ATV Florida Forum

Well next year im going to be driving to school.  One problem, I need something to drive!  All my life I have admired the Superduty trucks in all there glory but I have seemed to stray towards american sports cars now a days.  Now I'm back wanting a big truck... but at the same time I want a sports car.  What do you think I should do... get a medium sized sports car like a Camaro that gets 10MPG OR a Large and in charge Superduty truck that gets a good 18-20MPG.  Now my parents agreed to co-sign on a loan for me if I got good grades at the end of the year, and youll be happy to know nothing is below a B with 12 days of school left 8).  They did not set a limit for the loan but I know not to go absolutely crazy with power.  I got a quote for a 30k loan at around 400/month with my parents credit history.  Only badside to that is I estimate that will be paid off when im in my mid 20's :o.  Now the 30k loan would be if I got a Superduty.  Now If I got the used Camaro I want it would be a 20k or less loan which would be less weight to hold on my shoulders. 

Make sure to vote, I need opinions. 

dude, get something so cheap you are almost embarassed to drive it,,,,,my first car was a 1974 Malibu/Chevelle. yeah, it had a ton of power with the 350 in it, yeah it got about 6MPG, yeah it smoked worse than one of the large smoke bombs when it started,,,,but it was mine and I fully paid for it with $350 of my own money that I didn't have to borrow from anyone.

by the way, it didn't look all that great either,,,,but it carried me back and forth to school and work,,,,,and many skip days to Rock Springs ;-)

I think that having a payment for a vehicle in high school, especially that high is just insane and asking for trouble.

There were times I had trouble making a $132 payment on my third car when I got out of high school,,,,,actually had a time that I had to park it at the next apartment complex because the repo man was coming for it,,,,even came knocking on my door once with a tow-truck.

but that's just me,,,,,don't take just my opinion.

Id@

man you can get a sweet used super duty for under 20grand, when I turned 16 my parents said they would pay for me a car up to 20g if I got a job and paid for my insurance and had good grades, well...I sold my quad took that money and bought me my own car, now ive owned 45+ vehicles since then. think modest my freind spend 15 on a nice truck and another 5 on a cheap mileage maker, now thats thinking.

Define sweet lol.  Do you mean an older one such as 1999 or a newer 03+.  The truck I have my eye on is a 06 I think.  Guy down the street has one and I have a feeling its going up forsale soon.  Its a F-250 Amarillo 4x4.  It has a mild 3" lift (my guess), Chrome rims, and Nitto tires.  Its an aggresive looking truck and is exactly what im looking for.  But I guess I can find an older Superduty and mod it to look like an 06+.  Wheres Swamp Donkey when you need him :D

I know where your coming from, but I want to prove to my parents I can handle it without aid from them.  Yeah they are getting me the loan basically but they will have nothing to do with the payments or any other maintenance costs.  The whole reason I want to do this myself is because they bought my sister her first car.  All they do is threaten to take the car away and yell at her.  If I do this myself they cant say that.

Now this is a truck I like for WAY under the price.  Even to have it hauled to FL it wouldnt cost more than 1500.00.  Now if I found a deal like that in FL I could get both cars.  It does have alot of miles but I can have my dads friend rebuild the motor and tranny.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-Ford-F250-Superduty-Crew-Cab-SB-Powerstroke-CA_W0QQitemZ190111665983QQihZ009QQcategoryZ39415QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

200k miles...is a bad place to start man. 7.3's will go way beyond that is serviced from day one properly, try to find one with 100k or so...I will find you the right truck and take care of you in the price...with grades like that you deserve to have a good truck @ a great price. Congrats..I'm on it!! ;)

When I look at the truck more, the more I dislike it lol.  I dont know why but there is something about the new 06's that I like.  I think they are less tall and the hood length is shorter.  Im not sure but I think the 04's+ are the same way.  Yeah im happy with my grades, I eeked my way through my freshmen year and half of this year, and im talkin some F's :(.  Amazing what a Superduty can do to ya, I plan to keep them up to :P.   Heres a pic of a 03 that I like, except for the grill, I like the new chrome flat ones.  It has a nice mild lift yet still aggressive.

(http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/FT_5Superduty.jpg)

99-06 are all the same size other than the 05+ has the taller grill and 1piece headlights.

