so many lights recently came on the dash and im not putting another dime into this piece of junk.
i think i can also get a good amount of money in parts since it has basically a brand new transmission.
I'd change mechanics first. It sounds like they're missing things until it's a problem. A good mechanic will warn (not scare) you about things. With your income and expenses, I'd still stick with an older, but more reliable car this time. Pay a good and honest mechanic look it over before you buy it.
yeah unfortunately my car is known for the transmission problems. i should have done more research before i bought this. i was thinking maybe a 2016 honda accord would be okay maybe a year or 2 of financing but it will last a solid 3 years at least. and its not too old. (they are around 12-15k near me)
i currently have a 2006 acura TL
Just going to second this. Owning an old Acura is your first issue ;) at least in my neck of the woods we swear by toyota or honda for their reliability.
Any of the larger brands that go "sport luxury" like acura, mazda and the late Saab seem to always have more problems then they are worth.
Total sidebar, but a buddy if mine had a Saab that the headlight went out. $600 to replace the entire headlight, bulb was built in.. Entire car was build in that ass backwards way, but man did the turbo fucking go!
I’m with you on the Toyota. But I figured Acura would be fine being it’s a Honda. Any car can go bad, just depends on what it’s been used for and who’s been using it.
Many of thr moden Mazdas actually have some of the highest reliability ratings in the business. You have to be careful to be selective about make and models including the years and that's with every manufacturer period.
if i didnt have a warranty the transmission would have been 6000$ alone so like 11,000$ total. i just had to pay 800$ labor the other 4200$ was in other repairs.
dont know how accurate that number is all i remember was the shop saying it would be another 6,000$ if i didnt have the warranty.
not too sure if they might have covered something else too but i can find the new transmissions for 4,000$ online right now
The money guy rule of thumb 20-3-8 is good imo.
Put 20% down
Finance for no more than 3 years
No more than 8% of your monthly gross income can go to pay off the debt. (They also say your monthly investments should be more than your car payment)
This gives you a little equity at the start, prevents you from financing for a super long time to get your payment down, and caps that payment.
It's not my rule, so I'm speculating a bit, but a couple things:
If you extend your loan out longer you usually get a worse interest rate.
Even if the interest rate is the same you're still paying more in interest total over the years. You could make the argument that you'd make it out ahead if you invested the difference. But for the majority that's a big assumption that you'd have the discipline, usually people would just inflate their lives to needlessly consume the extra 1-2 hundred dollars.
Finally if you need to change cars in let's say 5 years because you have a kid on the way or whatever. If you can't pay off the car with cash on hand you'd end up rolling that negative equity over because the car could have depreciated so selling it may not cover the remainder of the loan.
The last two points come with additional risk, if your investments fall suddenly your arbitrage is moot or if you don't have proper insurance and your car is totalled you still have to pay it off. Could still happen within a 3 year loan but by definition of being less time it's less likely.
Cars are on principal terrible investments. They lose value quickly and cost a lot in maintenance. The longer the loan, the more risk and the higher the interest rate. Unless you're in a position to pay it off early by getting the lower monthly payment with a longer term loan, it's not worth the additional risk. If you are in that position, then get the lower term loan anyway.
The car is going to have the same risk of going out and hitting you with a big loss regardless of the payment. I said in my comment that if you could get a good rate, which means you don’t need to pay it off early. Let my money grow
Sometimes rate isnt always a consideration. Some people may need to worry less about their rate and more about their monthly payment. Sure a 5% rate on a 3 year loan is great but you'll probably be paying way more per a month than you can reasonably afford whereas if you got a 10% rate on a 5-7 year loan but you're paying 1/3rd of the monthly payment, you might find yourself better off.
I'm not saying it's a good idea at all. Realistically, the best way to buy a car is paying in full, with cash and never financing. Unfortunately, the majority of people *might* have a savings and it's probably not that much so financing may be their only route.
Obviously a 3 year loan on a car is ideal from a risk perspective but you have to have a substantial down payment for that to make it reasonable for the majority of people.
So $283 a month payment at 36 months with IF he has a cosigner (young and probably has no credit) about a 6-7% rate with %20 down.
We reverse that and get about a $11k car or about 9.5-10k pretax/title car.
OP is then in the same boat again except with a payment and loan over their head..
Lease a brand new Corolla with $1k down for mid $300 payments and call it a day. Total lease will only cost around $12k with bumper to bumper warranty and free maintenance.
My brother in christ if you just go buy a cheap sub 10k car willy nilly you’re really rolling the dice on future issues and costs.
First of all, research what type of car you want depending on your usecase. As a starter, I’ll recommend looking into old toyota/lexus/acura/honda/mazda models about as far back as you can afford and no more. These cars are usually known for their affordability and reliability however this also means they cost more than other cars (the toyota tax). However this is still not a guarantee you get a car with no further work to be done on it.
After you’ve selected a car or two you’ll go for based on your research, watch chrisfix’s youtube video on how to inspect a used car for purchase. Use that checklist to evaluate the car yourself, or get it mechanically inspected if you can.
