I’m not sure if this poll has I’m not sure if this poll has been done before. If it has, sorry for repeating it.
meadandale
September 12, 2010 @
10:08 AM
In the past I’ve gotten loans In the past I’ve gotten loans and done payments. However, after I paid off my truck this time I started making the payments to a savings account…so that when this truck finally gives up the ghost or I need/want a new car I can pay (mostly) cash.
I have to admit though, when I bought my truck back in ’03, interest rates through FMC were under 2%…so financing it didn’t end up costing a whole heck of a lot over the life of the vehicle.
In the future, however, I’d rather be able to walk in with cash and not have to play games with the sales guys. And there’s a lot to be said for not having a car loan…or any other debt for that matter.
NotCranky
September 12, 2010 @
10:20 AM
Paid cash for my first car Paid cash for my first car $750 for a 68 El Camino with 55k miles on it in 1980, then I bought a new car when I was 20, thinking that I was “establishing” credit. Paid cash or took a small loan, always for low mileage to mid mileage used cars, ever since and will probably stick with that.
bearishgurl
September 12, 2010 @
10:16 AM
I always have put my vehicle I always have put my vehicle in the Auto Trader and sold it and then took that cash plus a little more and bought another private party vehicle out of the Auto Trader. I have spent between $4K and $13K, always took the owners service records, always purchased Toyotas and have never ended up with a “lemon.” The last 3 times I’ve sold or bought, I was able to use “kbb.com” for Private Party values.
I’ve sold and bought at least a dozen vehicles this way.
Coronita
September 12, 2010 @
10:27 AM
I’ve always paid cash because I’ve always paid cash because in the past, financing terms weren’t that great, and to pay interest on something that depreciates so quickly, I didn’t like…
However, with this current economy, if I could get a deal with 1.0% apr or lower for the life of the loan AND also still get a good deal on the car itself, then I would bite.
NotCranky
September 12, 2010 @
10:42 AM
An auction is also a An auction is also a possibility. Never did it for a car but I bought a tractor for 23k a couple of years ago, when it was retailing used for 35K. It worked out well,except that I could get one of the same age and use for 13k now.Fortuantely, I have been able to put it to valuable use in the meantime…
Mark Holmes
September 12, 2010 @
11:27 AM
After buying with payments After buying with payments once when I was young (and regretting it) I paid cash for every vehicle for 16 years. But we just bought a Honda Fit with payments this summer. Why? An APR of .9% only ended up adding $452 to the entire purchase price. Crazy.
an
September 12, 2010 @
1:04 PM
I always paid with payment I always paid with payment since CD always had better return than my auto loan rates, why why give them my cash.
Raybyrnes
September 12, 2010 @
3:13 PM
Any time you ever receive Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.
joec
September 12, 2010 @
3:27 PM
Look on the internet and Look on the internet and research what others are paying. Look at the lowest you see and bring that to the dealer after checking his inventory for the model/options. Then, I’d probably finance it if it was 0% or some really low rate and you are prudent with your money. Pay cash if not or if you get cash back instead of the 0%.
an
September 12, 2010 @
4:57 PM
Raybyrnes wrote:Any time you [quote=Raybyrnes]Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.[/quote]
Not if you negotiated first before you say how you’ll pay for it.
XBoxBoy
September 12, 2010 @
5:25 PM
AN wrote:Raybyrnes wrote:Any [quote=AN][quote=Raybyrnes]Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.[/quote]
Not if you negotiated first before you say how you’ll pay for it.[/quote]
This isn’t as straightforward as you might think. When I bought my pickup truck several years ago, I went to five different dealers. It was end of year, and Mossy gave me a much better deal than anyone else. (About 8 grand off the price of the truck I wanted, while the second best dealer’s price was only about 4 grand off) When I went to arrange the financing, I told them I wanted to pay cash. They said okay, but then they made me an offer of a $2000 rebate if I financed it. They told me I’d have to pay four months worth and the loan had to be for at least 10,000. So, I took the rebate, and the loan for 10k, putting down about 8000. Made payments for four months (total of about $300 of interest) and then paid off the loan. That was a saving of $1,700 for taking the loan instead of paying cash. I’ve never really figured out why this was done, although I’m betting that the dealer didn’t pay anything to the finance the loan, (The loan was from Ford so the cost of the loan was probably baked into the price to the dealer.)
patb
September 12, 2010 @
4:48 PM
I buy 2-5 used cars and try I buy 2-5 used cars and try to pay cash.
i just bought a 2010 Used! insight paid cash
patb
September 12, 2010 @
5:01 PM
i like used cars because
i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.
