im also 19 and saving for one, but how come u cant afford one at 46, i can afford one and i got a crappy job, i figure for 4 years its about 500/month depending on the down payment and % financing, just a bit much gfor me but i can afford it but wont be able to afford gas

 

I'm 18 and have mine sittin in the garage...thank god for parents. At least I was intelligent about it...i really did purposely drive a few junkers for over a year before I made the decision to get the L, thought it might be a little bit safer that way. I'm really glad I waited even though I had an agonizing wait, I didnt want to kill someone or harm anyone with any of the normal biligerant behavior of the typical teenage drivers. No wreaks yet and I've been driving it like it was stolen since 500 miles I know how you "old folks" must feel to see teenagers driving these things.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't born with a silver spoon, but I do have my Lightning. I am not that young, and am 21. I just work at school as a parking ****, and manage to pay for my Lightning, tuition, and other stuff. I had an 01 Cobra before this, but Ford bought it back earlier this week as a lemon because it had so many problems. My friends on the other hand, were born with silver spoons in their mouths and have very rich parents. You appreciate something a lot more if you work hard to buy. My friends treat their BMW's, and Acura's like POS, because they don't know what the true value of it is, because everything in their life has been handed down to them.

 

im 17 and i resent all you old, jealous people out there. why does it matter how old you are to drive a car. some people are just luckier then others, no need to bad mouth. now come on arent the elders supposed to be more mature. im 17 and even though i only had to put the downpayment on my L(4,000$) and pay for gas i bet i treat my L better then anyone on this board and ill bet each and every youngin who gets one will do the same. and if they dont im comin after them cause they give us a bad name thats just my opinion

 

true.

svtmike, though YOU may or may not represent yourself as a wild teenager in a powerful car, you must remember that most other teenagers have a reputation of driving recklessly and crazy, this is why it scares the elders to see a young'n in the driver seat of a very powerful car. Mind you, the elders on here have anywhere from 10+ years of experience compared to your 1-2 years. I'm not trying to start a fight, but rather trying to enlighten you as to why young kids with fast cars are a scary thought for many people on these (and other) boards.

-Ian

 

geez, i wonder what all you guys think about me

 

When I was young, (physically) I had 2 340s that I couldn't keep tires on. It wasn't until I hit 21 and had other bills that I realized there was more to life than smokin up a set of tires and racing everytime someone pulled up next to me at a light, or even if no one did. The biggest cure to my automotive immaturity were the tickets and points that can follow you for years. The tickets are paid and go away. The points can haunt you for years. Go to the track. You can race to your hearts delight and even get something to show how fast you went. Now that I'm pushing 50, it seems like the faster it can go the slower I drive it on the street. "Cause I KNOW it can go fast when I want it to, I just go to the track.
And from day one, I paid for ALL my vehicles. I knew if my parents bought them I'd end up with too much of their influence, ya know- 6 cyl., whitewalls etc.

 

SVTMIKE- I'm not jealous or what ever you want to call it. I am just wondering how spoiled kids are now a days. Thats it im not mad just wondering i have more than enough toys to be jealous of anyone.

 

Where's the fussy baby alert??

 

Well kids,
I just turned really old (47), already moved out of mom's place. I asked her to buy me another L and she told me to go ##ck myself. How's that for gratitude????

WTF is she thinking??!!!?!?!?!?...JR

so I don't know what you boys are cryin about...my .02

 

Well, im 16 (Yes pretty damn young to be driving a 02 TrueBlue L as a first car) but I take pretty damn good care of the truck. Passengers in my truck are always asking why I dont floor the truck from light to light, and act like the god of the street's when im driving. I don't see a point in abusing my truck. When im ready to race I will be heading to the track. Im a very safe driver, and don't drive like an idiot. Yes the truck is a big toy, but you must respect it. I know that I may be young and may not have the expierience that all of you older folks have with driving, but I have heard my share of horrible stories involving dumb driving, and kids doing stupid things trying to look cool. I refuse to put myself in that type of situation. My truck is always clean, and never roughed up. I get complaints that im using too much water from my parents. (washing the truck every 2 days.) But if im gonna spend the money I did on the truck, why not take damn good care of it. It kills me to see such dusty, dirty, and ungodly nasty cars of the road that are 45k+. If people are gonna spend the money, dont abuse the car, take care of it. I must say im very thankful that my grandfather is helping me pay for the truck. Im paying half of the payments.

 

I just turned 18 and saving for an L. It will be a few more months before I could put a good down payment. Actually we are trading in my grandmas 97 Malibu and probably like another $6k. Would that be an alright downpayment?

 

while being in college,,,,,I asked my parents to help me move back for the summer, And guess what,,,,They gladly helped me out. I greatly appreciated it.

 

Jimmy, if you are 18, unless you are going to recieve help from your parents, how do you plan on paying for the Lightning? Let's say you put $12k down on a Lightning, with a sticker price of $32590(you won't get much off sticker), then add in sales tax(let's assume $1500), you are already at a total of $34090. If you manage to put $12k down including the Malibu, you are still going to have to finance $22090 at 7% if your parents have good credit history and are willing to assist you in obtaining the loan. If you plan on going out by yourself, you are probably looking at around 13% if you don't have much credit history, and that's if you have enough credit history to get a loan. Be really careful, because I know you really would love a Lightning, and I really think it would be great for you to be added to our Lightning family, but please don't get something that you find out to be beyond your means. I have a few friends who did that and as a consequence had things like repo's, along with a ruined credit history that will haunt you for many years.

 

My turn. I just turned 16 yesterday, and got my license. First try! But, i am driving a 1994 F 150 that my dad bought for 3500 dollars for me. I have stuck 2 thousand bones into it to make it look as good as it does now. I respect the vehicle very much and am thankful it is as good as it is. I am in love with the lightning, but my parents don't make the best of wages in the world, i'd say fairly descent, but they don't like to fork out on me. Unlike some other kids that are spoiled as hell and get a new damned car! I am going to be working my *** off for two years hoping i can have enough to come close to paying off a L, get this, USED lightning. yes, paying myself, then i will be going to college, yay, but i'm lucky enough that i might not have to pay for it, unless my dad gets a harly, then i'll be stuck with it. As you all may think, a 16 year old won't give a f*ck how they drive a lightning. If i had one, i wouldn't be driving it, unless on a sunny day, not rainy. If i were to race, I would drive the 300+ miles to a track, i'm not going to endanger other peoples lifes just because I want to have a little fun, now do you think that many other people my age that love their lightning would do this (the guys on here..Mecca for one..), and i would be proud to see alot of others out there do this. Every time I see a lightning, wrecked, it just breaks my heart, and brightens me because if i had the money, i'd make it feel brand spankin new. Thank you all for reading.