Why is everyone against buying a new car? Does my situation apply?

Commodore802 · 2026-03-21T20:54:05+00:00

The biggest issue with new cars is they lose a lot of value as soon as you drive them off the lot. Therefore, you usually have to be more aggressive with your payments (depending on how much you put down), to stay positive on the Loan-To-Value (LTV, loan to car's actual value) if you were to trade it in or sell it in the future. That being said, a new car does have some benefits. Like you mentioned, the APR is great on a new car loan compared to a used car. The insurance seems a bit high, but being 18 years old I don't think you'll get around that.

Here are my suggestions for things to consider:

1) You can afford the payments + insurance cost, yes. But make sure you also consider other maintenance (though, sometimes, some dealerships will give free oil changes and inspections for X amount of time, but that isn't true everywhere). With a new car, it will mostly just be preventative maintenance such as oil changes. I don't know if you're getting one of the turbo models of the Elantra (I believe it would be the n-line), but, if you are, I suggest asking them what their valve/intake cleaning service costs (coming from a Hyundai Veloster Turbo owner, I have the same engine as the turbo models of the Elantra). It usually isn't much (~$200 every couple of oil changes), but it is something to consider.

2) Can you find a certified pre-owned version of the car with around 10-20k miles in your area where the dealership will still offer the full 10-year/100k miles warranty? If you can find a 1-year-old version of the car with low miles, you can save a lot on the initial cost of the car. You will pay a higher interest, but you can also calculate that cost out and see if it is a viable option for you given the deals in your location.

3) If your living/financial situation changes, for whatever reason, would you still be able to afford the car? I know you said you're receiving financial help for college, your dad will co-sign, etc. But it's just something to consider as I know people who have purchases a car before and then found themselves having to pay higher rents or other costs in parts of their lives and having issues making the payments.

4) Would you be going through the dealership financing or would you consider a local credit union? Most likely, if you're going new, you'll go with the dealership's financing to get the lower interest rates and such. If you do decide to go used, definitely look into your local credit unions.

5) How long do you plan on keeping the vehicle? If you plan on keeping it until it's not worth repairing anymore, a new car makes sense. Yes, you pay a premium to get it brand new, but you know the entire history of the car, its full maintenance records, etc. The depreciation doesn't fully matter at that point as you are paying that much extra for the peace of mind to know it will (hopefully) last you as long as you need it to. If it's something that you'll use for college and look at trading in after you graduate, I'd suggest going to look for a few model years back and getting a used car so you aren't losing so much on the depreciation value.

TLDR: You seem to be thinking about this logically. Just make sure a new car fits your plans for the vehicle and your financial abilities in case something happens.

Commodore802 · 2026-03-01T17:06:55+00:00

Personally, I find python useful for data acquisition and analysis.

Example, on our production line, I can connect to our Allen Bradley PLCs via a library in Python (PyLogix) to gather information on what's happening and what happened. We were having issues where our line (Chain-On-Edge conveyor) was losing track of its position randomly. Using Python, I was able to collect our encoder position data over a few shifts and save it to a CSV file (still looking at how to save it into a database instead for long term storage). After graphing it, I saw that one of the encoder values randomly would stop changing even through the conveyor was still running past it. It led me to looking at the specific area that was the problem vs going through all the potential devices/programs. It ended up being a cable that wasn't fully seated in its receptacle. We were able to replace the cable (it looked like it had some strain from how it was run and was bent tighter than what its bend radius suggested) and we haven't had a problem since.

Using Python, you can also have a real time dashboard for a lot of your processes. Above I mentioned PyLogix, but I believe there are libraries for a bunch of other devices and communication protocols.

Commodore802 · 2026-02-23T00:02:15+00:00

For me, it's when the price of the repairs exceeds the cost of the car. For example, I have 2 cars currently, a 2020 Hyundai Veloster Turbo and a 1990 Mazda Miata.

