Should I buy new or used? First time real buyer. Could use recs on what recs on cars
I live in a major city and have gotten by for the last 10 years without a car. I am in my mid 30s, make decent money and have great credit. My job allows me to have regular stretches of 3-4 days off at a time and I feel I am ready to get a car so I can get out of the city more often. I won’t be driving the car every day as I still plan to commute on public transit a good chunk of the time and see myself only putting around 6k miles on the car a year give or take.
My question is about what I should look for. Originally I figured I could get a decent used car for around 15k. I don’t plan to fully pay in cash and would like to put around 5k down as a down payment and finance the rest as it would be easier on repairs and just fit into my budget better. But wonder now if it would be better to buy new for 25-30k. I’ve heard better interest rates, and less headaches. I would like to also keep this car for as long as possibly can.
I’ve mostly been looking at Honda civics as that was the most reliable car I previously owned. I’m really trying to avoid going through the trouble of dealing with used car issues as I had a string of them before I decided to go carless but the price difference is obviously a bit more.
Again mostly been looking at civics and occasionally corollas. I don’t need anything special, something small, and most importantly reliable and easy to maintain.
This has been a little overwhelming trying to figure out what is best and smartest so hoping some of you can help out!
Edit: also realized I butchered the title at the end haha. My b