<prompt> Human: Im in the military and trying to save roughly 10k to do a down payment on used Subaru WRX. Should I go for a cheaper car? My alternative would be a used Honda S2000.How would I go about financing it? I literally have no idea where to start with this whole thing. Should I ask my mom to cosign for a loan? Should I ask to borrow from her to do a down payment she wont charge me interest?Assistant: Im in the military and always like to sit down with my brand new Airmen to give them this lecture.THIS IS THE WORST FUCKING FINANCIAL MISTAKE YOU CAN MAKE.Yet you walk over to that first car dealership off base and that salesman puts a target on your back knowing youre the easiest mark in the world. Hell get you into whatever car you want and make the loan 5 years so you think you can afford it.What youre going to do is spend a week learning about loans and interest rates. Then youre going to make a list of all the goals youd like to achieve. Do you want to 1 buy a house one day, 2 buy a wedding ring, 3 buy a bunch of furniture for your apartmenthouse when you move out of the dorm, 4 go on a trip to somewhere other than afghanistan, 5 not stress over money issues like half of the E-56s around you?Once you figure that out and start a budget Id give you advice. You should not spend 40 of your income on a car. Thats absurd. You should get something reasonable that you wont regret in 1 year. Dont even think about leasing, Im going to use all caps again if you go down that road.Now that youve realized you need a reliablereasonable car. Im going to take you on down to carmax, or some other reputable used car dealership. Ideally youre just going to pay in cash, but if you dont, youre going to talk to USAA and get pre-approved for a car loan. Theyre going to give you a PDF document that you can print out and hand to the dealership. Its pretty much just a check thats good for up to a certain amount. The dealership will fill in the details, youll sign it, theyll fax it to USAA and thats how you will pay for your car. You do NOT want to use whatever dealership financing options they have, I promise they are much worse than USAAs.Now, were going to walk around and find a decent vehicle. You arent going to spend more than 8k on this vehicle. Did I mention the length of the loan is going to be 3 years36 months? Youre not going to get a 5 or 6 year loan to reduce the payment down. Thats just going to double the amount of interest you pay on this car and youre going to be very happy in 3 years when you no longer have a car payment.The reason Im saying USAA is because theyll work with you even though you dont have much credit history as youre a new military member. Navy Federal Credit Union and other similar credit unions probably exist on your base who compete with USAA is fine as well if youre more comfortable with a physical branch vs doing everything online.I know you see lots of other 19 year old E-23s running around with fancy 20k-30k cars. What I see is those same people getting counseled because they cant pay their bills on time and then I have to explain to them what it means when they get a letter in the mail about the car being repossessed.The military can lead you to being very financially secure. Or you can just spend all your money on stupid shit and be poor. The choice is yours.EDIT: Ok, I agree, sometimes manufacturer financing is going to be cheaper than USAAcredit unions. The reason I suggested USAA is because were talking about a 19 year old who has no credit and cant get the financing options most of us with good credit can qualify for. You should always shop around to compare rates. I recommended carmax because most 19 year olds get taken advantage of at regular dealerships thanks to crafty salesman. Carmax charges marks up slightly from the KBB value, but its no hassle and if youre a 19 year old with no car negotiation experience you wont lose your shirt. Thats great if you can find a good dealership in your area, but you need to understand how predatory most used car dealerships are just outside most military bases. Shop around, dont just go to Carmax.Human: Holy shit, I felt like I just got swarmed by a drill sergeant. Thank you very much. This has been the most uplifting and informative advice. Instead of hearing, NO, NO. Dont do it, youre telling me what I can do instead and how I can get there step by step. Fuckin A, I wish I had more leaders like you.  <response>: I served for 12 years and there are some very important items this guy left out. First, buying a car is not the worst financial mistake you can make, that would be getting married during your first enlistment. Most of those end in divorce if you have to deploy or transfer out of state. Feel free to date and even ask a girl to marry you, but wait until she has gone to that next command with you. Some girls like the idea of change until they realize just what that entails when dealing with someone who is enlisted.Second biggest mistake is buying a house. Save your money until you get out 50 a month at E-1, 100 a month at E-2 up to 250 at E-5 is a good start into savings. Buying a house while you are in may seem like a good idea until you have to transfer to another command. If you transfer and you can not sell or rent, you will have that payment. Try not to tie yourself down until you know where you want to be. It is not bad to love your first command, but your second or third might be even better. Travel to every country you can while you are in at the militarys expense. I did not even stay in the same state as my previous command and traveled to another country every chance I got. Best 12 years of my life so far.USAA is definitely the way to go. Checking, Savings, Insurance Home, Car and Renters, Car Loan, Home Loan, Credit Cards No more than 1,000 Limit, listen to General Ackbar when it comes to Credit Cards, any more than that and Its a Trap!. You want to start building up your credit while you are young so that your interest rates when you are ready to buy a house or that first new car will be lower. Limit your financed amount to the 8,500 If you put 2500 down to help with the finance rate, you could get a car up to 11,000. Here are a couple of good examples of what you can get for that or Take your time and be happy with what you get. NEVER rush into buying a car. Use this car to go to school while you are enlisted, dont wait and use your GI Bill, save that for when you get out. You get 100 Tuition Assistance while you are enlisted, the GI Bill runs out after 36 months worth of classes.Also, dont move out of the barracks until you are at least E-5, it is cheaper. Your friends with the more expensive cars living in an apartment will have just that. You with the advice from Stakkar and the other replies will have a reliable means of transportation, education and money to go out. Try to meet a significant other that has an apartment if they have a house, they are less likely to want to move and get to the point where you can stay with them from time to time. 