Raybyrnes
September 12, 2010 @
5:34 PM
PATB. This is not always the PATB. This is not always the case. Ofter times dealers are intivized to move volume of cars and when they hit that volume they get a a stipend on all cars sold. In this scenario it is well worth giving a few new cars away even at a significant loss so as to secure their incentive.
The biggest hit of depreciation comes from Taxes. You pay 8.75% sales tax. Whether you buy new or used the amount of depreciation is dependent upon how well you purchased the cars. Pay 15000 for used vehicles whose market value is 10000 and you have 5000 depreciation. Pay 20000 for a new vehicle that has a market value of 22000 and you can drive it for a year and sell it for the 20K.
Generalizing just doesn’t work. Each deal needs to be evaluated whether new or used to see how you do.
patb
September 12, 2010 @
9:30 PM
Raybyrnes wrote:PATB. This is [quote=Raybyrnes]PATB. This is not always the case. Ofter times dealers are intivized to move volume of cars and when they hit that volume they get a a stipend on all cars sold. In this scenario it is well worth giving a few new cars away even at a significant loss so as to secure their incentive.
The biggest hit of depreciation comes from Taxes. You pay 8.75% sales tax. Whether you buy new or used the amount of depreciation is dependent upon how well you purchased the cars. Pay 15000 for used vehicles whose market value is 10000 and you have 5000 depreciation. Pay 20000 for a new vehicle that has a market value of 22000 and you can drive it for a year and sell it for the 20K.
Generalizing just doesn’t work. Each deal needs to be evaluated whether new or used to see how you do.[/quote]
taxes are based upon price. if you pay less you get taxedless.
also those incentives also depress resale prices
now if you buy 2-5 yrs old the price equalizes.
bearishgurl
September 12, 2010 @
9:41 PM
I think a 6+ year-old vehicle I think a 6+ year-old vehicle is the best kind to purchase as it is no longer eligible for *certified used* status and all the major depreciation has already taken place. Many dealers do not even want it at that point. If a new-car dealer takes in a 6+ year-old vehicle as a trade-in, they usually farm it out to a *secondary dealer* to sell.
The *certified used* status typically adds at least $3K to the Kelly Blue Book private party value when offer by a dealer. This is pure profit to them.
temeculaguy
September 12, 2010 @
10:51 PM
I’ve always made payments I’ve always made payments using tax reward auto loans from the credit union, other than my renting phase when I paid cash because you need a house to itemize your taxes. I’m currently shoping cars at the moment and I plan to once again utilize the tax reward loan (subordinated lien against house but loan is still traditional car loan length, yet tax deductable). For my kids cars I pay cash cause they are under 10k to buy, but for me, I’m in the “you only live once” stage in life and I want a nice sled. Even though I’m shopping some irrational vehicles, I still go with the other piggs, 2-5 years old, let someone else take the big hit. With the economy being what it is, there are bargains right now in the high end at about 2-4 years old as many lease returns are coming back to dealers and not selling well. The higher the price, the better the deal. My dream car at the moment (6 series bmw convertable) is about 80k new and can be had for 30k or so at about 3-4 years old. A 5 series is in the 50k range new and low to mid 20k range for 2-3 years old. I haven’t had a car payment for a few years so I’m moving very slow in my search, but when i do take the plunge, deducting my car payment will be the way I go.
investor
September 13, 2010 @
6:40 AM
patb wrote:i like used cars [quote=patb]i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.[/quote]
Yep. A 3 year old mercedes S class goes for 35 to 40 K around here. With 1.9 % financing, certified pre-owned and with the interior/trunk room of a minivan, it’s an option that alot of people don’t know about. I love to see all of the folks driving around in new S classes. Dropping 65K in value in the first 3 years is alot to pay for the privaledge of driving a newer s class.