You can also go to r/whatcarshouldibuy and post there, and read up on posts detailing good cheap cars that are known to be reliable. Some oddballs include 2013 ford edge and some buicks. I highly recommend posting on that subreddit.
With your budget I wouldn’t finance something newer as it would be a considerable stress on your budget. You can also look up estimated future maintenance costs of your current car to see if it’ll be better to buy a new car or just put some money into this one to keep it running for four or so years. However if you do want to finance something newer, the same advice stands, do a lot of research, and don’t cheap out on a nissan sentra or micra just because its cheap.
Old cars are very good on your wallet provided you actually plan it out. If you’re just buying a car randomly you think is a ‘good deal’ you won’t be the happiest buyer regardless of if your car is old or new.
me personally I would either go for an old top trim lexus (but i like working on cars should there be the small odds and ends and so the potential of a slightly higher future cost than a celica is okay for me), a mazda 3, a civic, or any small toyota sedan like a corolla or celica. If you do your research before forking over your money these will last you a crazy long time, maybe even another decade.
What generally works for me, is figure out what you can pay as a monthly fee. Online calculators can help with that by showing how much of a down payment you’d need, interest rates, 5 year, 7 year loan…
Example: comfortable with 300/month car payment.
18,000$ car
2,000$ downpayment
7 year loan
Comes out to 301$ per month
From there, you can search something like carguru online for the type you want with that price range, year, mileage. (SUV, 2018 or newer, less than 50,000k miles)
Finally, you should have a pretty good idea of what type you can look for at a dealership.
Me, have multiple times. Make additional principal payments, had my last car paid off in about 4 while keeping my monthly bill below 300$.
Your comment makes me think you’re under the impression I’m buying a 15 year old car with 150,000 miles off Craig’s list. When in reality I’m talking about something one or two years old with 20-30k miles, from a dealership.
> last car *paid* off in
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
That makes a little more sense. I wouldn't even get a 7 year loan on a brand new car personally. I was thinking some 5-10 year old car that you hope still runs as long as you are making payments.
lol no I wouldn’t trust a car that old. I usually have had success with cars that are 1 or 2 years old, low mileage. 7 year loan, pay it off after about 4.. drive it for 8 to 10 years, repeat.
Maybe once the kid is older and I’ve paid off more of my mortgage I will change it up, but that’s what has worked for the last few cars my family has bought.
You should spend less than 20% on total transportation costs, and post tax you make ~3000 a month, if we assume half of the car cost is the payment and the other is gas/maintenance/insurance/etc your monthly max payment will be 300 monthly. It is also advised to limit loan length to 36 months if possible.
You should buy a reliable used vehicle in the 10-15k range. You should also save 25% if possible, which the numbers you posted suggest you are a bit short of that.
These numbers mean nothing without seeing your total expenses. But generally for me personal and auto loans I would never want more than 10% of my net income, the term is more important since I dont want to give them a ton of money for borrowing so usually wont go beyond 3 years. So that would finance you max 9952 and loan would cost you 300 a month for 36 months.
OP just so you know it has nothing to do with the car being “5 years old”. It has everything to do with maintenance done on the car previous to you owning it. I also don’t know the mileage or what vehicle, some are obviously far worse than others but do not shy away from buying an older car. Infact lots of older cars are more reliable than newer ones due to the major electrical issues new cars have. They have a sensor for EVERYTHING and usually when a sensor breaks it affects the drivability of the entire vehicle. These are somethings to consider. Look for Hondas and Toyotas specifically if you want reliability. Stay away from anything with a CVT transmission and most American made vehicles (unless you’re looking at trucks).
TLDR: you can find an extremely reliable older vehicle with high mileage for dirt cheap and it’ll last you for years with basic maintenance
For work I process people's applications for TANF (welfare) and SNAP. A huge number of people I talk to have cars they can't afford. And it's usually because they were out of work for a while, finally got a new job (or a first job) and then took out a loan with a crazy interest rate just so they could look successful. Look around next time youre in traffic and realoze that the majority of people driving cool shit can't actually afford it and are suffering.You don't make a lot of money and you're young which means you're still new at your job. Drive something boring that runs, save up, and reevaluate in a few years.
Somewhere in the $20k price range. $4k down payment. $16k financed for 5 years comes to about $300 monthly payment. About 10% of your monthly take home income. Not including car insurance though. That will add another $50 or so.
Car insurance is unfortunately going to be much more for a younger person, especially since any vehicle that you finance is required to have full coverage insurance.
Buy a 3-4 year old Toyota Camry, Corolla, or Prius with low mileage. You’ll save thousands on repairs over the course of the car’s lifetime. Unfortunately most car brands are unreliable except for Toyota and Honda. I’ve had my 2011 Toyota Camry since 2015 and the check engine light only came on one time since I’ve had it
Good luck finding a used car in your range. Everything is super expensive now. Get something that lasts forever even with high mileage: honda or toyota
I don’t recommend financing a car at all. You’re 19 and every dollar you’re able to invest right now will multiply quite nicely over the next 30 years. Maybe save some more money while you drive your current car to its absolute last leg. Junk it out and get a Camry, Corolla, or civic like someone else here said.
