Good. Know your budget, know your wants, set your target that way.
If you’ve never had a loan before, you might consider getting one. I’m not sure how it is in your country, but here, building a history of loans and using credit (responsibly) really helps.
What I did with my first loan, because it was a bad rate, was borrow ~$5000 and pay about 4800 of it off within the first 90 days. Then for the next 5 years, I just paid the $15 or so that I owed to pay it off smoothly until it was done. Then the credit agencies have a history of my making multiple payments over a few years.
There was an older gentleman at my old apartment who would pull his car forward until he hit something, throw it in park and call it good.
Here is a picture of his car giving my truck a little “love tap.” My truck came out fine, only a minor dent, but some of the less sturdy vehicles were less fortunate. He left a pretty good sized crack in the rear panel of my girlfriends car.
One time he drove off the parking lot a solid two feet into the apartment lawn before hitting the handicap sign. He left his car there, two front tires on the grass, all night.
I definitely think you should be required to take a basic driving test every time you renew your licence. Too many people, young and old, have simply forgotten how to drive.
Have you contacted the police about it? I know it’s a bit harsh, but he’s a danger to everyone on the road, including himself. Having his license revoked would be doing the community a service.
Maybe we should call this a PSA for the future, if someone you know is bad enough at driving that they continuously hit things, go off the road, or have trouble staying in their lane, you should either convince them to give up their license or talk to the police about it. The police are there to protect the community, but they’re not all-seeing. They can help only if they’re aware of a situation.
The original plan was to get a car around $12k and do half down and half on a loan, although for the right car I could go as high as $14k. I have a student loan currently, but that’s pretty much the only thing that makes up my credit score.
Yeah, definitely swing by, give them a drive, see how you like them. Driving cars is the best way to decide how you feel about them.
Oh, another thing. Even if it’s on a dealership’s lot, you can still take it to a 3rd party for an inspection. If you’re not that mechanically inclined or want a pro to look it over, I’d recommend doing that.
I agree, and take your sweet time with it.
Also, don’t let yourself get excited, or rushed. Both those are extremely important. If I bought something feeling that way I’ve always end up regretted it. I highly recommend sleeping on your decision, and taking your sweet sweet time with the whole process.
I still have trouble with this.
Unimportant story. When I was first looking for a car I test drove one with like 80hp (felt like 40) so I was driving it wide open the whole time, which covered up the fact that it needed U-joints and thet the center bearing for the drive shaft was completely disintegrated. I don’t understand how I missed all that.
S10 manual swap update:
Didn’t realize how long it’s been since I gave an update. I’ve made all the mods to the body to except everything for the manual.
Well, I put a deposit on a 2013 Subaru Impreza. The 2.0 litre is a bit underwhelming, but it’ll be nice not having to worry about headgaskets as much as an EJ25 on an older Subaru.
S10 manual swap update:
Interior… Well there’s carpet. I was hoping to get the dash in, but I didn’t feel like manhandling it in there by myself, so it’ll have to wait.
I installed the HVAC, vacuumed, and cut a hole in the carpet.
