Buy Cheap Used Car

Q.I need a reliable car, but am receiving only about $1300 a month on disability... I want to go to work at a small job... My credit is shot...I just had a voluntary repossession on a 99 Ford truck lease....so I will probably have trouble financing...

A.There is a whole industry that loans people money to buy cheap cars from used car lots at usurious rates to folks with bad credit. You'll get financing, all right, but maybe at too high a price. You need to think seriously whether or not you would be better off without the job and the car, and just keeping the $1300 a month. It is admirable that you want to improve yourself, but you need to run the numbers and make sure it IS an improvement. I'm not sure what your skills are or what job you could do on a part-time basis that would get you that car and also make up for any cuts in your disability. Be very, very, very careful. One reliable car often found cheap is the Geo Prism. A very well regarded automobile. Don't buy a Ford Taurus even if someone tries to give it to you free. A Mercury Sable is a Ford Taurus by another name. Maybe if you could tell us a bit more about what job you wanted to do, we could offer better words of wisdom. Here is one idea that may or may not work for you... I've had a couple of poor friends who were given cars. They then only had the price of upkeep, however, the upkeep on such cars can be hundreds of dollars or even a thousand dollars or more in a year. Sometimes a better-off friend has a piece of junk sitting in his driveway that he can't sell. I've donated cars to friends before. Your friend doesn't get a tax deduction from donating the car to the Salvation Army unless he itemizes his taxes. If he doesn't itemize his taxes, he can give you the car without any loss of tax deductions. So sometimes you can help someone out by taking a junk car off his hands for the cost of towing and some repairs...but don't be a nag. Just suggest it, and if your friend doesn't want to go along, try something else. You want to make a deal that helps everyone, not come across as a begger. Be responsible with your gift. IME of 4 giveaways, one person maintained the car very well and sold it for more than it was worth but eventually did end up homeless again, one person resold the car for a small profit, one person wrecked his car in a week (this person is just a hopeless long-term homeless guy), the person I gave the car to could not afford to maintain it for more than a few weeks and abandoned it to a garage. The donator would rather feel that he helped you, not that he created more of a burden for you...so don't take it on until you are sure you can afford to maintain a vehicle. Personally, I feel that with $1300 of income per month, you should be able to do OK with a donated vehicle if you don't get into cross country driving. However, I live in an area where $1300 would be considered a pretty generous disability allowance (Louisiana).

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