So.. I am considering buying a car. My first car actually. A 2000 Toyota Celica to be exact. It’s everything I want, down to the color, tinted windows, and little rear spoiler. The only thing is … it has 222,000km on it. The seller is leaving the country in two weeks and needs to sell it ASAP. In the two days I have been in correspondence with the seller, he’s already lowered his price from $6,699 to $5,999. I know I have to take into account the high mileage, but even with that in consideration it’s still a good price and one that is probably going to be lowered as time goes on.

The only thing holding me back is money. I have about $2,000 in savings and a huge credit card bill coming up. I was not planning to buy a car until I graduated, but this seems like something almost too good to pass up.  Even though I have no available savings, when it comes to financing the car, I many options to consider.

1) Ask my parents for the $10,000 or so they have saved for me in mutual funds. Unfortunately, I think they are either saving that for a graduation gift, or using it to pay for my last year of school. I’m actually not sure, it depends on whether or not my mom gets this high paying job with the federal government. She’s been through 3 examinations and is going to Ottawa soon for an interview.

2) If I can’t get that money, I will ask my parents for a loan. I will offer two possible ways of re-payment. Either I will offer to pay my own rent during the school year (they feel it is their responsibility to finance my tuition/rent, which I am very grateful for) OR I will pay them back with my OSAP cheques in September and January which combined are worth a total of around $6,700.

3) If all else fails I will take out my first line of credit/personal loan from the bank. I am positive it won’t come to this because I am sure my parents will help me out. However if for some reason they refuse (maybe they’ll tell me I don’t need a car during school .. or … whatever) then I will turn to the bank for a loan. I looked at the possible loans available to me and the most interest I would incur would be about $580 for two years. I’d probably be able to pay it down within one year so the interest would only be around $290? That does not sound very bad at all, even to someone who has been brought up with the belief that loans, mortgages and leases are all evil. My parents are just like that … our cars and house were all paid in full up front.

I’m going to go see the car tomorrow. The seller actually lives very close to me so I’m going to drop by with the boyfriend after we go out for lunch. The other thing is, he’s leaving in two weeks, and I’m leaving in four days for the Dominican. By the time I come back, he’ll have days left in the country. If I do decide I want this car I have to move fast. Maybe there’s not enough time. Or maybe the car will be an absolute shitbox. I’ll keep you updated.