<p>In searching the forum about how purchasing a new car (for parents of a student) affects fin. aid decisions and the CSS profile, I've mostly come up with comments about lifestyle choices, appearing extravagant (like planning a vacation), and uncertainty about how colleges view this expense.</p>
<p>So my question is...what if the family NEEDS a new car? What if the old car is falling apart, and getting a new car is not an extravagance - just a necessity? </p>
<p>Would it be better to purchase the car before or after filing the FAFSA/CSS profile? Does the type of car/year matter a lot to fin. aid officers? I'm not thinking about some sportscar, but if a family buys a car that costs $20-$25 thousand, will that make it seem like they don't need fin. aid and should have saved the money for college? Would it be better to buy a used car or a new car?</p>
<p>Obviously, we're not going to base our actual car-buying decision on what looks best for fin. aid, but if our car falls apart in the next year, we need some help in terms of "timing" the purchase related to FAFSA/CSS. Thanks.</p>
<p>If you are paying anything up-front for the car, buy it before filing the FAFSA and CSS Profile, because that will mean the money you have in the bank saved up for a car purchase will not show up in the financial aid paperwork as being in the bank.</p>
<p>As for the new or used issue, I’m going to come down on the side of a good fairly recent model year used car that you can pay for (almost entirely) with cash.</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t ask what cars you own. I believe only a few CSS profile schools ask for car info. None of the profile schools my S applied to asked for car info. If you are paying cash or putting a large down payment by all means do so before filling out financial aid forms so the money will not be in your account.</p>
<p>Some of the profile schools ask about cars, but the schools my kids go to don’t. It would be better therefore to use cash in your account to pay for a car. However, many schools do ask for that info. We had no cash and old cars when applying to schools, so no such quandary. </p>
<p>Of course, no one “needs” a new car. Most people can find an inexpensive used car that is better than their car that is falling apart.</p>
<p>As for FAFSA / CSS - Before if your using money you saved, so you show less in your accounts. </p>
<p>And just as a fun note - when I lived near a large city with lots of independent Auto Repair Shops I would buy any used car, but when I moved to an area that had limited competition for auto repairs I found it much less expensive to buy new dependable cars with a low finance rates than to keep overpaying for standard auto repairs.</p>
<p>We just did this - the old car was more than 15 years old, so we needed a new car. Far better to pay “cash” if you can afford to, and to do so before you file your CSS profile and FAFSA, because as others have mentioned it will reduce your assets. Even if you have to list your cars, since new cars depreciate the minute you drive them off the lot, a new car will still reduce your assets (though a great deal on a used car might not).</p>
<p>As for what you buy, I don’t think a $25,000 car is going to make a difference vs. a $15,000 car, or a new car vs. a used one. Yes, it is a question of lifestyle, but they also understand that people cycle through their cars. Some people who buy new will own that same car for 15 years, others won’t. If they see you buying a new car each year while your child is in college, that might be a different story, and indicate a certain lifestyle.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to which Profile schools ask about cars too. I would think, my opinion only here, that the answer is not going to affect financial aid unless the person has a true excess of cars collects cars, has luxury cars. I do have friend who has a old car in great condition that is her pride and joy. Like someone might have a china collection or doll collection, she has that one car I had a neighbor who had a number of old cars, carefully restored and taken to car shows. Those are assets, IMO. But to buy a run of the mill, average car, new or even a more than average cost car, is not necessarily an extravagance. I would be interested in reading about what the colleges that ask for car info do with the numbers.</p>