OKay so I'm in the market for upgrading to an ss. As far as comparing the 2 cars for performance and reliability what would you recommend I pick up? There aren't any LNF cobalts in the area at any dealerships but many low mile LSJ cobalts. I'm also planning to mod and I'm 18 and only make about 320$ a week. I need some advice and input as to what I should invest my money into. I don't want to buy an lsj and be disappointed if the power lacks as to what I want to believe how it pulls and I would hate to buy an LNF with a porous block and fail on reliability. Some advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

The first glaring thing I see is that you said "invest." Buying a car is about the worst investment you can make.

It's your money so you can do what you want, but if I were in your shoes (and I was once) I wouldn't get an expensive car and have all of your money sucked into it. An LSJ isn't that expensive, and for what it is it pulls pretty well! I don't know how much you have saved (nor do I care), but if you're living in your parents place you should be able to save pretty quickly to buy one outright. At your age you'll get reamed by interest rates, and borrowing isn't a smart move anyways.

 

Not for sure, but I would think that if an lnf has a porous block issue, that it would have shown up by now. So i personally wouldn't worry to much about that. Maybe others would.

I would go test drive an lsj in your area, and see if it pulls well enough for your liking.

 

if you only make that much a week and you have bills I wouldn't buy a balt. if you have zero bills for a while then its diff. just sayin.

 

I agree. Being 18 tho he may not have many if any bills. But still, being young and only making that a week and owning a performance car can be difficult. Do homework on insurance rates aswell as loan rates if your going that route. Don't want to bite off more then you can chew Ya know.... I say an lnf tho lol.

 

not to mention nowadays most of this cars are whacked out. you never know what youre buying.

 

I would go lnf and 360 a week isnt bad i was paying my LT when i was your age ans i was earning minimum wave and back then it used to be like 6~ and was only working part time. After a few months i got a better job and i was making 400-500 range every 2 weeks so its possible. i was able to do it then again idk how expensive your way of living is at your place. And i got a bank loan but thru my parents so the car was under there name i didnt care tho i had my car lol

 

The lsj ss is no joke. It is a very capable car, far beyond the skill capabilities of the average 18 year old car enthusiast. It is not a slow car. i would not recommend that you buy one. buy something slower with a manual trans. If you insist, try to find one as close to stock as possible so there is at least some chance it hasnt been abused. lnf will be far outside your price range I think, but the cars perform very similarly.

 

It all comes down to credit if he can get help he should be able to afford the lnf im paying 200 a month for my SS its basically nothing really. And yeah insurance is bit on the high side but thats because of my driving record and age. But maybe an lsj is the best bet and yeah im sure the lsj is not slow at all its just all comes down on what you like better turbo or supercharger

 

My parents would be cosigning for now but I have no bills except a car payment. I just turned 18 and wanna upgrade my car for myself for my graduation gift to my self sorta. They're both well in my budget

 

I've done research the lsj I'm interested in has 54k miles and is stock. I drive a modded LS manual right now but I'm looking for something capable of doing more in performance and just well rounded mess

0 bills high school student.

 

A big mound of debt is a terrible graduation present to yourself.

 

No its not lol. yeah it sucks making payments but isnt that what life comes down to making payments on everything you want. If your happy with what you buy is the best thing you can do imo

 

it wouldn't even be a huge debt. It would be like 8,000 at the most. I'm ahead in payments on my current car so trade in will give me some money not to mention I have money saved.

 

Seems like you have a plan go for man only you know your limits. And either car you go with im sure you will love it over the base model i sure did :

 

I'm 19 and Pay for my own Lnf. Full time at school and work. The payments for the car aren't bad, it's the crazy high insurance. But I manage and still have extra money so if you work and can afford it go for it. But remember it's a performance car and It uses the good parts lol so maintenance is more expensive

 

You should be asking yourself LS or LT.

