Looking for car (possibly shopping) help

Landlord

Landlord

Banned
Here's the scoop. I'm 20 years old, don't have bad credit but don't have any credit (is that the same thing?). I've been driving a '99 neon for the last ~3 years, and it crapped out last night (chances are good it's a fuel pump, which I've gotten quoted around ~$500). The car has been good to me for the three years I've had it, but the last year has been rough being a delivery driver and putting a lot of miles on it. I've had radiator, suspension, alignment and belt problems, and now this. It gets paid off in October, but I don't know if I want to keep fixing this junk if it's going to lead to more and more and more fixing.

I'm seriously considering getting a new car between 6-8k, something reliable and cheap on insurance. Would I be able to get a loan for it? Should I fix the fuel pump and try selling my car (KBB puts "excellent" condition value at 3k, so I would be looking anywhere between 2-2.5) to go towards a new one? Should I fix the fuel pump and keep plugging away with my current one until I can't anymore?

Oh yeah, my financial situation. I make roughly $1100 per month, and ~$600 goes to bills. I keep spending all my excess money, but can tighten corners if I need to (this would be my first time on my own insurance as well.)

 
Do you have any friends that are mechanics or do-it-yourself types? Just a quick search showed the part at anywhere from $170-$240. If your Neon is paid off, with your financial situation I would fix the Neon. If you are financially responsible, I would also suggest you get a credit card. Get one with cash back and just use it for groceries and gas and pay it off each month. You need to start building up credit. If you don't trust yourself with it, it's not worth it.

 
my suggestion is to just pay the $500 to fix it and hope it's awhile still before anything else goes wrong with it. Especially since you say it's almost paid off. Once you pay it off, take the money you were paying towards the loan and put it in savings instead. Then if something goes wrong with the car again you can either use the money saved to fix it or assess whether you want to look at buying a new car. Which, if you're lucky, you might have quite a bit saved up already that you can put towards one.

 
I'm 22 and have used Benny's system and I really think it's the way to go. I paid $500 to get my '95 Subaru fixed about 6 months ago and have been putting away money for a new car. I'm up to almost $3000 at this point, so if I can keep it running another 6 months or a year I'll be able to upgrade without a car loan. Also, I've had a credit card since I was 18 and use it sparingly only for food, gas, and utilities, but it really helped my credit score when going out for a mortgage on the house I just bought. But again, credit card debt is just about the worst type of debt, so it's only worth getting a credit card if you're responsible about paying it off completely every month.

 
When I was 20, taking on a monthly (non-rent) payment would have been a bad idea.

Heck, at 29 I'm kicking myself for not getting my last car fixed. I bought a new jeep, and traded the old one in. Right now I have around 45 or so of 60 payments. Sixty. That gouges you every month. Having a car payed off would be pretty nice right now.

If you can fix the car now and manage to save each month for a new car - that is the way to go. I agree with the other guys on here in that 1) taking on a monthly payment sucks, 2) only you really know how well you will be able to save, and 3) if you can be responsible about it, definitely get a credit card for your basic expenses. Just make sure you pay it off each month.

 
I agree with what's been said: avoid the payments if you can. Buy a repair manual for your car (about $20) and it'll show you how to replace your own fuel filter. It's actually quite easy. Replaced one on my wifes Monte Carlo years ago and it took about an hour.

As for KBB, the "value" you need to realize is what they think your car is worth is not what a dealer thinks. You need to get the "black book value" or "trade-in value". I've had vehicles valued at 19K but a dealer only wanted to give me 13 or 14K. Chances are this is what would happen to you then you have to worry about financing "negative equity". And with no real credit, your interest rate could be high.

I also agree with AndyDufresne, get yourself a credit card and use it wisely. What one guy told me one time is to buy something for $75 or $100. Don't pay it off each month right away. Pay half the balance one month and the remaining the next. This creates a payment history.

But definitely consider getting your car fixed. You'll be thankful when it's paid off.

EDIT:

If you decide to go the way of a newer car, do some research and definitely ask questions on here. I'm sure there are several of us who've had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with a car salesman or two or three...or four...five....maybe 6 times :facepalm:

 
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I'd say fix the car and cross your fingers. Start with a credit card for small purchases, gas, groceries, etc. to build up your credit. Only have an available credit of say, $500.00. That way you can't get yourself into too much trouble. Always try and allow yourself $100.00 a week spending money if you can. When you strap yourself down to $50.00 a week or so it sucks to have to work all the time to just pay your bills and not have any fun money. I've been there, when I was 21 there were times when I only had $10.00 to last me two weeks because I had too many toys and nice cars. Now I have a '04 Explorer that is paid for, in excellent condition, and a pretty decent nest egg for a 30 year old.

 
One more thing to add, avoid taking your car on long trips. It's just not worth it. Priceline a rental (if you can get someone to do it for you if you're under 25) and you can get it for $15-20 per day, so you can prevent wear and tear on the car that way.

