I'm 27 and I have 3 cars...and no job for over a year.

Luckily for me I am doing fine with the enemployment benefits but the realization that 1 decent car versus 3 would be better.

But there's a case to keep each one.

Crossfire: It is rare for anyone to be able to afford their dreamcar, and with the Crossfire you can. It is obviously a step above 90% of vehicles on the roads near me. I feel fortunate but I also feel like I have to be careful of it. I never drive it to areas where I feel uncomfortable and finding parking is a nerve wracking experience. I don't use it often but I could never buy it again once I sell it; the oportunity cost of $15k that I bought it for may never exist again or that I'd be in a position to buy another. It is like I'd be selling a diamond to be able to afford a cubic zircon just beacuse it more socialy acceptable and I could flash it anywhere without issue.

Miata: Bought for $5500 w/ hardtop from a little old lady who commuted just down the road as she was a teacher. I have restored the vehicle by repairing the rust and giving it a new paintjob and convertible top. The car get's almost 40mpg and I can park it anywhere. The drawback is that it is a 1993 and eventually the parts will fail. The car is no good in the snow and there is no rear seating for passengers. Besides that it may be a perfect car. Cheap to fix, timeless design. The Crossfire is much better in the rain and on a rare-rare occasion, snow.

Riviera: Bought for $1300 put $2500 in repairs to get it up and running but it still throws codes. My old Riv was very reliable. This is the winter car.

So if I sold both the Miata and Riv they would only bring in as much as an early 90's car would. About a couple thousand each. And we all know that kind of money does not last long.

So the idea would be to consolidate 3 cars into one vehicle that replaces the roles of each of the 3.

Does such a car exist? It needs to be something large enough to be good in the snow, fuel efficient, and look like nothing else on the road. And it has to be a good price; 2005 or newer.

Yet, I would have a bad case of seller's remorse for each in their own way but the Crossfire the most.

There are times I wonder what it would have been like if I had bought that Marine Blue Dodge Charger I drove home or paid double per month over the Crossie for a 2007 Grabber Orange Mustang. Back then there were no 3 cars. I was looking to replace the winter beater and wanted something newer that would last and the Crossfire stole my heart over something practical.

We'd like to keep our little nugget in the family so my parents would take on the insurance payment. The Miata and the Riv are paid off. There is $6k left on the Crossfire.

So I'm a little distressed and would like to secure a job before I have to make any moves but I wouldn't mind a few insights from car fans on their opinions of this.

Drastic measures would be for the Crossfire to be my one and only but I really would hate to have to ruin the car in winter conditions and salt.

 

When it comes down to bread vs toys, eating wins. Shelter wins.

Unemployed for a year means measures must get drastic. While it's unfortunate to sell the Crossie, I can't see it as being a practical car in your current conditions. If you get a job a week from now, keep it and sell the other two, and pay the Crossie off.

But, if you know that the job scope isn't improving, try as you might, then it's time to cut losses and rid the Crossfire. The Miata is cheap but impractical. The Riviera is cheap and practical, but unreliable. You need reliable... if you get a new job, it will pay dividends to arrive every day, not when the Riviera lets you.

I had a 95 Riviera, it was a wonderful car (when it ran). The 96+ cars were much better on reliability.

I'd off the Crossfire and go from there. Determine which of the other two cars cost less to maintain, and keep that one. It stings to sell the dream car, but it stings more to go bankrupt while driving one. No one is impressed then... and you're still starving.

You can sell the Riviera and buy a cheap set of steel wheels and snow tires for the Miata. Two 40# bags of sand in the trunk, and keep on trucking. When the weather is better, put on sportier tires and get your permagrin back. Then you have a stress-free, paid off sporty car that is reliable but not a turd. Never worry about parts for the Miata, they will always exist. Riviera parts are like the Crossfire ones... rare and expensive.

That's the thing I'd do if in your shoes...

 

We need a, "Ask John for advice" section!

How'd you get so smart, practical and wise at yer young age???

 

Good judgment comes from experience.

Experience comes from bad judgment.

I've had my share of the latter.