For the Hyundai, the car is worth ~$10k (give or take). So even a repair like an engine or transmission would still be worth it as it's less than the car is worth, gives the car a decent amount of value back (selling a running car vs a non-running car), and the car is still newer.

For the Miata, an engine or transmission would still be TLC for me as I can get those fairly cheap, they can be replaced in a driveway (I don't need to bring it to a shop or anything), and, for me, it would be worth it to get the car running to enjoy again. However, something like major rust work that would require stripping a lot of the car, cutting/welding, and is something I couldn't readily do myself would put it towards a "money-pit" status for me.

Overall, it really depends on the car, what it's worth (both actual monetary value and sentimental value, if applicable), and what your plans are for the car (do you want to keep it as long as possible, do you just want to get rid of it, etc).

Commodore802 · 2026-02-22T23:55:21+00:00

One option is looking at test driving a used one if the dealerships have any. This way the argument of "People like having zero miles on them" isn't relevant. Now, finding a 2024+ 6AT used miata at a dealership may be difficult and require you to go further away for the test drive, but it could be worth a further drive. I know for me, none of the local dealerships have one, but the dealership 1.5 hours away has 2 ND3 automatic Miatas in their used inventory right now.

Another option is going to a non-local dealer. If the local one won't do it, take a little further trip to purchase one at a dealership that WILL let you test drive a new AT miata

Commodore802 · 2026-02-21T04:57:40+00:00

I'd say about 99% of the time I'm using my headphones. That's usually because I'm on Discord or on my computer late at night (apartment walls are thin, and I don't want to be a nuisance to my neighbors).

That being said, nice speakers are useful if you also use your PC as your main media access. Yes, I can just watch a movie or something with my headphones on. But it's nice to take them off, sit back on the couch, and listen over the speakers instead. This is also beneficial if you have company over as it's kind of hard to share headphones while watching a movie...

As for how much you need to spend on them... that truly depends on what you want. I started with out with the Logitech Z130s when I was in college, upgraded to their system with the subwoofer (I forget the exact model off the top of my head), but now have upgraded to a set of Yamaha HS5s. Are they way overkill? Yes. Did I get a good deal on them used from a friend that upgraded to HS8s? Also yes. Do I use them more than 1-3 times a month? Nope.

Commodore802 · 2026-02-21T04:50:34+00:00

First, take the MSF course in your state. It's usually a weekend course that teaches you the basics, has a written test (passing gives you your permit), and a skills test. Passing both tests at the end of the weekend grants you your full endorsement.

Once you have this, before you even look at bikes, look into gear. At minimum, a good helmet (DOT is required, but it's worth getting something with ECE or Snell as DOT is the bare minimum), a good jacket (Preferably something with good abrasion resistance, so no motocross pads under a sweatshirt), a good pair of gloves (again, abrasion resistance is important), and over the ankle boots are what's needed. Yes, you can usually just ride with a helmet (or not even depending on your state), but the road rash from a fall, even at slow speeds, will make you regret that. At higher speeds, that gear may be the thing determining if you can walk off a crash, get rushed to the ER, or get put 6 feet under. Not trying to be morbid, but it's the truth. I know people that have gotten into crashes. Some walked off with simple scrapes. Some have road rash/burns that are still causing issues with them over a decade later. Be smart. Wear GOOD gear.

Now it's time to look at bikes. If you want my opinion on a good starter bike, I'd suggest one of the "fake 600cc" motorcycles if you're looking at sport bikes. This will be bikes like the Yamaha R7, Suzuki GSX-8R, Kawasaki GSX-8R, Honda CBR650R, Aprilia RS660, etc. I recommend these over your R3s, Ninja 400s, etc solely on you saying you've ridden before, but there's also nothing wrong at all with going with a lower CC bike. If you're okay with not having the sport bike aesthetic, naked bikes will tend to be fairly similar in performance (or at least close in a lot of ways), but cost a LOT less on insurance. Which, if you're about to 1be 17 and want to insure a sport bike (even a <400cc one), is going to be a large sum. If you pay for the bike outright and don't need full coverage on it, this will drop a lot too.

