Bought a new 2023 Integra, No I'm not an Architect

Posted by The_Exia@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 14 comments

Just picked up a new 6MT Integra in Performance Red. Why did I do this? I wanted a good daily manual hatchback with a good amount of interior space and its basically impossible to get any other manual hatchback that doesn't involve waiting months or years.There was a a 6MT in the colour I wanted at my local dealer so I brought it home. My only options after applying the above criteria were really this or a Civic Sport Touring (good luck finding one in a manual), no Civic's were available and I was willing to spend the extra 5k to have the Si powertrain, HUD etc that the Integra offered over the Sport Touring Civic. The shifter feels great, clutch is light and easy to modulate, with only 200hp its definitely the slowest car I've owned but for just driving around town I don't feel like I need more, its pretty peppy. Short 1st and 2nd gear ratios mean you end up shifting frequently, which I find fun. There is some rev hang, but its much better then the prior Civic. The brake pedal feels a little soft on initial application which I'd say is welcome given the amount of cars I've driven where a tap of the brakes make it feel you're already standing on them and allows you to easily modulate them. The customization is welcome for the drive modes, although I can't say I feel any real difference between comfort and sport in terms of the adaptive dampers. I'll probably just set individual to comfort everything with the engine in sport. The seats actually feel quite nice and snug, I could see comfort being an issue for larger people on a longer drive but I fit in them nicely at 6'2 and 190 pounds. I also don't notice any issues with road noise but most of the vehicles I've owned have had pretty bad road noise so I'm probably not the best person to say that its acceptable. All in all I'd say its a great usable vehicle you can drive everyday while still being a bit fun and comes with all the modern goodies, including safety systems that are usually neglected on manual cars but you still get them on this one. I wish it had ventilated seats but otherwise it has everything else I'd want in a vehicle. https://imgur.com/okzqeMg

14 Comments

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BrothaCharter@reddit

Your Wrangler 392 post 3 months ago claimed that was the last car purchase for a while. So uh, what happened?

The_Exia@reddit (OP)

My Blackwing wait is over so the Wrangler will be going so I wanted to get a replacement practical vehicle.

04limited@reddit

God damn what do you sling coke to afford those nice cars? I thought I was doing pretty good but I’m here contemplating on a $70k Yukon and you’re trading $100k cars left and right lol.

Occulense@reddit

Seriously, I see this so often on this subreddit. I suspect a lot of people just make a lot of money. I am going to clear $200k this year and a $30k used car is about the best I can manage. People must make INSANE money, lol

Odd-Refrigerator-425@reddit

Do you just have crazy high debt or something? Or a very high QOL area and pay a ton in rent/mortgage? I live in a super poor area, pay $850 for a large apartment with a parking space in one of the most desirable parts of the city. I felt like I could comfortably afford the Focus RS I was financing and at the time I was "only" making $85K when I bought it. Hard for me to imagine making $200K but feeling like I could "only" afford a $30K car 🤔

I pay about $1600 in rent, for my portion. Though we’re lucky, our apartment is much cheaper than it normally would be here. When I was making $80k or so, that’s when I was comfortable buying my first car, only. The $30k car. How much are you saving for retirement? How much for emergency fund? How much for future goals, like a home? How much for children, if you plan to have any?

I forget what percent I'm throwing away into my 401K honestly. Just hit 4 months salary in my savings and trying to figure out what to do with my money from here on out. Hope to put money down for a house in the next year or two. No plans for kids -- I guess that's the big one 🙃

I don’t have a lot of confidence that you’re saving enough if you’ve forgotten the percentage. Retirement is minimum 15% of gross, so for me that would be $2500 a month at the bare minimum. So if I were also saving for a home, it would be about $5000 a month, or about $7500 a month minimum. If I wanted to save for a down payment for a house in a year or two, it would be $12,500 a month for 2 years, or $25,000 a month for a year. On top of retirement. So far this year I’ve managed to save about $50k. Obviously that’s not very much for my first year, but the market was shit, unfortunately. I’m also not planning to have kids, and as a result don’t actually really need a house. I’d love to be able to spend on a car. It’s probably the only thing I have as a personal goal. It’s just not possible, sadly.

Ajaxx6@reddit

You said you saved what is most of the average income for the US. You can afford basically anything under $180k

LOL I wish! That would be spending $5000 a month on a car, with a $3000 payment, with the added cost of maintenance, tires, etc. And that’s with a 10% down payment. If I were really, really bad with finances I could probably afford a $2000 a month payment if I just didn’t bother saving for retirement or anything else, and used credit.

boblan2390@reddit

Bro we need an actual breakdown of your budget. Unless you’re being paid in cash and somehow not realizing how much of it you’re blowing on strippers and coke, this is not making any sense

Paid for this year, my first year of having enough income to save: - $12k emergency fund - $12k tax free savings - $15k retirement - $15k wedding related stuff - $48k base living expenses - $5k emergency fund replenish (emergency travel needed) - $6k tech upgrades (long overdue) - $10k additional savings buffer (impending economic uncertainty) - $10k to odds and ends (additional travel, car maintenance, celebrations, increased cost of living, etc.) And that’s all of it. I get the same response often from people who are maybe young, don’t know how much things cost, and/or don’t make very much money. Keep in mind if, when you reach a high income, you immediately start spending more rather than saving more, you are being bad with money.

Ok and what car would you wanna get if you felt you could afford it?

Older N.A. Cayman or Boxster, anything after 2005, or an older 911. Ideally something newer, ideally something N.A. and manual, and ideally rear/mid engined. Happy to start with older, though.

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