Is cash for a beater car no longer an option? I don't want to be a "less avocado toast more bootstraps" person but a loan for a used car sounds wild to me. Maybe I'm out of touch. My vehicle is old enough to drink
Since this is aimed at Gen Z, if you can buy a car outright or close to it, I would recommend still financing, but paying it off easily to build credit.
I have a good '08 car that I bought with cash 10 years ago for $3000. I got it from a guy who exclusively sells and fixes this model of car. I went back last year to get my car fixed and looked at the cars he was selling. '08s were starting at $5000.
Not often. Used cars, at least where I am, are all pretty pricey, and with rent and shit being out of control, I'm not surprised younger people can't afford to save enough to buy one outright. I'm lucky to be older and I bought my current car at 0% interest in 2012. I'm keeping it until it gives up because I know we'll never see that kind of deal again.
there are a lot of used ~2018 to 2022 cars on the market with not a lot of miles, most go for around $20k (like what I got). True beaters still go for like $10k.
Cash for clunkers removed a significant portion of the used cars from the market. It was a while ago but its effects are still very much being felt even if people don't realize exactly what it is.
I don't know about Carvana, but plenty of scummy dealers will give insane rates to people with no credit check, repo the car while they're still underwater on the loan, and sell it to someone else. You can have two or three people paying off the same car.
Oh, also, they somehow encourage the most gullible people who can't afford their loans to just let the car get reposessed instead of attempting to sell it back to the dealer.
Personally, I agree with your mindset, but I'm pretty handy with fixing/maintaining my own vehicles. For someone needing something to reliably get back and forth to work/school/daycare, I understand why people don't go this route. Shop lead times have skyrocketed in the last few years, as have repair prices. Sometimes you just need something you don't have to worry about.