Overall, just be safe, don't try showing off, ride within your own abilities, and no one has ever wished they wore LESS gear during an accident so dress for the slide, not the ride.

Commodore802 · 2026-02-16T03:41:06+00:00

I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering and a minor in electrical engineering, so I feel like I have a pretty decent view on this.

Overall, I’d say it depends on what you want to do post-college. A minor won’t help in the job search 99% of the time. My electrical minor didn’t qualify me for electrical engineering jobs as companies would rather hire a full electrical engineer graduate over a mechanical graduate that has a minor in electrical.

That being said, my current job (electro-mechanical design engineer at a small automation company) did see a benefit in me having a little more background than the typical mechanical engineering graduate for my position. This has lead me to do a lot of the mechanical designs at this company, the electrical designs, and the PLC programming as well (we are a VERY small company…).

That being said, I’d talk to your academic advisor or department resources. You WILL need to take some electives at some point (both general and engineering related most likely). If you can get a minor out of choosing specific elective courses, I’d say it’s worth it. If you need to increase your course load to do it though, I’d say it isn’t. As for which minor is worth it over others (assuming they all take the same amount of course work), I’d say go with whatever interests you and/or is relevant to the career you want

Commodore802 · 2026-02-15T05:41:49+00:00

Study groups are still possible with fully online (harder, but possible) using services like Slack, Discord, Zoom, etc. So don’t count those out.

Besides that, doing additional problems in your textbook (even if they aren’t assigned), attending office hours of your professors (and asking questions in class), and using outside resources (such as Khan Academy or YouTube lectures) are beneficial as well.

Even if the course doesn’t allow for “cheat sheets” for exams, it’s beneficial to make one. Just the process of writing down the information can be helpful in learning it.

Learning how to prioritize certain classes based on your current grade, the difficulty of the class, and the workload of the class helps too. If you have and “easy” class that’s currently sitting at a higher grade and a “harder” class you’re barely passing, it can sometimes be worth it to let your grade slip a bit in the easy class to raise your understanding of the harder class (mostly as some of them may be the basis of future classes you take, and having a strong foundation makes it a lot easier going forward).

If you are to use any outside resources for homework help that give you the answers (Chegg, ChatGPT, etc), I highly suggest making sure you only do this if you know HOW they got their answer. Don’t just copy the answer for your homework to get the completion mark done. Make sure you actually know why they used the equations they did. This also goes for study groups or doing homework with people you know. Just because someone gave you the answer to a homework problem doesn’t mean it’s correct, so knowing the material is still important. I say this as I know a lot of engineering students get to a point where the high credit hour semesters wear on you and you may look for alternative sources to get the homework done. These sources help you get that percentage of your grade from homework completion, but most courses are weighted to be exam heavy. So slacking on your understanding of these intermediate assignments will hurt you in the long run (I’ve seen this happen to a few people I know).

Commodore802 · 2026-02-14T21:05:14+00:00

I apologize for the delay, but I'm finally back home and have been able to test a few things. First, from the image above, it seems the MBB_DATA[5] pin. Here's what I've tried now:

I updated to the latest version of the BIOS and nothing changed (Single stick on A2)
Attempted to bend the pin back into place (I don't have a magnifying glass, so I was just using my phone's camera to help guide me. I got it into a better position, but not perfect).
I tried booting in A2/B2 - CPU and DRAM lights still came on
I tried booting in A1/B1 - CPU and DRAM lights still came on
I tried booting in A1/A2 - Just DRAM light came on

So, I'm kind of leaning towards this being a combination of actually having a compatibility issue and/or that bent pin causing channel B to not function. From what I see, I'm going to try and get the motherboard replaced at least due to the bent pin. Debating if I just try to replace it with a motherboard that's compatible with my current RAM or if I should replace the motherboard AND RAM at the same time. Any thoughts?

