So, I want to get a car (because Northeastern PA is awful for walking or public transport).
Here are my issues:
1) I have a lot of money in the bank. More than the value of the cars I'm looking at. However, my credit sucks.
2) My roommate is going to benefit from the car too. He has good credit and a good income, but less actual money than me right now.
3) I would like to get something that won't break down all the time. I've been traumatized by my old cars in the past, which were just sinkholes for money. To that end, I'd like to get something no older than 2005. Even that feels like pushing it, especially if it has too much more over 100,000.
4) If I am going to get something on the older end, I'd want one of the reliable brands. (I've always understood these to be Honda or Toyota.)
5) If I'm going to get something relatively new, brand probably doesn't matter as much.
Best course of action? Financing? Just buy something in the 3-4K range outright? If I finance, will my roommate have to cosign so I don't get shafted? Does bank account balance count in my favor at all? Is it worth financing and paying more in the long run for, say, a 12,000 car? Or is the difference in reliability not significant enough to justify that? What is a typical interest rate and % of money down? Also, what about leasing? It's hard to get actual quotes on any of these things online.
