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Should I trade up for a type R?

Buying a Type R

12K views 218 replies 26 participants last post by  Cueyo  
#1 ·
Had a bit of an epiphany last night and am considering a type R.

Little bit of context: I had originally bought my civic hatch sport during a pretty big transition in my life where I didn't have much money and kinda had to figure things out myself. I wanted a reliable car that would last me however long I would need. Along the way I kinda became a modding nut and have moved to a position where I make a lot more money. So either I keep modding my 2.0L or I get the 2.0T and save myself the pain of not being able to make more power. I'm really just stuck between whether I should keep my car because of the mods I've done or trade it for the potential to do more. The only real thing in the way would be getting a price that's around my current exhorbitant monthly payment of $600 at 9.8%, which seems possible as most type Rs in my area are going for $46k and $700-$750 a month at like 8.9%.

In either case, I would be offloading nearly all my 2.0NA specific mods at extremely cheap prices, something like $200 for the dp, $100 for the frontpipe and like $700 for the exhaust. Would also have to sell the carbon fiber, and I don't care much about making anything off of it so that would be cheap too.

Thoughts?
 
#2 ·
If you can swing the payments it's hard to advise against the purchase. Especially since we are talking about an insta classic. Damn car is already pretty much legendary and will join the ranks of the NSX and S2000.

I say go for it.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, I saw a demo CTR in championship white that they have in the showroom at my local dealer. It's going for $650/month versus the normal $750/month that the dealer has, hoping I can get that. I have much more car buying experience now than I did when I got my sport, so I'll know to go pre-approved and to leave when I want.
 
#6 ·
My experience since the last time of buying a car was that a down payment was useless, so no down payment this time lol. I called around a few dealers in my area to ask about trade on offers and monthly cost, but I believe I'm in the positive if a shitty site like carvana gives me 20k on a car I owe 20k on.
 
#4 ·
First, you're going to have to sign a paper saying that you will NOT mod the Type-R. Your soul should be the collateral.

Second, if you need a loan, you should not be buying a new car, period. That goes for ANY new car.
The normalization of financing for anything and everything, in particular depreciating asset, is one of the biggest sources of human problems.
 
#8 ·
Unfortunately I'm wrapped up in the devil of all loans with my current car, so the hope is to maintain the cost of the loan and actually get what I want. My current loan is also complete and utter shit because I was financially inexperienced at the time.

Since I bought my car I paid off like $9k in my credit card (so paid the whole thing off) and have consistently paid more than my minimum payment on my civic. Also plan on selling a lot of parts on the upcoming weeks of the CTRs are worth my while, if I get lucky that could account for like $10k in my pocket (I've spent $15k on mods)
 
#7 ·
Had a bit of an epiphany last night and am considering a type R.
The only real thing in the way would be getting a price that's around my current exhorbitant monthly payment of $600 at 9.8%
Thoughts?
Yes, I have some thoughts.
You should immediately start consuming Personal Finance podcasts, Youtube channels and books.

Paying $600/month, and 10% interest, for a compact economy car that stickered for $27,500??
Then spending thousands of dollars on modifications instead of paying down that bonkers loan?
Then 1 year later wanting to upgrade to a car costing $47,000+?
Then likely losing upwards of $10,000 offloading your current car (depreciation, transaction costs, modifications, ect).

This is complete insanity and a major reason people can never get ahead in life.
 
#9 ·
Yes, I have some thoughts.
You should immediately start consuming Personal Finance podcasts, Youtube channels and books.

Paying $600/month, and 10% interest, for a compact economy car that stickered for $27,500??
Then spending thousands of dollars on modifications instead of paying down that bonkers loan?
Then 1 year later wanting to upgrade to a car costing $47,000+?
Then likely losing upwards of $10,000 offloading your current car (depreciation, transaction costs, modifications, ect).

This is complete insanity and a major reason people can never get ahead in life.
I knew it was bad when I first got it, but I actually paid off a third of my loan in a year of owning the car. I used to pull 16 hour shifts at my old job on OT so I'm in a very cushy financial position. My biggest expense is actually my car insurance.