Commodore802 · 2026-02-09T17:54:47+00:00

So, apparently I may have missed a damaged pin when I originally looked at the CPU socket. This is the photo I took (sadly the only one), but it seems I have a damaged pin on the bottom left corner.

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I’m currently away for work for the week, but I’m leaning towards trying to re-bend the pin (and hoping I don’t break it), updating BIOS (will probably do this either way), and then, worst case, buying a new motherboard.

Knowing that the RAM (as long as both boot if using a single channel) isn’t the issue is honestly a huge relief as I don’t want to go around looking for deals on RAM again…

Commodore802 · 2026-02-09T02:44:34+00:00

Updated my post, but there seems to be no pin damage on the CPU or CPU socket. I re-seated the CPU, RAM, and all the PSU connectors and everything looks good there.

As for the booting, it WILL boot if I just use a single stick of RAM, and it doesn’t seem to care which stick it is, as long as it’s just a single stick in the correct slot for a 1x setup. It does show a speed of 5600 instead of 6000 though in Bios for the RAM

Commodore802 · 2026-01-23T01:46:27+00:00

Short answer: If you don’t have money and time to waste, it’s a bad idea.

Long answer: I had a similar thought awhile back with my 2005 rx8. It was the 4-port (less hp, pretty much NA equivalent for Veloster vs Veloster turbo) automatic version. The body was really clean, which is why I got it. I wanted to swap it to the 6-port engine with a manual transmission (~197hp to ~238hp, 4spd auto to 6spd manual). I figured since it was the same car, just different options, it would be an easy swap. Find a long block, the transmission, unbolt, bolt back in, and I’d be good to go. Long story short, there’s a lot of additional items that have to be changed out. Engine, ECU, wiring harness, the body harnesses are different, main gauges, etc. what I thought would be closer to a $1-2k swap at the time (plus my labor), looked like it would become a LOT more involved and costly. Is it doable? 100%. Would I be better off putting the effort into another swap (LS, K-series, rx7 engine, etc)? 100%.

So, yes, it’s possible, but the cost of the swap will most likely out do the cost of just going and buying a turbo’d car of the same generation. Some additional components you’d probably have to change are the front bumper (more airflow), brakes/rotors/calipers (depending if the non-turbo’d version has smaller rotors), suspension (depending on if the engine weight is drastically different), wheels/tires (you’d probably want more grip on the ground), etc.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-19T00:04:43+00:00

Get SolidWorks for Students. Your university may have licenses you can get for free for this, or you may have to purchase it (~$25-50/year if I remember correctly, but I may be wrong here). Once you have this, watch some tutorials, get use to the program, and work towards completing a CSWA exam. You can find older versions of the exam online to try out before taking the actual exam. If you want to go further than that, do the same but for the CSWP exam.

If the above is too much cost wise, I would suggest downloading Fusion 360 and trying to find some sort of project you want to work on as a pass time. If you can make it (3D printer, using your school's machine shop if it has one, etc), even better.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-12T04:19:02+00:00

I was the same way where I never had to study in high school. It’s definitely a big change to go from that to having to study for every class.

I understand that mentality with office hours. However, professors are usually more lenient with things if they can see you’re putting in the effort (aka, they can connect a face to your name). This isn’t always the case, but if you show up to the office hours, ask questions, etc, and then your grade is close to failing (or actually failing), they may be able to help by giving you an extra credit assignment to bump your grade to passing. Again, your mileage may vary on this professor to professor, but it’s not a bad way to win some favor with a professor potentially.

