My Original plan:
Graduate from Florida State University in early May, Sell scooter, have Dad co-sign for a SOP 5sp, get great job, live happily ever after with dog and girlfriend.

What actually happened:
Graduated from Florida State University in early May, sold scooter, ordered SOP 5sp, havent gotten a job YET, Dad won't co-sign, I have no previous credit so lenders dont like me, having to leave this element wonderland for a while....

I am going to miss this, wish me luck (in my used vehicle that is NOT a sunset orange pearl, 5-speed, utilitarian, all-around, amazing vehicle)

If anybody wants to co-sign for a great 22 year-old male with an Information Technology degree, please let me know :cry:

goodbye for now............

Hang in there dude and keep your chin up.

Best of luck,
SOL

I'm surprised Honda won't approve a college grad. It could be the income thing though. If you don't have any derogatory credit and make a decent income now, I would still think that Honda would give you a loan. Another thing to consider is that most banks pay a lot more attention when you have some cash down. So, if you have been turned down, but can put some extra cash down, you might try again.

Have you also tried the bank you have for checking/savings. Credit unions also seem to be pretty loyal to their customers. You might have to wait until you land the big job, but keep your head up. Here's hoping you get your E.

Bright side is you've got a girlfriend and a dog. And, though girlfriends are a little unpredictable, the dog will love you forever.

You'll make it through this rough spot. Good luck to you whether you buy an Element or not. And element-j is right about the dog.

now that you can't get your sweet brand new E and have to settle for a 95 cavelier or something like it, i have one question: What's your girlfriends #? :twisted:

Hummmm.......I traded in a '93 Cavalier for my E...ya gotta problem with that Dex????? :evil: :evil: :evil:


Just teasin'

I just graduated last may, and got mine in Feb...I don't think it has anything to do with a degree, just gotta have credit and a job. Tip for all you parents with kids getting close to college age or in college, get your kid their own credit card and use the card to pay tuition if you are getting financial aid, then pay off your credit card with the financial aid. This will build credit for them, and if kept in control, good credit for when they want to buy a car or something. Just a tip for those that didn't know.


Sucks to be you guy. IT jobs are hard to come by, but the company I work for just finished accepting applications for our IT position (ours left for another job). Keep pounding the pavement and you'll get there soon.

Di,

My wife just got rid of her 96 cav. what a piece of crap. in the shop every month.

Hey -

Just some friendly advice from a world-wise 32 year old:

Don't be so anxious to take on the debt from a new car. Drive the old, used one for a couple years. Bank some cash. Take 6 months and see the world. You're only young once - you can get the pretty new car later along with the kids, mortgage, and migraines!

What Buddkun said. From a 50 year old.

Peter

I bought my '93 Cavalier back in '97 when I was young....my three years without a car payment allowed me and my now hubbie to pay for our $16,000+ wedding by ourselves.....in hindsight I wish we would have eloped and traveled the world with the $$$.


Dexter-

Trust me I feel your wife's pain.....I think I paid for my Cavalier 4 Times over with all the repairs...transmission, 4 sets of brakes, 4 Alternators, and many many other car parts that I had never even heard of.....I swear, when I cleaned out my car too trade it in on the Element (for a whopping $300, my salesman actually laughed at me and told me I would be better off trying to sell it to some High School Kid....and my salesman is a part time police officer!) my glove compartment was so jammed packed with service invoices from Pep Boys that I could have wallpapered my living room!

I guess the question I have is why so many people in here own(ed) General Motors cars to begin with? :twisted:

I'm 45 and have owned, a VW Super Beetle, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic Wagon, Toyota Camary and Toyota Sienna - not all these one at a time, this includes the cars my wife & I have owned jointly. Currently on the Sienna and Camary, with the Civc Wagon for my kayaks. When we do get our element the Sienna and Civic will go bye-bye.

But back to the point of this thread. I'd echo some of the sentiments already spoken. If the Cavalier is not costing too much money to keep up, keep it until you've worked for a while. I worked over a year before selling the VW and buying my Civic. If it is running well, take it to Maaco and get it painted. Just don't rush to spend money right out of college.

Finally, build good solid credit. Charge a modest amount (like $200) and pay the minimum over a year or two. You'd be surprised how quickly you get your "beacon score" up just by paying small amounts on a timely basis. The beacon score is a credit rating devise that creditors use to determine creditworthiness. Better yet get two cards and charge $100 each, but make timely payments. I'm not advocating maxing out and paying minimum amounts that will kill you financially. Just be responsible and make timely payments.

Did I mention, make timely payments? If I didn't let me reiterate, make timely payments on a monthly schedule. I've worked in credit before. And you are actually "rewarded", credit wise, by even small timely monthly payments more than charging a large amount and paying it off in one or two months. Creditors like to see the consistent payment stream. OK I'm off my soap box. Hope you get into your element soon.

You will be okay. My wife and I went through a similar experience a year or two out of school when trying to buy a used CRX for around $7500. Her Escort had just shot craps and we needed a car right then and there. Of course we were journalists and not paid much at the time, so that didn't help. We got an older Accord instead. :)

But count your blessings. You have your health and what sounds like a good head on your shoulders. My dear wife and soul mate passed away suddenly two years ago this June 10. Sometimes life -- or worse -- gets in our way. The key is not to let it take you down along with whatever else you lost, too. Don't leave these boards. Your E is coming along with your job. Are you ready? Really, truly ready? If so, you'll want to change your thinking a bit.

Just do as the others have said. And do keep your chin up. And visualize your E daily (along with a job you love!). SEE yourself driving it, enjoying it. You will be amazed at what visualization can do in every area of your life.

That last tip is free, my friend. I wish I had fully embraced it at 22, but I wasn't...really, truly ready yet.
You will be just fine. ;)
Good luck!
Steve

It's a good thing that I was approved without a co-signer because I come from a Ford family (my E is the first non-Ford anyone in my immediate family has gotten) and they all said that they wouldn't co-sign for me if I needed one.

Luckily the little credit history that I do have is good so they approved me.

But maybe having to drive the hooptie car will make the E even more special when you do get it? My brother's trying, unsuccessfully, to talk his wife into getting an E. She refuses to be seen in 'the ugly car'. :)

Give it some time. You're still tooo young for an E anyway. :lol:

:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

I bought my E, a few months after i graduated High School, i have no credit, but i got approved and drove away with it! hang in there, check out a no credit bad credit dealer

[quote:5b511f17f2=" "]Give it some time. You're still tooo young for an E anyway. :lol:[/quote:5b511f17f2] HEYYYY!!!! im 18, i love my E, they were intended for the young surfer children of the west coast, but the young surfer children of the east coast stumbled upon them!!!! no one's too young for an E, or too old

[quote:a42e32bc70=" "]I bought my E, a few months after i graduated High School, i have no credit, but i got approved and drove away with it! hang in there, check out a no credit bad credit dealer[/quote:a42e32bc70]

Tell us again about the timeline? Graduate high school, a few months go buy, buy an E, name it cosmo after a night out drinking...

ah, right you must have started school a few years late... :)

-brendan

i look old :evil: of course pickin on the young ones :evil: