Can I afford this car?

Question

If I recently graduated from college and have a full time job lined up, no student loans, no other major expenses (besides rent), and a relatively low rent at that... is it too much to spend 22k on an almost new car? My income is enough to cover the payments easily, but insurance/gas/maint and depr costs make it way more costly to own than buying a clunker to drive around. Would it be better to invest the extra money or enjoy having a nice car?

Thanks for all of the responses. I should add that this car is a certified car with about 5 years/50k miles left of warranty. It's a fully loaded, Japanese import car, so reliability shouldn't be a concern. It has only 12k miles , so it seems to be about new. I'm only paying interest on 6k dollars of the cost, the rest of the cost was either payed up front or is arranged through interest free payments. Thanks again!

I really appreciate the comments. The money saved would be invested, and I figure with the compounding of interest, the end result would be worth driving around an older car for a while.

Answer 1

Hi there,
If it were me, I would say 'go for it' but you really have to look at everything here...What kind of new car is it?...Is it economical?...will it be relatively cheap on gas? Driving a new car is much better than driving an old clunker...it's dependable, will require less maintenance plus, you can be proud to drive around in it. It's ultimately your choice but if you can afford it, I say go for it...good luck and drive safe.

Answer 2

22k for an "almost" new car? Hmmmm. If the car is in excellent shape, then maintainance will be relatively low.
Have an auto mechanic inspect this car first. If the owner or dealership objects to this, run! Clunkers can end up costing the heck out of you. If you can afford an almost new car, try a new car instead. If you have decent credit, you should have no problems getting a new vehicle. There are several car companies offering great prices right now (Like Kia, which is a decent car). Check the history of the car you are thinking about, go to www.carmax.com and you can pull up a history to see if this car has been in a previous accident, or in a flood, or anything like that!

Answer 3

well honestly look at it this way. If you buy a clunker, then you have to still get insurance, and the maintenance will come more quickly, or more than likely be more since it will be older and probably have issues, and who knows about the gas, they may end up being the same. If you bay a new car, the maintenance wont be for awhile, all you have to do is get your standard maintenance's, and keep up on it, and you should be OK, right? So really whats the difference besides the payments> If you cant afford the payments, I would say get it. Especially since you graduated college, and you don't have and student loans, you already ahead of the game. Reward yourself :)

Answer 4

For $22,000 you can buy a new car. Why so much money for this used car? What kind of mileage does it get? The newer the car, the more money you pay for insurance. I would buy a cheaper car than $22,000 and put money in an IRA where you will save on your taxes. You don't want to be car poor. You do want to put money away to eventually own a condo.
Check out the prices of the same or similar cars on ebay. You can do an advanced search to find cars that are within a certain number of miles of your home. We bought cars on ebay that were still under warranty and saved a lot of money over buying it from the dealer. If it's under warranty, you can fix any problems. Know what the Kelly Blue book value is on the car. We saved $7000 on my son's car and $5000 on my daughter's. Make sure you are preapproved for a car loan with your bank as you have to pay right away. The listing has the VIN and you should call the local dealer's service dept to find out when the warranty runs out. There are people on ebay who list a car whose warranty is about to run out and just say still under original warranty. Read all the feedback comments on the seller before you bid. You can get some real deals on cars just coming off of leases which are just over 3 years old, usually have reasonably low mileage and have another year under warranty. We bought my daughter a 4 year old car that was still under warranty for another 6 weeks and bought an extended warranty from our local dealer. Most require there to be one month left on the original warranty and 1000 miles left on the original warranty to buy an extended warranty.

Answer 5

This is a very personal decision. If you were my daughter, I would tell her to save 50% including 6 mos insurance payments and to try and look ahead a yr to see what other financial needs she may have. One should always try to have enough money saved for a rainy day which really means that if you were to become unemployed tomorrow, ideally you should have enough savings to last you 3-6 mos without you breaking too much of a sweat. If you do go ahead with the car and it is a used vehicle, I strongly suggest that you 1) get it thoroughly inspected by an independant mechanic and 2) that you purchase it at a reliable used car dealership that sells a good extended warrantee also-and buy it too! One more point: a vehicle, including gas, repayment monthly amount, maintenance, and insurance should not eat up more than 25% of your monthly income- and that's being generous! Hugs... Annie

Answer 6

I don't know how important cars are for you. some people need a nice car for a status symbol, especially if they have to impress clients. But if you're not like that, then I say you should save some money and buy a cheaper car. Buy a certified used car: a Honda or Toyota. It'll save you $5000 and the car will have a year (maybe more) of warranty on it. I bought a car that had 56,000 miles on it and it's still going strong at 150,000 miles, 6 years later.

Answer 7

It depends if you have long term or short term goals. Cars rarely if ever keep their value, so if your goal is to increase your net worth, buying a vehicle that does great on gas and costs a lot less (it doesn't have to be a clunker) would be a much wiser way to go. Insurance would be much, much less, too. Investing your money in something that grows in value would pay off in the long run. If your goal is to appear affluant, go for the 22K car.

Answer 8

well i'm 23 and i went out and got a newer, nicer car as soon as i was done w/college and had a decent paying job lined up. i knew i could afford it and went for it. well i totally regret it now b/c the payment is a little over 200 a month which i could totally be putting to better use, like furniture and decorating my apartment, really anything. i think the question should be why do you want a newer car? i should have kept my older car, it was dependable and i wouldn't have this big payment each month. i totally regret it. society got the best of me. plus this car is falling apart and i don't have enough money to fix it. i'd invest in something else.

Answer 9

You've left out the specific numbers themselves (your expenses, the price of the car, etc), so if you can comfortably afford the car and it's safety and reliability are acceptable, go ahead and buy it.

BUT, get a list of recommended maintenance, not just for oil changes, but for spark plugs, timing belts, etc, etc. If you take care of your car it will last a LONG time. And life is great when you don't have to make a car payment. My car is 13 years old, just hit 202,000 miles and if it'll last until my daughter starts college in eight years, I'm going to keep it that long!

Answer 10

For 22K, you're better off buying a new car. That way you're at least covered on the maintenance end for 36+ months. I'd never spend that much on a used car.