financing a car?
 

hello all
I'm a student in Vancouver and willing to get my first car. I have pretty tight budget unfortunately so I was looking for something around $ 3k on craigslist and found some Japanese cars but I also would like to know little bit more about financing options.

I don't have too much assets here in Canada but got 2 credit cards in major banks and part time job as well as full time college.


What do you guys sugget me to do? whats the up and down sides of financing it?

thank you very much indeed

take out a student loan and finance an m3

id say just save up and buy it cash. if thats not possible, get a small loan from one of your banks since youre getting a car privately.

I can tell you from experience... don't.

Don't waste what little money you have on a car you don't need. Buy something you can afford, and don't consider payments. Even if it's a shitty Cavalier... it's wheels. But don't put yourself into hock for something..

yeah dont buy it unless you can buy it cash.

cars do break, requires maintenance and repair...you don't wanna be paying off for your car + paying all the extras.

thanks for the comments everyone.

I've heard that some car dealers are offering loan whatever credit score you have. I don't have bad credit-history but I'm not a Canadian Citizen so it's gonna be tough for me to get loan from the bank I guess.....

You can save the interest and not over-stress yourself

by just saving a bit of money from your part time job (lets say 30-40%) from every salary u get until u get the full payment of the car then buy it off. That what I did for my Toyota matrix.

Because once u get the car , u will have to pay insurance,gas maintence fees.
if you add the financing to that.. you'll be under a lot of stress considering your still a fulltime student. You wont wana work extra hours to get money for that car, because in the longterm it'll affect your studies.

Good luck!

Best advice. Ever.

Nothing wrong with financing a car especially with some wicked deals out right now (longer term 0% with Mazda etc.)

As a student it's trickier and I would advise against it unless you can rake in good cash on your part time job.

Also keep in mind if you have a car financed, it may impact your ability to get the student loan that you would like. Leasing might give you more flexibility but it comes with its own set of pros and cons.

Maybe tough it out and U-pass it and maybe get a zipcar subscription when you have to make an IKEA run?

If you want to pay 10+% interest, yeah sure, go to those 100% approval rate dealers! Financing a car is never really a "smart" idea, but if you do NEVER go longer than 60 months on a new car and 48 on a used. Max interest rate i'd ever go for is ~3%. (NOTE: That's with a near perfect credit score)

even if you do have good credit, the finance term is based on however long your student visa is... (so you got 4 years left, then you could only do a 4 year term etc.)

look into car2go if you live in Vancouver proper

If you're looking at a $3k car, and you can't buy it outright, that means you really shouldn't be looking to buy a car in the first place.

As others have pointed out, you gotta factor insurance, gas, and maintenance. Also, a lot of times these $3k cars will require a little TLC before they are completely road worthy, so you gotta budget for that as well.

Gas + insurance + repairs will easily go over what a cheap beater is worth.

Buying a car may seem doable, but owning it is a completely different story.

$3k budget for a car means you should have close to $5k ready, once you factor in tax ($360), insurance ($1500+) and a small maintenance budget.

If you finance through a small dealership, by the time you own it outright, it'll probably end up costing close to $4k and be worth about $1500-$2000.

I suggest you save up or apply for a line of credit.

How much asset do you have elsewhere? If you have 2 major credit cards already, it depends on the length and quality of your credit history, you can easily finance a car like Fiat 500 etc... with $3000 down. Are you in a professional program? Nursing, Medicine, Law? Your school's bank gives out easy credit line with minimal credit history.

If you are a foreign student just get a car like Fiat 500 or Cruze new, then get rid of it when you schooling is done. Schooling is way high priority than getting a POS serviced IMO.

There are so many people with different backgrounds on this board.. you will get different answers unless you are more clear on your situation.

You have a parttime job, going fulltime to college...
Doesnt that just eat up most of your funds already...

Not only car payments but also insurance/gas/maintenence... with rising gas prices, probably not the best time to get a car... I would say stick with transit so you can live a better life like eating a better food then starve yourself because all your money is going into the car...

I have seen friends getting a nice car but end up eating instant noodles and staying home most of the time because they have no more money to spend.. wearing the same raggedy clothes because they can afford new clothes...

Unless you like to sponge off your friends, then Id say do it...

I work in sales, and I'd say just buy what you can afford, or create a payment that is REEAALLLY low so you can manage it.

get a low ride huffy

haha , i remember back in elementary, one of my teachers took out a student loan to pay for his champ white integra type-r NEW.. forgot which year, but pre-2001 for sure.

I'm still surprised that he ended up paying it off, and he has a new sienna too.

How long do you want to spend paying off a $3000 car?
What if it breaks, will you use your credit cards to finance that?
What if you lose your job? Can you pay off the car and pay off the loans and the potential credit cards?

listen to the people here.. take out a student loan finance an M3. new car won't break and you get all the hunnies

Also consider ur insurance costs.

My first car was $2800, insurance for the year >$3000

Was pissed... And poor

I'd advise u to skip the car if u can, if u truly don't need one, then don't. They're a luxury, not a necessity

$3000 isn't worth the interest payments IMO. Save up, take the bus, suck it up for a while, and buy it outright.

get a scooter instead...