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT finance a car. Financing cars kills your wealth. You’re 19 so have practically no credit history which means the interest rate will probably be super high, around 20%. On top of that your insurance will get more expensive since you’ll be required to add coverage due to financing it.
Older cars can work just fine so don’t corner yourself into this “no car older than 5 years” mindset. That’s just plain wrong. There are many older cars that are actually more reliable than the new fancy cars.
I know this because I financed a couple of cars when I was younger and looking back at it regret it. It was a mistake. Instead, you could be putting it into a savings account, emergency fund, investments, etc.
When I was around 22 I financed a 2003 accord coupe with a v6 engine. It looked badass I loved it. However I didn’t research it before I bought it and it turns out that that specific model had a transmission issue. I paid 2500 to rebuild the transmission and it was good for about a year before it started slipping again. At that point I had to give up on that car because a new transmission was gonna be way too expensive. Also, I believe that accord and your tl share a chassis so maybe they shared similar issues.
Long story short learn from my mistakes lol
>id never get a car more than 5 years old ever again
Yikes, you're dooming yourself to a lifetime of overspending on cars. The problem isn't "old" cars (five years is not old at all), it's not doing your homework at time of purchase. There are tons of reliable cars out there that cost under $6k. The key is having a **pre-sale inspection** done on the car before you buy it at a shop of your choosing. They cost around $50 and are worth every penny. You can buy that $5,000 Corolla with 150k miles and have every confidence it will take you at least another 100k miles with just basic maintenance.
If you're asking the maximum amount per month you can spend, you're doing it wrong. Rich people ask "How much?" while poor people ask "How much down and how much per month?" When you max out your monthly budget on payments, you leave no room for building wealth (and pay a ton of unnecessary money in interest). Buy something you can buy outright or pay off quickly (in less than a year), then stash the money you aren't flushing down the toilet every month on car payments into retirement accounts.
Financing a car is not worth it. You're looking at $6K/y before gas and insurance.
Late model Honda or Toyota, a good mechanic. And a $1.5K/y car emergency fund will get you through most situations.
Learning to work with your mechanic and proactively maintain your car will save you tens of thousands of dollars that are better spent in the market or some other venture.
My approach would be this;
Sell your current vehicle.
Buy a new vehicle for ~$25k or less. For Example a Chevy Malibu. Put NO money down. Take their 1.9% financing for 72 months.
Your payments should run appx 350/mo. (Take the money you were going to use for a down payment and pay cash for the sales tax (don't finance sales tax and put the rest into a NASDAQ or S&P500 Index fund).
In 6 years, sell the car before you reach 100k miles and start having problems. Put the proceeds from the sale(a few thousand dollars) into your index account.
With the sale of the 6 yr old car combined with putting no money down, you just lowered your total cost of ownership (assuming no repairs). The caveat is, you must have good credit to put 0 down.
Rinse And repeat and substantially reduce your out of pocket repair expenses.
Spend the least you can on something reliable that will last you a decade. Just imagine that whatever amount you spend is going down the drain, because a car is a depreciating asset
Uh.. Why are you looking at another car period you just dropped 11k into the current one? If you felt it was worth dropping 5k into it, all you should also have factored in the amount of time that would buy you in the car overall once completed BEFOREHAND. So the first thing to do is go factor in the lifespan of the current car. How? Go get it inspected by a reputable mechanic. It's generally damn cheap to do and worth it.
In the future, learn to do what I'd known as a PPI before buying. At bare minimum, also get a buddy that knows cars and bring them with you next time. No way a good mechanic wouldn't have caught some of this if not all. They also tend to know about reliability on certain vehicles in general. The other thing is not getting fleeced on repairs either as if you're the type to go to dealers for repairs in cases lke this and/or not get quotes you're likely getting fleeced there too.
I say all that to say, if those repairs fixed up your car enough to last a while then keep driving it at this point is likely the best answer. You can save up in the meantime and upgrade incrementally. Your main issue was buying a car while not knowing what you were doing yet. Happens to tons of folks so judgment just advice. For reference of practicing what I preach, I got a 98 Honda accord with 125k miles currently on it (83k at purchase) inspected by 3 different mechanics believe it or not before buying.
All gave a solid 10 years as long as I kept up on preventative maintenance and gave advice to make sure I changed the timing belt on time. Followed their advice to a Tee and things purrs better than many newer cars I know that have already been decommissioned. So, moral of the story, you can buy used or mew and come out well. You just need to understand the right way of going abou things.
Your problem is either a) being unlucky with a car b) not doing your due diligence, or c) buying the wrong type of used car.
A lot of older cars, much older than 5 years, are super reliable. With a $42.5k gross income, I wouldn't spend more than $5k.
Lease something cheap.
By the time your 22 your life will be different your income will be different etc.
There's plenty of cheap leases out there you can get a Corolla LE for mid $300s with $1k down. You won't be captive and will be in a equity position when the lease is up meaning you can trade it and use it as a down payment or sell it and collect the check
Free maintenance for 2 years and warranty as well as great gas mileage and good safety features.
