Hey guys, I am a Year 2 uni student in mainland Penang studying far away from my home state. My family only has one car so i cant drive it to my uni. I work part time on weekends as I have to support myself and I get no allowance from my family (B40 background so not well off). Not having a car is really inconvenient for me as this means I would have to rely on public bus (their bus routes has so many stops so it is very slow - for context, a mere 10km distance from place A to B would take me around 40 mins to 1 hour average using bus and dont even mention the bus schedule 40 - 60 mins per bus). I am also not a huge fan of ehailing services like Grab/AirAsia/Indrive etc as i feel like im paying alot just to go to a certain place and then have to pay for trip back also (roughly RM10 one way?)
I have been thinking of getting a car so that
Have also thought of getting a secondhand car but my family disagree strongly because they said repair cost for secondhand cars are not worth it, if unlucky the car may have serious issues. Been looking at Saga (around RM8-10k) or Viva (6k-8k).
My concern is the maintainence cost, fuel efficiency and reliability. For loan if new car, i would ask my family member to apply since I do not have pay slips yet and I will pay the monthly instalments myself ... else secondhand would be cash i guess. I have calculated the cost for Axia E and it is manageable still with roughly RM300+ monthly (loan 5 years at 3.5% rate [pls advise me the current rate if im wrong] if i put RM5000 as downpayment. Also, Axia E has low specs so no radio, central locking and lousy rims. Would probably install tablet + camera , central locking and get better rims + tyres which would set me back around RM1000 + RM600?( not sure about central lock price) + rims and tyres (RM600 i guess)
Is it better if I get the new Axia E or a secondhand car or would you guys advise to not get a car at all given my circumstances ? I do have some money saved up over the years of working part time.
Also, if I opt for new car with loan, should I put a huge downpayment AND get a loan for longer years (3 or 5 years) ? My logic is if loan interest rate is lower than current safe investement rates (FD/ASM/Versa Cash) i could leverage the money and use current cash to gain more profits in long run.
TLDR; Uni student thinking of buy car? New Axia E or secondhand or dont buy at all better?
I have been thinking of getting a car so that
- Have more opportunities for work (instead of just working promoter jobs which is typical part time for students, I can apply for roving jobs which pays higher usually ... plus my uni has something called student cab where students can offer to drive other students to locations for a fee - basically Grab but without getting sucked of commision)
- Able to drive to travel around and explore places. Having no car really restricts such activities.
Have also thought of getting a secondhand car but my family disagree strongly because they said repair cost for secondhand cars are not worth it, if unlucky the car may have serious issues. Been looking at Saga (around RM8-10k) or Viva (6k-8k).
My concern is the maintainence cost, fuel efficiency and reliability. For loan if new car, i would ask my family member to apply since I do not have pay slips yet and I will pay the monthly instalments myself ... else secondhand would be cash i guess. I have calculated the cost for Axia E and it is manageable still with roughly RM300+ monthly (loan 5 years at 3.5% rate [pls advise me the current rate if im wrong] if i put RM5000 as downpayment. Also, Axia E has low specs so no radio, central locking and lousy rims. Would probably install tablet + camera , central locking and get better rims + tyres which would set me back around RM1000 + RM600?( not sure about central lock price) + rims and tyres (RM600 i guess)
Is it better if I get the new Axia E or a secondhand car or would you guys advise to not get a car at all given my circumstances ? I do have some money saved up over the years of working part time.
Also, if I opt for new car with loan, should I put a huge downpayment AND get a loan for longer years (3 or 5 years) ? My logic is if loan interest rate is lower than current safe investement rates (FD/ASM/Versa Cash) i could leverage the money and use current cash to gain more profits in long run.
TLDR; Uni student thinking of buy car? New Axia E or secondhand or dont buy at all better?