Oh hon. I'm so sorry. I sometimes forget how lucky I am that my dad is a good, decent guy who cosigned a car loan with me.
Here's the (sucky) deal. Your parents will not help, and if they did, you'd be stuck with them hanging around your neck for the length of the car loan. Also, do NOT fix the car. It is in that catastrophic meltdown that makes it absolutely positively not worth it. Remember my cascade failure of constant car troubles? This is how it starts.
If your credit rating is good, find a nice five-year-old Toyota or Honda that someone traded in on a newer model. I found a 1999 Toyota Camry in excellent condition, 73,000 miles, and paid $9,999. Or, to be specific, I financed that much, and that means the payment is about $200 a month. Yeah, that really pinches the budget. But when I consider what I used to spend on atrocious gas mileage, tow fees and the constant, constant repair bills, not to mention the wear and tear on my stomach lining from never knowing if the Kiddo and I would be stranded on the side of the road...
Before you buy, drop me an email. Dad subscribes to Consumer Reports, and it has comprehensive listings of every possible used car. It'll tell you if you're buying a lemon.
You can do it, hon. And won't that show up your parents? :)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-05-03 01:07 am (UTC)Here's the (sucky) deal. Your parents will not help, and if they did, you'd be stuck with them hanging around your neck for the length of the car loan. Also, do NOT fix the car. It is in that catastrophic meltdown that makes it absolutely positively not worth it. Remember my cascade failure of constant car troubles? This is how it starts.
If your credit rating is good, find a nice five-year-old Toyota or Honda that someone traded in on a newer model. I found a 1999 Toyota Camry in excellent condition, 73,000 miles, and paid $9,999. Or, to be specific, I financed that much, and that means the payment is about $200 a month. Yeah, that really pinches the budget. But when I consider what I used to spend on atrocious gas mileage, tow fees and the constant, constant repair bills, not to mention the wear and tear on my stomach lining from never knowing if the Kiddo and I would be stranded on the side of the road...
Before you buy, drop me an email. Dad subscribes to Consumer Reports, and it has comprehensive listings of every possible used car. It'll tell you if you're buying a lemon.
You can do it, hon. And won't that show up your parents? :)