Coronita
September 13, 2010 @
7:15 AM
investor wrote:patb wrote:i [quote=investor][quote=patb]i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.[/quote]
Yep. A 3 year old mercedes S class goes for 35 to 40 K around here. With 1.9 % financing, certified pre-owned and with the interior/trunk room of a minivan, it’s an option that alot of people don’t know about. I love to see all of the folks driving around in new S classes. Dropping 65K in value in the first 3 years is alot to pay for the privaledge of driving a newer s class.[/quote]
There’s a reason why these higher end cars depreciate quickly. (BMW 7 series, Mercedes S)
In case of the Mercedes, no free scheduled maintenance. And high repair bills. Unless one enjoys going to the shop a lot, 7 series/S series are some of the worst offenders.
stockstradr
September 12, 2010 @
11:09 PM
I love these who say they I love these who say they “..always pay cash” and are so proud of it.
Really? Always?
I bought my wife’s corolla at the darkest depths of this mega recession. Yes, that was when car sales had fallen off over 30%.
I paid $14,000, but I only put $250 down. The dealer argued with me for ten minutes trying to get more cash down outta me. I told ’em to screw off.
He knew Toyota had a ZERO interest loan offer for 48 months.
I had calculated that was worth over $2000, for me to use Toyota’s money interest-free for four years, compared to me financing that loan independently.
Now for reference, we bought the exact same tier of Corolla in mid-2005 for $15,000 (not including loan interest). To get that price then, I had to play three different dealers against each other for three weeks, walking them down on price. Most people were paying $16,000 for that car then.
So reviewing the math, I bought a new 2007 Corolla, same tier/class, for about $3000 less than I had previously paid for the same tier/class of 2005 Corolla.
But so many of you on this forum still believe we have had an inflationary environment since the market crash started in 2005. So I must be dreamin’ that I bought that car for three grand less (either that, or you inflation bugs are dreamin’ to think we’ve had inflation since 2005!)
As for why I was buying another new Corolla just two years later, that was due not to my brilliant timing (buy in recession) but because some moron smashed into the rear of that 2005 Corolla and total’d it out. So we had to buy another one. We still thank God that my wife was not injured in that accident.
Coronita
September 13, 2010 @
7:23 AM
stockstradr wrote:I love [quote=stockstradr]I love these who say they “..always pay cash” and are so proud of it.
Really? Always?
I bought my wife’s corolla at the darkest depths of this mega recession. Yes, that was when car sales had fallen off over 30%.
I paid $14,000, but I only put $250 down. The dealer argued with me for ten minutes trying to get more cash down outta me. I told ’em to screw off.
He knew Toyota had a ZERO interest loan offer for 48 months.
I had calculated that was worth over $2000, for me to use Toyota’s money interest-free for four years, compared to me financing that loan independently.
Now for reference, we bought the exact same tier of Corolla in mid-2005 for $15,000 (not including loan interest). To get that price then, I had to play three different dealers against each other for three weeks, walking them down on price. Most people were paying $16,000 for that car then.
So reviewing the math, I bought a new 2007 Corolla, same tier/class, for about $3000 less than I had previously paid for the same tier/class of 2005 Corolla.
But so many of you on this forum still believe we have had an inflationary environment since the market crash started in 2005. So I must be dreamin’ that I bought that car for three grand less (either that, or you inflation bugs are dreamin’ to think we’ve had inflation since 2005!)
As for why I was buying another new Corolla just two years later, that was due not to my brilliant timing (buy in recession) but because some moron smashed into the rear of that 2005 Corolla and total’d it out. So we had to buy another one. We still thank God that my wife was not injured in that accident.[/quote]
Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option, you don’t get get the factory to dealer incentive. For example, Ford’s offering a $4000 incentive to cash buyers on an Edge, or $1000 and some ridiculous APR for financing. What’s in it for the $3000? It depends. Can you do better with the $3000 elsewhere? Also, comparing current year’s model price to a previous year’s model price isn’t apples to apples, since 2005 was at a time when the economy was doing well. 2007 was at the time when the economy wasn’t doing so well. Just because you paid less in 2007 versus 2005 doesn’t necessarily mean you still got the best deal in 2007. Almost all cars had the best deals in 2007, because most car co’s had overstock of inventory. An acura MDX was selling for nearly $9k below MSRP ($4000-5000 below invoice in 2007). You can’t that deal anymore now or before 2007. Simply because Acura has cut back on production.
