Never owned a car before, $1700/month income, dealer or craigslist? (paying, rate)

[hitman619]

This should be moved to the car/finance Section imo

[echo42]

Originally Posted by marcdel80

Hello,
I live with my parents, no rent fees. Pretty much I just pay for my gym, supplements and cell phone subscription. I earn $1700/mo before taxes a taken out. I have never owned a car before.

Any advice on what to expect when purchasing your own car? What cars should I be looking for? What price range?

I was told to just visit a car dealership and get toyota, get your credit rating checked and then your pretty much at the mercy of the dealer. My credit rating sucks. Probably having $15-20,000 in bills/credit debt.

I basically just need to travel a few a days a week for my side business. I want to also eventually get two jobs to double my income (taking the bus wont allow me to work 2 jobs).


I am totally clueless about this. how much money should I save up in downpayment before doing this endeavor? I heard when they do credit check ratings then it lowers your score and also makes your car deals worse.

Thanks!

I am a big Toyota fan. In my opinion you can't go wrong with a Toyota Corolla as a first car. I would look for one 10-15 years old. Still a lot of life left in them.

I guess you are from San Diego, that's why this is in the San Diego section. If you are from San Diego or SoCal, I offer one other alternative-a motorcycle or scooter. Take the Motorcycle Safety Course and buy a motorbike.

I'm not talking about a huge Harley Davidson but a small commuter bike. Something like the Honda Cub or Monkey. The good thing about living in SoCal is you can ride at least 330 day out of the year.

I wish the motorcycle companies marketed more towards small commuter bikes. It would really be beneficial to California with our crowded roads and high gas prices.

I think you could find a small commuter motorcycle for 2-3K with some storage onboard. You would cut your gas by 70 percent of what pay for in a car. Insurance isn't that much.

[Elna Rae]

Originally Posted by echo42

If you are from San Diego or SoCal, I offer one other alternative-a motorcycle or scooter. Take the Motorcycle Safety Course and buy a motorbike.

Maybe I read too much into OP’s post but I think he wants to stay alive during this process.

[Moonwalkr]

Cost of car ownership is very high. I suggest first of all you work on getting rid of your debt instead of putting yourself into more debt. Once you have a good handle on your finances, look into carsharing like Cars2go. It's ideal if you just need a car a few times a week. Good luck!

[crd08]

Don't go further into debt with a car payment.
Save as much as you can and pay cash for an older used car. I'd look for a Honda or Toyota.


Do you have anybody in your life who is good with cars/knows a lot about them who can assist you in finding a reliable one?

[LizfromtheBronx]

Have to echo other posters - with that income, car ownership in any form is going to be pricey for you. However, I have definitely owned a car when I couldn't afford to do so, and don't regret it. You definitely need to pay cash for an older car, so you don't have a monthly payment and don't have to carry full coverage.

Bigger question is - what are you doing about the $10-$15k in debt you have? You mentioned your expenses, and they didn't include any debt repayment. If you ever want to repair your credit, you need to address it. As someone who has been on the bad credit side of the spectrum a few times, and is finally back on the right end, life is SO MUCH EASIER with good credit. And it takes a really really really long time to fix. Don't let it go too long. Based on the fact that you live with your parents and make very little money, I am going to guess you're young. Now is the time.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by marcdel80

I earn $1700/mo before taxes a taken out.

My credit rating sucks. Probably having $15-20,000 in bills/credit debt.

You're not going to be able to afford insurance and registration costs. Depending on your climate, a used scooter is the best you're going to be able to handle.

[davebarnes]

Get your girlfriend to buy you a car.
If she really loves you then she will be happy to do it.

[galaxyhi]

Marcdel80:

I echo tye otyers. If you are taking home $1400-ish, itll tsje you over a year if you devoted $1k a month just to your debt to pay that all off.

If you can, i would pay down 1/2that debt THEN go look for a car. A used one you can pay cash for.
Toyota's and Honda's are known to go up 250k miles or so. So buying one with 150k mikes on it should oast tou a couple of years.

When you buy a car f9r cash, you own it outright, so no insurance full coverage of comprehensive and collision will be required. Check on insurance rates, if yoube never owned a car and are new driver insurance cost can be high^^^. You don't want insurance to cost you a small firtune compared to the car, but it likely will.
Also call you department of motor vehicles and ask ehat fees and taxes will be required to put a car on the road. Tge cost of the actual car is not the only cost to own and drive. Theres registration, inspection, smog testing, sales taxes and possibly more, etc. The older and more paid for the car is the cheaper these could be, but not always. Sales tax is based on purchase price of the car.
BE SURE TO GET A WRITTEN RECEIPT from the seller for the car...you WILL NEED TO PROVE what you paid for it.

In short RESEARCH first all the costs, then go buy a car for cash. Then insure it then register it, tten drive it.

And i second and third the motion to have a mechanic you will be regularly using check out the car first.

Best to you

[sylentvoyce]

I of all people don't claim to be an expert in insurance requirements, but the basic point I was making was: Loans lead to massive insurance coverage. Though the rest of the best advice is as sound as it gets: Just save up and buy outright.