got new part time job, i did not accept yet

[HondaB18]

here is what i know
- 2.5 days fri-sun (negotiated half day friday, due to my regular job)
- $250 monthly car allowance
- car has to be reliable
- must have good cargo space and must seat 2 comfortably
- must have/prove current car payments
- mileage reimbursed (lose money with anything less than 25mpg)
- nothing else is covered

i would have to get another car. location is not determined so one week can be heavy city driving and another week can be all highway travel. mileage is also infrequent so one week can be 20 miles while another week can be 200 miles

i'm on the fence on this one, lease payments (15k/year, 24 month) for prius c are around 307 and insight are around 415

would you take this job and if so what car would you get?

[Leung]

CauseSo there is a possibility that you will be driving people? Me, id pass on it if i had to shuttle people like a taxi. I have this phobia about bed bugs and anyone that gets into my car might be carrying one, f- that.

I just found a full time job as an independent contractor just delivering cart parts to mechanic shops. $530 a week but they only have me scheduled for four days; nice. I drive my own vehicle and have to put up shit from no one so long as i dont take an hour to deliver something that should only be 20 minutes. In a week, the other drivers say they drive about a 1000 miles but ive only been averaging 130-150 since starting. The people at the shop are cool as hell and swear like drunken sailors, women included, when the customers arent around. I also get a massive discount on anything in the store but sadly they only carry regular pennzoil motor oil and not the platinum line. They also only carry Wix filters but a lot of guys on here say that it is a very good brand.

As for which hybrid to get, id lean towards the prius c since according to US News, it gets the highest city MPGs of something around 53 but as you know it might be different for you because of driving habits and it was $2k cheaper than a Civic hybrid but about the same price as an Insight.

[deevergote]

Is this job worth buying a new car? Or are you looking to buy new anyway, and picking something that will fit with the job?

Efficient and reliable, with fair storage space and room for 2:
Older Civic, Corolla, or Sentra. You don't drive like I do (1500-2000 miles a week), so a car that's going to be used for 20-200 miles a week doesn't have to be TOO solid. Especially if you'll have another vehicle to drive in an emergency.
A used hybrid is also a possibility, though they come at a premium these days. However, the Ford Fusion hybrid has had amazing reviews, and might be found cheaper than the better-known Prius and Insight. Fuel economy isn't quite as good, but still impressive... and IMO, it's a "nicer" car.

[ChIoVnIdCa]

Never heard of a car allowance that forced you to prove car payments

I get paid for my car and expenses but its none of there business how much I paid for it or if it is paid off or not... Its a non factor.

[AccordWarrior]

You never mentioned the duration of this part time job, how long are you planning on working there?

If you were willing to bump the payments to a 6 year car loan, AAA Southern New England is offering loans at 2.24%, so using that time period, you're looking at about a $17K loan to put you right around the $250/mo plateau. If you wanted to drop it to 4 years, you're looking at about a $11,500 loan.

Although most people would probably argue against me, I would say go the new car route. If no other costs are covered automotive, why not have something that can be covered completely by a new car warranty. If you don't care about payments the only thing that could hurt you is if you leave the position and take a depreciation hit if you then decide to unload the car at the end of the position.

Something like a Nissan Versa S can be had for under 12K new OTD. Sure, it won't be worth much later, but it's going to give you zero troubles for at least the first 100K, and you won't even have to worry about the 15K service for the first year.

If you were willing to take a bigger hit on the car loan, the Honda Fit is always a great choice. I mean, Deev's got hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles on his.

Now, are you going to be a taxi/car service? I'd check into insurance when ti comes to that as I know some insurances have regulations on car services, as well as new car warranties and whatnot.

Going the lease route might not be an awful decision, but I always feel like with leasing, you lose in the end because yes, you don't have to realize all the depreciation as the time wears on and you always get a new car, but unless the lease is 0 down, I feel like you pay money and end up with nothing in the end. Plus, the payments you are quoting far exceed your allowance. If you're going to be paying that much out of pocket, are you even breaking even enough with this position that it is worth the cash? I mean, could you find another part time position that might have better perks?

I dunno, I'm all for having multiple vehicles (hell I'm probably buying a new pickup in the coming months and I still want to buy a brand new cheap commuter car), but if you're being reimbursed, why put yourself in a situation where you need to front any cash?

[Losiracer2]

what about a Chevy Volt? Its a plug in hybrid that can get 40 miles on electricity and has an on board gas generator that'll give you another 300 miles on its 9 gallon tank.

A guy at work has one and averages 57 mpg when out of electricity. He's leasing for 349/month but now they've cut payments even more. You can get one for 269/month with about 2500 down.

For those short trips, just charge up and go and it will nearly cost you nothing for a miles per gallon equivalent.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/25/2013-chevrolet-volt/

Or you could try to get a VW Golf Bluemotion if they become available. It gets 73.5 mpg

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/09/26...orth-73-5-mpg/

[deevergote]

The Volt is a pretty expensive car, and it's such new technology that the thought of fixing it (once the warranty is up) is pretty scary. The VW is likely going to be an even greater risk... plus, I have absolutely NO faith in the reliability of any modern VW.

A diesel might be a decent choice, though (and that's one thing that VW does seem to be able to get right...) That would give good gas mileage, and most diesel engines on the market seem to be quite solid.

