Am I just fucked?
I need a new car. I purchased my current honda civic in 2024 after my car was totaled in an accident. Seemingly there was nothing wrong with it. I went alone to the dealership because my dad lived out of state and my bf wasn’t available anyways. Couple months down the road, the cars sensors start going berserk. We got it checked at the honda dealership and with our own family known mechanic and no problems came up. It was just wack. Fast forward to know, the car has about 155k miles. We bought it at 125k, I know STUPID CHOICE. Here’s why i’m ultra fucked though. I’ve been a SAHM for the last year, my baby is 7 months old. I’m starting a part time job next month but literally at 10 hours a week. That’s the most I can do as I do not want to put my baby in daycare and do not have any family that can watch him for an extenuous amount of time everyday.
Besides the fact that the honda civic is kind of uncomfortable to fit the huge car seat, the stroller snd stroller seat attachment. which i don’t wanna have to repurchase and buy a smaller one. The car is SHIT. The car runs weird right off the bat anyone will say that when they drive. The engine light is on. There must be a hole or something in the AC unit because the AC is broke and everytime we put the AC gas in it it ends up leaking within 1-2 weeks. AC gas is kinda expensive to be refilling it that often. My dad doesn’t think I should put any money into this car to fix it. We still owe about 3k. We want to trade it in however my parents think that I should get a NEW car since this used car gave us such bad faith. Mind you, when I got it and for a couple months after, none of these problems were there :/ I drove from NJ to BOSTON a few months after getting it and the emergency sensors went off and the car was shaking bad and i had to pull over. Never found out what that was about.
I have 5k to put down. BTW, my parents are heavily involved because i’m 24 and I live with them (me and my bf) in hopes to move out when we have the funds for that. I don’t wanna ask my BF for any money. I know he’ll just throw it back in my face down the line during an argument because he thinks a paycheck is the extent of his contribution as a partner and father. Whole other story. My parents can’t afford to throw any money at a new car. My dad thinks I should get a new car that’s relatively recent like 2023+. Not for the aesthetic but because he thinks insurance rates might be better for a newer vehicle. They want me to ask my BF to contribute since it would be a family car for us. That he would also be able to ride around in when he’s not driving to work in his own car. I dont wanna downgrade to just 1 car because he goes into work incredibly early and I dont wanna have to wake my baby up at 4am and take him to drop his dad off. I also just need my own car because Im starting a part time job soon. I could just use my part time dollars to pay it off but what if I’m stuck with a car note in the event anything happened with this job? My bf and his family suggested we buy a car from enterprise because it’d always gone well.. however i told him there’s a lot of risk in buying a RENTAL CAR. and he said there’s also a lot of risk in buying a used car from a dealership. He said you’re NOT getting a new car. a new car to me isn’t about the aesthetics, it’s about the security that we wont have the same issue we’ve had with the used car i bought in 2024 which was seemingly great when we first got it.
Anyways, I don’t drive my car anymore. Because of all its sensors and issues. But it’s not practical to keep having to use my parents car to get around. I don’t know what to do, if there is anything TO do. Seems like i’m just backed into a corner. My honda is just losing value as it sits in the drive way, already is very low value due to the shit miles it has.
I get I should just maybe lean on my BF as he did agree to help with the down payment and the car note but I just don’t want to. He will throw it back in my face. That’s for certain. I also don’t wanna make a poor financial decision that’s gonna effect me and my baby in the long run.
