is financing cars worth it?

Financing is how 95% of all car buyers pay for their cars.

If you can afford to pay cash for a car then do it, but buying a cheap car isn’t going to save you any money. The money you think you’re saving you’re going to spend on repairing that cheap old car.

You may interest for it. Paying cash is best but most people don't have that much money lying around.

I financed my first car and then I swore off car debt. Been paying cash ever since. Most people do not have the needed discipline.

You also need good credit and a stable full time job with income over $1700 a month.

I'd get a new car or a cheaper used one. Don't buy a used Benz. They will send you broke.

Check insurance before you commit (you will need full comp on a loaner if it's collateral).

Another option, see if you can get a novated lease through your employer, a bit cheaper but lots more small print.

Repeating what I have answered before:

Car loans are not like any other kind of loan - they are a gateway to a dark place where cold winds howl. For example, take a new car loan for a $15,000 car. With fees and taxes it becomes a $18,000 car. With visions of driving a shiny new car you sign a contract for six years, paying $250 of the principle each month. A buyer with really good credit can get a rate around 5%, with a payment of $344/month. A loan with poor or no established credit can be 19%, which raises the monthly payment to $473... almost twice what a no interest, no tax, no fee payment would be. Then the nightmare begins: not having an insurance quote yet, the buyer finds the mandatory full coverage will be $200 per month for an experienced driver, or $390 for a new driver. (Insurance prices vary widely - these are examples.) The monthly commitment is now $544 per month for the established adult, or $863 for a new driver. For the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the contract term the car is not worth what is owed (called being "upside down" or "underwater") so the buyer can't sell the car without paying a lot to do it. Heck, if he had the money in the first place he probably wouldn't be wanting to sell it! If the borrower loses his job anytime in that six year contract, the car is likely to be repossessed and things go much worse. The borrower still owes the loan (but at least now doesn't have to insure it) plus repo fees, but he has no car. His credit score drops like a stone. When the car is sold at auction the amount it fetches is deducted from the loan balance but it is never what the car was worth - the buyer still has to repay thousands. It all sounds too horrible to be true but we see it here all the time.

yes, newer car less problems plus this should help building your credit