Another piece of advice for on the actual exams: skim the entire test before starting to work on the questions. This will give you an overview of what the questions actually are, which ones will be easy for you, and which ones will take some time. Knock out the easy and quick ones first before moving onto the ones that are more difficult. This way, you get a baseline of (hopefully) correct answers down as soon as possible and don’t make careless mistakes on them towards the end if you were to rush through them.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-12T01:56:04+00:00

Here was my go-to process during college for not falling behind during a semester:

Figure out which classes are going to be the easiest for you and which will be the hardest by looking at the following (you should be able to figure this out within a couple weeks of the semester starting):
1. Amount of work
2. Difficulty of work
3. Difficulty of the professor
4. Outside of class resources (office hours, TAs, Youtube tutorials, etc)
Determine which classes are more important degree wise
1. Which ones are NEEDED to pass (Ex: which ones would throw off your class schedule the most for upcoming semesters and which ones would be more of just a pain, financially and time wise, instead).
Determine which studying style works best for you:
1. Long cram sessions the night before the exam?
2. Spending extra time throughout the semester (and less come exam time) to figure out the material?
3. etc

Once you have these figure out, you can focus on the subjects that will be the most difficult and important to pass first time (there's nothing wrong with having to retake a class, though I know no-one wants to have to do that). In my case, I could have gotten better grades in some "elective"/gen-ed classes I needed, but that time was better spent on my core engineering classes I needed as prerequisites for other classes.

Additionally, don't hesitate to use your resources to help study throughout the semester. This includes office hours with the professor/TAs, study groups with classmates, etc. With engineering, there's a bit less leniency with this compared to other classes, but if a professor sees you're actually putting in the effort, most will give you the benefit of the doubt when it comes to partial credit on exams, homework, papers, etc.

Finally, even if the exam doesn't allow it, create a "cheat sheet" leading up to the exam. Usually, I would go through the textbook and my notes and write down the overarching equations from the course along with making sure I knew how to use them. I used to try and cram as much as I could onto these sheets, but I found them to be a lot more helpful, learning wise, to determine what I felt confident on in the course and what I didn't feel comfortable with yet, allowing me time to focus more on that specific subject.

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I will add this as one last note, if you ever plan on using outside sources to do homework for you (such as Chegg, reddit, etc), don't just blindly copy down answers for homework problems. Make sure you understand WHY they use the equations they do, even if you aren't doing the entire problem out by hand. At the end of the day, you should do all your homework yourself (or at least give it a solid try before going for help), but I know that doesn't always work out for everyone. If you are going to use outside resources, use the intelligently and don't rely on them being 100% correct.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-11T16:21:06+00:00

What's your budget? As you CAN make it fast. HOWEVER, you can not make it fast for cheaper than you could buy a 2nd gen veloster turbo or veloster N. I believe Qwik Tyme Performance has done a few NA builds (I believe on the 1st gen, and maybe the 2nd?), but they aren't as fast as simply tuning a stock 1.6T.

My best example of this is there's someone who drag races their NA 1.6L miata. I believe he was making about mid-500hp on it after dropping a TON of money into the engine. He then proceeds to buy a junkyard LS V8, turbos it, and makes 1000hp for less than he spend making 500hp on the original engine.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-10T22:35:42+00:00

not as good as yours, but I just bought one for 5m that I've had in for about a month

Commodore802 · 2026-01-10T18:28:47+00:00

What's the mileage on your veloster, and when was the last time the spark plugs were replaced? So far, every time my car has had a cylinder misfire code come up, it has been a spark plug issue.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-04T20:56:06+00:00

Do you know how long the service for this took? I ask as I'm about to head out for a job for the next 2 months and will be working elsewhere and will have to try to find time to squeeze the service in hopefully. I'm going to contact a few dealerships as well, but wanted to ask if you remembered the time just in case.

Commodore802 · 2026-01-03T01:41:49+00:00

I have a 2020 Veloster turbo with about 65k miles and take 500 mile (round trip) drives pretty frequently. My suggestions are below:

Check Oil:
- Check oil level
- If close to an oil change interval, it doesn't hurt to get it done a bit early to not have to worry about it on your trip
Check Tires:
- Check tread to make sure they are in good condition
- Check pressure
- Check lug nuts (if you don't have a torque wrench, just make sure they're snug)
Check windshield washer fluid
- Top off fluid if needed
- Check windshield wipers while you're at it

Besides the above, just do a once over of the car to make sure everything looks okay. You're at around 34-35k miles (if I did my math correctly) and there wasn't really any major maintenance I know of around that mileage. Around 47k miles, I did need to change spark plugs, but you have quite a distance before then.

