<prompt> Human: Hi all, I just paid my car and 2 student loans on November. Now I would like to get my wife a better or new car. I plan to save up for a good down payment, maybe 20-30 to keep the payments under 300 a month. When I got my car I only made a 2000 down payment on a 18,000 loan with 3 interest. So any recommendations for how to get a car and not get destroyed or ripped off by the dealer. EDIT: Thank you all for all the wonderful input. I learned on how to go about how much car I can afford, and make sure I save up and wait for the plan to happen. I will be talking to my wife and worst case I can use research as an excuse to delay the purchase. Deep down I really want to get her a better vehicle and maybe we dont need an SUV until the baby shows up, maybe a better car is best. Smaller purchase and less pain for the books. Once again thank you for all the responses I am deeply thankful for this.  <response>: The price of the car is the biggest factor by far, moreso even than the interest rate.If you want to get her an 18,000 car, thats going to cost you at least 18,000, and it might not be that much better than a 10,000 car. 