Yeah, the high insurance for young drivers really is a killer . A few years ago, insurance here in Ontario spiked sky-high, until the gov't finally stepped in and ordered an immediate 10% drop (which still didn't make up for the 34% hike mine had just taken) but my rates began at ~$275/mth, and went up to ~$390/mth!! Now that I'm 25, my insurance (for 2 cars) is finally down to less than $200/mth, but it's still sorta steep, IMO .

Also, good point about the leasing ..... I was just starting my career when I bought my car brand new, and in an effort to get "cheap" monthly payments (of $761 ) I too, leased my car initially . After 1 year, I took out a bank loan and bought out of the lease. In the long run though, I think it's costing me more this way than had I originally signed up for GMAC financing for ~4.9%, or whatever it was that they were offering, and just BOUGHT the car right off the bat. My Advice: unless you really want to pay out the a$$ and live at home until you're almost 25, then wait that extra ~year or so, until you can afford to BUY your Camaro, instead of LEASE it (if you intend to keep it, that is) ... in hindsight, I wouldn't have done what I did .

 

Hopfeully GM ofers 0% financing again, then we'll all be happy

 

I'm 22 and I've just started my career. Sure it involves me moving to the Yukon from BC but it's only a temporary thing. I was able to afford insurance on my Camaro since the day it was signed over to me. Going through ICBC, the government insurance agency in British Columbia, it costs me $150 a month for my 1997. I'm unsure of the rates for the Yukon but I'll find out when I get there, won't I? If you get up on your feet, have a job that pays moderately well and you are able to put down a substantial downpayment, you should be able to afford a Camaro.

One thing you do not want to be stuck with however, is paying 1/3 or more of your monthly income towards a car. Rent isn't cheap nowadays.

 

I know GM's thinking is that, those that can't afford a Camaro will buy something nice, but cheaper. Like a sky or something. That is not the case with me. It is Camaro or nothing. If I can't afford it, I will be turning my Corolla lease payments into finance payments.

 

IMO, you are looking at it backwards.

You want to see what you can afford to get within your budget.. and understand what it means if you have to make payments for like 3 or 5 years..

BTW, I wouldn't take anything longer than 3 years.

You might want to talk to your insurance agent on how much it would cost to fully insure the car too.. If you live in a pretty busy/populated area, it could be thousands a year.

 

ok this is how big of a scam insurance is check this out: ok i bought a 2004 jetta tdi gls (with the 100hp diesel) im 19 years old and im with my parents insurance, well the car is registered under my dad and im a driver, and when we went to our insurance company(this place sales like every kind) full coverage with a 500 deduct was $2012!!!! every 6 months!! on a little 100 hp car, i have no accidents no tickets, my driving is perfect! the insurance they were using is soposedlythe lowest they could find, well i dont think 2012 is very low haha so i got on the internet and started looking at esurance.com and making some comparisons, well anyways i found travelers.com to be the cheapest insurance, and the insurance company we go through sells travelers and they said they werent the cheapest?, but on the travelers website i did a online quote (youcan also buy your insurance off their website) ok with a all the lowest stuff i could choose even a 2500 deduct, it was only 750 every 6 months and then i went ahead and picked all the best options you could get like a 50 buck deduct with like 10k medical coverage, rental car, etc. and it was still only 1400! every 6 months, insurance businesses are scams! there should be some federal regulations in the united states on insurance prices, well anyways thats my 2 cents on insurance b.s. i bought the tdi (gets almost 45mpg)so when i get my camaro ill have something good on gas and something bad on gas ha!

 

very true, I bought mine 1 month after turning 18 (it was used so only $15,000) but I remember waking up at 3:30am to go to my first job and working 8 hours then heading to my next job for another 8 hours. If you really want it, you can make it happen!

 

Have you seen how much a sky redline is?? Upwards of $30,000! I'd rather take a Camaro.

 

Unfortunately the majority of the buying public can't afford payments for just 3 years. It's very nice if you can do it, but I personally know very few that can. (I know I can't. LOL I've financed 2 vehicles for 72 months actually. Though I'd prefer not doing that again. I'd much rather lease a new Camaro than buy one.)

Insurance on my 2002 V6 Camaro when I had it (I was 28 - 31 years old the years I had it) was about $1100 a year for (above average) full coverage. Getting a bit older has it's perks. LOL

 

A base sky is $25k and a base redline is $29k (even though we know dealers don't order base model cars). Yes dealers mark them up a ton more. We'll probably be begging for sky type prices for the first year of Camaro production. Maybe we should form an alliance of people that will only buy the car for MSRP and nothing above.
It's interesting to me that we are in the middle of a hp war, cool cars being built left and right, but they all cost tons of money. As in $30k and up.
The G8 just came out and it looks great, but how much is it? If a 2Dr GTO is $33k then what are we to expect for a 4Dr. G8?

 

maybe we should all get together and open a "dummy" chevy dealership, just so that we can order a camaro straight from the factory without worrying about the markup and to get the actual purchase price. that would be cool!