I Need Advice

[Evangelion]

So... after many years of seeing people come to these forums for advice, and watching them get constantly reminded that this forum is just a bunch of internet peoples and not to take their advice too much to heart...

I'm hear to ask for some advice.

Here's the deal. I really need a car. This summer, I'm staying at JMU in order to be close to my friends here, and remain active in some of the student organizations I am in, as well as my fraternity. However, I'll be living off campus, and I will be working (hopefully) at a job on the other side of town. In addition, since I am working on a degree in Secondary Education, I also have to be able to start mentorships and student teaching as early as next semester.

My parents don't have a car, and I would never ask them to buy me one (not that they're in a financial position to do so anyway). So I somehow have to get a car, as a 19 year old male college student with no real credit.

My question to you all is, how do you think is the best way to go about this? Personal loans? Financing? Selling one of my kidneys on the black market? I have to come up with about $5000 in order to purchase a decent, working vehicle, and to cover my first six months of car insurance.

What do you suggest?

['tarako]

'well. You can actually get a decent, working vehicle for less. You just have to look for the deals and such. Buy from someone who will let you have a payment plan. That way you can pay while you work. I plan on getting a car this summer as well. And kidneys go from 2-5k depending on condition, blood type, ect. Maybe just save over the summer and buy the car at the end of it? See if you can get a friend to work with you or something and they'll give you rides. My sporadic thoughts on it.

[mya]

I suggest you buy a cheaper car.

My brother bought a decent one for 3K.

In fact its a lot better to buy a cheep used car, and upgrade as you move up in the world. This way you will get less furious the next time some drunk crashes against you car and runs away in the night.

Or if you crash it, as you are 19 years old.

On another note. Are you sure you need a car ? Don't they have public transportations where you live ?

Car are expensive to maintain, with the price of Gas and repairs. Especially if your parents cannot aid you.

[Pali]

Car are expensive to maintain' date=' with the price of Gas and repairs. Especially if your parents cannot aid you.[/quote']

This is VERY true. I spent far more on insurance and maintenance for my first car than I spent buying it. Buses for the win!

[J.Twendrist]

Call the police auctions. They often have cars up for sale that work good and go for as cheap as 500. I know of three people that did this and got decent cars that run good.

[goldbond]

dont even buy a car until you absolutely have to have one. if that time is now, buy a $500 one and/or live as close to campus as possible and adopt a lifestyle of short commuting. taking a loan to spend 5k on a car and more for insurance is quite insane for a college student. that would be possibly the worst investment i could imagine.

[Raargant]

What goldbond and others have said. Unless you are absolutely sure you need a car, and that public transportation + walking will not suffice, don't do it. There's ways of financing a car, but other costs are going to eat you alive.

Your parents don't have a car, which means they don't have car insurance, which means you'll have to get your own. As a 19 year old male, there's no such thing as 'cheap car insurance', and you can reasonably expect to pay at least $2000 a year for car insurance on the low end, and possibly even higher.

Gas prices are expected to hit $4.00 a gallon this summer as well, which roughly means that you'll be spending $60-$90 dollars per fill up. Even assuming you only need a fill up twice a month (a fair estimate I think), that translates to spending roughly $1500 to $2300 on gas a year.

Basically, you should expect to pay at least around $4000 a year for your car in terms of insurance and gas, AFTER financing the car itself...and the $4000 in gas/insurance is probably non-financeable, unless you take out personal loans, which will jack up the rates even more. If you take out personal loans, expect at least a 15% APR interest rate, if not higher, due to the fact that you (probably) have no collateral or assets. When I borrowed $5000 a while ago from my bank, my rate was around 15%, and I have a fair amount of savings; you would, for all practical purposes, be borrowing much more money than you have in total assets, and banks tend to slap on higher rates as you borrow more.

All of this, of course, is assuming that your used car never breaks down and you never get into an accident. Assuming either one does happen, you can probably slap on another few hundred dollars each time it does.

All in all, depending on the cost of car, the cost of insurance, and how fast you pay off the loans, total costs will possibly approach five-digit figure, over the course of a year. It's a pretty big expenditure, and, unlike in some other cases, you'll never get much, if any, of it back.

Trust me when I say that it is easier and less costly for you, in the long run as well as possibly the short run, to find alternative forms of transportation, such as buses, carpooling, etc., rather than sink $7000-$8000+ into a used car at this point, unless it's absolutely critical.

[Twinblades713]

*cringe*

I'm almost in that same boat. 18 and one quarter until graduation. Driving my parents' car, I will find myself out of one within the year. Buses are where it's at... I've done buses for a long time, before I started driving in highschool.

Luck to you in this.

[Raargant]

Here's an alternative thought though: Get a moped/motor scooter, unless you need to run around on the freeways a lot. Fuel efficient, cheap to insure, and you can get one for new for a low price. What's the expected daily travel range for you in terms of miles, anyhow?

[Aulian]

I was speaking to a friend from LA when I was in Aussy a month ago.. We were actually talking about the prices of cars and petrol.

The reason is in Aussy they protect their car market heavily, and him buying a new car was crazy becuase you will not find anything under 2k that has an engine in it and both seats in aussie. (atleast what I saw compared to NZ)

But he was saying that cars were relatively cheap in the US, was this not as cheap as he put it out there or are you just looking for a better model rather then a cheap piece of crap?

I drive a ford mondeo wagon atm. Costs me 100 bucks to fill (nz dollars) and that lasts for about 600km (depending how I drive).. The car only cost me 500 bucks and it hasnt had a problem yet. The battery now needs replacing but otherwise everything drives 100%.... Im a student, I cant afford more maybe you should consider the same Bali?

[Guest emp_newb]

www.craigslist.com

You will not find a collection of cheaper ANYTHING on the net. Also it caters to your general area as well. Given that you select your city properly. Setting your maximum is also a good way to narrow the field

[Quigt]

Well, lemme put it this way: we payed about 1000 bucks for my brother's first car (TERCELSIOR!!11). For 1000 bucks, it lasted as long as it should before it broke. For 2-3000, you could probably get something much better. Check eBay and Craigslist, and I might have a friend who's looking to sell his car.