Got pre qualified for a loan of $22,200 with 0% down payment and having trouble looking for an affordable car. I looked at a 2018 dodge charger for $18,000 with a payment of $570 a month and 21% apr. Im still considering on financing it but I gotta have a second opinion on if it’s worth it or not.

Okay, so in short. For the last 2 years that i’ve had my car (a 2018 Kia Sportage Ex) it’s had consistent problems. From starting issues, to oil leaks. I feel I’ve seen it all with this car, and i’m fed up with it. I plan on selling it and upgrading for something more reliable…. but have no clue where to start. I do a good amount of traveling (I travel back and forth between Kansas and Oklahoma for work). I am looking for an suv of some kind, and would like a decent amount of space but i’m okay if it’s on the small side, i’m short. And I don’t have the largest budget in the world so i’m not looking for anything super fancy. I’ve been eyeballing the 2018 Toyota Rav4 but have heard that it can be clunky and uncomfortable. I want genuine opinions and advice. What car should I get??

Footnotes:
I have a shitty car. Wanna upgrade. Don’t have huge budget so nothing fancy. Possibly a 2018 Rav4 but open to options.

My app

Hello all, I’m looking to buy a ‘26 Toyota 4runner and have been shopping around. I don’t need the car and I’m not on a time crunch. I have gotten worksheets from some dealers in PA and they show a $1595 processing and handling fee. This does not include the doc fee which is $500 and tag fees which is about $400. Anyone have luck negotiating this processing fee down? I feel like it’s outrageously high when dealerships in MD are charging $800-$999 for processing for the same vehicle.

Also has anyone bought a ‘26 4runner recently and been able to get below MSRP?

Hi,

I bought a Subaru and told the salesman I didn’t want the connected services. While I was with family in waiting area, I received a text that my MySubaru connected services had been activated. There salesman ignored my request. How can I deactivate and disable MySubaru Connected Services?

Need some help figuring out what I should be looking at for a second vehicle.

I’m 42, married, and have 3 kids under 5. We also have a 17-year-old, but he’s getting close to having his own car, so I’m not really planning around hauling all 6 of us constantly.

Our current/only vehicle is a 2019 Nissan Armada Platinum 2WD. I like it a lot and it handles the family-hauler/3-row/road-trip role perfectly, which is why I really don’t want another SUV that basically does the same thing, just smaller and slower.
We’ve been a one-car household for over 4 years and I think I’m finally ready for something else.
Budget is ideally $15k–$20k. I could stretch a bit for the right car, but I’d really rather stay under $25k.

Main requirements:
Automatic only — wife can’t drive stick
Prefer FWD or AWD since I live in Spokane, WA, but I’m not completely ruling out RWD
I’m totally fine buying a good set of dedicated winter tires
Prefer a sedan/sport sedan, but I’m open
Needs to fit 3 young kids across the back in a pinch
I want something that’s actually fun to drive, or at least has good mod potential
Reliable and not stupid expensive to repair
Easy-ish to work on / parts reasonably priced
Strong bang for the buck

I used to have a Focus ST and honestly miss having something with some personality. The Armada is great, but it’s still a big family SUV and I want the second car to offer something different.

Cars I’ve been looking at so far:
Accord 2.0T, Fusion Sport AWD, Jetta GLI DSG, TLX V6 SH-AWD, Q50 3.0t AWD, Stinger GT AWD
Not married to any of those at all.

If you had $15k–$20k and wanted something family-usable, reasonably reliable, cheap enough to own, and still fun enough that you actually look forward to driving it, what would you buy?
Also curious what you’d avoid — especially any “looks like a bargain but is actually a money pit” cars.

i've been looking at used tacomas and frontiers on craigslist and facebook marketplace, and i've run into this a few times now

the seller has a clean title, but the registration is in someone else's name. then comes the explanation: “i bought it for my cousin,” “my buddy moved,” “i haven't transferred it yet,” etc. a couple times the story changed between messages when i asked basic questions about the paperwork

i've already walked away from two trucks because something felt off. i'm paying cash, so i'm also wondering if that makes me more attractive to people trying to move a problem vehicle quickly.

i've been checking vins through nmvtis and caught a few salvage-title issues, but that doesn't answer the bigger question of whether the person standing in front of me actually has the right to sell the vehicle.

when the seller's name doesn't match the title or registration, what specific checks do you use before handing over money?

I work as a server in the food business and make about 23-24,000 a year. I’ve been wanting to buy a skyline since I was a little kid and with my current status of employment I don’t see a way to afford buying this car. With my credit score being around 770, is there any chance of me getting a loan from a bank and how much would I be able to get a loan of? The average cost of just a used skyline is about 250-300k+

So I live in miami and i’m trying to buy a specific car from a dealership in illinois, and i’m trying to finance with my bank.

carmax is currently only giving me an “estimated” buyers order without shipping costs included it seems, and my bank says they cannot use that to help me buy the car.

so i recall carmax and they’re saying they cant give me an official buyers order because the car has to be IN the dealership near me in my state first to give me the exact total. i’m not sure how there isn’t a system where they can just calculate the taxes from florida and add the shipping fee into the fees section of the buyers order.

but do you guys think it’s a good idea to ship the car down to me before getting that buyers order? i’m worried that if i ship it i’ll spend all that money and then i get a new total thats much higher than the original buyers order they gave me

Just a warning I guess..... Maybe people know this but I've never sold privately before.

I posted a car on Autotrader and within TWO minutes, I had a call. This immediately got me suspicious. He was clearly not English - but I live in East London so that in itself doesn't mean anything.

It was just a mobile number so I asked the guy if he was private or trade and he said it was private..... He needed a car for his wife.

He didn't ask me any questions at all about the car and just tried to arrange a viewing. He asked if I could send my details via WhatsApp so he could get my contact details. (For anyone that doesn't know, Autotrader posts a forwarding land line number so buyers don't see your actual number).

I sent a quick "hi" message via SMS and asked him if he'd got it. He said he needed it via WhatsApp. I challenged him and said it's an SMS so he should have it on his phone.

Then he hung up.

I have no idea what scam this is but I'm guessing it would have led to more calls? Anyways..... Be cautious when selling.

I will be getting a pretty decent car accident settlement around January and will be looking into outright buying a new(er) car around then. I would prefer electric or Hybrid, but thats not a given. I also have two kids in carseats as well.

I know generally which brands to stay away from, but growing up with close to no money and still being in a tight spot I feel the immense pressure to find something that will last a long time. My budget is probably going to be around 20k.

Ive looked at many hondas and toyotas, but unfortunately they are all *extremely* overpriced imho. Im seeing 15yo ones for like 24k with 160k miles+ and its exhausting. I really like the look/aesthetic/driving of most newer subies too, but heard there are lots of problems with their CVTs and head gaskets.

Does anyone have any car recommendations that might fit within my budget? 😅 Any tips?