<prompt> Human: Hi rPF Two years ago I lost my job, and voluntarily re-possessed the car I had at the time, out of the fear of being behind on the payments. I bought a car cash, and Ive had it since then. However I have since gotten a decent job and could feasibly afford a car in the 10-12k range looking at used HondasToyotas. My car is just at the end, its got no AC, no power steering, and it doesnt get the best gas mileage, but I do own it outright. I pulled my credit score on Credit Karma and through Capital One its about 545 on both sites TransUnion, Im hearing all kinds of things about how credit unions probably wouldnt finance me, and I really dont want a dealership running 10-20 hard inquiries to get me a car I just had 13 drop off my record. I have a decent payment history and have had two previous auto loans, but Im worried that even if I can manage to bump my score up to 600 that it just wont make a difference due to the previous repo and the other things that fell behind when I was unemployed my monthly income is right around 2k, I pay 500 in rent. About 350 on the rest of my bills, spend about 200 on food gas every month, and usually spend 100 on myself video games, other hobbies. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do? Do I just stick it out with the car I have now or is it even worth trying to get a newer car? Thanks  <response>: Save for a few months and buy a car outright. At your credit level, a loan is only going to be available from the predatory buy here pay here places at 15 and probably closer to 20. Looks like you have nearly 1000 leftover at the end of every month so it wouldnt take very long to get enough to buy a reliable car. 