Need help on what car I should get I'm 17f about to be 18 in a year and I need a car but don't know where to look for and such since I'm COMPLETELY new to this lol
I need a car (sedan or SUV) that has less than 30000 mileage ideally and won't cost me a lot of money. This will be my first car and when I get enough money and a stable income, I'll upgrade for a better car but right now I need a car that will last me long-term, costs less than $20000 (less than $30000 max) and won't cost a lot for repairs, gas, etc as I want to have a lot of money leftover especially after paying for an apartment when I get off of work so I don't want to start paying a lot of expensive items that will leave me in debt or no money to spend for anything fun and save for emergencies and shopping for my apartment and myself and such. I'm 17 right now about to turn 18 and I need a car specifically for long drives, to and from work, and to a lot of places especially ones that are car-dependent as buses take forever and I'd prefer getting a car. I don't know if I should get a used car or new car and if I should just buy the car outright full price or get a car loan. I've heard paying for the car outright is the better option but I don't want to save for a whole bunch of months or even years just to get a car, but I also don't want to be in debt or have no to very little money leftover after paying for my car monthly especially since insurance is very expensive today and I heard costs more than the car payment itself. Yikes. I want a car that's cheap (but not too cheap that it'll need a whole bunch of repairs everyday and stuff unless worth it), affordable, can do a lot of things and drive anywhere especially very long distances, and will last me a long time like 5+ years and not a year or three. I'm new to cars and I'm saving up for a car first and then a apartment because I really need a car and don't like taking buses and then Uber rides are expensive maybe for me to do, I don't know, especially since I'll be going to same places (some a little bit far away) in the future when I get a job when I turn 18 I have in mind and don't want to pay for too much and again have little to no money to do anything. Y'all can ask me any questions, give me anything that will help in my car search, or recommend anything for me. Anything helps. Thanks and sorry if this is a long ahh post lol. I tried to keep it short as possible. Also if this helps, I'm in Pennsylvania but want to move out of state when I'm 18 to 20 years old quickly as financially possible and I have completely no one to be my cosigner (I don't want anyone to cosign for me anyways) for both the car and the apartment.