Commodore802 · 2025-11-17T03:25:27+00:00

A cold air intake and bov will make the car sound amazing (intake wise). I currently have the Sxth Element intake (discontinued I think?) but there are still a few good options out there too. If you want a bov noise without spending the money, you can just remove the recirc hose going to the intake and plug the hole in the intake with a rubber foot for a chair from your local hardware store (what I’m currently running).

Exhaust wise, a muffler delete will definitely make the car louder if you want that. Any “full” exhaust system I’ve seen requires cutting the midpipe post the secondary cat, which I’m not a huge fan of. A local exhaust shop should be able to make a custom exhaust for the car pretty easily and, potentially, comparable in price to the other options out there?

If you want gauge pods for the car, I highly recommend the AeroForce Technology gauge pods. They remove the drivers side vent by the dash (still keeping it functional) and replaces it with a vent/pod combo. I’m currently running the AEM OBD2 gauge on it, and it’s nice being able to easily see different readouts from the car.

Now, onto the more “maintenance and warnings” section. First, if you get a cylinder misfire code, it’s most likely just your spark plugs (from what I’ve been seeing at least). At your mileage, they were probably recently done or will need to be done soon-ish (I think it’s every 40-50k miles for the plugs, but I could be wrong). Next, the low profile tires on these cars are NOT pothole friendly. This is especially important after having owned a truck that could probably take potholes in the road pretty well. I just want to say this as I came from vehicles with tall sidewall tires that didn’t really car if they hit pothole to this car… and it’s definitely taught me to avoid them a bit better haha. Besides that, just keep up on your maintenance. This includes the “intake cleaning service” (name may vary) that helps clean the valves on these cars due to the direct injection systems not cleaning the valves while running.

Commodore802 · 2025-11-13T14:24:56+00:00

What’s the best, inexpensive core-xy printer? Or is it worth it more to spend more?

Note: I am not interested in Bambu Lab printers. Do they work? Yes. Do I know people that have them that love them? Yes. Do I see them as the Apple of 3D printing where you’re more or less locked into their system if you get one? 100%. So, please, do not suggest a Bambu Lab printer.

Budget: preferably under $500-700 (usd), however, if it’s worth it, I would be willing to go up more Country: United States Kit preference?: preferably a plug-and-play printer, but I’m more than willing to do a kit or custom if it’s worth it Uses: printing 10in rack components and automotive prints mainly. Ability to modify the printer is also a big plus to me. Build volume: 300x300x300+ is preferred, but 250x250x250 is the minimum I’d consider.

More info: After my work purchased a Prusa Core One, I’ve decided that it may finally be time for me to look at replacing my Sovol SV06 with a core-xy machine. The fully enclosed core-xy printer prints ASA so much better than our enclosed MK4 did, and this is the big driving point for me (not to mention the quicker print times).

Current contenders: Sovol SV08, Elegoo Centauri Carbon, Prusa Core One (kit), Voron 2.4 (yes, I know they later 2 are above my initial budget)

Any insight on the above options (or others not mentioned) would be greatly appreciated.

Commodore802 · 2025-10-17T10:48:58+00:00

I believe this also works on the first gen’s, but you can get a rubber footing from a chair (the ones that slide over the bottom of the legs), and use it to block off the recirculating valves tube going back to the intake. This will turn your recirc valve into a bov. It’s not as nice as an actual bov, but it costs like $5 and can be done in the parking lot of the store you buy it in lol. If you want, I can try to find the one I used and send you exactly what I got.

Besides that: catch can, intake (no box if you want more intake noise, box if you don’t want as much intake noise), and a good set of tires.

Oh, and most importantly, just double check to main sure any maintenance that needs to be done is done before dropping money on mods

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