Buying a car for nursing school

[johsonmichelle]

Anyone in the predicament that I am in, needing to buying a car for nursing school. Now I live Baltimore county now we do have public transportation but very un - reliable. I have used it or the past 3 years, I must walk 20 minutes to the buss stop and must leave the hours 2 hours early, to arrive my destination on time. Although I'm still attending the same school I took pre - requisites, the clinical sites are far away and will require me to be there at 6.30 am, buses don't start running until 5 am and only god knows how long it would take there. So anyways , I need to buy a car. The only debt I have is credit card , I pay that every month in full. I have been very good with that. My program is ADN, so its not expensive , my father pays for that but even decides not to pay anymore or somethings, I can still afford to pay it myself, by working full over the summer, Plus I have no rent to pay, my mother is allowing me to stay rent free, in anticipation that I will give of huge percentage of my nursing paycheck to her, ( LoL, that's not gonna happen). Anyways did you guys buy new or used? I have been looking at used car, and I have been totally disappointed in my research, all I'm looking for is something that looks decent and more importantly a car that is mechanically okay .Beaters wont work because I need something reliable. Anyways please comment your thoughts below.

[johsonmichelle]

No a BMW is too small, i will go for a bentley

[johsonmichelle]

Get a BMW. And buy new. Nothing small either, 5 series or a 7series with all the options. You are going to be making money and over fist as a nurse, spend it now.

No a BMW is too small, i will go for a bentley

[kp1987]

Get a car that's back from a lease, usually really good condition, only a 3 or 4 years old

[schnookimz]

Just wondering what kind of car did you buy for 14 k, when did you buy it?[/quote']

I bought a 2009 hyundai elantra. It was listed at like 18,600$ and I got them down to 14k.

[lovenotwar14]

I'm not financing, it doesn't have to be even new, I consider 1 - 3 years old, still fairly new. Although I don't mind anything older as long as its good.

Are you saying you want to pay cash for a car? I definitely wouldn't want anything older than 5 years either to be safe.

[lovenotwar14]

Get a car that's back from a lease usually really good condition, only a 3 or 4 years old[/quote']

This is a good idea. I never even thought about this. Leasees usually take great care of vehicles

[sjalv]

I put 5k down on a 2009 Honda Accord EX-L coupe. I am financing a 12k note for 5 years. My monthly payment is about 261 (I have extended warranty factored into the payments).

[kp1987]

Yeah leases buy backs are good cause the original owner gets charged if they go over their mileage or if there is any damage and servicing need to be done

[__patiently_waiting]

I'm not in nursing school yet, but I feel like I can contribute to this thread. I bought a car in in November of 2012. Found the listing on carsforsale.com if I'm not mistaken. The car was located up in the Atlanta area since there are no used cars that are fair priced that I actually liked in my area. Went up there, checked the car out, test drove it etc, paid 5k cash for it and brought it home. A month later it tore up. It required a $300 part. I bought it, got it put on, and the car was fixed. It ran with no problem up until October of this year. Spent a couple more hundred dollars on it and ... It ran hot, needed a new motor. Money lost.

I just bought another car last month for around the same price. This time it had a warranty on it. So far so good. I would honestly say there's nothing wrong with getting a used car as long as it's decent. Get a mechanic in the area to check it out and make sure there's a warranty on it. Most of the times when there's no warranty you know there's something wrong with the car. That's the mistake I made with my first car.

Just because you get a new car doesn't mean there won't be problems with it. I personally didn't get a car with payments because I didn't want the burden of having a car note during nursing school. Another plus is that my father is an army mechanic, so if something does go wrong I can get it fixed for free. Like you, I plan on this car lasting me before, during, and after nursing school. If you know you can afford a new car, get it. But there are a lot of reliable, decent looking "used" cars for way cheaper.

[slc1984]

I bought a brand new diesel Jetta in March 2012. It is expensive but getting ~45mpg in a car that actually has power is great. It's also not a car that I will want to junk as soon as I start getting a bigger paycheck... I say buy a car that you want that you can afford. I don't really care how long I finance something for as long as the terms are good. Over the life of the loan (6 years) I am paying like 3000 in interest which in the grand scheme of things just doesn't matter to me. But some people would rather die than pay interest lol. To each their own :)

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I bought my current truck 8 years ago, before I even started nursing school. It was new, but I knew I was going to keep it around for at least 100k miles. It should hit 100k sometime this spring, and I expect to keep it around for at least another 50k...especially since I just treated it to four new tires.

Whether you buy new or used, the big secret is to take care of it! Don't slack on required service, oil changes and the like, as slacking will help your car wear faster than it would if you cared for it properly. Rotate tires regularly. If the car develops a problem, fix it ASAP. Make sure you use the right grade fuel for it. Learn the basics of car DIY maintenance: know how to check your oil level (you don't need to know how to change the oil), how to top off washer/other fluids, how to check tire pressure and fill them, etc.

Yes, it costs to regularly maintain your vehicle. But in the long run, it'll cost a lot less than having major repair work done or even to replace your vehicle because it conked out in a few years.

[johsonmichelle]

I put 5k down on a 2009 Honda Accord EX-L coupe. I am financing a 12k note for 5 years. My monthly payment is about 261 (I have extended warranty factored into the payments).

That sound like a good deal to me