If I'm making 45k a year, can I afford to spend 17k on a car?

I'm a new grad, and I just started my first career job making 45k per year. Would it be stupid to buy a used Honda Accord for 17k and drive it till the wheels fall off? I currently drive a Chrystler Town and Country Van with 200,000 miles. What should I do?

It depends, if you plan to get married or buy a house soon I'd wait, if your not go for it.

Your income is one thing, but what are your expenses?
Some folks spend $45 K a year just to live, or maybe it's costing your $35K, and so you have $10K left to spend on "other stuff", like a car.

Work out what you can afford to pay each week, and based on a 2 or 3 year loan, that will give you an idea of how much car you can afford. With a decent paying job, you probably can afford a car like that, but you need to do a budget and work this out for yourself.

A late model used Accord is a sensible buy because it should run for many years.

Depends entirely on where you live.
Some places 45k is good money, others you Just survive.

Change the oils and do maintenance on old car.

Save real money up.

Buy new used car when you can put 51+% down.

Yes you can just have payments under 600.00 w/insurance

I would see if you can borrow $10k and buy at brand new Accord for $24k.

You'll be fine. Treat yourself to a new(er) car, and congrats on graduating!

I wouldn't suggest taking on that much debt. Although you may qualify.

My suggestion is to never borrow for anything except a house if you can avoid it.

Driving paid for used cars can pave the way to financial freedom. It did for me. I still drive a 94 model.

https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/drive-free/

No, it wouldn't be stupid. Hellfire, i dunno where you ever found a car nowadays for 17k. Haha, you seem to be the type aperson that takes care of your vehicle, hence the t&c with 200k so, ya… Id buy the Honda.

Auto finance is what I do for a living and there are 10 things that go into making up a car deal weather it's a purchase or a lease and all can effect the interest rate.

1. Term of loan. Shorter the better.
2. Age of vehicle. Newer the better.
3. Miles on vehicle. Lower the better.
4. Amount to finance compared to book value. Lower the better.
5. Credit score. Higher the better.
6. Credit profile. Deeper the better.
7. Down payment. More the better.
8. Monthly income. Higher the better.
9. Time on job. Longer the better.
10. Time at residence. Longer the better.

As long as all of the above are in line with the lender guide lines and you make enough income to budget for the payment you should be approved. As you can see from the above list there are way to many things that go into making up a car deal to guess at your interest rate.

Just so you will know this is a breakdown of F.I.C.O. Scores used by one of the largest credit unions in my State.

FICO system scores from 300-850.
Elite-740-& up
Prime-700-739
Preferred-660-699
Standard-625-659
Sub-prime-624-& under

There are lenders that have first time buyer programs, they require a minimum of 12-months or your job, a monthly income of at least $1,600.00, a down payment of at least $1,000.00 or 10% of the price of the vehicle and a maximum amount financed of $10,000.00. If you don't meet these requirements or the vehicle you have chosen cost more then this you will have to have a good qualified co-signer to get the loan.

To answer your question more directly, you should be fine. Even with bad credit you should be approved for the monthly payment for a $17,000.00 car unless your a first time buyer then it might be a problem since you do not have any existing car credit.

The issue is not the price of the car but the car payment. Google as to percentage of income that should be budgeted for transportation, for housing, for food, etc. A new car is best leased for two years. Since you are a young person you have to focus on plain transportation. After taxes you will get about $2,700 a month. Housing, food, clothing, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, etc. All need to be accounted for. You know where you live and we do not. A nice Toyota lease for $200 a month should be comfortable since insurance and fuel and service expenses tend to add up rather quickly. You just need to run the numbers yourself.