to drive beaters thru residency.
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No lease or finance new cars, especially those unreliable brands, just get old Honda or Toyota or Lexus if you are lucky. I learned my lesson hard way when i was in college. She should think about insurance and maintenance cost before buying any vehicles.
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What’s this I hear about free money?
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Not sure if I already mentioned this, but: Crown Vic.
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I’ve recommended the CV/MGM before in the $10k thread but I don’t think it’s the right car for this person.
A huge RWD car with long braking distances is not the right fit for someone who is a new driver in the northeast.
Stay in the spectrum of Yaris to Camry sized FWD cars.
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Searching for report button
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