Wow, you remind me of myself. My advice. Do some research, figure out what you want exactly ie., Make, model, generation, trim level, transmission, color, etc. Once you come up with what you current, realistic, dream car is start looking. You may have difficulty in finding exactly what you are looking for at first, and with that I'd suggest going to the dealerships and telling them exactly what you're looking for. That way they can look for it. While you're waiting for the dealerships to find your dream car you can keep on working and save up even more money.
My story: From February 1999 (right before I turned 13) I wanted a '99-'00 Civic Si. At first I wanted a Flamenco Black Pearl one, then decided on an Electron Blue Pearl one. When the Acura RSX Type-S came out I also wanted that one. So I figured I'd take either the EBP Civic coupe Si or a Premium White Pearl RSX Type-S. I finally got a job in November 2004, but was laid off a month later. Although I did get to test drive a Civic coupe Si. The one I really wanted to buy was sold to someone else back in early 2005 (I was almost 19), so I decided to take a step back from looking.
Spring 2005 I started working at a retail store. I was thinking about what kind of car I wanted to get. I realized that the Accord coupe EX V6 6MT was actually a really nice car. I thought of the pros and cons of the Accord over the Civic Si and the RSX Type-S and realized that, even though the Accord had a more expensive base price, it was more affordable gas wise and insurance wise. The Accord also had more power, got the same kind of gas mileage, only took regular unleaded, wasn't classified as a "sports" anything (equals cheaper insurance), and was a lot more rare. Plus I realized I'd probably grow/mature out of the Civic or RSX pretty quickly.
I had the retail job for about 8 months before being forced to quit. During that time I also had a job as a receptionist at a Toyota dealership, which I was fired from after 3 months for no reason.
Early this year I e-mailed back in forth with the people at Klein Honda. I told them exactly what I was looking for: a 7th gen HondaAccord coupe EX V6 6MT in Sapphire Blue Pearl, Certified Pre-Owned, and not from California. After about four months they found the car I was looking for.
Mid-April I checked Klein Honda's website and saw that they had my dream car. Well, I didn't have a job at the time, but couldn't fathom losing this car to someone else. That same day (Tuesday) I went in and test drove the car for about half an hour. The next day I called about some help wanted ad's that were in the Sunday classifieds. Thursday morning I got a call to come in for a job interview that afternoon. The next Tuesday, one week after finding the car, I started working at KarMart in Burlington, Washington. One month later I convinced my mom to come see the car with me, and I bought it that day. I've had my Accord for 6 months, and am so happy. I'm getting almost 29 mpg.
Sorry my story was so long, but you kind of get the point. You'll just have to be patient. I was patient for about 7 years.
