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Your values are out of line, focus on becoming a successful lawyer and being SOLIDLY in the middle class before you look at buying ANY car that's over $10,000.
Financial columnist Liz Weston said the same thing several years ago:
I posted a thread in the car forum and a bunch of posts remarked about how much of a poor decision I was making. I attained a full ride to law school, my tuition is covered 100% and I'll even be making a profit from the experience but that's another story. I'm about in 10k total debt at the moment from a combination of student loans from the entire 4 years plus some medical bills and credit card debt. The student loan payments will be deferred until law school graduation and the other bills are very small and manageable.
I'm looking to buy a car for 22k with a 5k down payment. Does my situation sound ok?
Get the car, I assume you'll be making enough from scholarships to cover car payments. Don't buy a piece of sh1t beater. Scholarship money is as good as income since you don't have to pay it back. 22k isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and you'll have a car still in warrant when you graduate.
Get the car, I assume you'll be making enough from scholarships to cover car payments. Don't buy a piece of sh1t beater. Scholarship money is as good as income since you don't have to pay it back. 22k isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and you'll have a car still in warrant when you graduate.
But it's not just about covering car payments, there are a slew of other expenses that need to be covered and plenty of far better uses of limited resources than a brand new car...
Get the car, I assume you'll be making enough from scholarships to cover car payments. Don't buy a piece of sh1t beater. Scholarship money is as good as income since you don't have to pay it back. 22k isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and you'll have a car still in warrant when you graduate.
Horrible advice. I swear I meet young women for example, who aren't even totally financially stable, and she would have a $800 TOTAL car monthly payment ($450 car note and $350 monthly full coverage insurance). It's INSANE.
The guy needs a car to get to Point A and Point B, any excess monies that he has needs to be put in savings so he can eventually get a head start in life in terms of savings/cushion when he's out living on his own. That money doesn't need to be in a damn depreciating car right now.
Plus on another note, I'm solidly in the middle class and I NEVER have (or will) buy a car that's over $20,000 in total which includes the base unit and my chrome accessories. I buy one year old solid muscle cars like your Dodge Chargers, throw my chrome accessories/tires on it, and hold them for about 5 - 6 years before then trading the unit in for an updated model. My total purchase costs are no more than $15k - $18k in total for the base unit and the accessories and the vast majority of this amount is paid off upfront. I don't do car notes.
But again, I'm solidly middle class in income and asset levels, the OP has NO income and no damn assets.
Horrible advice. I swear I meet young women for example, who aren't even totally financially stable, and she would have a $800 TOTAL car monthly payment ($450 car note and $350 monthly full coverage insurance). It's INSANE.
The guy needs a car to get to Point A and Point B, any excess monies that he has needs to be put in savings so he can eventually get a head start in life in terms of savings/cushion when he's out living on his own. That money doesn't need to be in a damn depreciating car right now.
Plus on another note, I'm solidly in the middle class and I NEVER have (or will) buy a car that's over $20,000 in total which includes the base unit and my chrome accessories. I buy one year old solid muscle cars like your Dodge Chargers, throw my chrome accessories/tires on it, and hold them for about 5 - 6 years before then trading the unit in for an updated model. My total purchase costs are no more than $15k - $18k in total for the base unit and the accessories and the vast majority of this amount is paid off upfront. I don't do car notes.
But again, I'm solidly middle class in income and asset levels, the OP has NO income and no damn assets.
A new car will get him from point A to B. A beater will get him stuck somewhere in between. By the time he graduates he'll already have a few years of payments under his belt and can sell the car if he needed.
A new car will get him from point A to B. A beater will get him stuck somewhere in between. By the time he graduates he'll already have a few years of payments under his belt and can sell the car if he needed.
He has no income and wants to buy a new $20k car!! How can you possibly think that this is a good idea? Even if he were to need a new car, there's no reason to spend $20k on one to go back and forth to college. Especially when it's going to lose ~40% of its value before he graduates college.
Used cars do just fine getting from point A to point B and leave more wiggle room in the budget for making any repairs that are needed. I've owned nothing but used cars in the last 15 years, and have been stranded exactly one time - and that was because I ran over debris in the road and blew out 2 tires. Not once has one of my used cars left me sitting because of mechanical failure. You can pick up a 2-3 year old Honda or Toyota for about half of what the OP is wanting to spend, and it will definitely get you from point A to point B without being a money sink. Heck, you can get a new Honda or Toyota for less than what the OP plans on spending.
A new car will get him from point A to B. A beater will get him stuck somewhere in between. By the time he graduates he'll already have a few years of payments under his belt and can sell the car if he needed.
Depending on the term of his car note, the interest rate, how much he puts towards a downpayment, and the rate of depreciation, he may be UNDERWATER by the time he finishes school. Good luck with selling then.
A new car will get him from point A to B. A beater will get him stuck somewhere in between.
Right, there is no such thing as a reliable used car, you are only legally allowed to purchase brand new or 15 years old with 200k miles on the clock. Anything in between was outlawed in 1996. [/sarcasm]
A new car will get him from point A to B. A beater will get him stuck somewhere in between. By the time he graduates he'll already have a few years of payments under his belt and can sell the car if he needed.
OP lives 15 minutes away from campus, where is he going to get stuck at? At most, he'll be 7.5 minutes away from home or campus. Btw, he currently has a car ... he doesn't like it because it's "uncomfortable".
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