u/EyeThega

Hey everyone,

I’m hoping to get some sensible financial advice from some older and wiser car enthusiasts. I know I’m in a pretty fortunate position to even be considering this, so I’m trying to approach it responsibly.

I’m 20 years old, currently at uni (second last year), and working part-time in a warehouse. I still live at home, so my living expenses are fairly low. Right now I own a 2018 Mazda 3 Maxx Sport outright, and I’ve been seriously considering buying a Mazda MX-5 as a weekend/fun car while keeping the Mazda 3 as my daily.

The plan would possibly be to sell the Mazda 3 to my younger brother next year once he gets his Ps, but for now I’d likely be keeping both cars. I’ve got just about enough cash saved to afford a decent ~2017 MX-5 without taking out a loan. I’ve driven a friend’s MX-5 a bit and absolutely loved it, which is what’s making the idea so tempting.

My main concern is whether I’d be stretching myself too thin financially once you factor in insurance, rego, maintenance, and just having two cars at my age. I only have a small HECS debt, and I’ll hopefully be moving into full-time work after graduating next year.

For those who’ve made a similar decision when they were younger, was the fun factor worth the financial stretch? Or would you recommend being sensible, holding off, and continuing to save instead?

Need some opinions from people who’ve sold privately recently in Australia.

I’ve got a 2018 Mazda 3 Maxx Sport auto with about 93,000km. Mechanically excellent, no issues, decent service history, just some cosmetic scratches here and there plus tinted windows and apple carplay. Thinking of listing around $17k private sale in Melbourne.

I’m trying to buy another car privately and would need this sold reasonably quickly. How long do you reckon something like this would realistically take to sell in the current market if priced fairly?

Also wondering whether FB Marketplace or Carsales has been better lately for moving cars quickly.

I’ve tried the IST setup for max items probably 30-40 times and only gotten it twice. Feels super inconsistent even when I do the same timing/inputs.

I’m on the Switch 2 version too, does that affect it at all or am I just bad at the setup?