 

Have an LS right now. Not sticking to basemodels

 

Just make sure you're going to be able to fix the car if your motor or tranny goes.

 

Every SS I call on is sold already it's annoying.

 

sometimes you just have to be patient. after i sold my 2003 1.8t GTI, i went a year and 4 months without a "performance" car, it sucked cuz i missed being able to go fast, but i just drove my 1984 dodge ram for that amount of time and just kept dumping 50% of my paychecks into my savings planning to buy something expensive, after 16 months i had $8000 in my savings, truck broke down so a friend came to give me a ride in his 2006 cobalt ss/sc g85 with only 20k miles on it, i fell in love with it and he said he was selling it for $8500. keys were in my hand the next day. that was 4 and a half years ago and i still have the car today, because instead of rushing into a deal just because i wanted something, i bided my time and waited for a perfect deal. my credit is damn near perfect and has been since i was 20 years old, so i could have easily financed plenty of other vehicles, but there's the chance that something on them would've been fucky.

long story short, sometimes patience can be your best friend! good luck with your hunt and i wish you the best of luck man

 

Sorry dude, but that is terrible advice. Making payments on "everything you want" is why people are living paycheck to paycheck (aka broke) with $100k jobs. The habit of debt starts early and is hard to break. You shouldn't be able to have everything you want, especially when you're 18. I can't have everything I want, but I have no debt other than my house and I'm pretty dang happy.

I bought my car new as a college graduation present to myself. I had a full-time job as an engineer, then got married, and thought I was set. That was 2009. Then I got laid off because economy . Luckily my wife had a job and we were in a small apartment so the payments didn't really hurt much. Then I went back to school and got another (better) job, so the payments were easy again. However, we paid that thing off as fast as possible. I realized that buying a car on debt like that really isn't the greatest thing ever. There are few things more liberating than making the last payment to the man.

It sounds facetious but it's true. What you should be worried about right now is "how can I afford college or trade school." And if you have a scholarship then use your job money to pay for food, etc.

Take it as a sign.

Sorry, I said originally it's your money and you can do what you want. It's still true, but I didn't think so many people on here would chime in as the devil on your shoulder and give you the advice of signing up for bad debt.

 

Best advise in this thread.

OP keep ahead on your current car payment and put extra in the savings, I recommend matching your current car payment since once you get an LSJ/LNF thats what you can expect between payment and insurance. Do that for 4months, if you can do it for 4months you'll have a bit saved and experience living with a tighter budget. If you don't like the tighter budget you've lost nothing and can then make a nice payment on your current car.

If you can handling the tighter budget, then your saved money and difference on the current car will be a good down payment for the LSJ (which is more than enough power for a first "sports" car) and your loan interest rate will be less.

 

I think you dont understand what i meant. Life is payments. You get a car you pay,you have kids you pay, you want food you pay, so nothing is free. Im also not talking about getting loans and getting everything you want in life. life is paying everyone for what you want basically.
You need to know your limit on what you can get and what you cant, yes i know you cant have everything you want because if that was the case i would be broke.
But if you going to have a payment for a car might as well get something in your budget and that you like. And thats the key to spending money knowing your limit on what you can spend, never spend more than you make.

But best advice would be to pay cash for everything but then again you wanna build up your credit

 

You're right, I didn't quite understand. So to me it's a difference between need vs. want. You need a car for work, school, etc; but you want a fast car. If you get an expensive car on debt and something goes wrong, then what? Since you're borrowing for the car you'll have to have comprehensive insurance, so at least if you total it on a patch of black ice or it gets stolen then you wouldn't be totally screwed. If your engine blows, can you afford another one? If it does get totaled and you owe more than it's worth, are you going to be able to write a check for the difference or are you going to keep paying on a car you no longer have? Or are you getting GAP insurance and have an even higher payment on it? Will this car mean that you will also get student loan debt on top of the car debt? It just snowballs from here. If you can't live without a fast car, save up, be patient, and find a cheap lsj.