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I worked hard to convince her that a $250 per month car payment is so much easier to meet than even the most basic car maintenence, even showing her a $1,200 bill I paid last year just for tires and brakes on Moms van. .
You realize that she's probably going to need tires and brakes on a new car before it's paid off, right? So she'll have that big bill PLUS the car payment.
We just helped our daughter buy her first car. She's a high school senior, just tirned 18 and graduating next month. She works part time, earning about $200 per week. We wanted to see her in a new, reliable vehicle that would get her through the next 4 years of college and beyond. She wanted to go out and buy a $4K-$6K used car, and I told her if she did, she was on her own repair wise when it broke down. I worked hard to convince her that a $250 per month car payment is so much easier to meet than even the most basic car maintenence, even showing her a $1,200 bill I paid last year just for tires and brakes on Moms van. I asked her how many weeks she thought it would take for her to save up pay for a $1,500 to $2,000 transmission repair?
She finally relented, and we took the $4K down payment she saved over a two year period, and we helped her finance a 2014 Ford Focus, and she's already SOOO glad we pushed her towards new. Just the other night she was out with some friends, and her friends car didn't start when they left the restaurant. She came to me afterwards and said "Dad, thank you! I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that for a while!" And as Dad, I don't have to worry about her driving an older, less reliable car on the commute back and forth to college next fall.
I'm helping her with the insurance - ouch, but it's well worth the piece of mind knowing she's in a new, reliable car with good safety ratings. And as the co-applicant on the loan, she's building herself some good credit history, especially with me standing over her, making sure the payments are made on time every month. A win - win all around IMO.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do with her, and tell the idiot boyfriend to butt the hell out.
nothing wrong with your approach, but if you're good at finding used cars, there's nothing wrong with used cars either.
my car to get back and forth to highschool when i turned 16 in 1998 was a 1986 Toyota Camry that my dad got for $1400. It was fine, never had any major issues. The lasted perfectly fine through the end of my senior year. We sold it for $500 when i was in college, and bought a 1991 Nissan Sentra for $1700. it has 28,000 miles on it. stick shift, no power steering, very basic car. kept that until i moved to Hoboken for my first job. had it in Hoboken for a year and used it when i needed it. then i moved in with my wife, and we sold the nissan because i didn't really need a car and she had one for back and forth to work.
it's tough to find those reliable used cars these days, but if you can find one, it's a good buy. that's why i basically either go brand new or something < $5,000 that you researched very well.
You realize that she's probably going to need tires and brakes on a new car before it's paid off, right? So she'll have that big bill PLUS the car payment.
interesting. I've got a 2010 Legacy that i own 4 years now. Granted, i run summer tires and winter tires (bought a spare set of OEM wheels with winter tires on Craigslist for $700) - i've purchased 0 tires in 4 years and 71,000 miles. and since it's a stick shift, i've not needed to replace the brakes either.
teach her to not accelerate hard and brake hard, and brakes will last a while. and maintain the tires properly, they last a while as well. and depending on the car, $400 for new tires. even if you replace them every 20,000 miles (about every 18 months probably), set aside $25/month for that and the "big bill" doesn't surprise you.
Realistically, I'd probably split it down the middle and look for a reliable model in the 70k mile range. Those are usually still pretty good since most manufacturers have 100k warrenties. Even if you don't get them, it still means they think the car will last that long(if they didn't believe that, they'd be out a fortune in warranty costs). You can probably expect a good 3+ years out of a car like that which should be plenty of time for her to get on her feet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradykp
nothing wrong with your approach, but if you're good at finding used cars, there's nothing wrong with used cars either.
my car to get back and forth to highschool when i turned 16 in 1998 was a 1986 Toyota Camry that my dad got for $1400. It was fine, never had any major issues. The lasted perfectly fine through the end of my senior year. We sold it for $500 when i was in college, and bought a 1991 Nissan Sentra for $1700. it has 28,000 miles on it. stick shift, no power steering, very basic car. kept that until i moved to Hoboken for my first job. had it in Hoboken for a year and used it when i needed it. then i moved in with my wife, and we sold the nissan because i didn't really need a car and she had one for back and forth to work.
it's tough to find those reliable used cars these days, but if you can find one, it's a good buy. that's why i basically either go brand new or something < $5,000 that you researched very well.
This is the best method to having a balance between saving money and having low chances of repairs. Find a model that has a good track record for reliability and she will save a ton of $$ and still have a good vehicle.
I helped my sister buy a Corolla for $5,000 with 60K miles on it. Its been over 6 years and that car hasn't given her a single problem. Bought my wife a Corolla too with 70K miles for $3,500. Its going on 3 years in a few months without a single problem.
The only thing I that I think is a MANDATORY MUST DO if your going this route is getting the vehicle checked out by a professional. For my sister's car the dealer (a reputable one) had absolutely no problems with me driving that thing off the lot to get it checked out at a mechanic's shop. All he asked for was to photocopy my drivers license to make sure it was valid. This alone told me the dealer knew the car was in good shape. If a dealer doesn't allow this then walk away.
Or if you have a good friend who is a mechanic you can even buy cars off of craigslist for a deep discount and get a great deal. That's the way I purchased my wife's car. My buddy went with me and checked out a few cars that he gave thumbs down to from craigslist until I found the Corolla. He drove it, said it was in perfect shape. I ordered the carfax to make sure there wasn't anything the owner hid (he didn't). Bought it on the spot and it was be most car I have ever gotten for the money. So bottom line is as long as you get it checked out by a mechanic and order a carfax; there's only a slim chance that the car will end up needing major repairs.
Last edited by griffon652; 05-14-2014 at 01:08 PM..
You realize that she's probably going to need tires and brakes on a new car before it's paid off, right? So she'll have that big bill PLUS the car payment.
At $250/month she's not going to have this car paid for in four years. Plus you have no idea how many miles she's going to drive or in what kind of conditions.
teach her to not accelerate hard and brake hard, and brakes will last a while. and maintain the tires properly, they last a while as well. and depending on the car, $400 for new tires. even if you replace them every 20,000 miles (about every 18 months probably), set aside $25/month for that and the "big bill" doesn't surprise you.
This is what the previous poster should be teaching his daughter, however instead he has chosen to teach her that if she buys a brand new car she will never have any expense beyond the payment, which is false.
We have had very good luck over the years buying previous rentals/leased cars that are 1-2 years old.
I've had very good luck over the years buying 20-year-old cars for $500. Why? Because my first car was a worn-out piece of crap. Ownership of that car forced me to think about repair, maintenance, safety, and reliability. The experience I gained from owning that car has been worth a fortune in terms of what I've saved on vehicle expenses over the years.
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