I took out a loan and paid off my first Camaro while in college. Don't see why some one else couldn't do it.

i bought my birds straight cash son!

(this would be the reason they are/were in just "eh" condition)

hmmm the way the economy/banks are right now, i doubt you would get approved for a loan never mind suggest getting one. you gotta do what you gotta do though.

also, you need to cut a roof to install a sunroof no matter what. so i don't get that argument. if its done correctly, it isn't going to be an issue.

the point is, you wont know if its done right untill the first major storm......and even then since this is someone that will obviously modding the car, its unknown how that giant hole with affect the chassis of the car.

In my opinion, as a college student myself, something should go, and you should go after a decent pickup. A truck will be very dependable for you as long as you drive it nice and don't modify it extensively. Then again so can an F-body, but you can't haul your landscaping supplies or pull a trailer with an F-body or GTO. Also, it'll give you something solid you won't be afraid to drive when theres snow on the ground.

Looking at that car, I think for 15K its too good to be true. I'm sure at 56k miles it won't take long before you begin running into problems. Who knows if the car had the piss beaten out of it, or whatever else. Save some money, when you can afford it buy something like that new.

Um.. I was brought up in this thread, wtf? College kids aren't allowed to have loans?

I was looking for something more practical, came across a bunch of nissan xterras (05,06) at autolender's in the 15-16k range with 30-40k miles. Anyone own one of these, hear any horror stories, etc?

my old gym teacher owned one, he said he liked it, decent mileage, reliable, had room and was pretty good in bad weather

I love my GTO but thye do have their down falls. Like the suspension is crap in them. I've read about 9k mile and less 06's needing struts and stuff. To do it properly you're looking at 2k (thats the later on this summer mod to the GTO) An 04 auto car thats 4.5 years old with that many miles I'd offer 13.5 for it. But it does have some of the SAP stuff. Spoiler and kidney grilles.

Had 2 friends w/ them, inside was cheap, low on power, fuel economy sucked. Good for towing though. I didnt know the history of my one friends but her tranny went. W/ Nissan though if you take care of them it'll run forever.

as a fellow college student with a car loan....dont do it. or at least make sure its dirt cheap like 200 a month. 15 plus warranty and tax at least 20. so roughly 380$ a month depending on interest rate.. IMO i wouldnt do it, im sorry i did because i have to work more than i used to and miss out on events because i cant afford not to work. but you live and you learn. The only good thing is that my credit score is awesome and i can get approved for a house....but i cant afford one lol


on the other hand, nice car! except the sunroof part. My old car had a aftermarket non dealer sunroof that leaked all the time and because there was no name or anything on it i couldnt find any parts to replace it.

as a college student myself, only get a loan if u got a good job. My friend had a job and just got fired but still has to keep up payments on his GTI, i wouldnt do it at this time with all this great economy we got going for us

I'd stay away from the LS1 GTO's. They have grown on me recently, but a car that weighs like 400 lbs more than mine making the same power= not as much fun. I'd get a LS2 GTO or bust. I have seen them in the upper teens and with the economy I'm sure you can find a dealer willing to talk on those prices.

GTO is a much more refined car then the fbody, and ive seen numerous 6spd ls1 versions run low 13's stock.

It's a nice car, and I wouldn't sweat it not being an LS2. There about $5k + more for an LS2. That being said I wouldn't spend the money being in college. And if you reservations about it being an automatic now They'll only get worse.

ls2's i heard are harder to tune because of the cpu....also the ls2 is fly by wire iirc and the ls1 gto has a better basis for modding than the ls2

the basis of modding would be the same..other than the throttle body

and they are just as easy to tune, just have to get the software

He took the words outta my mouth :|