All of my mods have been non-destructive, so my car can be put back to stock with zero issues. I can financially "swing it" with relative ease, it's more about actually getting what I'm paying for that's my concern now. If I'm already paying type r prices, then I'd rather own a type r.

If I don't like the deals I'm offered I will simply not take them. Getting people's opinions is more about whether it's worth it (if loans/etc. stay the same/similar).
 
#10 ·
For me, and maybe only me, there are a ton of factors that go into choosing a car to buy. I won't bore you with them here, so I'll just say if I could afford the payment on a new Type R I'd probably buy one. It would not be the wisest choice of a car to daily drive. Far from it, really. But they are so damn cool.

Also, if you take care of it and don't put too many miles on it, the Type R will hold its value better than most new cars on the market. If it's financially feasible, I say go for it. 👍
 
#11 ·
It's going for $650/month versus the normal $750/month that the dealer has, hoping I can get that.
a down payment was useless, so no down payment this time lol.
I paid off like $9k in my credit card
(I've spent $15k on mods)
These are all incredibly concerning statements.
I would strongly urge you to pump the brakes on this CTR idea.
Work on extinguishing this dumpster fire vs. adding to it.
 
#15 ·
These are all incredibly concerning statements.
I would strongly urge you to pump the brakes on this CTR idea.
Work on extinguishing this dumpster fire vs. adding to it.
Gonna have to agree with Bluegrass here. The CTR is still going to be produced for a few more years at a minimum, and if we’re lucky they might renew it another generation or two. Keep in mind that insurance on a CTR probably costs more than on your Sport. Can you refinance the loan on your current car?
 
#17 ·
IMO this isn’t universally true. The interest rate on my car loan is lower than my savings account. I agree that you shouldn’t finance a car you can’t afford, but I don’t think financing a car is universally a bad thing.
@saveMT said..."if you need a loan, you should not be buying a new car, period. That goes for ANY new car.", which is absolutely correct.
It sounds like you don't need a loan to afford your vehicle, but you have one to take advantage of the interest rate arbitrage, which is totally understandable.
 
#28 ·
This FL2 is the first new car that I've bought. Buying new isn't a great financial decision, but I did it only because I qualified for 4 years with 3.9% APR and put down a large down payment and then another large payment a couple months later. I now have less than 2 years worth of payments left.

Anything near 10% APR is absolutely HORRENDOUS and completely not worth it.
 
#32 ·
Just checked with a dealer and they're still giving me 8.9% 🤣 at $955/month for 60 months. What a joke. Said if I wanted to get it to my desired amount I should put down $10k and it'll be closer to $750/month. Worst part is they don't even have championship white.
 
#35 ·
My son originally wanted a WRX , his insurance on his Forrester was $120.00 a month, he thought it might go up a "little", we called State Farm , they told him a New WRX, for him (21 years old, good record) would "require" $1000.00 down first, then $800.00 monthly (I guess the down is in case you total it before they get theirs ?) Civic Hybrid costs him little less than 200 a month insurance, he got humbled rather quickly...
 
#40 ·
FWIW, I've made some dumb decisions over the years when buying cars. Not catastrophic decisions, and certainly none that put me in a terrible bind financially, but certainly a few questionable choices. The good news is even poor decisions don't usually ruin the rest of your life. My last few cars were not the wisest choices, but I lived through it. Thankfully, I think I'm done buying cars for a while.

I will say that when I was buying the '24 Civic ST Hatchback 6MT a couple years ago (which I subsequently traded in for a new Si last fall), the dealership had a new Type R in the showroom, I think in Championship White, and I think with a $10K markup at the time. Tongue-in-cheek, I told the salesman if they'd sell it at MSRP I'd buy it. Of course, that's as far as it went. At the time, a new Type R was way above my budget, but if they had said "Okay," I'd surely have been very tempted to buy that Type R!

I don't say any of this to encourage anyone to make dumb decisions of their own. Cars are not worth ruining your finances for, period. (Same goes for motorcycles.) Don't put yourself in a hole you can't climb out of, risking much worse consequences financially and personally. I've been fortunate to recover from a few bad choices, but I'm definitely more risk-averse than I was in my younger years.
 
#45 ·
This is Hondas site:
Another dealer has 45,895 on their site.
You are somehow forgetting the mandatory $1,150 destination & handling fee added to every Honda.

