Buying my first car out of college
You're looking at a used car, which is good, but I think you can still be much wiser with the type of car you're looking to purchase. Maybe I'm such a fuddy-duddy because I didn't own a car until I was 25, but let's break this down with a small comparison: If you drive 1,000 miles per month with gas at $4/gallon -- which is absurdly conservative, I think -- for five years, then you're looking at an extra $60/month for just gas, and probably twice the payment, compared with a perfectly reliable but more fuel-efficient car from the same year.  (Disclosure:  I own a 2004 Corolla and love it.  I got mine in 2007 for under $10k, and I paid cash.) $300/month or so is a good chunk of change, no?  I'd do even more, and pay that loan off (which will almost certainly be less than $500/month) faster by throwing $500/month at it.  You'll save hundreds of dollars in interest. Edit based on your additions: There's one thing that you don't see yet that I have.  It's only because you're in your early 20s and I'm pushing 40. It is far easier to sock money away when you're single and don't have a family to take care of. (I'm assuming you're not married yet and that you don't have kids.  Hopefully it's not a poor assumption.) I would be saving like crazy now if I were in your position.  You have a great job for fresh out of college.  My first job started ten years ago after grad school at the same salary you're making.  Man, it was so easy to save money back then.  Now that I'm married with a daughter, a lot of that cushion goes away.  I wouldn't trade it for the world, but that's the price of being head of household. If you have any intentions of not being a hermit for the rest of your life (and I hope you do) then you'd be wise to save as much as you can now. Generally speaking, buying a fancy new car out of college is dumb. Buying a 3 year old flashy car with a 60 month loan is going to eat up your income, and when the thing starts breaking down, you'll get sick of buying $900 mufflers and $1,000 taillights pretty quickly. Buy a car that nobody wants for cheap and save up some money. Then buy yourself your dream car. Edit based on question update. You're posting to a Q&A site about money, and you're asking if spending over $30k (don't forget taxes) on a luxury car when you're making $60k is a good idea. You have car fever, and you're trying to sell this transaction as a good deal from a financial POV. At the end of the day, there is no scenario where buying an expensive car is a good financial transaction.  For example, since you're planning on driving too many miles for a lease to make sense, the certified pre-owned warranty is a non-factor, because you'll have no warranty when the car breaks down in 4 years. The only reason CPO programs exist is to boost residual values to make leases more attractive -- luxury car makers are in the car leasing (as opposed to selling) business. I've seen this approach to buying/funding cars described in a couple of different ways over the years. Random thoughts: "DO NOT buy this car. First, I want to say I love BMW's.  There's a reason why they call them ""ultimate driving machine"" and why other car manufacturers compare their new models to BMWs.  I own 330i and I absolutely love it.  Every time you get into the car, it just begs you to push and abuse it.  Everything from steering response to throttle to engine sound.  Awesome car.  However... 1) BMW is not known for their reliability.  I've had to do numerous things to this car and if I didn't do the work myself (i like tinkering with cars), it would be a pretty big money pit (and actually still is).  German parts are more expensive then regular cars.  Labor will run you if you take it for service.  Right now my car is on jack stands while I'm fixing an oil leak, replacing cooling system components which are known to fail and doing work with the cam timing system which uses bad seals. 2) If you buy a used car which is 3 years old, just remember all the wearable items and everything that wants to break, will break 3 years sooner on you.  Someone else already pre-enjoyed your car's maintenance-free days.  At 60k-80k things will start to go.  Ask me how I know.  So you'll start paying for maintenance way before your 5-year loan expires.  Compare this 330i to the Acura Integra I used to have.  Acura (aka Honda) had 194k miles when I sold it and I NEVER ONCE got stranded with the Acura. 3) Fuel economy is not that good and btw you have to use the most expensive gas. 4) If you are really set on buying a BMW because you enjoy driving and won't drive like an old lady (my apologies to those old ladies that drive at least the speed limit, but you are not the majority), then still do not by this one and check out auctions.  I bought my 2003 330i in 2005 for 21k when it cost over 40k new.  You could probably find one with less than 20k miles on it. My final advice is either a) learn to at least do basic maintenance or b) stick to always buying new cars which don't have any issues in first 4-7 years, then move on before you have to schedule your life around your cars. on the bright side I doubt you'll have to ever replace the exhaust and you can buy tail lights on e-bay for roughly $60 :)" "Read ""Stop Acting Rich"" by Dr Thomas Stanley. I'm concerned that even before you've earned your first paycheck you want a flashy car. $4800/yr on $63K/yr income is just about half what I'd recommend to someone who starts working. 