student loan? credit card? for a first car?

[leroy j]

I am 17. I have 1400 saved up, but I need more money, I'm going to college soon and need a way to get back and forth so I don't have allot of time to save up money. Alright, ummmWould it be possible to get a student loan for a car? Can't you argue that its possibly the most necessary part of college being that its my ride back and forth. Also, what about a credit card? Could I have my mom take out a credit card or something and pay her monthly.The only thing about that is...My cousin is having her boyfriend look for a car for me since hes really good at finding them... and Idk If the person will take credit.

[Chris H]

Depends on how far you live away. I saved up $2000 and managed to buy a car for $1500, with the remaining amount spent on taxes and insurance. I was quite picky about having a rear-wheel drive Chevrolet car, so I bought a Camaro. If you don't care what kind of car it is, you can get a reliable, albeit ugly, older car. Any old Honda will run forever for about $800, and six month's worth of minimum-coverage insurance will run you maybe $500, depending on state and driving record. I don't know how the student loan will work out, but if you have any money saved for college, you can use that for the car and the loan for the tuition. Some places will loan you the money for the car, but the interest will be high. I am 20 years old, in college, have zero credit and I own a truck and a car which I both wrote checks for, since I don't believe in credit cards (eventually, I'll build up credit). Be wary, if you get to late payments you can ruin your credit easily. Only buy what you can afford. I drove my $800 beater truck for 3 years with repairs totalling $1200. So, $2000 for three years worth of usage. Remember, pretty cars aren't always reliable. You can get a beat-up older car that's reliable for the same price as an unreliable car that has a good-condition body.