You don't know how much the vehicle costs, how much insurance would be, how much you can get for your current car, what interest rate you would get, how much GAP insurance is, ect.

I'd suggest doing a lot more homework before committing to this purchase.

Image
 
#57 ·
A few years ago at work, one of the guys was showing off his new Toyota Tundra 1794 Special Horseshit Edition with Extra rare Special colors and everything (It was nice and had a button on the taillight that dropped the tailgate and whipped out a step) and we all want to know how much$$$

60 grand he said, but the payments were 1000 a month ?

Ahhh 84 months he did ... he still doesn't understand that that's 84 THOUSAND DOLLARS!!! stop at payment # 60 then...
 
#61 ·
Life's short, would I go out and buy a Lambo? No. Would I go and buy a car slightly more expensive than my current one, fuck yeah. It's just whether that purchase can be made worth it for me. I'll likely never replace a Honda outside of a trade-in or crash, so I wouldn't even feel guilty about upkeep (not like I do rn anyways).
 
#63 ·
You are focused on monthly payments instead of the full costs, which is a red flag.
Why don't you share the total costs for your current vehicle, as well as the CTR?
  • You financed $30K+ for your current ride, plus ~$3K in interest on the loan so far, then another $15K on modifications (!!!). So your $27,500 car has cost you $48,000 and counting.
  • You'll be lucky to get ~$20K if you sold today (given you drive 2-3x more miles than average) and $5K for your modifications.
Therefore, you will have spent ~$23,000+ for 16 months of ownership (if you sell by the end of this month). This doesn't include insurance, tags, title, maintenance, ect.

Now let's see how much the CTR will cost you...
  • Your total cost for a Type R will be over $50K once you factor in sales tax, doc fees, ect.
  • You don't plan to put any money down, so your payment will be over $1,000/mo, assuming 7.9% for 60 months.
You'll pay more than $10,000 in interest over the life of the loan, and once it is finally paid off, your car will have 150,000 miles (since you drive 30K/yr). Insurance and fuel costs will likely double.
 
#72 ·
If you do save up for retirement, but end up never getting there (accident, terminal disease, etc.), you'll die and then you won't regret anything because you can't regret anything when you're dead.

If you don't save up for retirement, and end up living a long time, you are going to regret not saving up for retirement because you are going to be alive to regret it.
 
#66 · (Edited)
At a dealer, talked him down to 5.5% at 46,500 for a 66 month term with 0 down at $900. With 10k down that's $780. If I did a 72 month term that would be $700, but I'm looking for something manageable.

He asked me what it would take to get my business and I told him $600 at the same rate with 7.5k down lol. Came back with 10k down at 5.5% for 66 months and 760 a month, told me not to tell other dealers lmao.
 
#67 ·
At a dealer, talked him down to 5.5% at 46,500 for a 66 month lease with 0 down at $900. With 10k down that's $$780. If I did a 72 month term that would be $700, but I'm looking for something manageable.

He asked me what it would take to get my business and I told him $600 at the same rate with 7.5k down lol. Came back with 10k down at 5.5% for 66 months and 760 a month, told me not to tell other dealers lmao.
That's not "world ends tomorrow" at least, but that worlds ending none the less...
 
#69 ·
At a dealer, talked him down to 5.5% at 46,500 for a 66 month lease with 0 down at $900. With 10k down that's $$780. If I did a 72 month term that would be $700.
So now you want to lease the car? For 66 or 72 months?? When you drive > 30K miles/yr???

I highly suggest you stop communicating with dealers immediately, read up on how to properly negotiate a car deal, and work out all of the numbers on your own before walking into a dealership.
 
#71 · (Edited)
No offence but people ususally have a midlife crisis later on in life. 9.8% interest?!?!? Pass.

Putting 9k on a credit as a down payment for a vehicle is a red flag right there. Stuff like this is why a lot of young adults are in financial ruin.

On a more serious note though if you've worked out your financials and you can swing the car payments, running costs and your living expenses without going into financial ruin, go for it. It's your life, your money afterall.

If we don't hear from you in a while it's because you are now living in a van down by the river. Older gen will get this reference.