Help Weston Buy a New Car After Theft

I am somewhat embarrassed to make this post and make this ask, but I am choosing to do so anyway and trust my loved ones to understand.

Sometime overnight between January 10 and January 11, 2024, my car was stolen. Last week, it was located and recovered, though with some damage and no longer drivable—likely it was stolen for a joyride.

While I have comprehensive insurance on the car to cover repairs, and it was already paid off, I have decided I cannot keep the car even after it’s repaired. Because it’s a Kia, it is vulnerable to theft, and some oil issues beforehand made its reliability spotty. As you may know, I’m physically disabled, and depend on my car to get around. Austin is not a friendly city to be carless in, especially for someone like me. In short, the reliability issues and the theft vulnerability add up to me really no longer trusting in my car, and so I feel I need to buy a new one for a fresh start.

I’m in a tight financial situation as a grad student and need your help to make as large of a down payment on a new car as I possibly can to keep my monthly payments low, and ideally, nonexistent.

I have already been promised some money from a family member, but even with that very generous help, it's very possible I will still need to take out an auto loan. So, I am turning to you, my friends and loved ones, for help to make the loan as small as possible.

I have set the initial goal for this GoFundMe to $5,000, but any amount of money will be invaluable to me. I will use this money first and foremost to buy a new car, but if, for whatever reason, I raise enough money to pay cash for the car, I will put whatever money raised toward buying a 6 or 12 month insurance policy for the car (filing a claim for the theft will surely raise my premium).

UPDATE ON 2/10/24: The dealer is expected to be finished repairing my car sometime this week, and I have a replacement car with Honda that will suit my needs almost perfectly. That said, if I can avoid financing the car, I would prefer to.

UPDATE ON 1/29/24: I am working on getting the car towed from the tow yard to the dealer right now, because I learned it was still there days after I thought it was already towed away. So, this process is dragging out even longer than I thought, and anything to help me expedite things continues to help.