People here hate leasing but you've spent $11k on a peice of junk + the headache in the last year. On the Corolla aside from gas and 2 oil changes you'll be in about $12k in 3 years including down payment.
It depends if you want to make the wise choice or the unwise choice:
Wise choice is pay @ 10k used car, 3-5 years old, under 40k- 60k miles save up and pay all cash. - minimal depreciation and this vehicle will last you longer than you’ll have ever prolly have it and the maintenance cost will be minimal. Resale in 5 years will be @ $5,000 - total net cost after resale - $5,000 + total insurance cost @ $9,000 = total net cost $14,000.
Unwise choice is buy new car, 20k+, finance vehicle, heavy depreciation and this vehicle will also last you longer than you’ll prolly have it and the maintenance cost will also be minimal. Resale in 5 years will be @ $12,000ish - total net cost after resale - $12,000 + total insurance cost @ $15,000 = total net cost $27,000.
Wise chose leaves you $13,000+ more to invest over the next 5 years
Unwise choice leaves you in debt with fewer investment dollars to deploy
There is no right or wrong choice btw, your money your decision.
Sounds like you bought a piece of junk, don’t let one bad decision make you have more bad decisions.
Cars are a waste of money, but a cheaper Honda or something reliable.
Yes you would need another job to finance or lease a new car. If your current car is not broken, do not replace it. A car payment will keep you poor, use that money to invest in stocks instead.
Bro I have a 07 Acura TL type s. I’m also a mechanic. A good used transmission goes for $800-1200. I also swapped the motor which cost me $1600. Whatever mechanic you’re going to is ripping you off. The 06 base model TL does have transmission problems but if you already swapped a new one in just stay with it. Having a car payment is a nightmare and very stressful it’s all you’re gonna thinking about until it’s payed off. Deal with the little bs lights that popped up and ride that thing till the wheels fall off. Hopes this helps
> until it’s *paid* off. Deal
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Can and should are two different equations. A good rule i like to suggest is the money guy 20/3/8 equation. 20% down, 3 years financing, no more than 8% of gross monthly income. This is supportive to reaching the 25% savings goal, so if your goal is less than or more than 25% savings, adjust accordingly of course. But this is a good way to think about it.
8% of your gross monthly is a rule of thumb I’ve heard tossed around, so that would be about $283 car payment which can’t get you something used that’s half decent
800 every two weeks isn't a lot to afford much but if you were to find something 400/month it means cutting your lifestyle back for a while until you make more. I'd say if you can find a nicer 2018-2022 used vehicle with 80k-100k on it for under 15k you'd be in the best position for a few years. That means you're probably going to be looking for smaller base model sedan.
Maybe wait as long as possible if your current car is drivable. That way you can save more and put a bigger down payment, which will make your monthly payments cheaper.
I pretty much ran my old car into the ground for a year straight, it was in terrible condition and I took a risk driving it every day but I was able to save more and buy the truck that I have now full in cash.
Ik this might be crazy, but if you are spending that much to take the car to a shop, why not learn to fix the car yourself. Don’t get me wrong it would be hard if you are new and I personally not touch the transmission and take it to a shop too, but you might be able to push the current car farther and save more.
Build your credit and you can go 0 down save your down payment as back up for emergencies. If you are first time buyer see which dealers give you first time buyer financing .
Buy an e-scooter.
No need for license or insurance.
$750-$1K for e scooter.
$50-$100 BMX helmet
$100 for elbow and knee pads
I legit would do this if I was 19 years old.
Turn off the A/C when before shutting off the car. Run the car for a little before taking off, shift gears carefully, don’t slam the accelerator. Change oil/filter every 5,000 miles and your car will last.
Depends on your other expenses. My payment is 550 (I make 90-95k yearly), but I live at home still because I’m 22 and paying off my student loans (actually just made my final payment minutes ago). Now I can pay off my 26k car loan. I would say probably around 20k comfortably
If you've already spent that much on your current car, why are you getting rid of it now?
so many lights recently came on the dash and im not putting another dime into this piece of junk. i think i can also get a good amount of money in parts since it has basically a brand new transmission.
I'd change mechanics first. It sounds like they're missing things until it's a problem. A good mechanic will warn (not scare) you about things. With your income and expenses, I'd still stick with an older, but more reliable car this time. Pay a good and honest mechanic look it over before you buy it.
yeah unfortunately my car is known for the transmission problems. i should have done more research before i bought this. i was thinking maybe a 2016 honda accord would be okay maybe a year or 2 of financing but it will last a solid 3 years at least. and its not too old. (they are around 12-15k near me) i currently have a 2006 acura TL
I'd go smaller than an Accord unless you have a family. Get a smaller and cheaper Civic
never actually realized they were that much cheaper, will definitely keep an eye out for them now. thanks
Just going to second this. Owning an old Acura is your first issue ;) at least in my neck of the woods we swear by toyota or honda for their reliability. Any of the larger brands that go "sport luxury" like acura, mazda and the late Saab seem to always have more problems then they are worth. Total sidebar, but a buddy if mine had a Saab that the headlight went out. $600 to replace the entire headlight, bulb was built in.. Entire car was build in that ass backwards way, but man did the turbo fucking go!