10% is the minimum, if and only if, the employer matches 5, for a total 15% saved. Do it in a pretax account and when you go back to grad school convert to Roth." "You have a job ""lined up"". What if it falls through? Then you have to sell your fancy car, and you are back to scare, apart from the dough you owe your dad. For consumption items, live within your means. A cheap first car is just fine.   Spend cash where it brings you more cash." I agree with the consensus as far as getting a cheaper car, paying with cash, getting a more fuel efficient car, etc.  But I'd like to point out, you should make sure you really need a car at all.  I ride a bike to work!  If I need a car, I can use Zipcar or City Car Share or borrow a friend's car, rent a car, take the train, ride a bus, walk.  But mostly, ride my bike.  Burn fat not gasoline! ;) Think about it. IF you save $15K by buying a Honda or a Mazda, you can invest those money at modest 5% average, you'll have over 60K before you retire, which allows you to retire at least a year earlier.... So it is worth working an extra year in your life to have a fancier car? And that's a conservative investment. "I support the strategy to buy a less expensive car at the outset and then save for that more expensive car. You mentioned that you would be able to save $9000 by the time you had to start making payments. That sounds like a great budget for car shopping. For $9k you can get a dependable used car.  If you find the right high-yield savings account you can get around 2% on your $500/month direct deposit. That's a difference of about 5% when you add in the 2.9% interest that you would have been paying on the loan. (You can't find such a low risk investment that would yield 5% these days.)  Also, at that rate (2%) you would have $27k saved up in less than 52 months, or over $31k in 60 months. Then you could buy a BMW with cash! And I'm sure they would give you a cash discount. Alternatively you could be just finishing paying off the loan and might already be looking at the next car you'll take a loan out for. The point is not that you have to completely deprive yourself for the rest of your life. But by not taking out a loan you were certainly come out ahead in 5-10 years time.  Also, one common mistake that new grads make is thinking that they are rich right out of college. Yes, you definitely have a nice salary and ""could afford it"" by most people's standards.  I have a coworker that graduated and started work a year ago. He first bought a brand new Subaru. Why Subaru I do not know, but that is what he thought he wanted. After driving the car for a few months he decided for a few reasons that it was not what he wanted. So he sold the car (for a loss) and bought a slightly used Nissan Z. He has since decided that he needs a more practical car for day to day driving to minimize the abuse that his Z takes. So he has bought another car. This time a low budget Honda. Had he started with a low budget car he could be driving the same car to work right now, but have a good chunk of savings for a new car instead of a loan and a car that he drives only occasionally." Buy the BMW and enjoy it. An MBA? Now that is a true waste of money. "I realize I'm drudging up a somewhat old post here (apologies), but I've found myself in a similar situation recently and thought I would chime in. I was considering buying a car where the loan amount would be right around 25k. I tried justifying this by saying it's ridiculously fast (I'm young and stupid, this is appealing), has AWD (nice for Colorado), and a hatchback with plenty of room for snowboards and whatnot in back. This is in comparison to my Civic which has high mileage, can hardly make it up hills due to the high altitude, sucks in snow, and has little room for anything. You have your reasons, I have mine. The thing is, our reasons are just us trying to rationalize an unwise purchase - just admit it, you know it's true. Just so you can see I'm in a similar financial situation, I'm 22, just graduated, and started a job making well over 80k with salary and signing bonus, plus 20k in RSUs on the side. After budgeting I can still put away over 2k/month after I've factored in a car payment, insurance, rent, etc etc. Yes, I could ""afford"" this car... it's just dumb though dude. Don't do it. There are better things we can do with our money. And guess what, I've been drooling over this car since middle school too." Buying this car would be a good idea because you will quickly learn why you feel you need a BMW (that you cannot afford).  This is not an investment, but a financing decision, beyond your means of living. As a future MBA you will regret not investing this money now. I know I came a little late to this discussion but let me give you my opinion. I think that purchasing the BMW is a terrible investment for obvious reasons. Once you drive the car off the dealer's lot the car loses anywhere from 5-10k in value immediately. Its a terrible investment and something that you will regret in the future. However, whether you buy it now or you hold off we all know you are eventually still going to get it. I graduated college and was in a similar situation as the one you are now. I started making 60k after college and leased a brand new BMW. Like I said it was a terrible investment, but I do not regret it for one day. Ive had so much fun in that car that I can't even begin to explain. We only live once and you don't want to be one of those guys that looks back and says I should've this I should've that, JUST DO IT. We all know it won't be possible when you have a wife and kids so just splurge now and be responsible later LOL.
