So I'm gonna be a 3rd year in college. I want to live off campus next year and also in general be able to actually do things outside of class (where I go there isn't too much to do if you don't have a car). I also plan on staying here (I'm out of state) post-college so that's also a motivator. So here's my situation
- Currently working for $12/hr (with an extremely likely bump to $13 around the time I plan to get the car) for roughly 15-20 hrs/week
- If I get a car it'll give me access to pizza delivery or other jobs that could pay more
- I also have a second job that's kinda on the side but is $15/hr for a fixed 6hrs/week
- Will be working a $23/hr for roughly 15-25 hrs/week over the summer to save up for a potential trip, down payment, and just save money in general.
- I won't be paying rent (that will come from college funds)
- I've never bought a car myself before, and don't have any family in the area who I could ask to accompany me.
- I looked on CarGurus and generally been looking for cars < $15k max (although the ones that look more reasonable are ~$12-13k)
- I know a good down-payment amount is ~20%
- I also know a good repayment time is 4 years
- My Transunion credit score is 695 at the moment, although I think I should be able to bring this up over the summer (low 710s sounds like a reachable score).
- Cars in this price range are 2015, (in the year 2018 at the time of writing, for anyone who comes across this in the future)
So I guess I'm looking for any answers to the following questions:
- Is what I'm looking for way too out of my price range?
- Is there a better down-payment amount/loan repayment time?
- Any good methods for finding good car dealerships? Any advice for which kind of dealerships to look at (I'm in Orange County, CA if that makes a difference)
- What's the general process of going through a dealership? Can I go through this with a bank/credit union? How would that work? From the reviews I've seen on car dealerships there seems to be a $1000+ markup in fees that I'm not trying to get scammed on
- Anything about the car-buying process. I heard I should bring a mechanic to inspect it with me?
Thanks in advance
E: Also, are black cars really that bad?
Submitted May 31, 2018 at 02:18AM by Kaipolygon https://ift.tt/2LMwwmb
