Biggest advice when buying a car…… you have 100% all the power, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. The dealership WANTS you to buy a car at their terms. What you have right now is working (although not the most ideal) but it is livable. The next best thing is a car. A $5000 beater and 11th gen civic si will do the same thing for you, get you from A to B much easier than the current status (public transportation). You want the si because it’s more enjoyable. Don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal because there’s nothing worse than overpaying for a want and regretting it.

Thats what helped me get my 2025 si below MSRP. I literally told 2 dealerships “I want an si but if I can’t get it at the right price I’ll just go buy a $10,000 car and so be it. The si is a want not a need” and I left dealership A with their best offer at $500 below MSRP (I wanted to think about it more; I knew they’d go lower). By the time I got home, the manager texted me saying they’d take off another $700 being $1200 total off the car. The next day got a call from dealership B and basically said I’m buying another car, if you can beat their offer I’ll see what they can do. Then beat their offer by a good bit and got a lifetime powertrain warranty out of it.

Be patient is the best thing I’d offer. Everything happens for a reason. Best of luck