If it costs more to fix the car than the car is worth, then those repairs are not worth it.  Hit craigslist and look for another junker that runs, but is in your cash price range.  Pay to get it looked at by a mechanic as a condition of sale.  Use consumer reports to try and find a good model. Somebody in your position does not need a $15K car.  You need a series of $2K or $4K cars that you will replace more often, but pay cash for.  Car buying, especially from a dealer financed, place isn't how I would recommend building your credit back up. EDIT in response to your updates: Build your credit the smart way, by not paying interest charges.  Use your lower limit card, and annually apply for more credit, which you use and pay off each and every month.  Borrowing is not going to help you.  Just because you can afford to make payments, doesn't automatically make payments a wise decision.  You have to examine the value of the loan, not what the payments are.  Shop for a good price, shop for a good rate, then purchase.  The amount you can pay every month should only be a factor than can kill the deal, not allow it. Pay cash for your vehicle until you can qualify for a low cost loan from a credit union or a bank.  It is a waste of money and time to pay a penalty interest rate because you want to build your credit.  Time is what will heal your credit score. If you really must borrow for the purchase, you must secure a loan prior to shopping for a car.  Visit a few credit unions and get pre-qualified.  Once you have a pre-approved loan in place, you can let the deal try and beat your loan for a better deal.  Don't make the mistake of letting the dealer do all the financing first. The buying service your credit union uses is similar to the one my credit union uses. I have used their service several times. There is no direct cost to use the service, though the credit union as a whole might have a fee to join the service. I have used it 4 times over the decades. If you know what make and model you want to purchase, or at least have it narrowed down to just a few choices, you can get an exact price for that make, model, and options. You do this before negotiating a price. You are then issued a certificate. You have to go to a specific salesman at a specific dealership, but near a large city there will be several dealers to pick from.  There is no negotiating at the dealership. You still have to deal with a trade in, and the financing option: dealer, credit union, or cash. But it is nice to not have to negotiate on the price. Of course there is nobody to stop you from using the price from the buying service as a goal when visiting a more conveniently located dealership, that is what I did last time. The first couple of times I used the standard credit union financing, and the last time I didn't need a loan. Even if you don't use the buying service, one way to pay for the car is to get the loan from the credit union, but get the rebate from the dealer. Many times if you get the low dealer financing you can't get the rebate. Doing it this way actually saves money. Speaking of rebates see how the buying service addresses them. The big national rebates  were still honored during at least one of my purchases. So it turned out to be the buying service price minus $1,000. If your service worked like my experience, the cost to you was a little time to get the price, and a little time in a different dealer to verify that the price was good. "You can find out the most money they will loan you for a car loan when you approach your current bank/credit union. They should be willing to layout options based on your income, and credit history. You then have to decide if those terms work for you. There are several dangers with getting loan estimates, they may be willing to lend you more than you can actually handle. They think you can afford it, but maybe you can't. They may also have a loan with a longer term, which does bring the monthly cost down, but exposes you to being upside down on the loan. You then use this a a data point when looking at other lenders. The last place you look is the auto dealer. They will be trying to pressure you on both the loan and the price, that is not the time to do doing complex mental calculations. The Suntrust web page was interesting, it included the quote: The lowest rate in each range is for LightStream's unsecured auto loan   product and requires that you have an excellent credit profile. It also induced the example the rate of 2.19% - 4.24%   for a 24 to 36 month loan of $10,000 to $24,999 for a used car purchased from a dealer. Also note that my local credit union has a new/used loan at 1.49%, but you have to be a member. Sunstrust seems to be in the minority. In general a loan for X$ and y months will have a lower rate if it is secured with collateral.  