The automotive equivalent to the cheap pair of boots is a beater off craigslist, not a cheaper new car from the dealer. It’s not a choice between a Toyota and a

The automotive equivalent to the cheap pair of boots is a beater off craigslist, not a cheaper new car from the dealer. It’s not a choice between a Toyota and an entry level BMW but between a 20 year old gas guzzler that can break down at any time and an eight year old entry level sedan from a used car dealer (or whatever the age cutoff is for used car loans). If you have a good credit score you can put down a few thousand on a down payment and get a Toyota Corolla with 50k miles for $10-15k that is likely to last for another 200k miles without major repair. If you don’t have a good credit score, the most that downpayment will buy you without a loan is a total crapshoot that can break down and total itself at any time.