I've seen a couple people say that it doesn't look good to creditors to say that you don't have a rent payment/are living at home when applying for any type of loan, as it seems either irresponsible, or unstable.. I can totally understand that point of view, so I was actually wondering....would it be a good idea to just state on applications that I'm paying a small amount of rent ($200 or so) to rent a bedroom/upstairs of a house even though that's not the case?
That's relieving to hear, haha. I'll probably still have to do some work on the down payment and credit score to be approved for what I'm looking for anyways.
Side notes: I moved back in with my parents after graduating college and making a 4-state move so that I didn't have to worry about rent etc. while job searching... Ended up getting a career 2 months after moving and decided to keep living at home for an extra year and a half in order to pay down a significant portion of my student loans with the ~$700 or so a month I was saving on cost of living.
Credit/loan info
EQ Beacon 5.0: 691 (utilization was higher than I realized this month due to timing of report...lame)
Installments: 11 (federal student loans, drops to 9 when report updates) $24k balance, $310 minimum payment...actually paying between $1,000-1,500/month.
Revolving: 1 (Discover card), $35 minimum payment, limit updates from $5000 to $12,000 this month...utilization was 29% at $1400 balance last month, <9% this one)
Inquiries: 0 on EQ, 3 on TU due to original app for CC 22 months ago and 2 limit increase requests in the last 12 months.
AAoA: 3 years 4 months
Absolutely no disputes/collections/late payments or anything on any of my reports
Income: 42k
Debt to Income currently: $310+35/$3500=9.86%
Loan I'd like to get....not sure if this is even remotely possible to be approved for without making a huge down payment given than I have no history of auto loans so far and it's a very significant amount. Extra income has went toward student loans as opposed to saving for a down payment so far. Could have a down payment of $8k or so by August that would cut the loan amount down significantly.
Model: 2008 Corvette Z06
Mileage: 15-35k
Time: 72 months
Car loan: $36-40k
Loan Pmt Amount: Trying to stay under $600/month, which is $40k, 72 months, 2.49% rate. AAA finance, DCU, and BoA have rates lower than this with tier 1 (or 0 maybe..) credit.
Income is kind of low for such a big loan, so you will def need a big downpayment. I know you are comfortable as far as any payment goes, but you do want to leave enough disposable income IN CASE you have to move out at some point, so IMO don't go too crazy on a car loan of this size. I must say you have good taste though, z06 is one hellofa ride! Got nothin on a fresh M3 though 
) //CK:692, Sesame:656
Well if I manage to get a loan through in the next few months I may have to swing by for a quick run with your M3 while I'm driving the car home!
I figured that would be the likely case regarding down payment. I think I'll just try to save up for the next few months before trying to even apply...don't want a whole bunch of inquiries showing up on my report just for denials.. 
I've actually already budgeted housing expenses/maintenance/insurance into what I could be able to afford for the car payment and that's how I came up with that absolute max payment amount. I'm in the accounting/finance industry so tend to spend about as much time on my own finances as I do working! Haha.
(and trust me, I do recognize this is not the most efficient way to go about things by a long shot)
Have you found the car already? It may not be that easy to find.
Also keep in mind cost of insurance. I ran a quote on that vehicle as if I were replacing my vehicle with that one.
Currently, I pay $100 per month for a 2013 Subaru Legacy Sport. That is with coverage's of no comp deductible, $500 collision deductible, 300/500/100 liability with equal uninsured coverage's. Plus the extra add ons like rental and tow coverage. When I put in the VIN for a 2008 Z06 with 5k miles and currently on the market for $50k. The insurance quote was $115 per month. So, that is actually rather affordable considering the car.
I am 21, probably about the same age as you. Hopefully you are able to get good rates on insurance. Just good to see that the car doesn't cost like 4 times more to insure than an average car.
Yeah I've already located a car/cars...there are several options available within my criteria. Also like you've noticed, the insurance really isn't that big of a deal...I'm quoted at $530/6 months given $1,000 collision and $250 comp with sufficient uninsured motorist liability/roadside service options checked. Rate on my current car is around $56/month. And the good thing is I'll only have to make 1 payment at my current rate before I get the 25 year old discount! 
I'm guessing you ran your quote through USAA? I'm sure they would have better rates than I can get through GEICO even, however I can't qualify for insurance through them.
@BIFM wrote:Yeah I've already located a car/cars...there are several options available within my criteria. Also like you've noticed, the insurance really isn't that big of a deal...I'm quoted at $530/6 months given $1,000 collision and $250 comp with sufficient uninsured motorist liability/roadside service options checked. Rate on my current car is around $56/month. And the good thing is I'll only have to make 1 payment at my current rate before I get the 25 year old discount!
I'm guessing you ran your quote through USAA? I'm sure they would have better rates than I can get through GEICO even, however I can't qualify for insurance through them.
Yeah it was through USAA. I used to have Safeco insurance. When I had Safeco, I ran a quote for Geico and Geico was about double the cost of Safeco. USAA is just a bit cheaper than Safeco for me, but not every company will be cheaper for everyone.
Also, you don't get a discount based off age. So, turning 25 won't lower your rates. Adding 1 year of no accident, no ticket driving history will lower your rates.
Play with the numbers on the comp and collision. Determine if it would be cost effective to lower your deductibles. Look at it as, "how often would I have to have a claim to warrant the lower deductible?" I have my comp at $0, because I would not want to have to pay out of pocket for windshield damage. Plus, it adds very little cost to lower the deductible for me. Collision on the other hand, it would cost a lot more to lower the deductible. Plus, I assume I would not make small frequent claims. Only rare large claims that a large deductible would not effect. Although, $1000 would be a high price to pay in the event of a repairable claim. A $1000 deductible on a total for a $30k vehicle wouldn't hurt too bad. Glad you have good coverages. Most kids our age do not.
That's actually not true about age, but it's dependent on the insurance company as to how they reduce your rates. Some will drop it by 20% the month you turn 25, and others will gradually reduce your rates as you get closer to the magic number. This is because statistically, males under 25 are the most prone to getting into accidents due to immaturity and inexperience. This is also why it's more expensive to rent a car until you turn 25. at 21, with 5 years of driving, 0 tickets, 0 claims my insurance ran close to $1100 per 6 months, now barely being 24, for the same coverage it runs $341 for 6 months. There are several different factors that contribute to your rates, however age is one of them.
Trust me though, my rates are currently optimized for my lifestyle/vehicle how they are already and it will be the same for the next one. I work in finance living and everything in my personal life gets the same cost/benefit analysis. Everything you've suggested was looked at long before I made this post, hah.
Like you said, on a $40,000+ vehicle, a $1000 collision deductible is negligible, especially since you'll end up paying that difference in premiums within the first 2 years anyways if you don't get into any accidents....it's not even remotely worth it for a low collision deductible if you can afford this much vehicle and don't make claims every other week.