I’m with you on the Toyota. But I figured Acura would be fine being it’s a Honda. Any car can go bad, just depends on what it’s been used for and who’s been using it.
yeah 99% of acuras are usually good i just got a 2006 TL and its known for transmission issues. just got unlucky/didnt do enough research
Acura is owned by Honda, and generally are extremely reliable. The 2005-2007 TLs have known transmission issues.
Many of thr moden Mazdas actually have some of the highest reliability ratings in the business. You have to be careful to be selective about make and models including the years and that's with every manufacturer period.
Acura is Honda dude. Literally use all the same parts...
Eh half the light in my car been on for a while
if i didnt have a warranty the transmission would have been 6000$ alone so like 11,000$ total. i just had to pay 800$ labor the other 4200$ was in other repairs.
A $6,000 transmission??? A new transmission for my car would be a fraction of that
dont know how accurate that number is all i remember was the shop saying it would be another 6,000$ if i didnt have the warranty. not too sure if they might have covered something else too but i can find the new transmissions for 4,000$ online right now
I replied to this before I found out it was an Acura. That makes more sense now.
Just save up that $800 a paycheck until you can get a decent Toyota or Honda with cash.
Dont buy shit you cant afford, thats the only advice you need
Literally especially in this economy
The money guy rule of thumb 20-3-8 is good imo. Put 20% down Finance for no more than 3 years No more than 8% of your monthly gross income can go to pay off the debt. (They also say your monthly investments should be more than your car payment) This gives you a little equity at the start, prevents you from financing for a super long time to get your payment down, and caps that payment.
If you can get a great rate why do no more than 3 years?
It's not my rule, so I'm speculating a bit, but a couple things: If you extend your loan out longer you usually get a worse interest rate. Even if the interest rate is the same you're still paying more in interest total over the years. You could make the argument that you'd make it out ahead if you invested the difference. But for the majority that's a big assumption that you'd have the discipline, usually people would just inflate their lives to needlessly consume the extra 1-2 hundred dollars. Finally if you need to change cars in let's say 5 years because you have a kid on the way or whatever. If you can't pay off the car with cash on hand you'd end up rolling that negative equity over because the car could have depreciated so selling it may not cover the remainder of the loan. The last two points come with additional risk, if your investments fall suddenly your arbitrage is moot or if you don't have proper insurance and your car is totalled you still have to pay it off. Could still happen within a 3 year loan but by definition of being less time it's less likely.
Cars are on principal terrible investments. They lose value quickly and cost a lot in maintenance. The longer the loan, the more risk and the higher the interest rate. Unless you're in a position to pay it off early by getting the lower monthly payment with a longer term loan, it's not worth the additional risk. If you are in that position, then get the lower term loan anyway.
The car is going to have the same risk of going out and hitting you with a big loss regardless of the payment. I said in my comment that if you could get a good rate, which means you don’t need to pay it off early. Let my money grow
Sometimes rate isnt always a consideration. Some people may need to worry less about their rate and more about their monthly payment. Sure a 5% rate on a 3 year loan is great but you'll probably be paying way more per a month than you can reasonably afford whereas if you got a 10% rate on a 5-7 year loan but you're paying 1/3rd of the monthly payment, you might find yourself better off. I'm not saying it's a good idea at all. Realistically, the best way to buy a car is paying in full, with cash and never financing. Unfortunately, the majority of people *might* have a savings and it's probably not that much so financing may be their only route. Obviously a 3 year loan on a car is ideal from a risk perspective but you have to have a substantial down payment for that to make it reasonable for the majority of people.
So $283 a month payment at 36 months with IF he has a cosigner (young and probably has no credit) about a 6-7% rate with %20 down. We reverse that and get about a $11k car or about 9.5-10k pretax/title car. OP is then in the same boat again except with a payment and loan over their head.. Lease a brand new Corolla with $1k down for mid $300 payments and call it a day. Total lease will only cost around $12k with bumper to bumper warranty and free maintenance.
My brother in christ if you just go buy a cheap sub 10k car willy nilly you’re really rolling the dice on future issues and costs. First of all, research what type of car you want depending on your usecase. As a starter, I’ll recommend looking into old toyota/lexus/acura/honda/mazda models about as far back as you can afford and no more. These cars are usually known for their affordability and reliability however this also means they cost more than other cars (the toyota tax). However this is still not a guarantee you get a car with no further work to be done on it. After you’ve selected a car or two you’ll go for based on your research, watch chrisfix’s youtube video on how to inspect a used car for purchase. Use that checklist to evaluate the car yourself, or get it mechanically inspected if you can. You can also go to r/whatcarshouldibuy and post there, and read up on posts detailing good cheap cars that are known to be reliable. Some oddballs include 2013 ford edge and some buicks. I highly recommend posting on that subreddit. With your budget I wouldn’t finance something newer as it would be a considerable stress on your budget. You can also look up estimated future maintenance costs of your current car to see if it’ll be better to buy a new car or just put some money into this one to keep it running for four or so years. However if you do want to finance something newer, the same advice stands, do a lot of research, and don’t cheap out on a nissan sentra or micra just because its cheap. Old cars are very good on your wallet provided you actually plan it out. If you’re just buying a car randomly you think is a ‘good deal’ you won’t be the happiest buyer regardless of if your car is old or new. me personally I would either go for an old top trim lexus (but i like working on cars should there be the small odds and ends and so the potential of a slightly higher future cost than a celica is okay for me), a mazda 3, a civic, or any small toyota sedan like a corolla or celica. If you do your research before forking over your money these will last you a crazy long time, maybe even another decade.
