Buying a Car
So, we decided we want to buy a car. The problem? We have a budget that we can comfortably afford, and that payment amount is $200 or less. Most car finance companies don’t do payments that low. What we need are app designers to give us an app that would do everything in one: find cars, and tell us what we could get approved for based on our credit. That would make life so much easier than hunting down vehicles, just to find out that you can’t get approved for it.
Credit
Our credit isn’t the greatest. It isn’t the worst, either, but certainly not great. This plays a role in what we are approved for. Our credit is getting better, but it’s just not where we need it yet. The issue stems from a past bankruptcy, and we’ve had perfect payment history since. But because the bankruptcy is still considered recent, or within a few years from the discharge, than it really screws up the car buying process.
Today alone, we’ve visited three car lots, and half a dozen online car lots. So far, we haven’t found anything that meets our needs. If we happen to find something in the right payment range, the mileage is ridiculously high. If we find something with decent mileage, the payments are ridiculously high. Seriously, we can’t win..haha.
Why?
Why do we want to get a vehicle? The ones we have are older, and sort of run down. Our Jeep doesn’t have air conditioning, and it gets crappy gas mileage. My Vibe gets decent gas mileage, but the heat, air conditioning and defrost don’t work properly. My son and I have asthma, so air conditioning is a must.
Also, we want something a little newer, with a few more features than what we have. Hopefully, we will be able to find the right vehicle at the right payment amount. We know what we can afford without too much issue, so we don’t really want to go over that amount.
We visited one car lot today, and I won’t mention names, but I had contacted them prior to driving there. They told me they definitely had vehicles in our price range, and to come on up. So we did. That was a wasted trip, because they literally had two vehicles, and both had body damage. Seriously, why would I want to purchase something that has been banged up? Oy. It’s so frustrating!
What features do you look for when buying a car? What has your experience been?
Majenica
"Time spent with cats is never wasted." ~ Sigmund Freud