They are?  I dont know why but the newer trucks look smaller in the front.  There has to be some re-design issue going on or am I loosing it at the age of 16? lol.  The one piece headlights I like alot to.  Do they sell kits to mod an older Superduty grill/lights to make it look like a newer one? 

yes, they sell kits

of course the 05+ trucks also have a different dash. i didnt mention that in my other thread

[[/quote]
I know where your coming from, but I want to prove to my parents I can handle it without aid from them.  [/quote]

Then save money get a loan yourself and buy something cheaper / You'll take much more pride in something you bought all by yourself.

Ok good, thats the first thing I would do.  Interior I dont really care for, as long as its clean and tear free.

I know where your coming from, but I want to prove to my parents I can handle it without aid from them.  [/quote]

Then save money get a loan yourself and buy something cheaper / You'll take much more pride in something you bought all by yourself.
[/quote]

thats the truth. I had a 99 super duty and sold it in favor of a f-150

I cant get a loan without my parents help.  No credit history... im only 16.  I might be able to get a simple loan of maybe 5k BUT I always told myself the first year im driving I will have a Superduty.  I want to stick with that goal :).  What im thinking is get the truck first, because it would be the daily driver.  Then do what your saying and I will put away any extra money towards a new loan for a sports car.  Buy a car that I can take to the track on weekends.  You know what would be cool is if I had a truck, and a carhauler to haul a sports car to the track.  Now thats style :D

we just got a 99 F-250 with the gas V8 and it was only 14k out the door. we got it from gibson. granted it aint no king ranch but it is a nice truck (for a ford  ;)). you can find a way to spend a lil less than 30k. my friend just got a new F-150 that was 17,000 and his payment and insurance is 500 a month. his parents co-signed and have good credit too. they aint cheap. he can barely pay that and he has no extra cash to spend on anything. if i were you, id get a 95-00 ranger or tacoma that gets 30mpg and cost 5-10k. i saw a killer 95 tacoma in the truck trader with 40,000 miles for 5500obo. id look for something like that. you dont want to be in debt. at all.

Forget Gibsons, go Heartland 8).  I browse Gibsons website every other day I would say, they have some cools trucks.  All I need is a monthly payment lower than $500 and im golden.  I can pay it each money and still have money to tuck away.  I dont like small trucks at all, the smallest I would go is a F150.  This is a nice truck...

http://gibsontruckworld.com/used_vehicle_details.htm?vehicleId=3cbda348404638740091fa78be6920ac

That not style thats being 16 talking , yes you can get a loan at 16. Save up 500.00 go to bank and get secured loan , pay it back in about 7 months then go get another secured loan from another bank, then pay that loan off. Then when you go for a unsecure loan you already have a good credit history with 2 different banks. Why would you want to go in debt so early , sports cars and other toys will come before you know it. I would worry about a reliable transportation right now thats not extremely high on fuel money and insurance money, and go to school so you can get a great paying job to pay for all the great toys that will come later.  ;D

out of curiosity dude, what kind of job do you have at 16 that you can easily afford $500 a month truck payment?

Id@

Working with my dads company.  I'm basically the shop pregnant dog.  Working just on a saturday with him I can make about 100-150bucks, all under the table of course ands its a 6A.M. to 5 P.M. job.  I do all the digging for the workers to lay piping and what not.  The hole must be 2feet deep due to code regulations and most of the time the holes have to go for about 20-30 feet around a home.  During the summer im going to get a real job during the week, I applied at some motorsport dealerships but none have emailed or called me back.  Work at one place during the week for a solid pay, and if I want I can work with my pops for some extra cash. 

good luck on the venture.

Id@

Thanks man, I need all the luck I can get. 

well i have read all the posts and dude you really think you can afford 500.00 a month payment? Good for you!! But ' the question is can you afford the 500 a month insurance to go along with that payment,and gas?I only bring this up as my nephew was in the same boat and bought a chevy 2500 hd 4x4 2006 and never considered the ins part. you know being 16 with very little driving exp (yeah i know you think you have more than most) your insurance will be insane.
 Oh an yes i am buying a Chevy 2500 HD 4x4 as he can't afford it (nephew).