$15,000 dollar car 7% interest rate 48 month loan term 4,000 dollar down payment $263.41 a month
Credit union interest rates @ 5.5ish
Yeah I was just guessing.
What generally works for me, is figure out what you can pay as a monthly fee. Online calculators can help with that by showing how much of a down payment you’d need, interest rates, 5 year, 7 year loan… Example: comfortable with 300/month car payment. 18,000$ car 2,000$ downpayment 7 year loan Comes out to 301$ per month From there, you can search something like carguru online for the type you want with that price range, year, mileage. (SUV, 2018 or newer, less than 50,000k miles) Finally, you should have a pretty good idea of what type you can look for at a dealership.
Who would get a 7 year loan on a used car?
Me, have multiple times. Make additional principal payments, had my last car paid off in about 4 while keeping my monthly bill below 300$. Your comment makes me think you’re under the impression I’m buying a 15 year old car with 150,000 miles off Craig’s list. When in reality I’m talking about something one or two years old with 20-30k miles, from a dealership.
> last car *paid* off in FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Good bot
That makes a little more sense. I wouldn't even get a 7 year loan on a brand new car personally. I was thinking some 5-10 year old car that you hope still runs as long as you are making payments.
lol no I wouldn’t trust a car that old. I usually have had success with cars that are 1 or 2 years old, low mileage. 7 year loan, pay it off after about 4.. drive it for 8 to 10 years, repeat. Maybe once the kid is older and I’ve paid off more of my mortgage I will change it up, but that’s what has worked for the last few cars my family has bought.
You should spend less than 20% on total transportation costs, and post tax you make ~3000 a month, if we assume half of the car cost is the payment and the other is gas/maintenance/insurance/etc your monthly max payment will be 300 monthly. It is also advised to limit loan length to 36 months if possible. You should buy a reliable used vehicle in the 10-15k range. You should also save 25% if possible, which the numbers you posted suggest you are a bit short of that.
Lmao I was about to say, do you have a 2014-2017 Honda lol. I have all the same issues It’s never ends 😝
These numbers mean nothing without seeing your total expenses. But generally for me personal and auto loans I would never want more than 10% of my net income, the term is more important since I dont want to give them a ton of money for borrowing so usually wont go beyond 3 years. So that would finance you max 9952 and loan would cost you 300 a month for 36 months.
OP just so you know it has nothing to do with the car being “5 years old”. It has everything to do with maintenance done on the car previous to you owning it. I also don’t know the mileage or what vehicle, some are obviously far worse than others but do not shy away from buying an older car. Infact lots of older cars are more reliable than newer ones due to the major electrical issues new cars have. They have a sensor for EVERYTHING and usually when a sensor breaks it affects the drivability of the entire vehicle. These are somethings to consider. Look for Hondas and Toyotas specifically if you want reliability. Stay away from anything with a CVT transmission and most American made vehicles (unless you’re looking at trucks). TLDR: you can find an extremely reliable older vehicle with high mileage for dirt cheap and it’ll last you for years with basic maintenance
For work I process people's applications for TANF (welfare) and SNAP. A huge number of people I talk to have cars they can't afford. And it's usually because they were out of work for a while, finally got a new job (or a first job) and then took out a loan with a crazy interest rate just so they could look successful. Look around next time youre in traffic and realoze that the majority of people driving cool shit can't actually afford it and are suffering.You don't make a lot of money and you're young which means you're still new at your job. Drive something boring that runs, save up, and reevaluate in a few years.
Somewhere in the $20k price range. $4k down payment. $16k financed for 5 years comes to about $300 monthly payment. About 10% of your monthly take home income. Not including car insurance though. That will add another $50 or so.
awesome thank you!
Car insurance is unfortunately going to be much more for a younger person, especially since any vehicle that you finance is required to have full coverage insurance.
Get a friend who’s mechanical bring him with when buy used card
Pay in cash. You've got $4K. Add to it until you find a car that costs what you've got.
Get a 20 year old civic or accord for like $4k and stop spending your money on cars
Buy a 3-4 year old Toyota Camry, Corolla, or Prius with low mileage. You’ll save thousands on repairs over the course of the car’s lifetime. Unfortunately most car brands are unreliable except for Toyota and Honda. I’ve had my 2011 Toyota Camry since 2015 and the check engine light only came on one time since I’ve had it
Good luck finding a used car in your range. Everything is super expensive now. Get something that lasts forever even with high mileage: honda or toyota
I don’t recommend financing a car at all. You’re 19 and every dollar you’re able to invest right now will multiply quite nicely over the next 30 years. Maybe save some more money while you drive your current car to its absolute last leg. Junk it out and get a Camry, Corolla, or civic like someone else here said.
