Thread: How much money should I have saved up before buying a new car?

I have 5k in the bank. I do not want to buy a used car.

i have a 83,000 dollar mercedes.

I usually like to put at least $5000 down on a new car. It helps keep the payments reasonable. The last new car I bought however I put $8000 down and then took advantage of the dealer offered incentives so that helped as well.

5k is a good down payment. it all depend how much you want to pay monthly? also how muchis your car going to be? also good to consider is insurance! check before you purchase.

depends on where you want the payments and the APR and other factors. w/o sounding stupid obviously the more the better.
haggle the price w/o a down then pop the down on them...best deal then.

Expect to pay at least $12,000 for a good new small car. That does not include the taxes, title, and insurance.

Do some good research with the dealers in your area for a car you like at a price you can afford. Shop around, then go from there.

I paid $10,012 total payments for my Ford Aspire in August 1996 bought new with Ford, but it was a demo and had no air nor stereo in it. I had those installed later. The price included my first car being traded in which had died two months before.

cheapest car I know of is around $9999.99 Kia runs specials that I see advertised so keep saving unless you want payments

I would recommend at least a 20% down payment on whatever price you've negotiated. This should prevent you from being upside down at any point in the loan (which is very important, because your insurance will only cover the value of the car, NOT the value of your loan, unless you have gap insurance). Anything beyond that is up to you. But don't completely empty your bank account for a down payment, it's important to keep an emergency fund in the bank for any unexpected expenses, and to cover your monthly payments in case you find yourself short on cash.

Enough to pay for whatever car you pick.