Teen seeking advice... please help!

Hey everyone,

Please read my whole message before you post a reply. I'm almost 19 and I'm pretty confused regarding my current vehicle situation. I'm wondering if anyone here could be kind enough to offer your advice to me to help me make a decision on what to do here.

Right now I'm driving a 1992 Buick Skylark 3-speed automatic, I get about 26-27 MPG with the car. For the past half a year I've really wanted a small gas-miser car, you know like a Geo Metro or a VolksWagen Golf TDI. I feel though that if I got a Geo Metro I'd be trading safety for fuel economy, and if I were to TDI I'd be way down in the hole because I don't have $10k to throw around. The thing is, I don't do a whole lot of driving; maybe 4,000 miles a year tops so the most I'd be saving if I got a gas-miser car that got 50 MPG (as compared to my current 27 MPG) would be $500 tops, and probably not even that. So I'm not sure if getting a fuel-efficient vehicle like a Metro or TDI would help *me* personally a whole lot since I really don't put a lot of miles down to begin with.

Anyway, this past August I had a 1987 Ford F150, I had it all souped up with bumper guides, cab lights, a PA speaker, and a few other mods I bought and installed. I was going to have a 5" lift put on the truck, but the poor truck (which I had inheirited from my parents) had 236,000 on it and even though the body looked nice on the outside, it was all rusty underneath. So I eventually ended up selling the truck for $800, which was about half of what I intended on getting for it. It was hard to see it go, I loved the truck but it had so many problems and it was becoming too expensive for me to maintain. It also got about 11 MPG on a good day and I was spending $35 every 5 days filling it up (which was like 1/4 of my paycheck.)

So anyhow here I am today. I don't have a gas-miser car like I once wanted, I also don't have a truck, I still have the same car ('92 Buick Skylark) that I started out with when I was 15. One part of me wants to sell my car and save up for an expensive VW Golf TDI so I can get 50 MPG, another part of me wants to buy a Geo Metro for a thousand bucks and get 45 MPG; and then there's the last part of me - the most male-orientated part which tells me that I should get another truck.

I've narrowed down my list of what I feel are my options:

Buy a used Geo Metro for $1,000-ish and keep my '92 Buick Skylark for a backup car. Then save any additional money for college.
Buy a used VW Golf TDI for about $10,000 and sell my '92 Buick Skylark for about $2,000 meaning I'd have to save up $8,000 myself to get the Golf TDI.
Buy myself a used truck (certain models only of course) for $5,000 or less and keep my '92 Buick Skylark. Then use my Skylark as my main vehicle, and keep the truck for "show", fun, or bad snowy weather that my car can't get through.
As far as a truck goes, any of the following would classify as a "dream truck" for me:

1976 - 1987 Chevrolet C/K 1500, 2500, 3500 or Silverado
1976 - 1987 GMC Sierra (any size)
1978 - 1997 Ford F250, F350If I were to go with option #3 in the list above, I'd like to get one of the trucks above. I'd like to get a truck that would be classy, original, and something that I could soup up a little bit with dual exhaust/glasspack, a lift, some nice 36"+ tires. I'd like to have an older truck that would "wow" people, something that would catch people's eyes. If I were to get a truck, it wouldn't be a daily driver, it would be something that I would keep out of the elements and take great care of. It would also be nice to have 4x4 just in case of an emergency, because I live in Minnesota and our winters can be nasty here. Without a truck, I just don't feel like I did before when I had my last one. Maybe it's just a young-man thing, but I would like to own an older truck that I could be proud of and show-off just by keeping it looking nice. I'd just like to have a nice beast that I could occasionally cruise in, maybe once a week except for winters. I want a truck with attitude. Does anyone know the feeling I'm talking about when it comes to being a man and having (or not having...) a truck? Hmmf...

Anyway, if I were to get a truck, I'd like to get something mostly original, but like I said with a couple of eye candy enhancers:

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/2562000-2562999/2562440_25.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2562440)http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/2209000-2209999/2209627_40.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2209627)
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/5/web/2117000-2117999/2117853_1.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2117853)http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/2402000-2402999/2402491_17.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2402491)
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2469000-2469999/2469104_24.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2469104)http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/2042000-2042999/2042985_1.jpg (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2042985)http://i15.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/95/55/5224_12.JPG (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-CHEV-CREW-CAB-DUALLY-454-FI-50K-400-AUTO-4-10-POSI_W0QQitemZ120107057984QQihZ002QQcategoryZ90967 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)http://i5.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/98/a0/a746_0.JPG (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD-F350-CREW-CAB-DUALLY-429-COBRA-CENTURION-HAULER_W0QQitemZ110114459985QQihZ001QQcategoryZ394 16QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

I don't really care for the new trucks nowadays. Even if today's trucks have more horsepower, they still don't purr like the old ones do. If I were to get a truck I'd like to get something that stands out and something that doesn't look like many other vehicles on the road. Quad cab, single cab, anything worthwhile. I'd like to get something that I could stick a little money into, make it top-notch, and keep it until I'm an old guy.

Without further delay, what would you recommend I do? I know the wisest thing at my age would be to save my money for college. I already do have some money saved for college, and it would be rather nice to get a new used vehicle. But what should I do at my age? Should I do the economical thing and get a cheap Metro, should I get the expensive Golf TDI and sell my car so I can get 50 MPG, or should I get a dream truck that I can be proud to drive and keep it as a show-type vehicle?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very very much in advance!

First, I know how agonizing those minnesota winters can be. I lived in Blaine (20 min north of Twin Cities) for the first 15 years of my life.

I would only do the truck option if you were going to the U of M (or another minnesota university/college relatively close to home). From your situation, it sounds like you are. Either way, i don't think you need a TDI unless you tuition is hella cheap. The only advantage it has over a metro if you ask me is power (aka, fun to drive). Diesel is usually more expensive than 87 from what i've seen too. If you're not gonna drive around all that much, you don't need to spend tons of cash on a fancy car. Plenty, plenty of time for that later in life. Just get something from point a to point b. I don't think you need a truck either. Get an education, find a career, and use the money to pimp out whatever you please (probably best to do this before you get married :lol: ). Then again, if you're not spending lots of money on gas it isn't a bad idea (once again, i know how bad those winters can be). If you decide to get a truck, I really don't have beef with any one of them. both GM and Ford know what they're doing when making trucks (well, not diesel engines) as they've done it for many many years. Both look good with "accessories" on them.

Dont get a geo metro. Those things suck. If you want something that saves gas that and has decent looks, get a civic.