<prompt> Human: So as the title suggest I need a new car as my old beater didnt pass inspection and Ive been trying to work on it to get it back and just replaced the o2 sensor and found out that my drivers side coil spring just committed suicide through being jacked up too many and putting stress on it. That being said I was planning on throwing money at it at the mechanics but then started to realize it might be cheaper to purchase a newer used car and have a payment with a new inspection sticker on it.My car currently needs around 250 for new suspension parts, and also has a misfire code in one of my cylinders, I dont know how much this fix might cost, check engine light wont go out.Ive never had a car payment before, Ive bought my last two cars used and cash in hand for them, I dont know what I can reasonably handle as far as interest rates and down payments go. My current financial situation goes as follows: Current Budget for new car 500-600 and whatever trade-in value is seen in my Forester I start a new job on Monday with roughly 600-700 coming in bi-weekly, i wont get my first check for three weeks after starting its a temporary state job scheduled to go til around April when my other job starts to hire back people Any tips on how to get the best financial situation out of what Im working with is helpful. I dont know if its worth saving my current car or if its a better solution to go newer.  <response>: First figure out the cost for everything to get repaired if its under 1k-2k I would fix it and keep it.Also your pay is pretty low and I dont know your other bills but with that income I wouldnt spend more than 8k on a used car which would be around 150 a month for 60 months if your rates 5.shoot for lower rate if you can!. Dont get a loan for more than 5. If your credit isnt good I would look to get a cosignerlike a parent. 