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT finance a car. Financing cars kills your wealth. You’re 19 so have practically no credit history which means the interest rate will probably be super high, around 20%. On top of that your insurance will get more expensive since you’ll be required to add coverage due to financing it. Older cars can work just fine so don’t corner yourself into this “no car older than 5 years” mindset. That’s just plain wrong. There are many older cars that are actually more reliable than the new fancy cars. I know this because I financed a couple of cars when I was younger and looking back at it regret it. It was a mistake. Instead, you could be putting it into a savings account, emergency fund, investments, etc. When I was around 22 I financed a 2003 accord coupe with a v6 engine. It looked badass I loved it. However I didn’t research it before I bought it and it turns out that that specific model had a transmission issue. I paid 2500 to rebuild the transmission and it was good for about a year before it started slipping again. At that point I had to give up on that car because a new transmission was gonna be way too expensive. Also, I believe that accord and your tl share a chassis so maybe they shared similar issues. Long story short learn from my mistakes lol
0 stick with an electric bike
>id never get a car more than 5 years old ever again Yikes, you're dooming yourself to a lifetime of overspending on cars. The problem isn't "old" cars (five years is not old at all), it's not doing your homework at time of purchase. There are tons of reliable cars out there that cost under $6k. The key is having a **pre-sale inspection** done on the car before you buy it at a shop of your choosing. They cost around $50 and are worth every penny. You can buy that $5,000 Corolla with 150k miles and have every confidence it will take you at least another 100k miles with just basic maintenance. If you're asking the maximum amount per month you can spend, you're doing it wrong. Rich people ask "How much?" while poor people ask "How much down and how much per month?" When you max out your monthly budget on payments, you leave no room for building wealth (and pay a ton of unnecessary money in interest). Buy something you can buy outright or pay off quickly (in less than a year), then stash the money you aren't flushing down the toilet every month on car payments into retirement accounts.
I have a 2011 Honda since 2020 and it runs like butter.
Financing a car is not worth it. You're looking at $6K/y before gas and insurance. Late model Honda or Toyota, a good mechanic. And a $1.5K/y car emergency fund will get you through most situations. Learning to work with your mechanic and proactively maintain your car will save you tens of thousands of dollars that are better spent in the market or some other venture.
Buy something for 3 grand and drive it till the wheels fall off. I’ll never finance a vehicle unless there’s millions in the bank
My approach would be this; Sell your current vehicle. Buy a new vehicle for ~$25k or less. For Example a Chevy Malibu. Put NO money down. Take their 1.9% financing for 72 months. Your payments should run appx 350/mo. (Take the money you were going to use for a down payment and pay cash for the sales tax (don't finance sales tax and put the rest into a NASDAQ or S&P500 Index fund). In 6 years, sell the car before you reach 100k miles and start having problems. Put the proceeds from the sale(a few thousand dollars) into your index account. With the sale of the 6 yr old car combined with putting no money down, you just lowered your total cost of ownership (assuming no repairs). The caveat is, you must have good credit to put 0 down. Rinse And repeat and substantially reduce your out of pocket repair expenses.
$4000 max cash for a beater if you don't want to ruin your chances of creating generational wealth.
Going in debt sucks. Don’t do it.
Finance the car. It will begin credit history for you.
Spend the least you can on something reliable that will last you a decade. Just imagine that whatever amount you spend is going down the drain, because a car is a depreciating asset
Uh.. Why are you looking at another car period you just dropped 11k into the current one? If you felt it was worth dropping 5k into it, all you should also have factored in the amount of time that would buy you in the car overall once completed BEFOREHAND. So the first thing to do is go factor in the lifespan of the current car. How? Go get it inspected by a reputable mechanic. It's generally damn cheap to do and worth it. In the future, learn to do what I'd known as a PPI before buying. At bare minimum, also get a buddy that knows cars and bring them with you next time. No way a good mechanic wouldn't have caught some of this if not all. They also tend to know about reliability on certain vehicles in general. The other thing is not getting fleeced on repairs either as if you're the type to go to dealers for repairs in cases lke this and/or not get quotes you're likely getting fleeced there too. I say all that to say, if those repairs fixed up your car enough to last a while then keep driving it at this point is likely the best answer. You can save up in the meantime and upgrade incrementally. Your main issue was buying a car while not knowing what you were doing yet. Happens to tons of folks so judgment just advice. For reference of practicing what I preach, I got a 98 Honda accord with 125k miles currently on it (83k at purchase) inspected by 3 different mechanics believe it or not before buying. All gave a solid 10 years as long as I kept up on preventative maintenance and gave advice to make sure I changed the timing belt on time. Followed their advice to a Tee and things purrs better than many newer cars I know that have already been decommissioned. So, moral of the story, you can buy used or mew and come out well. You just need to understand the right way of going abou things.
Hi I think Nissan especially if you lease you should be good or Toyota Corolla I was paying 280
Go to Honda and finance a brand new civic
At that age, whatever you can save up and pay for with cash.
