Looking for car (possibly shopping) help

On a used car with no credit history, your interest rate will be all over the place. Most lenders will up the rate as the term increases which is not a good situation for you. There are a few that decrease the rate as the term increases though. You would get a much better rate if you bought new, but I can't think of anything new that would be in your price range.

Most dealerships have deals with local banks, so your financing through the dealership for a used car actually goes through a bank anyway. Explore your options, but try to get a rough quote before you let them run your credit. If too many places run your credit score in a short amount of time, your credit score will go down. You can also check with your insurance company. Some of them will finance auto loans and give decent rates as well.

 
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AndyDufresne said:
On a used car with no credit history, your interest rate will be all over the place. Most lenders will up the rate as the term increases which is not a good situation for you. There are a few that decrease the rate as the term increases though. You would get a much better rate if you bought new, but I can't think of anything new that would be in your price range.

Most dealerships have deals with local banks, so your financing through the dealership for a used car actually goes through a bank anyway. Explore your options, but try to get a rough quote before you let them run your credit. If too many places run your credit score in a short amount of time, your credit score will go down. You can also check with your insurance company. Some of them will finance auto loans and give decent rates as well.
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Well I am under my mom's insurance now, and with the purchase of this car will be going into my own plan so I guess I don't actually have an insurance company as of right now.

As far as getting screwed with my credit score, if they really try to hose me (and I have people around me protecting my interests in that regard), my mom agreed to finance/take out the loan under her name and have me pay her for it.

This whole thing is turning into a headache but then again I'm pretty excited to be getting a moderately nice (at least compared to what I am used to) car :)

 
Anyone have experience with Chevy Aveos? I went and test drove a few vehicles today and Ernst has an '06 Aveo marked down to $6200. I've been reading customer and website reviews and it seems like the pros are everything I'm looking for. However, I can't get over how small and...."cute" it is, but maybe I'm being too picky.

 
I guess I don't see why y'all are really adverse to making payments on a car. I make a huge student loan payment every month, plus my car payment. Maybe you are all just getting raped on your rates by your banks. I pay about $250 a month for my car, it's not even a year old yet (new). It was an under $20,000 car and I only put another $1000 on top of my $4500 trade in for my old Blazer.

Landlord - I'd shop around for rates and see what kind of requirements they have and then you can compare it to dealers when you start shopping around. The internet is your friend. If you don't mind some hail damage, we just had some bad hailstorms out here in the Panhandle (yes, it's part of Nebraska ;) ). You could probably get a good deal. I know one dealer that got hailed out pretty bad LINKY

Good luck dude! :thumbs

 
That sounds nice but I just don't have the time/resources to get something that's more than an hour or two away from here. I'm a delivery driver for a living so it's hard enough getting by for a week! I've got to get something asap.

Here's an update on how things stand.

Test drove the '02 VW Passat. I pretty much loved it, but it's got some miles (95k) and it's an '02 so financing won't be as much of a breeze. Most likely what I'll do with this one is tell the guy how much I love the car but the only way I could make it work is if he drops it down 1k (it's listed at $6900) and get it over 4 years, around which time I would hopefully be in that much better financial standing to get something nice or keep driving it if it lasts me long after that.

Went and test drove an '05 Chevy Equinox that's marked down to $8000 but already has 111k miles on it. Loved driving it, but reading online reliability seems to be a genuine concern with these so I think that's out the door. Looked at an '06 Aveo sedan and an '05 Aveo hatchback and both are extremely affordable, and seem like there is no reason why they wouldn't be a great car, I just don't really know if I want them.

Tuesday heading up to Lincoln to look at a few cars including the '05 Mazda 6 and two '06 Chevy Cobalts among whatever else I find. My heart is kind of set on the Mazda if it turns up being what I want it to be in person, although the gas mileage will definitely not be as good as pretty much any of the other options. I love Cobalts except in the two I have ridden in that belong to friends the sound systems were pretty lacking, and I am a man who seriously enjoys his loud tunes.

 
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I've had a lot of cars in my day. I've been a mechanic and a car salesman.

I'm curious about a couple of things here, you say the neon will be paid off in October, so, is this in your name or you parents, what do you plan to do regarding the pay off on that. Also, have you confirmed the diagnosis on the neon ( is it fried or not).

So far as brands of car, I think people like to simplify the problem to something like honda good, hyundai bad. It's really not quite that simple, yes Honda makes a great product, but some of the reliability stats are a result of better owner maintanence as well. IE had you conducted preventive maintenance (replaced the timing belt) at the prescribed interval, it would not have failed. My point here is that a lexus generally lasts longer because lexus drivers spend more maintaining their cars. You need to be aware of down the road expenses and plan accordingly (do as I say, not as I do). Along this vein, MPG should be a major concern if you truely put on alot of miles.

Be aware also, that your insurance rates will vary depending on the vehicle you choose, not only by sportscars vs sedan but also by class of vehicle, repair/replacement costs, and safty/survivability rateings. It might be a good idea to get a quote before commiting to a particular car.

Dealerships vs banks; Brand name dealerships like Chevy or Nissan dealers for instance all use regular banks as well as company finance instraments (like GMAC) to shop rates. Yes, the dealer is making money from these transactions, but if the rates are the same as you can get on your own (and they generally are) it is generally alot simpler to do. Plus, GMAC, Ford Motor Credit, NMAC, et al have first time buyer incentives for their new vehicles.

In summation, I've replaced engines, cylinder heads, transmissions, etc in Hondas, Toyotas, Chevy, Fords, Mazdas(don't even get me started on those), and God knows what else. There is no perfect car, so, find something l you really like because nothing sucks more than a payment you can't afford on a car you hate.

 
huskertim said:
I've had a lot of cars in my day. I've been a mechanic and a car salesman.

I'm curious about a couple of things here, you say the neon will be paid off in October, so, is this in your name or you parents, what do you plan to do regarding the pay off on that. Also, have you confirmed the diagnosis on the neon ( is it fried or not).

So far as brands of car, I think people like to simplify the problem to something like honda good, hyundai bad. It's really not quite that simple, yes Honda makes a great product, but some of the reliability stats are a result of better owner maintanence as well. IE had you conducted preventive maintenance (replaced the timing belt) at the prescribed interval, it would not have failed. My point here is that a lexus generally lasts longer because lexus drivers spend more maintaining their cars. You need to be aware of down the road expenses and plan accordingly (do as I say, not as I do). Along this vein, MPG should be a major concern if you truely put on alot of miles.

Be aware also, that your insurance rates will vary depending on the vehicle you choose, not only by sportscars vs sedan but also by class of vehicle, repair/replacement costs, and safty/survivability rateings. It might be a good idea to get a quote before commiting to a particular car.

Dealerships vs banks; Brand name dealerships like Chevy or Nissan dealers for instance all use regular banks as well as company finance instraments (like GMAC) to shop rates. Yes, the dealer is making money from these transactions, but if the rates are the same as you can get on your own (and they generally are) it is generally alot simpler to do. Plus, GMAC, Ford Motor Credit, NMAC, et al have first time buyer incentives for their new vehicles.

In summation, I've replaced engines, cylinder heads, transmissions, etc in Hondas, Toyotas, Chevy, Fords, Mazdas(don't even get me started on those), and God knows what else. There is no perfect car, so, find something l you really like because nothing sucks more than a payment you can't afford on a car you hate.
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My mom promised to finish paying off the Neon for me while I start a new car payment. Also, it is definitely fried :( A guy offered me $300 for scrap parts so I am going to take that and put it towards a down payment.

 
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