But Suntrust is offering unsecured loans (i.e. no collateral) at a low rate. The big benefit for their product is that you get the cash today. You can get the cash before you know what you want to buy. You get the cash before you have negotiated with the dealer. That makes that step easier. Now will they in the near future ask for proof you bought a car with the money? no idea. If you went to the same web page and wanted a debt consolidation loan the rate for the same $ range and the same months is: 5.49% - 11.24% the quote now changes to: The lowest rate in each range requires that you have an excellent   credit profile. I have no idea what rate they will actually approve you for. It is possible that if you don't have excellent credit the rate rises quickly, but 4.24% for the worst auto loan is better than 5.49% for the best debt consolidation. Excellent Credit Given the unique nature of each individual’s credit situation,   LightStream believes there is no single definition for ""excellent   credit"". However, we find individuals with excellent credit usually   share the following characteristics: Finally, it should be noted again that each individual situation is   different and that we make our credit judgment based on the specific   facts of that situation. Ultimately our determination of excellent   credit is based on whether we conclude that there is a very high   likelihood that our loan will be repaid in a full and timely manner. All the rates mentioned in this answer are from 15 July 2017." Depends on how you value your time.  These programs do not say they will get you the lowest basement price; they say you get a reasonable price without negotiation.  This is true. Use a service.  Pick out the car you want and spend less than an afternoon picking up your vehicle.  You don't have to fret or do all of the price research or comparison shopping because that is what the service does for you. Since you have to pick a make and model before you begin AND because you need to arrange your financing at a credit union before you being (regardless of a buying service) I don't think they actually work out financially for most folks. My anecdote: Because we were buying an already inexpensive new car, the Costco pre-negotiated discount was just a few hundred bucks.  The discount is different for each car (naturally).  Our base model was terrific in consumer reports, but the sticker price doesn't leave dealerships a lot of room for profit to start with. We ended up saving a couple thousand dollars by skipping the Costco program and following these tips from JohnFX:  What are some tips for getting the upper hand in car price negotiations? But we did it all over email.  We emailed any dealership we could find online that was in driving distance. (There were literally dozens of dealerships to choose from.)  We made a new, throw away email address and starting to ask for a lower price.  Whenever we got a lower price, we simply asked the others to beat it.  All over email.  It only took a few days, we know we got a low price and the stress really wasn't a factor.  (A couple of the salespeople got a little rude, but it was over the email so we didn't care or fret.) I had time to kill, and the extra hassle and effort saved me much more money. You are planning on buying a car that is 50% of your salary. Add your student debt to that and your total debt is >50% of your salary. I would suggest getting a few credit cards to build up credit, but can you manage that? Buying a 25k car with 55k salary is overspending. Get a second-hand car for 7k or so. Plus, buying a new car is not smart either, from a pricing standpoint, if you really want a new car, buy one that is 1 to 2 years old. $27,000 for a car?!  Please, don't do that to yourself! That sounds like a new-car price.  If it is, you can kiss $4k-$5k of that price goodbye the moment you drive it off the lot.  You'll pay the worst part of the depreciation on that vehicle. You can get a 4-5 year old Corolla (or similar import) for less than half that price, and if you take care of it, you can get easily another 100k miles out of it. Check out Dave Ramsey's video.  (It's funny that the car payment he chooses as his example is the same one as yours: $475! ;) )  I don't buy his take on the 12% return on the stock market (which is fantasy in my book) but buying cars outright instead of borrowing or (gasp) leasing, and working your way up the food chain a bit with the bells/whistles/newness of your cars, is the way to go. What are your goals in life?   If one of them is to appear wealthy then buying a high price import is a great place to start.  You certainly have the salary for it (congratulations BTW). If one of your goals is to build wealth, then why not buy a ~5000 to ~6000 car and have a goal to zero out that student loan by the end of the year?  You can still contribute to your 401k, and have a nice life style living on ~60K (sending 30 to the student loan). Edit: I graduated with a CS degree in '96 and have been working in the industry since '93.  When I started, demand was like it is now, rather insane.  It probably won't always be like that and I would prepare for some ups and downs in the industry. One of the things that encouraged me to lead a debt free lifestyle happened in 2008.  My employer cut salaries by 5%...no big deal they said.  