That, and I keep a lot of older friends. I'm a firm believer in listening to them. They don't repeat their mistakes for a reason...

 

Yea, they need to add a Dear John section.

 

A cross between a Crossfire, a Miata and Rivera? What a weird car that would be. The only cars that I can think of that would be reasonably cheap, practical and fun all at the same time would be either a Subura WRX or Mitsubishi Evo. The problem would be trying to find one that isn't beat to hell.

 

You would quickly discover that I have as much/more to learn as anyone... haha.

But thank you for the sentiment.

 

Thank you. Very good insight. I'm glad I could speak with someone whom own a Riviera as well. My former Riv had 157k miles and I could not see myself putting money into it, that's when the 2008 car search began. I bought the Riv with very little miles, about 72k. I was hoping for it to be my mule until 100k but it's a fickle little beast. Runs good now but I'm always over-aware when I drive it, expecting something else to show up. In preparation for selling the Riv, I had brought it to a vocational school to have the hood painted. The previous owner didn't put the car in park and it rolled into a metal garbage container. It creased the hood but the mechanicals were fine. They replaced it with a purple hood and I've been driving it around like some ricer kid. I needed it to match or people wouldn't take the effort I spent seriously. I could let it go for cheap but not so much it would go against what I put into it. A fair price for both parties.

A lady at my train depot used to drive her 98+ Miata in the snow everyday in the Winter with no problem. My issue would be highway driving. My girlfriend lives 50 miles away. We switch off on weekends of who house we stay at. She lives with her dad, I with my parents and we are sick of it. I can't wait to get a job, to be able to purchase a home, and eventually get married and have kids. It's amazing how much control having a job has on those life plans.

I have had my eye on a vehicle of which I would need a job before I purchase but hits all the right heartstrings for me and I would consider as my 'one and only'. Of course it would not hold a candle to how much each of these mean to me but it would be an adult choice.

Nissan Juke



Gets decent mileage on the highway

Small enough for parking yet big enough for 4 passengers and it has 4 doors
AWD option

The lower round headlights on the red model remind me of the Miata with the headlights up

The rear hips remind me vaguely of the Crossfire in that they are designed so stylistically that it has a virtual flat surface.

Boasted as being performance driven but all I need is peppy. I was very impressed with the way the last gen Corolla drived; performance with never a driving factor for me.

I thought the thing was the UGLIEST auto on the road but picking apart the details I find many things I like and it is like nothing on the road today. You either hate it or you love it.

But I'm not prepared to make any moves. I know better. My sister went through bankruptcy not too long ago. Oh the roaring 2000's where art thou?

 

1+ John always sounds pretty level headed to me for a younger person


Howard.

 

This car looks like it don't know what it is.. to me... but in the scheme of things and your situation its probably a good choice for you.

 

Shucks guys, thank you...

Andy (I think that's your name LOL), the Juke is a FUN little car. Definitely scope a used one if you can. The AWD option is nice but spendy, the FWD version would be perfectly fine in the snow and would be a bit lighter (sportier) as well.

I work for Nissan, so I'm very familiar with the Juke. If you need some literature on one, let me know, although most everything I have access to can be found at 2011 Nissan JUKE? | Nissan USA Official Site.

It's a better winter vehicle, but I don't think it comes close to the Crossfire for the bang-per-buck. Used, the Juke is still high-teens.

I'm sticking to my guns on the first post... Miata seems to be the answer to your dilemma. Good mileage for the commute to the sweetheart, good reliability for the commute to the place that funds the sweetheart and all sweetheart related activities, and it's paid off.

Win, win, win.

You have forever to go in debt and get bigger/badder cars. No sense rushing into it now... build some momentum, gather some liquidity, and get your new family established. Wheels will come. No matter what you drive, if you can't be at peace owning it, it ain't worth the momentary grin you get from pointing to it in a parking lot and saying "mine".

Whatever you decide, we're here to help.

 

Love the Juke.

It is between a B7 A4 Audi turbo quattro or a Juke for Molly and I as the next car at this point. Let us know what you decide upon.