[HondaB18]

CauseSo there is a possibility that you will be driving people? Me, id pass on it if i had to shuttle people like a taxi. I have this phobia about bed bugs and anyone that gets into my car might be carrying one, f- that.

sometimes cargo, sometimes passengers. i'm like the transporter but without the hot girls, bad guys and the audis

Is this job worth buying a new car? Or are you looking to buy new anyway, and picking something that will fit with the job?

are you telling me to get a honda fit? only if they bring the fit ev to the northeast and they lower the payment

btw, how is owning both a fit and cts-v? i know they are different cars and a big gap in power and luxury. when you drive your fit do you feel like ditching it and driving the cts instead?

Never heard of a car allowance that forced you to prove car payments

I get paid for my car and expenses but its none of there business how much I paid for it or if it is paid off or not... Its a non factor.

the recruiter's response was that the company would write a check of up to $250 to the loan company. they said there was a few previous incident where employees were making low payments and profiting from the allowance. maybe the company wants to use those as tax write-offs, no clue but i will follow up on this when i call them on tuesday

You never mentioned the duration of this part time job, how long are you planning on working there?

If you were willing to bump the payments to a 6 year car loan, AAA Southern New England is offering loans at 2.24%, so using that time period, you're looking at about a $17K loan to put you right around the $250/mo plateau. If you wanted to drop it to 4 years, you're looking at about a $11,500 loan.

Although most people would probably argue against me, I would say go the new car route. If no other costs are covered automotive, why not have something that can be covered completely by a new car warranty. If you don't care about payments the only thing that could hurt you is if you leave the position and take a depreciation hit if you then decide to unload the car at the end of the position.

Something like a Nissan Versa S can be had for under 12K new OTD. Sure, it won't be worth much later, but it's going to give you zero troubles for at least the first 100K, and you won't even have to worry about the 15K service for the first year.

If you were willing to take a bigger hit on the car loan, the Honda Fit is always a great choice. I mean, Deev's got hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles on his.

Now, are you going to be a taxi/car service? I'd check into insurance when ti comes to that as I know some insurances have regulations on car services, as well as new car warranties and whatnot.

Going the lease route might not be an awful decision, but I always feel like with leasing, you lose in the end because yes, you don't have to realize all the depreciation as the time wears on and you always get a new car, but unless the lease is 0 down, I feel like you pay money and end up with nothing in the end. Plus, the payments you are quoting far exceed your allowance. If you're going to be paying that much out of pocket, are you even breaking even enough with this position that it is worth the cash? I mean, could you find another part time position that might have better perks?

I dunno, I'm all for having multiple vehicles (hell I'm probably buying a new pickup in the coming months and I still want to buy a brand new cheap commuter car), but if you're being reimbursed, why put yourself in a situation where you need to front any cash?

i plan to do this for 2 years or so, maybe more if i like it. i would like to give a definite answer but it is uncertain for me

i don't want to put anything out of pocket, as you said it doesn't make sense to with the reimbursements

since i would only need this from fri-sun i was thinking about joining relayrides and renting this car out mon-thurs for some extra cash flow

what about a Chevy Volt? Its a plug in hybrid that can get 40 miles on electricity and has an on board gas generator that'll give you another 300 miles on its 9 gallon tank.

A guy at work has one and averages 57 mpg when out of electricity. He's leasing for 349/month but now they've cut payments even more. You can get one for 269/month with about 2500 down.

For those short trips, just charge up and go and it will nearly cost you nothing for a miles per gallon equivalent.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/25/2013-chevrolet-volt/

Or you could try to get a VW Golf Bluemotion if they become available. It gets 73.5 mpg

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/09/26...orth-73-5-mpg/

i am trying to avoid the deposit and keep the monthly payments as close to $250 as possible. i'm not able to find any good volt deals around here

[AccordWarrior]

i plan to do this for 2 years or so, maybe more if i like it. i would like to give a definite answer but it is uncertain for me

i don't want to put anything out of pocket, as you said it doesn't make sense to with the reimbursements

since i would only need this from fri-sun i was thinking about joining relayrides and renting this car out mon-thurs for some extra cash flow

What type of safety is built in for the owner of the vehicle in a situation like that? What happens if the person renting your car breaks something mechanically on the vehicle. Who is protecting you?

Also, I would be curious to know how that would affect both car insurance and warranty coverage.

[deevergote]

are you telling me to get a honda fit? only if they bring the fit ev to the northeast and they lower the payment

btw, how is owning both a fit and cts-v? i know they are different cars and a big gap in power and luxury. when you drive your fit do you feel like ditching it and driving the cts instead?

It's interesting having two completely different cars. I'll often get back from driving the Fit for 12 hours, only to hop in the CTS-V and go for a drive. I did that when the CB7 was on the road as well. The only difference is, with the CTS-V, I very quickly regret driving it when I see that gas needle move. I can whomp on the Fit and still average 36mpg (the low end of the spectrum). The CTS-V gets 20mpg if I drive it like a granny!

Anyway back to your situation... now that I think about it, and I understand their reimbursement plan better... perhaps a lease really is the way to go. As long as you're not going over the miles allowed by the lease, you won't owe extra. If you do 200 miles a week, you're only doing about 10,000 miles a year. You should be able to find a nice cheap lease price if you can guarantee you stay under 10,000 miles a year! Then when the lease term is up, you can return the car without taking a loss.

[toycar]

The CTS-V gets 20mpg if I drive it like a granny!

And like 6 when you flog on it.



op;


I wouldnt personally take on a new car payment, for a jobby. If you lose the jobby, you are going to regret taking on the payment.


My thoughts...

[deevergote]

That is true. Lose the job, and the car payment continues regardless...