Except they also cut support pay, bonuses, and 401K matching.  When the dust cleared my salary was cut 22%, and I was lucky as others were laid off.  If you are in debt a 22% pay cut hurts bad. You can negotiate a no penalty for early payment loan with dealerships sometimes. Dealerships will often give you a better price on the car when you finance through them vs paying cash, so you negotiate in a 48 month finance, after you've settled on the price THEN you negotiate the no penalty for early payment point. They'll be less likely to try to raise the price after you've already come to an agreement.  My dad has SAID he does this when buying cars, but that could just be hearsay and bravado. Has said he will negotiate on the basis of a long term lease, nail down a price then throw that clause in, then pay the car off in the first payment.  Disclaimer: it's...um not a great way to do business though if you plan to purchase a new car every 2-3 years from the same dealer. Do it once and you'll have a note in their CRM not to either a) offer price reductions for financing or b) offer no penalty early payment financing. As a recent college grad who switched to his own car insurance, many of the things I did myself are reflected here. The #1 thing I did was find out what coverages I had, what coverages some friends of mine had (car enthusiasts mostly - they're the most informed on this stuff), and then figured out what kind of coverages I wanted. From there, I went around getting quotes from anyone and everyone and eventually built out a sizeable spreadsheet that made it obvious which company was going to offer me the best rate at a given coverage level. Something else to remember - not all insurance companies look at past accidents and violations (speeding, etc) the same. In my search, I found some have a 3-year scope on accidents and violations, while others were as much as 5 years. So, if your driving record isn't a shining example (mine isn't perfect), you could potentially save money by considering insurance through a company that will see fewer violations/incidents than another because of the size of their scope. I ended up saving $25/mo by choosing a company that had a 3-year scope, which was on the cusp of when my last violation/incident occurred. Insurance companies will also give out discounts for younger drivers based on GPA average. If you have kids and they maintain a high GPA, you might be able to get a discount there. Not all companies offer it, so if they do it's worth finding out how much it is I am new to the site and hope I can help! We just purchased a used car a few weeks ago and used dealer's finance again so that's not the issue here. I want to focus on what you can do to resolve your issue and not focus on the mistakes that were made.  1 - DO NOT PURCHASE A NEW CAR! Toyota Camrys are great cars that will last forever. I live in Rochester, NY and all you need is snow tires for the winter as ChrisInEdmonton suggested. This will make a world of difference. Also, when you get a car wash get an under-spray treatment for salt and rust (warm climate cars don't usually come with this treatment).   2 - Focus on paying this loan off. Pay extra to the monthly note, put any bonuses you get to the note. Take lunches to work to save money so you can pay extra. I'm not sure if you put any money down but your monthly note should be around $300? I would try putting $400+ down each month until it is paid off. Anything you can do. But, do not buy a new car until this one is fully paid off!  Let me know if this helps! Thanks! If you have no credit score it is generally far easier and more affordable to establish credit the cheapest way possible, which is usually in the form of a small credit card (student card if you are a student, low credit line unsecured, or even secured if you need). Your local bank/credit union will usually be keen to offer you something to start out, but you can also apply online to some of the major credit card vendors. As always, look out for annual fees, etc. In general, trying to get a larger loan to establish credit will cost you a lot as you will not qualify for any legitimate 0% or ultra-low APR car loans - those are reserved for people with established and generally pretty good credit. I expect you'll find a car loan that will have a lower APR than you could get investing your money otherwise - especially if you do not have established excellent credit - to simply be a phantom (you won't find it), and even if you could it is more risky than it is worth. Furthermore, if establishing credit is important to you (such as for buying a house down the road), you can build an excellent credit score without ever having a car loan. So you don't have to buy a car on borrowed money just to hope to get approved for a house some day - it's just not a requirement. Finally, I urge you to make a decision on the best car for you in your situation, ignoring the credit score - especially if you are more than 3-5+ years away from buying a house. Everything else about buying a car is more important - the actual cost of the car, year, mileage, suitability for your needs, gas mileage, maintenance and insurance costs, etc.  