20‑year‑old choosing first car. Need help balancing comfort, reliability, and budget!!
Hey everyone, I’ve been car shopping for over a year and I’m really struggling to balance what I want with what I can comfortably afford. I’m hoping you all can help me make sense of things. I’m 20, learning to drive on my mom’s 2021 Mitsubishi RVR, and I’ve…
Hey everyone, I’ve been car shopping for over a year and I’m really struggling to balance what I want with what I can comfortably afford. I’m hoping you all can help me make sense of things. I’m 20, learning to drive on my mom’s 2021 Mitsubishi RVR, and I’ve realized I feel way more comfortable in compact crossovers than sedans or hatchbacks. Going back down to a lower seating position makes me feel less safe and less confident. So I’m mainly looking at small crossovers with modern safety features like blind‑spot monitoring, lane keep assist, rear cross‑traffic alert, etc. I’ve started test driving cars recently: • Mazda CX‑3 — loved the seating position and how it drove • Hyundai Kona — better than expected, but not my favorite • Mazda CX‑30 — absolutely fell in love with it. On paper it made sense, and in person it made me genuinely excited. This is the one that feels “right” to me. The problem is… I’ve been shopping based on what I want, not what fits my budget. I make $20.25/hr full‑time, so about $1350–$1400 biweekly. My rent is $900, phone is $35, and I live at home so groceries are minimal. I have a 720 credit score, no debt besides small credit card balances, and I currently have $2,000 saved for a down payment. I was planning on financing for 60 months, but I could wait 1–2 months and save $3,000–$5,000 for a bigger down payment. I want something reliable, cheap to maintain, and something I’ll be happy driving every day for the next 5–10+ years. But I’m worried that if I go for the CX‑30, I’ll regret not choosing something cheaper as a first car. If I were to choose a Mazda cx-30 it would be 2020-2022 GS 19k-20k max! Would love advice from people who’ve been in this situation, should I stretch a bit for the car that feels right, or play it safe and go cheaper for my first vehicle? Thanks in advance!
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You family charges you $900/month rent? Brutal.
You have $2k saved for a car, as in, you have way more than $2k saved for other things, like an emergency fund, and an investment account? Where's the 19-20k coming from
You're trying to buy wayyy too much car for $20.25/hr. I'd be looking to pay cash for a $10k car in 6 months instead of getting into a $500+/mo car payment when your income is only $2500/mo. Your vehicle expenses are going to easily get to near $1000/mo when you consider insurance, maintenance, gas. Also, you can always upgrade later. If you start making $30-$40/hr in 3 years you can always just sell and buy a nicer car. It's a lot harder to go from an expensive car with a payment to a cheap car. A $10k car isn't going to depreciate as fast as a $20k car.
Getting charged $900 a month to live at home is crazy your parents are smoking crack
My friend, you want something sub-10k that you can buy outright. Please please avoid buying too much car. If you really need a compact crossover, I'd recommend a Subaru Crosstrek under 100k miles so that you can get the transmission serviced yourself. If you're looking at one with more mileage, make sure you see transmission service on the Carfax before 100k miles. Probably 2018 or newer. A cx-30 is fine so long it's a non-turbo
Dude you're still learning and already stressing about a 5-10 year car? that's a lot of pressure to put on a first purchase. grab something used and cheap for 2-3 years while you save up and figure out what you actually need. a 20k car on your income with basically no down payment is gonna hurt every month, even with decent credit. insurance on a cx-30 at 20 will wreck you too. go find a clean older cr-v or rav4, drive it til the wheels fall off, and revisit the dream car when you've got a bigger cushion.
If the CX-30 is the one you keep thinking about, I'd wait a couple months and save a bigger down payment. A 2020-2022 GS around $19k is a solid choice and should last you a long time. Just don't stretch your budget so far that the payment keeps you stressed every month.
I’m a 30 yr old comfortable business owner and I’m hoping to get a car for my fiancé for less than 6k lol. Why do you want such an expensive car? I already have a decent awd Escalade for work that works great and I think looks great and it was less than 9k.
Take a bus until you can afford a Toyota