Please don't use that word in this context. Cars are not an investment.


I'd probably wait a bit, play around with numbers.

Check your insurance agency/company and enter in the car you're thinking about. Add it on (also try removing your current car) see how much it jumps. Do a lot of math, calculating possible interest rates, monthly payments, cost of living expenses, gas, and a nice down payment if you care to do that (reduce your monthly payments); see how much you have left? Hopefully you should make at least 200 a month more than what's calculated out of that. Put 150 in the bank for emergencies and 50 for you.

The 200 is just an approximate number, it really depends on each individual person and their living habits and where they live. Obviously if you like to go out a lot, have another mouth to feed, live in questionable areas, take risks that could potentially put your property or body in danger, all these can raise them if not by a little, exponentially. At that point you'll definately want to look at an older car, cheaper and more reliable = a civic or something.


But every case is different. The main things you should do NOW while you're waiting and deciding:

Save money
get a [beginners/college student] credit card and start building credit (buy small things and pay more than the minimum, in full if possible)
save money
calculate things out
save money
check your options, you don't have to/can't really get the fastest or sportiest car out there if you're making 10 bucks an hour on 25 hour workweeks
THINK HARD BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!!!!!


Good luck man, I'm looking to buy a new car at the end of the year too, I've got all the math sorted out, now i'm just only focusing on saving money