I wish you luck in your endeavors

First off why would you want a $400 a month payment? And just because it's a $30k vehicle you still have insurance which is about $100 a month, fuel cost, maintenance,and can't forget about GAP insurance to protect you from the depreciation of the vehicle after you take it off the lot and the more you drive it. So your $400 a month payment will be a truck around $20k with the GAP. At 16 thats no extra money for going out with friends or doing anything fun. Like Ida said most of our first cars were something you were embarrassed to be seen in but you had respect for it b/c it got you from point a to point b and it was OURS! I'd get about a $10k loan find a nice used truck that you can fix up and make the way you want it and haul a$$. Look at Lakemarykid he bought his first truck and it's the way he wants it. If you finance out the butt for something then you have to wait to get it paid off before you can make it "your" truck if you raise it up it voids warranties. Go to the Auto Auction and look with cash in hand or look on Craigslist.com don't blow your credit at a young age or threaten your parents credit for your first vehicle. Believe me a $400 a month payment sounds good now but you'll regret it later on. A good paying job 5 days a week you'll only bring home about $200 after taxes making $7 an hour. Damn I sound like a parent! lol seriously though you'll have more pride in something that you can get yourself and make the way you want than blowing your budget every month on a payment. I don't know where you live but look around don't waste your youth working to make a payment on something you can have later in life. And believe me 16 yrs old your bound to have an accident whether it be your fault or not what would you rather loose a $30k or a $10k vehicle?

And what if your dad gets busted paying you under the table ?? You & most likely your dads lifestyle would change REAL quick !! The govt. tends to frown on things like that   :-[

Insurance wouldnt be 500/month?  The quote by my parents auto insurance (Amica) said since im a new driver it can be between 3k-4k.  Thats a payment around 300/month or less.  Give or take a few bucks.

@ blupits.  I see where your coming from but for some reason if I got a truck, it has to be a F250.  Dont really want a Ranger or F150 or tacoma or whatever.  Actually when I think about it, maybe I will just get the camaro I want.  I can get the car for 7k but I want to take out some extra money to put into it.  It needs a paint job and other whatnots.  Its listed on this website lol.  I see it in person everyday so I know its not a lemon which is a plus.  I think thats what I will do, get the Camaro, tuck away a certain amount of $ each month, then when the camaro is paid off I can look into a Superduty?

http://www.atvflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,24144.0.html

very cool looking car, and seems great,,,,but it's got more than 100K miles on it and actually says "heavily upgraded",,,,,,,warning signs to me.

but if you can grab something that will get you a small monthly payment and actually let you sock away money each month for something else,,,,I think that's the way to go.

Id@

so i was high 300 to 400 plus 400 payment dude thats more than my mortgage, on my house. i would rethink your idea on a big almost new truck and would definatly stay away from any sports car with mods call your ins. co. before buying anything like that as a z28 with mods may be more than the 3 to 4k . I will soon have a chevy 2500 hd, wife gets the yota crew cab 4x4,plus all the other toys and my ins. is only pushing 3k for 6 vehicles

Yeah its a really good looking car, pictures do it no justice.  You should hear how loud it is, when it passes our Jeep in the morning it shakes it :o.  Well like I said I want to take out extra money in a loan to get it painted and of course an engine rebuild.  Heres a video of my dream Camaro, I wish I could figure out what exhaust he has on it. 

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/0a33997c-e2aa-4fa2-94ce-5e74125b9d21.htm

Superdutys and sports cars are nice, but they all come with a hefty price. When I was 16, I started off with a 1982 Ford F-150. I drove it for about 6 months and I started looking for another truck. I wanted something newer and more stylish. So, I went out and found a 97 Chevy Silverado which I had to have my Dad cosign for it, $12,500 later with $2,000 down of my own money which I had to pay the $10,500 that I owed all by myself. My parents worked out a deal with me with the insurance part, but I had to pay for repairs and fuel. To this day, I'm 21 years old, I paid off the truck early by doubling and tripling up on payments to get the burden off of my back. When I owed about $1,500 I went looking at a new truck. I found a brand new Dodge Ram all pimped out for $35,000. The dealer took off about $12,000 with all the haggling and talks of trading in my truck. When it all came down, I would have a $480.00 a month car payment, I said that's ok I will just pay off my truck! Then I would owe nothing on it!

