Might have also been interesting to know the M/F ratio
Age: 28 F
Occupation: Telecommunications Analyst (Project Manager)
Education: U of MN and St. Scholastica (3 yrs @ the U thinking I was going to be an Actuary until I realized I had too much personality for any more statistics courses. Am in my 2nd 3rd yr in pursuit of a Comp Sci deg. Pretty much had to start over since my million math credits don't count. The irony is that I started college at 15. I will probably not graduate until I'm 35. Yikes.
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Salary: Gotta be somewhat discreet... Enough over $50k but too much under $100k
Current cars: I only need my G!
Past cars:
'89 White Chevy Cavalier auto (Inherited Mom's old car. Age 16-17)
'86 White Honda Prelude SI auto (LOVED this car until a 66 yr old man leaving the American Legion pulled out in front of me and ate my engine. Age 17-19)
'92 Gray Eagle Talon Turbo 5-spd (This was a $500 test drive - I signed, drove it off the lot, entered the freeway and was rear-ended, sent spinning between the guardrails finally stopping with a clear view of my entire front bumper sitting about 6 feet away. The car was totalled but I still had to pay my deductible. Ouch. Age 19)
'89 Red Acura Integra 5-spd (Liked the looks and the interior, hated the tiny engine. Also the alternator/battery died in the winter so for 2 weeks I pushed the car from 1 side of the street to the other every day for the snow plows. Age 19).
'86 Gray Acura Integra 5-spd (Friend's car he spend years modifying. Twice as fast as my other Integra but still left much to be desired. Did get me from Minneapolis to Dallas in 1-piece though! Age 20)
'96 Red Honda Prelude SI 5-spd (New job + increased cashflow + cheaper living = new car requirement. Age 21-22)
'69 Champagne Gold Ford Thunderbird 429 thunderjet w/suicide doors (Friend didn't want to move it from SC to CA. It's a boat, but holy crap does it move! Sad to have to sell it when I moved to MPLS (no storage) but it went to someone who is completely rebuilding it in memory of his Father who owned the exact car before he passed. Age 22-23).
'00 Black Honda Prelude 5-spd. First brand new car. (Another new job + more money + made the mistake of driving the new Prelude with 40 more horses... couldn't say no. Should have as the Lute Riley Honda dealer in Richardson, TX completely screwed me on the car. Got all the way to MN with my 7.9% financing papers only to have my first 2 loan payments not cashed, received notice from Nuvell that I was in default, called dealer, they "didn't know" what happened to my loan, asked Nuvell for loan papers and they had sent my papers in for 18.9% APR!!! And I had/have an excellent credit score. Fighting this meant going to TX and to court. I was young and stupid and thought I could just refinance. Wrong - loan terms carried a HUGE prepayment penalty. Essentially, paid almost $40k for that stupid car. Had to basically keep the car for 5 years to even pay it down enough to get out of it. Very sad because it was a nice car. Probably ruined me for Hondas for the rest of my life. (And thank God for that since it steered me to Infiniti!) Age 22-28 )
So I said I'd never buy another brand new car after the Prelude incident. Then again, without the Prelude incident, wouldn't be used to this kind of car payment i.e. might not have been able to justify the G35. Can you believe both my car payment and insurance actually went
DOWN?
Either way, I just bought a house, the Prelude has all sorts of negativity around it - time for change, out with the old/in with the new! I looked at 6 other cars in the G35 class and have no doubt in my mind I chose the right one! It's beautiful and fast and the only complaint I have is on the Navigation operation. I hope they make the system more user friendly by the time I'm ready for my next car in 3 yrs!
Sorry about the book... maybe I shouldn't have had that coffee this morning.
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