how old ?

my insurance on the kia is more then my camaro 8/ brand new car under 25yrs old

I'm 21 but I'm fine if insurance is more. I have much more than 7k to throw at a car but then Id consider buying and not leasing. This thread was more about cars I should consider than how I go about financing.

Vin- I know you are in college, so my advice to you is buy used if you are like me and are paranoid and will worry about dents and scratches. I know how Rutgers lots can be, and to me, a new car would just be an extra worry. Finances be damned, I just wouldn't want to watch a nice car get dinged up and scratched and make you resent your purchase.

I do agree about that but i have an off campus house starting june first with off street parking thats fenced in so i think id be good. Honestly this is the first time I can comfortable afford to drive something nice so I'm going to venture out and test drive some cars. If I go back to school in two weeks with nothing I'll be perfectly fine with that decision.

FWIW this is great advice.

You will be in New Brunswick with it at the end of the day.

and they can ding you for damage when you return it at the end of the lease.

Valid points made which is something to consider. At this point I'm leaning towards just investing the money. I have some relatives that can help me get good investment options and put the money away for two years. I still plan on test driving some cars just for the hell of it. So besides the Cruze, Fusion, and now the optima, are there any other cars out there that I'm missing? I'm not interested in the Civic or anything Hyundia offers currently

House > car

Just an fyi, with my ford/mercury lease we had for my wife, i had up to 1k damage allowment included in the lease. They sent me out a template on what would not be considered damage, but normal wear and tear about 3 months before the lease was up. Dings, windshield chips etc can all be passed off w/out hitting you unless its more severe. If the tires aren't down to the wear indicators you are also ok. I only ever leased mercurys so unsure of other manufacturers....and i'll tell you 1 thing, out of the 2 blue ovals we leased, they were the best cars ever..not 1 single, f'ing issue at all, i was amazed in over 60k leased miles.

Volt.

Just put it into a CD. You worked hard for your money, and even though you will barely get a return for it, it will always be there.

Current CD rates are the exact reason why I'm considering spending the money NOW and not saving it. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, you'd be losing $ if your investment doesnt return atleast enough interest to cover inflation(typically between 2 and 3 percent a year).

Anyway, I'd still like to look at some cars. Does anyway have any suggestions similar to the cars I have previously mentioned?

Volt would be crazy money to lease new and to buy one would be over 25k used (from what i've seen). Further, how would you charge the volt if you don't have a off street parking. Granted, the op said he's getting off campus housing and not sure if that means house, apt, condo or whatever. I wouldn't want an extension cord running out the front door and over the sidewalk to charge a car everynight in certain areas around campus that i would assume cater to college age renters.

Just a question.

Put it in a Roth IRA and continue to drive your DD.

JW :D

Went and test drove both the Cruze and Fusion today. The Chevy dealer I went to was willing to negotiate the price where as ford was firm. For a pretty much loaded 2013 cruze lt I was able to get them down to 21,400 plus tax tags and title. For a Fusion Se with leather and heated seats it would have been 27,600. The Cruze had the 1.4L turbo and the fusion had the 1.6L ecoboost. Both cars were really nice and I got my credit score ran for the first time in my life...lets just say I'll be getting the best financing options available if I go that route. 😀

I would go for the cruze. I like the new fusions front end but that's it for styling.

besides the heated seats and leather is it pretty well loaded ?

the more you get for the money is the route I'd go

The cruze definitely gave more for the money but I did like the fusions styling better. To me the cruze felt more of like a colleges kids car where as the fusion was a step or two above that. Looking at my financing options id most likely lean towards purchasing and not leasing. For 21,400 the cruze had a sunroof, upgraded stereo, remote start, reverse backup camera, some dealer installed interior and exterior packages and it had the turbo motor. The only options on the fusion for 27,600 were the ecoboost motor and the leather and heated seats and a sunroof.