Hello MMM community. I've been lurking here about a month, and have really been inspired by some of the posts here showing that FIRE is possible at a much younger age than I would have thought, but that's a bit of a longer term focus than my current situation.
Anyway, I plan to buy a new (new to me, not brand new) car in a few weeks, and wanted some general advice.
I want something that will be reliable, so I was looking to get a car 2-3 years old. Good gas mileage is a plus of course, and I'm also looking for something that can handle snow fairly well, though snow tires I've heard could make that easier. I'm leaning toward a compact car, though preferably something a little bigger than the Dodge Stratus I currently own. I plan to drive it about 25 miles to work/school each day. I have a little over 10k saved, so want to use that to pay for the car so I don't have to borrow anything.
My dad owns an auto shop, so he'll be able to give me a lot of guidance, but he isn't as frugal as the people here, so I thought it'd be good to get some opinions here. He's suggested getting a car at an auction as he's gotten a lot of cars there to fix up and sell at a profit there, which I'm leaning toward, but I'm also considering buying from a conventional dealer.
A little bit about me to give you more context.
Age: 24
Current Occupation: Grad Student/Research Assistant for the school.
Current income: 550 a week (net), so about 2200 a month.
I'm going to be graduating in the middle of June, so that job will stop, but have a job lined up that should start near the end of June. That job will pay about 1325 a week (gross...not sure what net will be), and assuming everything goes right I won't be without pay for more than a week.
I currently live with my mom so my expenses are very low, between rent and everything, probably less than 800 a month. I do plan to get my own place before too long, but that's a topic for another post. I do have about 12k in student loans, but my new job will take those over as soon as I start working there (that was a very nice incentive to work there).
So, I guess my main questions are if there are any types of cars you'd recommend, or if there is any advice for buying from a dealer or auction, or I guess any advice in general you may have.
Thanks for taking the time to read and any advice you have.