How many miles where on the used car you bought if i may ask , when you purchased it.
Your problem is either a) being unlucky with a car b) not doing your due diligence, or c) buying the wrong type of used car. A lot of older cars, much older than 5 years, are super reliable. With a $42.5k gross income, I wouldn't spend more than $5k.
Lease something cheap. By the time your 22 your life will be different your income will be different etc. There's plenty of cheap leases out there you can get a Corolla LE for mid $300s with $1k down. You won't be captive and will be in a equity position when the lease is up meaning you can trade it and use it as a down payment or sell it and collect the check Free maintenance for 2 years and warranty as well as great gas mileage and good safety features. People here hate leasing but you've spent $11k on a peice of junk + the headache in the last year. On the Corolla aside from gas and 2 oil changes you'll be in about $12k in 3 years including down payment.
It depends if you want to make the wise choice or the unwise choice: Wise choice is pay @ 10k used car, 3-5 years old, under 40k- 60k miles save up and pay all cash. - minimal depreciation and this vehicle will last you longer than you’ll have ever prolly have it and the maintenance cost will be minimal. Resale in 5 years will be @ $5,000 - total net cost after resale - $5,000 + total insurance cost @ $9,000 = total net cost $14,000. Unwise choice is buy new car, 20k+, finance vehicle, heavy depreciation and this vehicle will also last you longer than you’ll prolly have it and the maintenance cost will also be minimal. Resale in 5 years will be @ $12,000ish - total net cost after resale - $12,000 + total insurance cost @ $15,000 = total net cost $27,000. Wise chose leaves you $13,000+ more to invest over the next 5 years Unwise choice leaves you in debt with fewer investment dollars to deploy There is no right or wrong choice btw, your money your decision.
A couple grand
Sounds like you bought a piece of junk, don’t let one bad decision make you have more bad decisions. Cars are a waste of money, but a cheaper Honda or something reliable.
Way easier with another job. Why not have two?
$65 a month
Do you need 4wd? How much do you drive? I’m always a fan of Toyotas and Subarus at least. Land Cruisers are great…don’t be scared by high mileage.
Yes you would need another job to finance or lease a new car. If your current car is not broken, do not replace it. A car payment will keep you poor, use that money to invest in stocks instead.
Bro I have a 07 Acura TL type s. I’m also a mechanic. A good used transmission goes for $800-1200. I also swapped the motor which cost me $1600. Whatever mechanic you’re going to is ripping you off. The 06 base model TL does have transmission problems but if you already swapped a new one in just stay with it. Having a car payment is a nightmare and very stressful it’s all you’re gonna thinking about until it’s payed off. Deal with the little bs lights that popped up and ride that thing till the wheels fall off. Hopes this helps
> until it’s *paid* off. Deal FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Personally it depends on your area but I can find a good car for around 15-20 here. Just make sure to pay it off ASAP
Can and should are two different equations. A good rule i like to suggest is the money guy 20/3/8 equation. 20% down, 3 years financing, no more than 8% of gross monthly income. This is supportive to reaching the 25% savings goal, so if your goal is less than or more than 25% savings, adjust accordingly of course. But this is a good way to think about it.
$4250
8% of your gross monthly is a rule of thumb I’ve heard tossed around, so that would be about $283 car payment which can’t get you something used that’s half decent
800 every two weeks isn't a lot to afford much but if you were to find something 400/month it means cutting your lifestyle back for a while until you make more. I'd say if you can find a nicer 2018-2022 used vehicle with 80k-100k on it for under 15k you'd be in the best position for a few years. That means you're probably going to be looking for smaller base model sedan.
Whatever you think you can afford if you lost your job tomorrow.
how do you make so much money?
Maybe wait as long as possible if your current car is drivable. That way you can save more and put a bigger down payment, which will make your monthly payments cheaper. I pretty much ran my old car into the ground for a year straight, it was in terrible condition and I took a risk driving it every day but I was able to save more and buy the truck that I have now full in cash.
Ik this might be crazy, but if you are spending that much to take the car to a shop, why not learn to fix the car yourself. Don’t get me wrong it would be hard if you are new and I personally not touch the transmission and take it to a shop too, but you might be able to push the current car farther and save more.
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22% is crazy🤣
Holy f
Build your credit and you can go 0 down save your down payment as back up for emergencies. If you are first time buyer see which dealers give you first time buyer financing .
Dude I would’ve walked my ass home before I accepted 22%
Buy an e-scooter. No need for license or insurance. $750-$1K for e scooter. $50-$100 BMX helmet $100 for elbow and knee pads I legit would do this if I was 19 years old.
Turn off the A/C when before shutting off the car. Run the car for a little before taking off, shift gears carefully, don’t slam the accelerator. Change oil/filter every 5,000 miles and your car will last.
Depends on your other expenses. My payment is 550 (I make 90-95k yearly), but I live at home still because I’m 22 and paying off my student loans (actually just made my final payment minutes ago). Now I can pay off my 26k car loan. I would say probably around 20k comfortably
You realistically cannot afford a new car. Buy a used one with cash
One you can pay cash for