So, if I were you, I would just look for something cheap and save up your money. Plus you are in highschool, the last thing you need is some punk kid messing with your car or superduty.

Good Luck!

So, if I were you, I would just look for something cheap and save up your money. Plus you are in highschool, the last thing you need is some punk kid messing with your car or superduty.


Well put

oh btw my first car was a Dodge Super bee 1968 which ironically i still own.

Yeah I think when school is out I will pickup that Camaro.  I still have two years of HS after this year is over so that gives me plenty of time to save up for a Superduty truck.  There are already kids at our school with huge trucks, no one touches them.  One of them is a dirtbiker.. I wonder if hes on this website.

DONT DO IT.

I did i thought i could do and couldnt work 40+Hrs aweek. HS drop out.
$400 car payment + $300ins + $200 in gas + $200 what you spend for fun
thats $1100 a month $900 that you have to have. Its really hard to do.
And at 16 while in school you can only work 30hrs a week.

When you get a loan out by your parents at 16 and then one month you cant pay it are your parents gonna be able to pay it to save you ? maybe but if they cant then you kill there credit.

Dont do it man im telling you i just went through im not even 17 yet and can tell you i woulnt ever have a co signer on somthing that big again.

belive it or not I HATED my car because i had to pay so much for it. I just bought a 98 ninja 250 from my buddy for 800bucks cash outta my pocket The feeling i got from buy/own my own vechile was so aswome. you woulnt get that with your truck (it will be in your parents name).

So i went from $1000 amonth i had to make to $100bucks amonth covers gas and ins. I went from having to work my but off and not being albe to go back to school or have a life to having a life and im starting school in Aug to be an Auto tech. 3 years from now ill buy a 30k car and put 10-15k down on it ill be moving out of my parents house into my own.

Think about it that loan will be Over 6years thats a long time for you to be stuck you woulnt be able to move out theres no way.

Its just not worth it buy a $500 beater that you dont have to worrie about you go messing around off road and flip it owell your out 500bucks instead of a 30k truck.

Just think about this alot more then Just the Oyeah im gonna have a nice truck thing it bikes you. Impluses are bad.

you will regret buying something that expensive. i have never been in that situation cause my dad gave me his truck and bought a new one. but a few of my friends screwed up by doing this same thing. they work their butts off with no extra time or money to do anything with.

The man is right!

At your age insyrance alone will keep you working at a job full time, let alone making the "truck"payment !!! I would be willing to bet the insurance is gonna be darn near as much as the "truck"payment itself.

 Your better off getting something inexpensive that you can own outright. If it breaks--- fix it, NO big deal
If you were to take on a payment like that for the duration of the loan, I will guarranty you will not have a social life, and a girlfriend------- FORGET IT, you  wont have the extra money for dinners, meals, movies etc. etc.
 But hey, you could just sit in it, parked in the driveway and make the noises of actually driving !!

Yeah today while I was cutting the grass and pretending to be speedracer I thought about it.  Dont need that big of a truck, YET ;).  I also got inspiration from Trucks on SpikeTV, they had a F150 they roushcharged and it was nice!  Now I want my neighbors 98 Ram SS/T which I kbb'd at 8k.  But I think I will stick with the Camaro.  Basically I will take out a 15k loan to buy the car, have it repainted and the motor rebuilt.  Those are a must anyways. 

 :banghead.gif :banghead.gif :banghead.gif :banghead.gif :banghead.gif Are you listening to any of these people?

yes and im not buying a 350 junker.  kthnx.  A decline from a 20k truck to a 7k car is good imo.

 

"A decline from a 20k truck to a 7k car is good imo"

Its not a 7k car its now a 15k car with a high retail value of  $6,550

Good luck

Here is a better deal on a camaro for you

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=221579939&dealer_id=60047755&car_year=1998&model=CAM&num_records=25&make2=&start_year=1995&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&search_type=both&distance=300&make=CHEV&color=&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=32097&advanced=&end_year=1998&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=143

SS convertible with 38,000 miles  for 12,500

NADA High:  Retail 12,750
 

ive always wonder what does imo mean?

" In My Opinion "

THAT'S A SWEET RIDE!!!!

