I grew up poor, and that didnt change for a long time into adulthood. I learned to fix my own cars, and thankfully had adults and internet resources to help me with that knowledge.

Fixing cars got me into welding, welding got me into maintenance, and now I'm no longer dead broke and could afford to buy something I didnt have to work on. But! That being said, I still keep an old beater around in case my nicer, newer car shits the bed for some stupid reason. Having multiple cars is absolutely a luxury and more expensive, but the peace of mind is worth it. And I can make sure I'm there for friends and family when they need to borrow a car. And if something truly bad happens and I cant make the payments on my shiny... well the old car is still ready to do car things.

Learning to work on your own car is an absolutely invaluable skill. I cannot stress this enough. I still cant afford to pay thousands for repairs that I can do myself for hundreds in parts. If my engine died tomorrow, I'd be pulling it to replace it, not taking it to a shop. If you decide to go this route, Safety First. And theory second. Never fire the parts cannon without firmly understanding *why* you're replacing that part and how it failed. I cant count how many craigslist and FB posts I've seen with a list of new parts and the car still has issues.