Buying a car

Well my beloved car I got in Highschool (7 years ago) has officially bit the dust. It will be junked. We will not get any money for it, but it will not cost us any money either. I have fairly good credit (in the 700s I think), though I doubt my fiance has good credit at all. We are kind of in a rough spot, in that his job is uncertain – he is temp right now, and they keep telling him that he should get hired on, but who knows if he will. If he gets hired on he’ll have a great, secure job with real good benefits, but not the best pay (not horrible pay, but the benefits make it worth it). I have a full time job at the moment, making slightly less than him, but it will drop down to part time in Nov. or Dec. Also, we recently found out I am pregnant.

And our car decides to completely die on us a few days later. We NEED a new car, ASAP. It’s getting to be a hassle to get to my Dr. appointments, to get to the store etc etc.

I have never bought a car before. I have no idea about financing or anything. With our financial situation being okay right now (we are financially better off than we have ever been) but with so many things in the future that can change things completely – it makes me nervous to buy a car and commit to something. On the plus side, the two of us are able to successfully share a car, so it’s only one car payment instead of two.

We want a car that is cheap, but something that will last us a while. Something that isn’t much to maintain, something with good gas millage. No vans or SUVs or anything like that. 4 door is a must, automatic is a must. I thought about buying a new car – the pros being you get better financing, a warranty so we don’t have to worry about the car while we have a new baby to worry about, and we know the car is in good working order. The cons obviously being the increased price. So far I am leaning towards new – but I’m really nervous about committing to something so pricey and expensive such as a new car right now in our life – but we really really need a car. We live in a tiny tiny city with no public transportation so that isn’t an option. And while our friends don’t mind taking us grocery shopping now, I know we can’t depend on their generosity for much longer.

What advice does everyone have? Buying a new car? Going with used? To me it’s worth paying more money if it means we won’t have to worry much about the car breaking down etc. Also, air conditioning is a must (it gets over the 100s here in the summer). Any and all advice is appreciated.