No 16YO kid should ever start out in a vehicle with payments. It is insane. When you wrap it around a tree or drop it in a canal you will be a lot less sad when you are walking away from $500 total investment.

As we watch gas prices rise to above $4.00 a gallon, as they already have in California, you will be very sorry you have a payment to make, cause the thing will be parked with an empty tank in your driveway.

IDA had the very best advice anyone could have given you. I would post my $1000 F-250 again, but I would hate to ruin your thread with people saying how dumb I am for suggesting you get something reasonable for a first vehicle, when you can go and make a payment equal to buying another one like mine every two months...hahaha, and worry about it every time you leave it anywhere.

Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

Forget that car!  I hate newer camaros, and thats a convertible!  Your trying to kill me arent cha?

you wont get a vehicle loan for twice what the car is worth. you would have to do some other type of loan.

I was woundering the same thing........ ???

Hmmm lets see maybe you will take it from somebody who has been where you are in the past year and is where you will be in a year. Im 16, 17 in August. I own a 1994 F150 that i bought for 4350 tax tag and title. It gets 11 miles per gallon. I bought the truck when i was 15 after working my but off for a year and paid cash on the spot. You talk about one hell of a feeling. What is even better is when kids talk about their expensive cars that mommy and daddy bought and try to open their mouth about your "old truck" is you say "i bought it with my own money" silence is heard and then your now king. There is one thing that will gain you lots of respect with people in general and that is paying for your own things. Id say start off small and "graduate" to bigger. Right now my insurance is 190 a month plus i go out every weekend plus gas. I had to have a front inner u joint replaced last month which was 444.00 dollars plus i had a wiring problem a few months back which was 200 bucks. The list goes on. Right there is easily over 1000 dollars i had to spend in one month. You do not want to start out with the burden of payments. Insurance payments are already a big enough burden. Coming up i will have to replace my front wheel bearings along with a new clutch. There is another 400 bucks in parts. I have to do an oil change tomorrow. There is another 25 dollars. It all adds up and VERY FAST. You will also want to mod whatever vehicle you have. Me haha i have spend so much in mods its not funny. I have had the exhaust done 3 times which was about 500 dollars. 2000 dolllars for my lift. I just bought a line of fire today. In the past i have bought: seat covers, toolbox, cb, cb antenna, floor mats, cd player. Thats a lot of money right there too! Start out with something that is paid for. When i was like you i too wanted a superduty. But i wasn't given the offer of a co signer nor would i want it. So then i had a reality check and looked for something I could afford. When you pay for something you will take much better care of it than if it were given to you. I have some of those "spoiled kids" as friends. One drives an 04 King Ranch Crew Cab F250 Superduty with a 12 inch lift 40 inch ATZ's 3000 dollar stereo or more, train horns you name it is on there. What he wants he is given. The truck is FALLING APART! He doesnt spend a day washing it like me, he doesnt baby it like i do. And it shows as everybody around school knows me for having the nice big truck yet his is just the big truck. I have had this truck for almost a year now coming up in a few weeks. It is time i want a new truck. But im not going to sell this truck nor get a loan. I am going to save until i can afford myself a diesel superduty which will hopefully be by the end of summer. Get your self a few thousand dollar truck and gradually make it the way you want. Your learning right now even though you say you arent.

Im done rambling.
-Curtis-

I'm gonna have to agree with the majority.  I bought a $7,000 Ford Ranger with a four cylinder, and it is small and wimpy, but it get's awesome gas mileage.  I put $3000 down, and am going to start paying off the other $3000.  It's easy to throw numbers around in your head and think everything is going to fall right into place, but when it comes to it, those payments start looking really big.  Just get a $5000 truck/car, and get something nice after college.  If you jump the gun here, you'll pay for it, literally, for the next bunch of years.

@ LakeMarykid, I see your point.  Anything that I buy I baby like there is no tomorrow, but if someone buys me something I just dont care for it AS much.  See I wouldnt mind a truck like yours, its a nice looking truck.  Old school Fords I love, but I dont want a newer F150 or Ranger because they are just made of plastic do-dads and arent as tough as the older F150s.  I want something where you pop the hood, you see an engine... not a bunch of plastic crap with lettering on it.  My dad had a truck like yours and the odometer has rolled twice and after we sold it we still see it driving around, shows how tough old school fords are.  When you sell your truck at the end of summer PM me, I guess Ill wait and see how much I make this summer.  I dont need a vehicle urgently since I dont get my license until the end of summer.  I just wanted one to have and fix up moreso.

