Financing a Car, and what not to do.

I want my reward first.

Well, I recently bought a ford focus, though you say you don't want fort. At the time, there were some good incentives from the factory and the total to get it off the lot was a scosh uner 11,000. Had I had more time, I would have searched out a good used car and saved cash, though there wouldn't have been much, if any, warranty left. I did not finance it, though that was a soul searching decision.

Check Kelly Blue Book on line. If you're buying a new one, it will list all the incentives available. Be sure you get them.

Now, if you're on a budget, be prepared to get a lot more flexible. While you're getting familiar with the market, save like crazy.

Typically if you can afford to buying ends up costing you less in the long run than leasing. Although usually your monthly payments and down payment will be less if you lease. Leasing is basically a long-term rental. Most car salesman will try to sell you a car by asking you how much you can afford to pay a month. This is not the way to buy a car. You should negotiate the overall price first. Then focus on interest rates with financing. A good idea is to go shopping ahead of time for a car loan. That way you already know what interest rates are and can either go with a loan you already have been approved for or negotiate a lower rate with the car dealer.

As far as saving to buy a car or having more as a down payment, it depends on how soon you need a new car. In most cases it saves you money to pay cash as you do not have interest rates to pay. One thing is if you do get a loan, make sure there is no penalty to pay early. That way if you do have a loan, you can pay extra each month or if you run into some extra cash you can pay down your loan. This can save lots in interest rate payments.

As far as type of car. It is really a person decision. What do you need your car for? To commute to work? For fun? What do you like? Something flashy? Something you can carry lots of stuff in? Consider also gas prices. I would look at my needs and my tastes. Narrow down the types of cars you like and need and then do some research - a good source - Consumer Reports to see how the different cars you like stack up.

The rule I attempt to live by is to not take on debt--especially on depreciating assets.

e.g. I have a home mortgage. This is debt, but it is on real property, which is anticipated to appreciate with time.

I do not have debt on any of my cars, however. Vehicles lose value to the tune of thousands of dollars the minute you drive off the lot. This is a poor investment.

So, I buy used cars for under a few thousand dollars. No, they are not perfect. They are not necessarily stylish.

However, they are darn dependable. I look for obvious problems before buying, then take to my mechanic for a thorough once-over as soon as I buy the car.

I literally tell the mechanic to start at the front bumper and end at the rear bumper and fix everything that costs under $100 no question. If it's more expensive, call for approval.

I generally spend less than $500 per year in repairs, so I'm way ahead of anyone making car payments (plus, they still have the repairs, too).

One of my best and worst purchases is a 93 Chevy Caprice ex-police car. I paid about $2500 for it. It handles like a corvette, has lots of trunk and seating space, V8 engine, and goes really, really fast!

After owning it for a year, however, the transmission started slipping, so that cost me $1200. But still, no payments, and still fun to drive. We took a road trip from Nashville to NYC and back last year, making a big oval across the map.

Roaaaaaad Triiiiiip!

General

Buy a relative new-used car with about 10,000 miles on it. Have AAA check it out for all the necessary integrity and engine check ups before you buy. Make sure it's never been in a car accident, and it's not a paste-up car made up of many different wrecks/junk. Private owner sales are probably the way to go by looking in the want ads. Make sure you pay the low-end of blue book (or less).

For a fee, you can get a vin check from Experian and several other outfits that will tell you how many times it was sold, and often reveal major crash damage. It's not a bad deal, as you can run as many checks as you want for a prepaid time period.

Don't finance a used car through the dealer; they usually charge very high interest rates.

General...youre thought process is the same now about mine regarding cars.

I can do many of my own repairs to a point.

But my finances are a total mess and i need help.

i sold my house, now renting but so far backed up on my bills like their is just no end in sight...

so damn frustrating.

I have a Saturn that has performed very well--based on your description I might recommend that you look at Saturn's sports coupes. Saturns lease better than many other makes of car, certainly better than Honda or Toyota. If you consider a lease, always look at the "residual value"--this is the amount that the dealership will try to charge you if you wish to buy the car at the end of the lease. Honda and Toyota dealerships around here both tend to list residuals that are only $2-3K less than the price of the car when it is new; after leasing my Saturn SL1 for 3 years I bought it out for just ~50% of its original price.
(I am aware that Hondas and Toyotas tend to keep their value better than American cars; still, it seemed ridiculous to me when the local Honda dealership expected $13000 for my old Civic after I'd driven it for two years/24K miles.)

Here's a resource one of my friends clued me in on:
www.cars.com
You can compare makes and models of car (both used and new); if you choose to pursue a new car, you can get quotes from your local dealerships, assuming you're in the U.S.