u/EngineeringStudentt

I'll try to keep this short... I'm currently 30 years old and have never had a car loan in my life which probably explains why i'm so hesitant to get into one. My finances are as follows:

BIG PICTURE-

Income: $92,500 plus overtime (maybe $2k-$3k extra)

Debt: $0

Checking Account: ~ $5,000, just enough for paying off credit cards and monthly bills + a healthy cushion to avoid overdrafting

Rent: $1232/month

Vanguard Brokerage (money not invested, used as savings): $33,000

Roth IRA + 401K: $160,000

Misc Investments (Robinhood, crypto): $4,200

HSA: $7,350

VEHICLE-

The vehicle I am considering is a 2022 VW Atlas Cross Sport SEL R Line w/ 50k miles quoted at $26,411 OTD including 2 yr CPO Warranty. I am very much into cars and have dreamed of the day I can call something my own vs. driving a hand me down. My current car is a 2010 Jetta with 210,000 on the odometer. I'm finding it's in the shop at this point once every couple months and costing anywhere from $500-$1000+ to get things fixed while leaving me without a car often for 1-2 weeks at a time. Quite literally spent last weekend picking through junkyards just to find a computer module that was no longer available for purchase anywhere online except for one ebay seller asking $500.

LOAN-

Credit score is ballpark 810.

I was going to do $8k-$10k down, finance the rest.

The best VW could offer is 5.99% for 60 months or 5.89% for 48 months.

My local credit union has offered me 4.49% for 36 months or 5.24% for 60 months, both assuming $10,000 down and $16,000 loan.

I'm leaning towards the 60 months at 5.24% which would be a monthly payment of about $312 with total interest paid at $2,279.

Is this a healthy purchase given my financial situation or should I just buy something cash for $10k-15k?

If so, how has ownership been? I've been on the market for one and found a 2017 GLE 350 with 86k miles that i can get for $19k OTD inclusive of all tax, tag, fees, etc.

Single owner, dealership maintained religiously per the carfax. Trans flush, sparkplugs, brake flush, all the maintenance done by the book.

Worth checking out or is the price on the high side? Anything I should be wary of when checking it out?

Edit- Car has the upgraded LED headlights, driving package, parking package, pano sunroof, ac seats, among a few other options.