Audi managed very well during this recession. In fact, most cars (except the A3/A4/Q5) you will need to special order. They aren’t shipping many to the dealers… BMW does the same thing (except the 1 and 3 series,, and X3)…
all
September 13, 2010 @
9:26 AM
flu wrote: Just because you [quote=flu] Just because you paid less in 2007 versus 2005 doesn’t necessarily mean you still got the best deal in 2007. Almost all cars had the best deals in 2007, because most car co’s had overstock of inventory.[/quote]
I’ll testify – I paid $12.5K for new Corolla in March 2007 after one morning of car shopping.
Coronita
September 13, 2010 @
7:25 AM
jpinpb, If you’re still jpinpb, If you’re still waiting to get a car, wait until the economy tanks again. There’s only so long before those people not paying for rent errr mortgage finally get kicked out 🙂
jpinpb
September 13, 2010 @
8:05 AM
flu – still haven’t decided flu – still haven’t decided exactly what car, but narrowed it down. Now trying to figure out if it’s best to pay cash, lease or payments. I have never leased and I’m against it generally. I’ve bought used before and paid cash and bought new w/payments and my last car was a certified pre-owned, which to me was like the best of both worlds. Had an extended warranty, in excellent condition, low miles and had already depreciated. I’ve been leaning towards that again. Just not sure if I should wait and pay w/cash or payments. Leaning against payments b/c still want to have a good debt to income for when and if I ever buy a house.
CBad
September 13, 2010 @
8:32 AM
I voted for cash. And no, I I voted for cash. And no, I haven’t always done it. The first real car I ever purchased was on a car loan. I did it to establish credit and I had nowhere near the amount in cash at that age. If I had the choice, I would always buy privately and always pay cash. But my most recent car purchase was cash at a dealership because my car was a niche item and I couldn’t find the one I wanted privately. Whenever I’m in the market for a car and have to go the dealership route, I negotiate the price and then negotiate the price if they were to get the cash today. Magically the price suddenly drops when they learn you have the money in hand and are ready to make a deal. In today’s market where I can’t park the money anywhere and get decent guaranteed interest then yes I’d just part with the cash for the better priced car.
sdcellar
September 13, 2010 @
9:14 AM
I had to vote other as I’ve I had to vote other as I’ve only done loans or cash. My sense on leases has always been that they might be okay if you swap out your car every two years, which isn’t my thing.
Coronita
September 13, 2010 @
10:02 AM
jpinpb wrote:flu – still [quote=jpinpb]flu – still haven’t decided exactly what car, but narrowed it down. Now trying to figure out if it’s best to pay cash, lease or payments. I have never leased and I’m against it generally. I’ve bought used before and paid cash and bought new w/payments and my last car was a certified pre-owned, which to me was like the best of both worlds. Had an extended warranty, in excellent condition, low miles and had already depreciated. I’ve been leaning towards that again. Just not sure if I should wait and pay w/cash or payments. Leaning against payments b/c still want to have a good debt to income for when and if I ever buy a house.[/quote]
Lease works out if you don’t plan on keeping the car long or if you can expense part of the payments as a business expense. Folks that like to switch cars often, it probably makes sense. But they love to nickel and dime you on the lease return. Just curious, how do you manage without a car these days? SD is pretty spread out, I’m just wondering how you travel around town.
I think you should do it the old american way. Buy your home first, and then take a Heloc on it to pay for your car… 🙂
jpinpb
September 13, 2010 @
10:46 AM
flu wrote:
I think you should [quote=flu]
I think you should do it the old american way. Buy your home first, and then take a Heloc on it to pay for your car… :)[/quote]
LOL. I think that ship has sailed. In a perfect world, I would get the house first, tough, just b/c of DTI, and then the car. But so far any offers I’ve made have gone no where. I’m driving around DH’s truck for now as he is using the motorcycle. Gonna be a problem when rain gets here.
