[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by Pidipompi

Not worried, I have money aside for that before I bought the car.
This just came outta no where.

That makes no sense. If you have repair and maintenance cash put aside why didn't you use $600 of that fund for repairs?

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

That makes no sense. If you have repair and maintenance cash put aside why didn't you use $600 of that fund for repairs?

It's a way to build my credit (is that a bad thing?)

Gotta think long term.

So please just answer my original question.

And not worry about other repairs.

[Ric in RVA]

how can lower control arms cost $1400? You are getting F&&&&&D and not even enjoying it....

[WingZeroX5]

Originally Posted by Pidipompi

Not worried, I have money aside for that before I bought the car.
This just came outta no where.

A lot of stuff "will come out of nowhere"

[wdb]

They saw you coming. Jacked you for repairs you may or may not have needed and got you into a credit hole you seriously. Don't. Want. To. Be. In.

Pay off the repair, cancel the card. Trade the car for a used Honda. Finish your degree. Get a stable job. Pay off your student loans. Get a BMW. In pretty much that order. Good luck!

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

That makes no sense. If you have repair and maintenance cash put aside why didn't you use $600 of that fund for repairs?

I mean, if there really isn't any interest or hidden stuff why not like he said build credit.

But if the parts and stuff is really stupidly high then it wasn't good idea.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by wdb

They saw you coming. Jacked you for repairs you may or may not have needed and got you into a credit hole you seriously. Don't. Want. To. Be. In.

Pay off the repair, cancel the card. Trade the car for a used Honda. Finish your degree. Get a stable job. Pay off your student loans. Get a BMW. In pretty much that order. Good luck!

When should you get the house?

I'm kinda in the same boat. I'm full time working studies all done. My dad let's me stay at his for a good amount, I plan until 24~25 and I planned on getting a car pay it off while saving for a down.

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

A lot of stuff "will come out of nowhere"

That's why I'm loaning money

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by wdb

They saw you coming. Jacked you for repairs you may or may not have needed and got you into a credit hole you seriously. Don't. Want. To. Be. In.

Pay off the repair, cancel the card. Trade the car for a used Honda. Finish your degree. Get a stable job. Pay off your student loans. Get a BMW. In pretty much that order. Good luck!

+1

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

how can lower control arms cost $1400? You are getting F&&&&&D and not even enjoying it....

$1,400 for rotors, pads, lower control arms, senors, and brake fluid flush.

But I had the rotors, pads, sensors, and the brake fluid replaced.

Came to a total of about $600.

So $800 for the lower control arms which is still f*cking expensive.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

When should you get the house?

I'm kinda in the same boat. I'm full time working studies all done. My dad let's me stay at his for a good amount, I plan until 24~25 and I planned on getting a car pay it off while saving for a down.

Houses aren't the safe place to park money they used to be. If you want a house, by all means do it. And if you're paying down a car and saving for a house, choose the car wisely.

I bought more car than I could afford when I was a young married guy. Sold it at a loss less than a year later and got something else. It's tough being a gearhead sometimes.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Pidipompi

Not worried, I have money aside for that before I bought the car.
This just came outta no where.

Maintenance should always be a factor in calculating the cost of ownership of any car outside of warranty. BMWs are not cheap to maintain. $1000/yr for any 10+ year old 3 series is pretty standard cost of maintenance, and that might even be conservative. Luckily, your control arms will last awhile, but your belts, gaskets, water pump, boots, VANOS Solenoids, etc etc will need to be serviced if they haven't already.

It's very easy to check your brakes and rotors to keep track of when they need to be replaced because they WILL need to be replaced. This is a fact of life, like death and taxes, so I cannot see how these should ever surprise anyone or come out of nowhere.

If I were you I would not touch those cards before they are fully paid off. If your interest rate is more than 17%, shelf them and get another 0% introductory offer if you want to. If you still haven't paid them off at 6 months, balance transfer to another 0% card if the transfer fee is less than the (number of months you can realistically pay it off)*(calculated monthly interest fee). Most sites have a interest calculator if you don't know how to do the math.

I would seriously reconsider your situation with this car. FYI I would never own a 10+ yr old BMW as my daily driver. It would be a second or third car only.

[jlstyle]

OP, yes, you can use that card elsewhere if they are got visa logo on the card.
But to give you my humble 2 cents, I advise you not to use that card once you pay the balance off. It's a store based credit card and it will never allow you enough line of credit to be a "real" credit card since you mentioned you wanted to build a credit. And I'm pretty sure that card doesn't offer any valuable benefit other than their store offers.
Using a credit card should offer you, sizable line of credit and great card benefits. But don't go cancel that store card right away as it would mark a negative credit score on your report. Just let it sit for few months or years and cancel it - perhaps use it time to time at that store and pay off as necessary.
If you wish to build a credit, go open a popular credit card of your choice (usually chase/amex are popular choice among the first time credit card holders) and use them. There are different formulas to build your credit and line of credit but I typically use up 30~40% of the limit and pay them off 80~90% and revolve that cycle. This will put you at around 40% credit limit monthly. As you do this, you will see your line of credit rising and you will learn to control your debt.