I havent read this whole thread.But Right now Im currently going to get a f-250 harley davidson(2006) or a f-250 king ranch(2006).There both really bad ass trucks.But IM leaning toward the harley davidson right now and I think thats going to be my truck.

right.....

Yes, why?  I'm 16 and im not your "bro".  I wouldnt be surprised if I knew more about cars than you.  I have been teaching myself about cars since I was in .. I'd say... 5th grade.  I grew up playing with Hotwheels, building model cars and going to the Gainesville Raceway with my uncle on the weekends.  I am obsessed with cars, especially American Muscle such as the Camaro and Mustang.  I know cars inside and out, probably one of the few younger people that actually do, and dont just claim to.  A good friend of my dads, who is a retired Chevy mechanic of 35 years, said that he has never seen a person of my age have such extensive knowledge in cars.  Knowing you, being the only "adult" on this website that has the maturity of a 13yr old, will reply saying stuff about how im so young, how theres no way I know more than yourself, your in your twenties and your the guru of cars ::)

Im locking this thread.  Ive decided to just buy a truck like LakeMaryKid and progress upwards from there.

I'm glad you have taken that road, LMK is wise in the ways of getting something he wants the right way, and working for it.

I am a bit disappointed that you didn't give JohnF the time to respond to your rant though.

Id@

Have you seen his responses?  Hes a little kid that hasnt grown up yet, probably 75% of his posts have to do with talking down to people or stating that hes smarter :Wacko.gif  But ok, I'll unlock it. 

This is LakeMaryKid on a friends screen name. Rebel, i wont be selling the truck. Im going to be getting a Superduty along with keeping my truck. Start small and progress dude. Thanks for the props Nathan.

-Curtis-

Your going to have both?  I thought your current truck was more than enough, money wise.  Goodluck with that though, hopefully I can do the same.  Your almost 17 you said?

that camaro is louder than it is fast. probably a 14.5sec car not very fast.

It is nice though but will just get you in trouble.

get a 3k mustang like my buddy did and take it to the track to run 12s on sh*t tires and a bad tranny

Im glad that you decided to get a cheaper truck like LMKs which is sweet. Youll be alot happier with money to spend on the weekends or on a GF(gotta have one). good luck with whatever you get and hope you dont regret it.

And Btw you may know how to work on cars but it doesnt mean a thing till you have a peice of paper that says you do.

And if you dont mind a little test
Dont use google

1)Whats a torque wrench?(god i hope you know)
2)Whats the diffrence between an Interference engine and a non-interference engine ?
3)Whats a Plastiegauge?

short and sweet kinda techie If you can answer these with out google or books then you have the ability to be a good mech.

my 1st truck was my 500 $ bronco then i got a s10 now for 800$   if i was you i wouldnt take out a loan  just buy a cheap ride and drive it
your going to reck a bunch of times so you dont need any thing nice also your going to need $ for gas and every thing else

what year camaro are you looking at ?

i got a 69 camaro  im trying to finsh up might be looking to sell it when im done
but it only gets like 5 mpg lol

You won't want to leave that parked out by Krome & Macs.  ;)

I like the sound of it, the Camaro I want has a loudmouth that sounds like sh*t.  Yeah, when I thought about it I remembered I wanted to get a truck to offroad in also and LMK's truck is perfect.  I might just get an old school Ford if I can find one in as good condition as his.  I plan on going to UTI which will be easy since I know a decent amount, I just need to be brushed up on electronics.  A TW is a wrench that allows you to tighten a nut/bolt to a force you want it at or required.  The BASIC difference between the two engines is on a interference engine if the timing belt breaks, the piston and valves get damaged due to lack of room, but a non-interference engine is the opposite.  A Plastigauge is a clearance gauge.

Maybe I was wrong about you.

http://www.atvflorida.com/forum/index.php/topic,24144.0.html

I know its a good car because ive seen it upclose and seen it performance first-hand.  Its just a little under 400HP and its gets around 10MPG?