UCGal
September 13, 2010 @
11:20 AM
Coming to this poll Coming to this poll late.
When I was young and broke I financed my car. But it killed me when I looked at amortization tables about how much more interest I paid vs principal.
About 15 years ago I paid off the balance on my car. I’ve bought one car since then, new, fairly expensive, and paid all cash. I felt a little like scaredy/walter seeing my savings take the hit – but have had no regrets. In the meantime I have that extra money to go into savings/investing that would otherwise be going towards a payment.
My long term goal is to be debt free… I’m down to just my mortgage. It gives you options in life.
My take on leases… you still need a down, you still need to maintain the car – the payments are less than purchase loans – but not by enough to make it worth it. Might as well buy the car.
bearishgurl
September 13, 2010 @
11:46 AM
I stated earlier that I have I stated earlier that I have paid $4K to $13K for a used vehicle from Auto Trader ads. But UCGal’s “young and broke” statement made me think. In the seventies, I bought cars for $200, $500 and $700, the last two running for at least two years before needing major repairs, IIRC. Also, I bought an awesome Honda Prelude (fun car to drive) at an auction in ’91, I think, for $1700 (vehs seized in “secondary” at the border and not reclaimed due to storage costs).
I STILL think a decent-running and reliable Japanese car can be purchased today for $4000 – $4500. One of my kids bought a nice Subaru SUV for $3000 about 3 years ago which still runs great!
I see no reason whatsoever to go into debt for a depreciating asset such a vehicle.
temeculaguy
September 13, 2010 @
10:04 PM
bearishgurl wrote:I see no [quote=bearishgurl]I see no reason whatsoever to go into debt for a depreciating asset such a vehicle.[/quote]
It’s not an asset, it’s a toy. Motorhomes, boats, motorcycles, shoes, clothes, cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, timeshares, hobbies, vacations and to some extent, wives. They are all things we can do without, if you try to have the ones you can’t afford it will backfire, if you try to have them all, it will backfire, but everybody should get to have one thing that makes them happy. They should be low on the priority list but after years of saving, investing and working hard, everyone should reward themselves somehow. This debate is really about net worth, not financing. If have a million invested in your 401k and other illiquid investments, yet finance a car at very low rates, are you really in debt? Or are you just making a decision. My credit union will loan me 50k for under 4% and it’s tax deductable, I’m doing that before I bother with my my money because my money is real busy. I’m also not selling certain investments because I believe those investments are undervalued at the moment. Let’s say for example, last year I sold my ford stock for $2 to buy a ford so I could avoid a few hundred in interest. For a 20k car, I’d need to sell 10,000 shares. Then by the end of the year, the stock goes above $10, I just lost 80K to save $300.
Am I rationalizing my decision to buy a nice car that doesn’t make sense on paper, hell yes!! But I’ll just buy one that is 2-4 years old, let someone else take the biggest hit and at least feel a little better about myself. It’s a piggington version of a midlife crisis, tempered and calculated self indulgence.
investor
September 14, 2010 @
6:33 AM
UCGal wrote:Coming to this [quote=UCGal]Coming to this poll late.
When I was young and broke I financed my car. But it killed me when I looked at amortization tables about how much more interest I paid vs principal.
About 15 years ago I paid off the balance on my car. I’ve bought one car since then, new, fairly expensive, and paid all cash. I felt a little like scaredy/walter seeing my savings take the hit – but have had no regrets. In the meantime I have that extra money to go into savings/investing that would otherwise be going towards a payment.
My long term goal is to be debt free… I’m down to just my mortgage. It gives you options in life.
