Thanks everybody for the replies. I'll comment on each one individually. Feel free to respond to anything you wish.
You might want the extra money you'd be spending on the Speed3 for when you leave the nest.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) I live in a place where the pay is good and the cost of living is through the roof. I'm not moving out any time soon, and a few thou won't make a big difference
But very good point.
i would 100% recommend learning how to drive stick on something other than a brand new MS3. enough experienced drivers here have had problems learning how to cope with shifting into 2nd and not over-slipping the clutch to roll out of a stop. if you really think you're gonna want to drive stick, go find someone you know with a beater, learn on that till you're somewhat comfortable, then go test drive the regular 3 and the speed3. see if you think you can handle it before you decide whether you're going to buy one or not, otherwise you might end up with a $25k car with 2000 miles and clutch that smells like its cooked extra crispy.
Yeah my dad got a beater not that long ago with a manual transmission, so I've been practicing on it. I'm fairly comfortable with it now, but I'm sure I can use more practice. As soon as he gets back from his business trip, I think I'm going to steal his car and drive in circles around long island to try get 100% comfortable. But I think you are right that the MS3 will be difficult even if I become comfortable with the beater (an old dodge neon).
You are 23, make mistakes! Buy that MS3 GT and beat the hell out of it, have fun while you can man! Go rent a car with a manual or go test drive a new Cobalt or Focus with a manual and make the salesman teach you how to drive it. Then go get the Mazda.
Haha it's true that you have to live a little. I really do want the MS3, I can afford it... so it's just a matter of how impractical it will be. As I said above I have my dad's neon to practice on. The salesman said he'd help me get the hang of the transmission if I went for the MS3.
im 21, and im not at all regretting dropping the extra cash to get the speed. i think its hands down a great buy... but only if that's your style of car. you really need to be at least decent at driving a manual to truly enjoy the capabilities of the car. im just saying its well worth it to take some time to learn how to drive stick before you decide what to buy. i'd rather make sure that any clutch burning i do is on a beater, not on my brand new car.
A fair point. I really do want to drive my dad's standard more. I'm glad to see you are another person in a line of people who don't regret getting their MS3. I haven't heard any nay-sayers who actually own the car yet
+1 This is the best advice you could take away from this experience.
What are you driving now that you have used up? Were all 4 new cars???
When I got my license at 17 I more or less took over our family's third car: an 88 Bonneville. When our neighbor crashed into it while it was parked on our driveway (quite a story actually) we replaced it with a 95 grand am. While I was at college, my sister borrowed it for a trip to Albany and totaled it in the maze of ice and drunk people that is our state's capital. Then we picked up my current car, a 1995 Eagle Vision which I've had for a couple of years now. When you read the OP you were probably thinking (Jesus how many cars as this guy totaled!? lol)
23, living with parents, on 4th car and need a co-signer...
Haha. Well, where I work/live, you can't afford to live on your own when you are 23 :-/ I just explained above why I'm on my fourth car (not my fault!) and also, I don't know if I actually need a co-signer. My credit rating is good with 0 negatives according to a free website, but I haven't had much of an opportunity to establish a credit history until recently.
regular 3. cheaper purchase price, cheaper to maintain, more reliable, going to be easier to control in the winter since there's no power to deal with. don't worry about being new to stick on either. it's fwd not awd so you're more likely to just break the tires free instead of having your clutch take the abuse. don't ride the clutch though, that wouldn't be good in any car
or just keep what you already have.
If my goal is practical, then you are 100% correct. I may as well stick with this car until it's dying, and then replace it with a used econobox. If I choose to get something I'm really going to enjoy, I'm going to go all out (well, within reason), hence the MS3. The reason why I made this thread is to decide if the M35D can accomplish the same goal without the drawbacks of the MS3.
A regular 3 will be a lot easier to resell. Trust me I know this from the Proteg Speed I had before. Very few people know about those cars. A Proteg 5 almost fetches the same amount used as a MSP...
This doesn't surprise me since there is probably a much larger pool of people interested in buying your car. Luckily I'm not planning on reselling any time soon, otherwise I would investigate leasing.
Live a little. I'm only 20 and I don't have any regrets on buying my ms3.( parents didn't help out either) Yea that money could have been spent somewhere else but i've had my car for 4 months and everytime I drive it I still get a huge smile on my face. Also to make this car even more fun get a motor mount, shifter bushing and some type of sri or cai. All that for under 400 dollars will make this car worth every penny.( those areas are where mazda messed up...)
Ah, yet another person who does not regret going with the MS3
. I'm glad to hear after four months you still are happy you went with it. I'm definitely going to look into what to get for the car if I choose to buy a MS3, but I honestly haven't researched that at all yet. I'm sure I can learn all of that reading around on these forums.
You should have somebody that is experienced with a manual transmission go along with you for the test drive. Let them drive the cars and you just sit in the passenger seat. I'm sure you will get a feel for the differences between them.
Then...after you buy the ms3 ...come back and show us some pictures.
I actually wanted to bring my dad along for the test drive, but he was away on business when I was scheduled to go :-/
If I get the car I'll take pictures don't worry
If the MS3 is barely in your budget, get the regular 3. Living just for your car sucks, and at 23 maybe you should be saving to move out IMHO.
Sorry for being a bit unclear; let me clarify. When I say 'barely within my budget' I don't mean exactly what you probably think. This doesn't mean I'm dumping every remaining cent of my paycheck into car payments... this just means I'm not dumping more than I feel would be appropriate doing. I'm being more conservative financially than I need to be which is probably rare for people making these threads lol.
get the MS3. the reg. 3 is not really cheaper. the amount of technology in the MS3 is awesome. you can drive a MS3 as slow as a reg 3, but not visa versa. stay at home and mooch off your parents as long as you can. if you see your parents googling "ways to commit suicide", then maybe you should move out.
Lol! As long as I keep paying rent to help my parent's with expenses and my undergraduate loans, they won't mind me living at home. I don't want to stay here forever, but I'm not moving out any time soon. I like your logic about comparing the MS3 to M35D... I just want to be sure I carefully consider the drawbacks a few other people mentioned before I go with it.
My thoughts exactly.
How about, keep your current car, get your own place, and get a life!
Sorry to be so blunt.
My first year out of college I made 55-60k and I still can't even consider moving out. My pay is actually going down next year because I was working 1.1 last year, and I am not going to have time to pick up huge chunks of change through other means (which are available to me when I get a little older/more experienced, I suppose). I'm also paying off grad school as I go (starting next week lol) so I'd rather spend a little on a car and make these few years better, than struggle to move out as soon as possible and then break down lol. Virtually nobody in my county moves out right after college, unless they leave the area completely (of course then the pay goes down accordingly).
