My character is a LT 4 and i was wondering when im able to get a new ship? and how i am able to get more ship slots? am i able to get a ship off the c store and have it no matter my level? any help is awesome thanks in advance.

Lt Commander , free one when you level , more in the store, no you can't use a ship above your level.

You'll be able to get a new ship each time you rank up, so your next ship will be when you reach Lieutenant Commander 1. There are 11 levels to each rank, though the last level is basically so that you apply enough of your remaining skill points to trigger the promotion. At that point, you'll receive a hail from Admiral Quinn at Earth Spacedock, recalling you in order to promote you. You'll get new Bridge Officer, inventory, bank, and ship slots when you rank up.

As far as ships on the C-Store go, some of them are available for use on lower tiers, some are only for use at the endgame tiers (Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral). The descriptions for the ships should make it clear what can be used when (for example, anything with "Refit" or "Retrofit" in its name is for endgame).

A great resource, in addition to these forums, is STO Wiki, by the way.

Edited to add: Beaten to the punch! That's what I get for going long-winded.

You get a new ship choice at each rank increase: Lt Commander, Commander, Captain, Admiral, and Vice Admiral.

Your ship slots increase as you level. I think you can have 10 by the time you're a Vice Admiral. Most of the C-Store ships are T5, and usable when you get to the Admiral rank. There are ships you can buy at T3 with energy credits at the shipyard store. You can't really keep them into next rank, though. Each rank of ship gives more abilities then the one below. So at T3 you might buy an Excelsior cruiser at Commander but when you get to Captain you'll need to upgrade to one of the T4 ships if you want to use all the abilities your characters have.

awesome. thanks for clearing that stuff up for me.