My take on leases… you still need a down, you still need to maintain the car – the payments are less than purchase loans – but not by enough to make it worth it. Might as well buy the car.[/quote]
I could not agree more. I keep my cars for 10 years, maintain them well and strive to have no car payment for most of that time. Debt is very expensive, especially considering that it is after tax money paying most of it off. An S class or a toyota is a matter of what you want to drive in. IMHO nothing feels as good driving as a well designed german car. Sorry detroit.
ucodegen
September 13, 2010 @
8:25 AM
XBoxBoy wrote:They said okay, [quote XBoxBoy]They said okay, but then they made me an offer of a $2000 rebate if I financed it. They told me I’d have to pay four months worth and the loan had to be for at least 10,000. So, I took the rebate, and the loan for 10k, putting down about 8000. Made payments for four months (total of about $300 of interest) and then paid off the loan. That was a saving of $1,700 for taking the loan instead of paying cash. I’ve never really figured out why this was done…
[/quote]
They were trying to ‘hook’ a fish.. but the fish slipped the hook (or bit through the line). Over the life of the loan, it it had gone to term, the interest rate would have brought them a lot of money. They were ‘banking’ on someone not having the discipline to follow through and clear the loan after the four month period (or spending that money on something else after getting the loan and not having the cash to clear the loan afterwards). It is similar to the initial low rates on a credit card for transferring your balance.
stockstradr
September 13, 2010 @
11:15 AM
“Chances are you would have “Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option”
(As usual, I can always count on “flu” to give me some manner of a poke in the ribs, in response to any of my posts)
Good point, but in this case of our purchase, you are wrong. Remember it was the peak of the recession. Toyota was giving full dealer incentive PLUS the zero-interest financing.
I asked about it at the time. Same as cash! (We did receive the full set of dealer incentives.)
Coronita
September 13, 2010 @
12:18 PM
stockstradr wrote:”Chances [quote=stockstradr]”Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option”
(As usual, I can always count on “flu” to give me some manner of a poke in the ribs, in response to any of my posts)
Good point, but in this case of our purchase, you are wrong. Remember it was the peak of the recession. Toyota was giving full dealer incentive PLUS the zero-interest financing.
I asked about it at the time. Same as cash! (We did receive the full set of dealer incentives.)[/quote]
I find that slightly hard to believe because usually financing close to 0% is a “cost” for the manufacturer, they wouldn’t mark down the car as low as before.
It’s typical that when manufacturer is running those low incentive financing terms, they are concurrently running deals to sell the car below invoice by a few grand. (I wouldn’t trust what a salesman says about something being same as cash…Because a lot of times, there are hidden incentives too…)
The exceptions are luxury cars, in which they don’t want to muck with the “prestige/snob” factor… But nevertheless, I’ll take your word for it, since I wasn’t at the dealing table and you were.
And I did have a disclaimer. IF I were able to get a 0% deal and get the same below invoice price, I would bite…But like I said, I haven’t ever found a dealer that would give me the same below invoice cost and while extending a 0% financing (or close to it).
Anyway, as much as I like cars, I hate car shopping.
carlsbadworker
September 13, 2010 @
12:58 PM
I have bought with cash or I have bought with cash or payments before. It depends on the math…that’s the piggington way.
sdduuuude
September 13, 2010 @
3:11 PM
I’m looking into a new or I’m looking into a new or used Mazda 3 hatchback right now. Probably just going to go use our already-open HELOC because the rate is 1 point below prime, which is really in the mud.
Will just bump up HELOC payments by an amount that would pay the loan off in 3 years or so.
I can write off the interest this way as well.
Also allows me to buy used, new, private or dealer.
If I buy new, I may check into rates, in case they are actually below the HELOC rate.
scaredyclassic
September 13, 2010 @
4:24 PM
i paid cash for our last new i paid cash for our last new car. didn’t feel bad at all paying the cash, felt good, smart. got all kinds of incentives, including a special “this one only” newspaper ad deal! it was cheap, $14,000, but really shouldve been about 20k. i still feel good about the deal, but hate the car. but we still ahve it, six years later. use it till it dies, give it to a kid. my main ride is the same car I have had for over 20 years. i financed it. that was dumb. 14% interest rate! if only i could go back in time and tell young scaredy a thing or two. he wasnt scared of anything back then.
sreeb
September 13, 2010 @
11:27 PM
I like 3 year old, slightly I like 3 year old, slightly high mileage (~60K), Japanese cars. The mileage doesn’t really matter much if it is mostly freeway. It is also almost sure to be honest as a rollback would have gone back at least to 30K.
