<prompt> Human: My wife and I are expecting our first child in 5 months. We currently only have one vehicle, Toyota Yaris as she walks to work and I take the train. The car however, is very small 2 door hatchback and not great in the snow, both of which work against us with having a child and a medium sized dog. So were thinking wed like to get something slightly bigger and better performing. Luckily our Yaris is paid off, so our leverage is a little better. My question is should we opt for a newish car or something significantly used? We currently have 28k in savings plus an additional 7k car downpayment fund 35k in total. The car we want Subaru Impreza hatch would cost about 18k, of which we would pay 7k and finance the rest. This isnt a ton of money, but Im concerend with taking on any new debt, especially with a kid on the way as well as decent student loan debt. Another facotr is wed like to keep our savings as high as possible since we may need to buy a new house in a couple years due to our expanding family. The other option would be going for something that costs 10k or so, paying cash, and crossing our fingers. This would at least keep us from making monthly payments. Any thoughts on this?Assistant: The Subie is a great car, but there are lots of them used out there. For 10k you can get something that is reliable and will haul the kid and dog no problem. As a parent of two with a big dog I recommend a station wagon if you can swing it, sedan gas mileage with SUV space and the dog fits nicely in the back. With the amount of cash you have on hand, you can get a really good used car without having to make payments. I paid less than half your number for our wagon and it has served us well. Yes used cars have more maintenance issues, but buying new doesnt guarantee anything and the money you save will pay for a AAA membership recommended and a thorough go-over at the mechanic with thousands to spare. tl;dr You dont need a new car because of the baby, just get something with four doors that holds all your stuff and pay cash.Human: Thanks for the reply. I guess the obvious benefit to buying newer is that once it is paid off we have it for a lot longer, and dont blow through as much of our savings. Do you think, say, 50k on an older Subaru still has a lot of life left?  <response>: Dont blow through as much of our savings? I am confused. You mean because youll finance you wont have to put as much down? Yeah, I guess not, but you can easily get your savings back up to where they were, just save the money you would have spent in car payments.50k aint nothing. My VW has 218k. The most important thing is how well its been maintained, which is where the mechanics opinion comes in handy as well as looking at the records the previous owner has and getting a gut feeling for how well theyve kept it up. Once it is paid off we have it for a lot longer - I dont agree with this, Im afraid. The difference in how long can expect a 2008 and a 2013 car to last is negligible compared to the difference in how much youll pay. Consider how many vehicles end their lives because of a wreck or theft too. Obviously I am a big used car proponent, but the important thing is to do your homework and not get tricked by sales pitches. 