I can agree with that, I totalled my first 3 trucks/car.
I would say get you a big ol whoopdee(like a cadillac/badillac) but gotta think about gas, bit at the same time you want something safe too so I'd be worried about a compact.

Whatever you get just be careful, & don't care what anyone else think's about what your driving, after H.S. you'll hardly see any body from there anyway.

Thats good that you were able to answer those. and only you will know if you didnt use google.
you were right on everything and that is the only diffrence just that you bend valves when you break a belt or chain while running.

UTI is overpriced in my book, and woulnt get you anyfarther then ptec. I consider myself very skilled with cars and bikes and boats basicly anything that has an engine. onlything ive never worked on before is a rotary. Ive been working on cars since i was 9or10 all basicly self taught when i whent and did my shadow at ptec i knew more then the new teacher. If you know what your doing you can go as far as you want an make as much money as you want.

Man i feel old i should act my age sometimes. I geuss thats what i get for learning lifes lessons pretty early.

and heres a link or two to threads on my current rebuild of my bike that im doing with my friend, who owns the mustang.

that has most of the stuff in it. Ive done all the visual stuff too it.
http://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopic.php?t=53258&highlight=

shows the front signals before paint. and also has a link to a vid of the rear tail mod i did.
http://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopic.php?t=52036&highlight=

Ive researched it and its one of the bigger names.  Plus I want to move to Orlando for awhile and thats right where a campus is.  Im the same way, no one in my family is into cars except my uncle and he taught me some.  I taught myself more though by taking stuff apart.  Boats im good at to because I live on the water and our boat always breaks down ::).  One day I hope to open a performance shop toward the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area. 

Never ownd a boat. Just learned to convert my knowledge and work with it. My grandfather ownd a full service gas station before i was born other then that my bros friends hondas are as close as i got to someone teaching me.

Opening a shop is hard but if you take care of the customers they will tell people and get you more. Its hard to find good shops anymore.
Plus its expensive to open a shop.  when i open mine it will be a good 200k in machines alone like mill lathe cnc lifts all the stuff you need to make one off stuff and also normal work. Dyno gotta have one of them. Stuff adds up its not cheap.

I also plan to go to school to be an engineer. always had a thing for making stuff. Mechincle engeer or structral engineer maybe both.

Finally, the voice of reason. I have to say, Rebel if you know half as much about mechanics as you claimed above, you will be happiest taking rubicon500kid's advice. Working on your ride is half the fun at that age...it was for me anyway, not to mention if you start another truck thread I am going to slit my wrists.

Anyone got an ATV story to tell?

Lol, yeah working on older vehicles is fun.  I decided I want an older Ford truck like LMK.  I was looking on craigslist and found one identical to it, except stock.  Found out it wasnt a 4x4, and I need/want that.  This forum isnt just for ATV talk, Open Discussion means something. 

LOL, at least you have a sense of humor. I never found anything worth buying in the auto trader or craigslist, all the gems are on the side of the road with a sign, sometimes you need to bang on the door if you see something you like.

Good luck, your first vehicle is always the one you will remember. Don't kill yourself in it. ;)

Well yeah most good ones are on the side of the road but I have no time right now to go look or money lol.

dude heres some advice from someone near your age i just turned 18 and up till then never drove a vehicle that cost me more then 1000 dollars but i had to go out n git me a new f150 well my payments are 350 a month n it sucks makin payments and im pretty sure i make more than you will be $14 /hr go for the one you can pay cash for my trucks nice [even got 0% financing but you gotta be to careful w/ it my 1st truck i beat the heck out of and ya i lost a lil money but not 30k

Just an example...

I have a friend who has an 84 camaro that is his pride and joy. He will never sell it to anyone. He has to pay for his own insurance, cell phone bill, gas, and now a car payment on a 03 cadillac cts. The cts alone costs $580 a month for the car, plus the insurance. He only makes $9 an hour and barley can save up money to do anything with his friends. He also does side work here and there too.

For me, that's too much pressure to have, especially when you are making $9 an hour and hope that you get side money, not to mention have a girlfriend and all of that. I don't see him as much as I use to because of a new car and girl. That's just my 2 cents.