Emily, I suggest a slightly used "better" car. It will be the same price as a cheap new car and be of better quality. My DH and all the professional auto journalists we know always buy used for that very reason. You get more car for the money.

Toyota Yaris

...is the preferred vehicle of pirates everywhere!

...is the preferred vehicle of pirates everywhere!

...since they don't make the Oldsmobile Cutlass anymore.

...since they don't make the Oldsmobile Cutlass anymore.

My first car. An Oldsmobile Station Wagon Cutlass Supreme. Dang gas guzzling whale.

I've been very happy with Chevrolet's low-end sedans since the mid-90s. My '98 Cavalier ran about 170,000 miles before maintenance issues became problematic. And the current Cobalt is going strong at 106,000 miles, still getting about 32mpg on the highway. Don't know how the Aveo stacks up durability and maintenance-wise, but it's about 3/4 the price and probably gets better mileage.

Emily, if you do go with a slightly used car and decide to buy it through a dealership, see if you can get an extended warranty with it. My mom bought a used Caddy and got the warranty, which has more than paid for itself with all the work she's had done on it in the four years since.

Emily, I suggest a slightly used "better" car. It will be the same price as a cheap new car and be of better quality. My DH and all the professional auto journalists we know always buy used for that very reason. You get more car for the money.

This is some of the best financial advice I know. One of the biggest financial errors people make is buying new cars. My very well off sister and her husband buy used Mercedes from a reputable dealer for about $15,000-18,000.

Dave Ramsey says you shouldn't even consider buying new cars unless you're a millionaire.

t /Dave Ramsey likes carrots

I agree with Scrappy -- it loses less value while you pay it off, and you'll find the "extras" that a higher-priced car has aren't all gimcrackery. Some things, like keyless entry and power windows, et cetera, turn out to make a car much less frustrating to operate.

FWIW, I lurvvved my Audi 5000 which I got a sweetheart deal on -- leather seats with electronic memory, heated side mirrors that didn't ice up, BIG back seat and much more, like serious 0-60 pickup. I got such a good deal because it was the Deathcar model... except that the problem with unintended acceleration all happened in the automatic trans cars, and mine was a standard. (Also, it was probably driver error/bad brake pedal ergonomics.)

Anyway, my experience with used cars says that you're better off buying up a couple levels with the same amount of money you'd spend on a new car, with proper vetting by a trusted mechanic, of course.

Actually, Ramsey says that smart millionaires don't buy new--that's one way they become millionaires. (Another Dave Ramsey fan here!)

Maybe it's a regional thing, but we had a problem with used Toyotas and Hondas back when we got our minivan. The prices on the used ones were pretty much the same prices as new ones, maybe a thousand or two less but not worth the extra mileage. For that reason we ended up going with a Ford minivan plus an extended warranty.