The Mini Cooper and Nissan Versa are on Consumer Reports' list of cars to avoid. (The quality of Nissan has gone down a lot in the past few years.)
The Honda Fit is on their list of excellent buys.
Also, are you looking at reliable used cars? A 1 year old Honda Fit is several thousand cheaper than an off the lot new one and it's got the same excellent reliablity. That's a smaller loan that gets paid off sooner.
If you're willing to go back about 4 years, Honda did the Civic HX, which gets about 34 city and 38 highway, and should cost about $9k at a dealer
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We've already been through the Consumer Reports car buyers issue cover to cover, which is why I was so into the Fit. But the used models at Carmax AND the pre-owned dealer across the street were only a few hundred dollars less than the new. They are very popular. At that rate, though, my preference is to buy new.
Oh, and CR gave the Smart Car ForTwo a bad rating because they didn't like how it shifts gears. Now, I drove it, and I looooooved how it handles the gears. It feels just like a standard to me. But they were expecting it to handle like a pure automatic. So I try my best to take their recommendations to heart, but you really have to try things out on your own to be sure.
And they were dead on about the suspension being too tight on the Honda Fit Sport. It felt worse than the mini coop! Argh, like driving on a gravel road!
I love the smart cars. So much. I am looking into buying one at the moment (test drive next week ^_^), because their fuel consumption is amazing (especially the Diesel hybrid) and I think that even as a poor student I can afford the upkeep of the car - not to mention the fact that it would solve all my parking anxieties.
You really really shouldn't buy a car right before trying to get a home loan. It's just a bad idea. But I don't know how much before getting a home loan you could buy a car and have it not look so bad. You will spend some time looking for houses and making offers and getting inspections before getting the loan, but you really need to be preapproved -first- so you really shouldn't be looking at houses before going through a loan process anyway. But you're not married, right? So if your partner buys the house and you buy the car, what is the problem? Right?
My husband and I are purchasing a house right now (just did inspection last week) but I bought my Yaris back in February. Our friends, who are not married yet, bought a house in February but I'm not sure how different that is, if at all.
I suppose it depends on whether your partner could afford a house on his own. If he could qualify for a loan (anyone can get a loan right now, but would it buy a house you'd actually want to live in), you purchasing a car won't factor into that home loan. But purchase a car and try to get a home loan within a few months of each other.. even if you had pretty excellent credit, it would still be difficult. It's not really so much a matter of credit as it is risk to the lender financing the house.
But it would also be difficult to finance a car right after getting a mortgage for the same reasons. But if you are able to qualify for them separately, one of you getting the home loan, alone, and one purchasing the car, alone, there shouldn't be a problem as long as both of you can independently get financing.
Wow, when did they get those up to 40mpg? Last I looked at them they got about the same milage as my Mazda 3 (36 highway). Nice improvement.
A note about "Ruby" - I don't know what kind of car she is, but have you looked at the government "cash for clunkers" (also known as the Car Allowance Rebate System or CARS) program? Just because the dealer only gives you $300 doesn't mean you can't get as much as another $4500...
Basically, if the car is less than 25 years old and got shit gas milage, you can get some NICE money for your car - $4500 if your new car gets 10mpg + more than your old car.
Oh, also? The man at Honda is partly full of shit. While the vehicle loan itself won't show up on your credit for a few days, the loan checks will. If you're even considering dealer financing you should know that to get those super-low APR's the general process is to run your credit with damn near every institution they have deals with till they encounter one will to give the APR you bargained for. If they can't find one, they raise it half a point or a point and try again. Repeat ad nauseum till a lender says "Yes." Then they come to you and tell you the best APR they are willing to give you on the car (which hopefully is what they actually told you you'd get the first time).
So, while the loan won't show up on your credit, what WILL show is anywhere from 2-20 credit checks in a 30 minute window. Be careful. Your safest bet, if you NEED the car before you get the home, is to secure financing from an actual financial institution ahead of time for the amount you will need to borrow, then pay off the car "in cash" using loan
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The Honda Fit is on their list of excellent buys.
Also, are you looking at reliable used cars? A 1 year old Honda Fit is several thousand cheaper than an off the lot new one and it's got the same excellent reliablity. That's a smaller loan that gets paid off sooner.
If you're willing to go back about 4 years, Honda did the Civic HX, which gets about 34 city and 38 highway, and should cost about $9k at a dealer ( ... )
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And they were dead on about the suspension being too tight on the Honda Fit Sport. It felt worse than the mini coop! Argh, like driving on a gravel road!
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You really really shouldn't buy a car right before trying to get a home loan. It's just a bad idea. But I don't know how much before getting a home loan you could buy a car and have it not look so bad. You will spend some time looking for houses and making offers and getting inspections before getting the loan, but you really need to be preapproved -first- so you really shouldn't be looking at houses before going through a loan process anyway. But you're not married, right? So if your partner buys the house and you buy the car, what is the problem? Right?
My husband and I are purchasing a house right now (just did inspection last week) but I bought my Yaris back in February. Our friends, who are not married yet, bought a house in February but I'm not sure how different that is, if at all.
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Like I said, I kinda need this now, before my car fails again. I wish I could.
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But it would also be difficult to finance a car right after getting a mortgage for the same reasons. But if you are able to qualify for them separately, one of you getting the home loan, alone, and one purchasing the car, alone, there shouldn't be a problem as long as both of you can independently get financing.
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A note about "Ruby" - I don't know what kind of car she is, but have you looked at the government "cash for clunkers" (also known as the Car Allowance Rebate System or CARS) program? Just because the dealer only gives you $300 doesn't mean you can't get as much as another $4500...
http://www.cars.gov/
Basically, if the car is less than 25 years old and got shit gas milage, you can get some NICE money for your car - $4500 if your new car gets 10mpg + more than your old car.
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http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/noframes/12079.shtml
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So, while the loan won't show up on your credit, what WILL show is anywhere from 2-20 credit checks in a 30 minute window. Be careful. Your safest bet, if you NEED the car before you get the home, is to secure financing from an actual financial institution ahead of time for the amount you will need to borrow, then pay off the car "in cash" using loan
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