 
Thanks for the replies guys. Turns out my timing belt went out, and my car has a high interference motor so I'm told it will be a miracle if the pistons/valves weren't totally screwed in the process. :facepalm:

So essentially I'm operating under the pretense that I need a new car. In which case, I have a TON of questions:

1. Should I buy from a dealer? What about a private seller if the price is right?

2. If I go with a dealer, should I finance through the dealership, or would it be better to go through a bank?

3. My mom (yeah I still listen to a lot of what she says, don't ask me why :P ) wants me to go for a $5,000 car over 5 years (95% chance that I'll be doing a 5-year loan regardless of car, in case you guys are going to suggest a 3-year. I would much prefer it, but I just don't have the money for it), and pay around the same that I was paying for my neon which was $100/mo. I want to go a little bit higher, say 7k, with $300 or so from scrapping the neon and maybe like a $500 deposit, in addition to some haggling and finance help on the part of my uncle (who I would say is probably a guru). It seems to me that the extra investment would pay off, and I'm going to be cutting a lot of corners with my money so I don't think an extra $50-75 would be an issue per month.

4. Suggestions of cars? I'm definitely not looking for something based on flash although obviously I want something that I'll enjoy. Below are a few links to my favorites that I've found through autotrader

5. Anything I am missing?

Here's a few cars I've been looking at:

http://tinyurl.com/2udwrfh

http://tinyurl.com/3x3ojh6

http://tinyurl.com/3ao3ejv

http://tinyurl.com/39wgxdv

http://tinyurl.com/3xh9ckb

http://tinyurl.com/3yj9lkv

http://tinyurl.com/2vw2psg

There are also tons of Imapalas, Malibus, Taureses and Stratuses with a few other models so I didn't bother linking those since they're so plentiful.

 
Don't get a Pontiac! They are junk in the long run from my personal experience and just don't last long. I would go with a foreign car since you have some higher mileage on these vehicles. The VW would probably run forever. Also, you probably won't be able to get a 5 year loan on any of these cars. They aren't new enough in the banks eyes or lenders eyes.

 
timing belt...that sucks. I had mine replaced (along with the water pump, which is usually suggested to do at the same time) a couple years ago. LUCKILY my girlfriend worked with the wife of a Honda dealership mechanic. I got the whole thing done for about half of what the dealership was recommending. When you hit around 100K miles I think most manufactures recommend getting the replacement done.

Anyway, I recommend Honda. I've had great experiences with my last two and their prices are pretty decent. Not only that, but their resale value tends to hold up pretty well. I've got a 1997 Civic with 120K on it and it's still running strong. I'd love to get a new car too, but I have a feeling I'll just run this one into the ground first.

 
BIGREDIOWAN said:
Don't get a Pontiac! They are junk in the long run from my personal experience and just don't last long. I would go with a foreign car since you have some higher mileage on these vehicles. The VW would probably run forever. Also, you probably won't be able to get a 5 year loan on any of these cars. They aren't new enough in the banks eyes or lenders eyes.
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What kind of a loan would I be looking at then? Not even for a 2006-2007 model?

Also, I would say that the Cobalt, Mazda 6 and the VW are by far my favorite three if I have a choice in the matter and if they are what they are advertised as.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Thanks for the replies guys. Turns out my timing belt went out, and my car has a high interference motor so I'm told it will be a miracle if the pistons/valves weren't totally screwed in the process. :facepalm:

So essentially I'm operating under the pretense that I need a new car. In which case, I have a TON of questions:

1. Should I buy from a dealer? What about a private seller if the price is right?

-----If you buy from a private seller, definitely take to a dealer for an inspection at minimum. They can sometimes identify problems you can't see (they cost around $100-$150). Some dealers will give you a warranty of some kind if you buy from them, which is always beneficial. I'd stay away from user car dealers.

2. If I go with a dealer, should I finance through the dealership, or would it be better to go through a bank?

-----Whoever gives you the best deal.

3. My mom (yeah I still listen to a lot of what she says, don't ask me why :P ) wants me to go for a $5,000 car over 5 years (95% chance that I'll be doing a 5-year loan regardless of car, in case you guys are going to suggest a 3-year. I would much prefer it, but I just don't have the money for it), and pay around the same that I was paying for my neon which was $100/mo. I want to go a little bit higher, say 7k, with $300 or so from scrapping the neon and maybe like a $500 deposit, in addition to some haggling and finance help on the part of my uncle (who I would say is probably a guru). It seems to me that the extra investment would pay off, and I'm going to be cutting a lot of corners with my money so I don't think an extra $50-75 would be an issue per month.

-----$50-$75 a month may not sound like much, but it can be more than you think. There are loan calculators on the web that can help you gauge how much your monthly payments will be. Seriously think it through.

4. Suggestions of cars? I'm definitely not looking for something based on flash although obviously I want something that I'll enjoy. Below are a few links to my favorites that I've found through autotrader

-----Its up to what you like. ConsumerReports always does a good job of rating vehicles and service history. You might want to check them out. I tend to stay away from used Dodges (since you mentioned the Stratus). Never heard anything good about them.
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I am completely challenged when it comes to cars, but a good friend of mine is a mechanic. He always recommends Hondas and certain Mazdas as being the most reliable. I believe at one point that he told me his dealership at the time would not sell Mazdas. This was because the dealership feared the car's reliability would decrease revenue from people bringing in the car maintenance and repairs.

Also, my 2 cents on foreign cars - watch out. I drove a british car once upon a time and getting the thing repaired was a nightmare of expenses. Not to mention having to wait a month to get parts ordered from overseas. Make sure that if it is foreign, that its parts are accessible and there is a dealer/mechanic nearby that can do maintenance and repairs. On the other hand, my grandma has a volvo and loves the thing. She takes good care of it, but it has over 400,000 miles on it. Insane. But she also has a volvo repair guy in her town in TN.

 
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