Then, at the very end of your decision making process, ensure that buying the car would not put you dangerously low on savings by squeezing your emergency fund. Decide if you really need a loan or as expensive of a car, considering the costs over the expected life of you owning the car (or at least the next 2-5 years). Never get trapped into just thinking about monthly payments, which hide the true cost of loans and buying beyond what you can afford to purchase today. "First and foremost, being ""cool"" stops being a thing you have to worry about once you graduate from secondary school. Nobody's really going to care what car you drive; the ones that do care aren't worth maintaining personal friendships or relationships with. The notable exception would be a sales job, requiring you to look successful to be successful, and in that case you'll need to either have a nice-looking car or buy one very quickly. Also, consider what you're buying. An E46 (which for the U.S. crowd was the previous generation of 3-series coupes and sedans) will be, at best, a 6-year-old car, and they made these as long ago as '98 which would make it 15 years old. The standard in the U.S. is to put about 10k miles (which would be about 17k km) per year on it, so you would expect even the newest E46s to have at least 100 000 km on them. At this point, even the best cars start needing increasing amounts of maintenance, and on a BMW that maintenance doesn't come cheap.  Consider why a BMW would be sold. It sounds cliche, but in the U.S. at least there are three ""tiers"" of used car in the luxury class; there are the one- and two-year-olds, used by the dealer as a loaner or owned by the type of guy who buys a new car every year; they're practically new, for 30-50% off sticker, and a great deal when you find them. There are the 15-year-old (or older) cars which were used up and traded in; the majority of these end up auctioned off and cannibalized for parts with the remaining hulk sold for salvage. Then there are the in-betweens; between three and ten years old, you get a wide variety. This car could have been garaged all its life and driven to and from work and around town before its owner got a raise and decided to splurge, or its previous owner could have driven the wheels off all over the continent for work or travel. It could have a major problem that developed or was discovered after the warranty expired (and there isn't an E46 on the road that's still under warranty) which caused the owner to sell. Overall, I would wait until you have your first real job to spend real money on a car like this; the one that will actually pay the bills with enough left over for fun. When you're making 35k a year with only your own personal expenses, as long as you manage your debt well and don't get in trouble with credit, you should have no trouble buying a car like this (or even a newer one). If you are going to buy used even then, I recommend you do your homework on required maintenance for the brand and in general, what each milestone will cost you, and (based on mileage) how soon, and I would find a reputable used car dealer (which is stereotypically a contradiction in terms, but there are guys out there who aren't out to completely screw you over)." "You are still paying a heavy price for the 'instant gratification' of driving (renting) a brand-new car that you will not own at the end of the terms. It is not a good idea in your case, since this luxury expense sounds like a large amount of money for you.  Edited to better answer question The most cost effective solution: Purchase a $2000 car now. Place the $300/mo payment aside for 3 years. Then, go buy a similar car that is 3 years old. You will have almost $10k in cash and probably will need minimal, if any, financing. Same as this answer from Pete: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/63079/40014 Does this plan seem like a reasonable way to proceed, or a big mistake? ""Reasonable"" is what you must decide. As the first paragraph states, you are paying a large expense to operate the vehicle. Whether you lease or buy, you are still paying this expense, especially from the depreciation on a new vehicle. It does not seem reasonable to pay for this luxury if the cost is significant to you. That said, it will probably not be a 'big mistake' that will destroy your finances, just not the best way to set yourself up for long-term success." Indeed - the math. I bought my car 6 years ago. It was an ex showroom model (not demo) so came fully kitted and with a decent discount. I had the cash, but the salesman wanted me to take financing on half of the price *and gave me a discount* so that I would. It was a 3 year loan at a very low rate and was therefore lower than the cash price I had gotten. So I took the deal. I can only assume he was getting better commission rates for financing than he was selling cars. Either way, worked out for me. "As a car guy, I wouldn't spend 27 large on anything that wasn't ""special"" - you'll be looking at for at least the duration of the loan and for me it'll better be very special lest I get bored with it during that time. But that's just me. If you want a transport appliance - spend around $5k-$7k on a decent used vehicle, pay it off within a couple of years or less and keep throwing money at your downpayment. Now if you have any student loan debt, buy a $3k car, learn how to fix it if necessary and pay off the millstone, err, student loan ASAP."