I had talked to a lot of people and they had mentioned that buying a car can be a hassle. To add to this, I also had three 'extra' conditions that made the experience more complicated than usual. First of all, I had no credit history in America, second, I was not a U.S. citizen and third I was a new driver.

However, I was lucky enough to work in a very friendly organization, Westat, where people were willing to offer advice and take time out of their day to go car shopping with me.

As a new driver, it was interesting (to say the least) to have my first experience with test-driving a car from a showroom. A young man from my company was nice enough, brave enough even, to go along with me to help out.

For my first experience, I tried two cars from two different showrooms and decided that I liked the second car enough to try and purchase it. Everything was going well, until the price was quoted with the loan rate. I was told that I would have to pay the rate of interest at 21.9%. I sat there and stared blankly at the person who offered the rate and did not know what to do next. Luckily, the young man who was with me took over and said 'this is not acceptable' and we got up and left.

After lots of stops and starts over the next two weeks, I was informed that car dealerships viewed me as 'a ghost who could leave the country at any time'. Purchasing a car was not going to be easy at all.

However, I finally managed to call Carmax where the sales person was very friendly and helpful. I then asked another young man from my organization if he would take me to the dealership because I would like to test-drive a car. He agreed and so I drove two cars and picked the one I liked best.

The car dealership offered a price up front (no haggling) and I was happy with the price. I put down 40% down (there went my savings and my christmas bonus) and received a loan at an interest rate that didn't shock me too much. The sales person was also helpful in referring me to an auto insurance agent and took care of most of the details for me.

As an additional benefit, the salesman delivered the car and paperwork to my apartment. I had finally managed to purchase a car (applause - woo hoo).