Our sister blog, Money Crashers, ran this post commenting on Smart Money’s take on the 5 Best Cars to Buy for College Students. But who comes up with such kind of “smart” advice anyway?

Come on! Buying a brand new car for your college kid? Sure they based their take on Kelly Blue Book’s list of cars to buy both used and old. But picking brand new cars for their list? Not all parents can afford $40,000 a year and throw in $15,000 (minimum) for a brand new car? This is just the reason why there’s a growing culture of kids expecting cars from their parents.

Gone are the days when getting a broken down Chevy Nova bought for a few hundred bucks complete with the “Sure it’s old, but it’s got character” motivational speech upon handing a kid the keys. No wonder kids are a lot brattier these days.

View Smart Money’s picks with my comments after the cut.

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Not for your girlfriend. Not for your parents. Not for anyone. Co-signing a car loan (or any loan for that matter) means that you will be partly responsible (together with the other person) for the payments. This is often done when the other party doesn’t have a good enough credit standing to be able to get the full loan needed and you are kind enough (or dumb enough) to lend the credibility of your credit standing to help out.

Erik, writing on our sister blog, Money Crashers, pointed three reasons why you should never subject yourself to such a predicament. To summarize:

• If the bank thought that the person should have a loan, they would have granted it.
• You might end up paying for it. If the other person has been responsible enough with his/her finances, then his/her credit standing would’ve been good. And often times, people who aren’t good with money, would pass on the burden to the responsible one. Guess who that is?
• Usually, you only know about what’s what when the shit hits the fan.

And who has cash to spare to pay for other person’s loan, anyway?

Source: Money Crashers

Remember that person who bought a BMW she can’t really afford? How about you? Have you said, “I’m broke!” How many times did you hear yourself say that? Money goes out faster than it comes in so you just can’t seem to hold on to it for a long time. If you can only track where most of your expenses go, you might be surprised that your car has been eating up a big slice of your income pie. And since we both know you love your car next only to yourself, you might have overspent on it on some days. Can you afford this?

There is a clear economic mechanism behind ownership of cars. The question of buying new or buying used is an age-old issue. Buying new means that you make enough to make the monthly payments. Sure you get a 3 to 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. But would that cover the huge depreciation of cars per year? Buying used means that you gamble on reliability in exchange for more mileage and a much lower sticker price.

The moment you own a car, you also sign up for a lot of costs. So before you drive home those wheels, ask yourself practical and reasonable questions. Do you really need a car? If you hate public transportation, you might think you have to get a car soon. But don’t forget you have alternatives such as car pooling with your friends. If you really feel the need to drive, you can still save loads by getting one of those slightly-used cars instead of getting a super shiny and super expensive SUV.

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I’m a tightwad myself though I have to admit that I takes a lot of planning and budgeting to even save up 40% of my monthly income. Even if that meant not finishing my project car quickly or not buying a brand new car at all. But some people just can’t resist buying a swanky car. However, there’s a lot they don’t get about simply buying one. Here’s one case.

Vivian Snyder bought a brand new BMW (no model mentioned, but MSRP’s supposedly $100,000 so that might be an M6). Now, most of us common folk would just dream about owning one. She probably did and got herself one. The catch. She’s only making $2500 a month. On a disability check no less! Payment for the car takes up $1300 of it a month. And now she’s blaming the dealership for the “scam.”

Now that shouldn’t be the case as dealerships, by principle, should be doing a credit and income check on potential buyers to make sure they can make the payments. With Snyder’s case, she got the car without presenting any documents and the dealer bloated her income to allow her to buy the car.

It’s a case of who should get blamed for what. The dealership for seedy practices? Or the buyer for not even . I have to admit that, sometimes, consumerism can drive us wild but taking on something without being clear with the cost would be is careless. So who’s to blame?

Source: CBS 5 via Subdriven