Lastly, opening up a STORE credit card for sub $1,000 bill isn't a great idea and raising a question for such questions at car forum isn't either. You should ask around talk to real people for some quality advice. This will help you when you apply for your home mortgage down the road. Good luck OP.

[C1Boston]

If you're having to finance a 600 dollar repair bill you should consider trading for a more affordable car. $600 is a generous repair bill....you could easily end up with a $3000 repair bill and you definitely do not want to put the on a credit card.

You're in college, young and not really living for tomorrow at least I am assuming here and please correct me if I am mistaken. I've been there and plenty of young ppl have been there. Interests from credit cards is a major scam if you do not tend to it ASAP you could end up in a very difficult financial situation. As others have mentioned most credit cards offer a year interest free so you should look into that. Also, when you swipe your credit card make sure you are able to pay the amount in full at the end of the month.

Good luck with your car and with whatever decision you end up making!

[Axius]

First, pay off the current within the 6 months to avoid interest. Don't spend any more on it. Get it back down to zero. Don't cancel it, keep it open and live. The interest rate isn't ideal, but if you use it for a gas fill up once a month and pay it off, it will remain your oldest account, which will help to some extent on your score. It's also opening a part of your available line of credit, which also helps.

Personally, secondly, I would go to a local credit union and see what kind of card you can apply for/open an account, typically you'll get a better rate than a large CC company since you don't have any history. I've used my MI one even while living in other states because of the perks they provide. Sometimes you get an opening of interest free for 6 months, but after, you accrue interest on a monthly basis, so if you had $500 still sitting from the $600, enjoy that 30% extra hit.

None of us know the extent of your whole financial situation, but as it's been said BMW's can be spendy to repair, and you have to plan for things like this. If you can put it on a CC and pay it off that month, earn some cash back rewards in the process, then fuck it, start working on your credit now. If you're financing all your vehicle repairs because you don't have the physical cash to get it done, you honestly might want to consider a Civic until you're out of college.

[Delta0311]

If you can't pay off $600 in 6 months then you probably shouldn't be owing a car let alone a BMW.

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

If you can't pay off $600 in 6 months then you probably shouldn't be owing a car let alone a BMW.

Didn't say I couldn't
I had my bmw for 2 years.
Been on time for my payments for it.

It had a to get its oil pan gasket repaired for which I paid for.

I understood bmw's are expensive to take care of even before I bought it. I also saved money before getting incase something will break on it (which will most likely happen)

It has 130,000 miles on it

All major repairs have been done before I bought the car (except for the oil pan gasket)

Now I said I have to pay $600 in 6 months (mostly because I wanna build up my credit and save money while doing so)

And that means all of a sudden I can't own a BMW becuase it's too costly to maintain?

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by Pidipompi

Didn't say I couldn't
I had my bmw for 2 years.
Been on time for my payments for it.

It had a to get its oil pan gasket repaired for which I paid for.

I understood bmw's are expensive to take care of even before I bought it. I also saved money before getting incase something will break on it (which will most likely happen)

It has 130,000 miles on it

All major repairs have been done before I bought the car (except for the oil pan gasket)

Now I said I have to pay $600 in 6 months (mostly because I wanna build up my credit and save money while doing so)

And that means all of a sudden I can't own a BMW becuase it's too costly to maintain?

No it wasn't aimed at you. I was speaking in general.

[Naz24]

OP, please call your school registrar and change one of your elective choices this semester to personal finance.

Trust us, you'll be happy you did.

[Pidipompi]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

No it wasn't aimed at you. I was speaking in general.

Apologies

[The Wind Breezes]

I mean, this story just doesn't add up. Aside from the fact that brake maintenance is the last thing to come out of nowhere on a car, my main beef is you can get this:

http://brakeperformance.com/brake-ro...SABEgLlYPD_BwE

And some fluid at the auto parts store for $20 and change your brakes yourself for half the cost! They'll lend you the tools at the store if you don't have them.

This guy claims to be industrious enough to go to college, work, and pay for his own car all at the same time but he can't figure out a better way to get brakes done than get a store credit card. Great stuff.

[upstatedoc]

Do you get more chicks in college if you drive a BMW? I mean I drove a Volkswagen and I still got laid.