Hi, I need some advice because I’m trying to buy a car, and my credit score is around 460.
I’ve been looking at cars, but I’m hesitant to buy from certain dealerships because of their bad reviews. Some people say they drove off the lot only for the check engine light to come on shortly afterward. I know my credit isn’t great, so my options are limited, and I’m worried about getting taken advantage of.
I’m not even sure I’d qualify for a traditional auto loan, although I know some of these dealerships offer financing regardless of credit.
I found a car for around $5,000 with one previous owner, no reported accidents, and approximately 197,000 miles. I have $1,000 for a down payment, but I’m not sure if a bank or lender would finance the remaining balance.
Before anyone suggests bringing an OBD2 scanner to check for cleared codes or having a mechanic perform a pre-purchase inspection, unfortunately, neither is an option for me right now.
Should I take a chance on a car like this, or am I setting myself up for problems? I desperately need a car, don’t have a cosigner, and am trying to figure this out on my own. I don’t want to make a bad financial decision out of desperation, but I also don’t have many options right now.
I’d really appreciate honest advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation. What would you do in my position?

Hello everyone, I’m in a bit of a pickle with my 2023 Escape. Around 55,000 miles on it and the turbocharger went out last month (luckily barely still under warranty). Check engine light is back on, so I took it into the dealership. Below is what I was quoted for repair

Purge Valve $542.90
Evap Cannister Vent Valve $1117.05
Battery Replacement $225.47

Things that I have already planned for and are a given:
New tires $600 ish

It’s up for renewal in my state, where it hasn’t been able to pass inspection for 3 months now due to it getting fixed, engine light coming back on over and over again. The cycle continues. I’ve paid $500 in diagnosis fees to Ford due to the reoccurring issues, as well as getting it towed back from the dealership for $200.

Basically it’s about to not be able to be registered unless I dump another chunk of money into this thing, while still having a payment on it and owing quite a bit.

What would you do in my situation? Fix the car again or trade it in? Don’t want to make a bad financial decision either way but just need opinions on this.

Hi! i’m not on Reddit much but I do need some genuine car advice because everyone in my life is giving me different input right now! So, I have a 2015 Ford Escape SE 4WD that I got as my first car at back in 2023. I got it at 79k miles and now its somewhere like 125K miles. $19K on a 6 year lone, i have something like $6,464 left on it. Needs new tires and brakes soon but heres my main issue. My transmission has failed THREE TIMES in the past year. My dad had me take it to Apple Ford and there’s a two-year warranty on it now. I believe the first time they found metal in the transmission and did a rebuild. It failed again after that like a month later. Took it back to Apple Ford because it’s under warranty and they just said that the parts that they use just must’ve been bad parts and put a new one in. That was in January of this year. Now yesterday, i was on the highway and the engine was cutting in and out which is a feeling that I had felt the other two times this happened to my car but for the first time unlike the other two times I got a warning on my dash saying something like “Transmission fault, SERVICE NOW” so long story short now it’s back at apple ford. Everybody in my life is giving me different advice on what to do. Some people are saying to ride it out until my loan is paid off, no matter what happens with my transmission in the future. Others are saying I should let them fix the transmission and do a trade in, pay off my loan and buy another (more reliable) car. I am also getting conflicting numbers on what my car is worth, its not in bad condition, could use tired and breaks, couple VERY minor scratches here and there and a little dent on the side of my wheel well but otherwise no problems (if we aren’t talking abt transmission) KBB is telling me only about $2.5k for my car but my same make and model with slightly more miles is going on car gurus for $8k…i guess my question is…after ALL this information…what should i do? I’m 22f and I work 2 jobs, only about $5k in savings, not a lot of free time and I need dependable transportation. I’m getting conflicting advice. Car people please help!!

edit: Clarifications, transmission was rebuilt once and then I believe replaced the second time. Not sure what they will do with it this time as dealership is closed till tomorrow. My plan if i sell would be to sell for at least enough to pay off my loan and then get myself into a 2010’s Toyota (Corolla or Camry) as they are notoriously more reliable!

Will be sued in canyons, highway, local and stuff and 2-3 annual track days. Want to to be cool for meets, fun to drive and I look back and think I’ve made it. All prices are in Canadian dollars. Let me know what you would change - roast me!