I thought they were ugly at first, and I still think it needs a little of my 'style' thrown into the mix with tasteful mods, but it grows on my everyday...

 

My favorite thing about the Juke, like with our cars, is the fact that it's polarizing.

Hate it or love it, but there's no denying you get attention at a street corner.

 

That comment applies equally to the Juke and the Crossfire.

I would suggest that the OP keeps the Crossfire and use it as a daily driver unless the payments are too high and sell the other two.

If the payments are too onerous, he should keep the Miata as a DD and sell the others. In his position you have to keep expenses down to a minimum or get a part time job that gives some income if he can. There are always jobs that are around, low paying and menial though they may be. Living on the dole is not exactly uplifting I would imagine and cannot be good for ones ego. An unemployment record can be detrimental in an interview and the prospective employer will look more favorably on someone who at least has a job.

 

A Mazda salesman once told me that the models they have on sale or with incentives that month was the model that got lackluster sales the month prior and that there is no definitive way to tell what the next discounted model will be since it's based on total sales nationwide. Is this a similar method at Nissan? Good to know in the future.

When I said it looks like nothing on the road today, I lie a bit. There is a strong overall shape that is shared my the Murano and Rogue. The beauty of the Juke is that it is priced below the others and the base model comes with an auto/CVT trans.

As for performance, I tell all my friends I'd be happy with a Geo Metro powered Viper if it were a strong enough engine to drive reasonably. It's all about the looks for me. I was visualy interested in the Crossfire and now in the Juke.


My issue for the Miata in winter condition again goes to highway concerns. I'm sure getting on the highway in a snowstorm and during is at a reasonable pace as it was when I was stuck in a freak storm about this time last year. Yes, in the Miata. Back then there was a few warm days leading to the storm and I didn't have my hardtop on. My vinyl rear window was also no existant, replaced by a clear shower curtain and two-sides foam tape. In a pinch it was excellent but the wind and highway speed made it scary at times.

So I'm on the highway with my 40lbs bags in the rear, and maybe a smaller one on the interior sun deck. I see my exit. It's not a popular one so it has not been plowed in awhile and although I'm only going a snails pace of no more than 25, the turn of the wheels in the newly fallen snow take my little nugget into the closest ditch. Yup, I've though about it in my spare time.

 

Fortunately I did not buy new and was able to get my Crossfire for $230/month. I'm very comfortable with it.

I have been recently trying to find local jobs outside of my field to just do. It wouldn't be so much of an ego killer if I didn't have student loans. I'm concerned I wouldn't be able to find a simple job that pays enough to cover my expenses which includes student loans; yes two separate ones.

I never liked being on unemployment. I need to go somewhere during the day and have something to do, a task that I'm good at that takes talent and pays well. I don't have to be an executive but to have enough to afford a normal life.

 

If I didn't know better, I would think my son is on here asking for advise...lol. You and he are sounding so much alike. Luckily, he has had a few part-time gigs here and there, to just survive, but we had a set down about the job market just the other night. He wants something in his field, well, he will be living in a field if he keeps that attitude. Be willing to try something new, and not be picky about the position. If it has bene's and a descent wage, go for it. I had a business degree, and ended up a cop, who trucked on the side. Something I picked up living in and around farmers. Part time jobs give you experience in a lot of fields. May not be your future career, but nothing wrong with learning how to plumb, wire, carpenter, feed animals, plow a field, operate machinery, drive trucks, or in my experience, arrest people...lol. All that knowledge, I still use today, even though that isn't my career... If you use this advise, you can keep all 3 cars, and add a 4th...good luck young man..

 

Andy, no rear wheel drive car is going to do good in the snow without proper snow tires. Sell a car and either get snow tires for the cross, or snow tires and a top for the miata, the snows for the miata will be MUCH cheaper....

 

And no where in all of that did you mention if your car had snow tires on it, or if you were using bald all seasons, or even worse, performance summer rubber.

I know quite a few people here in Colorado that drive their Miata's in the snow, and get along quite fine using good quality snow tires.

BC.