Get a 3 week old Autotrader, start calling, take cash, offer 20% below kbb.com dealer wholesale price.
Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.
jpinpb
September 14, 2010 @
6:04 AM
sreeb wrote:Avoid dealers [quote=sreeb]Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.[/quote]
But if you get a certified pre-owned, as I had done w/my Audi, I got an extended warranty. I liked the security of that b/c w/used cars, you don’t know how well people maintained them or drove them.
joec
September 14, 2010 @
8:45 PM
jpinpb wrote:sreeb [quote=jpinpb][quote=sreeb]Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.[/quote]
But if you get a certified pre-owned, as I had done w/my Audi, I got an extended warranty. I liked the security of that b/c w/used cars, you don’t know how well people maintained them or drove them.[/quote]
Not sure how true, but I’ve read that people treat leases poorly since they have no intention of keeping the car after their lease runs out…
CPO helps if there are problems, but isn’t a lease just like renting a car? Think how those are treated…
As I mentioned in another post, I don’t see the big deal when folks want to blow some of their hard earned money on things they like and makes them happy or improves their quality of life…Especially if everything else is mostly taken care of. We probably all splurge on some things that others would feel is a waste.
Would love to take some of these cars on the various race tracks across the state since city/freeways just isn’t the same.
Coronita
September 14, 2010 @
2:23 PM
jpinpb,
Just saw this….
You jpinpb,
Just saw this….
You know what? Screw the home…Go knee deep in debt for this car…..This has your calling(And you can thank me for being of of the folks that signed the petition…Though I think it was a AoA marketing ploy)…
You earned it. You deserve it. And by golly, it’s about time…
Audi has just announced that it will begin importing the hottest version of its little sports car, the TT-RS, in the third quarter of next year.
The product move comes after Audi whipped up a Facebook petition page that gathered in excess of 11,500 signatures in just a month’s time.
The move to import the 360-horsepower Porsche Boxster and Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG-fighter isn’t much of a surprise – after all, Audi has been courting the media with test drives for months, and an Audi executive at last week’s launch of the A7 Sportback in Sardinia hinted that a decision was to be revealed in a few days.
No word yet on what pricing or the options list will look like, but only the hard-hatted coupe will make it to these shores – the Roadster will remain forbidden fruit.
jpinpb
September 14, 2010 @
2:46 PM
I’m afraid to even think I’m afraid to even think about how much it’ll cost. Sure is nice. Think they’ll get around to shipping the forbidden fruit. I’d love to have the roadster version. Very tempting. You just had to post this, huh. I probably would’ve seen it eventually. One heck of a ride. 360-horsepower. That’ll get me in trouble. I’m sure I won’t need to worry about it. I have a feeling buying this would set me back and wouldn’t be in my budget. I would end up not buying a house. That car looks too small to live out of 😉
Coronita
September 14, 2010 @
2:51 PM
jpinpb wrote:I’m afraid to [quote=jpinpb]I’m afraid to even think about how much it’ll cost. Sure is nice. Think they’ll get around to shipping the forbidden fruit. I’d love to have the roadster version. Very tempting. You just had to post this, huh. I probably would’ve seen it eventually. One heck of a ride. 360-horsepower. That’ll get me in trouble. I’m sure I won’t need to worry about it. I have a feeling buying this would set me back and wouldn’t be in my budget. I would end up not buying a house. That car looks too small to live out of ;)[/quote]
Don’t worry, you’re hubby can sleep in the dog house….
September 12, 2010 @ 10:03 AM
I’m not sure if this poll has
I’m not sure if this poll has been done before. If it has, sorry for repeating it.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:08 AM
In the past I’ve gotten loans
In the past I’ve gotten loans and done payments. However, after I paid off my truck this time I started making the payments to a savings account…so that when this truck finally gives up the ghost or I need/want a new car I can pay (mostly) cash.
I have to admit though, when I bought my truck back in ’03, interest rates through FMC were under 2%…so financing it didn’t end up costing a whole heck of a lot over the life of the vehicle.
In the future, however, I’d rather be able to walk in with cash and not have to play games with the sales guys. And there’s a lot to be said for not having a car loan…or any other debt for that matter.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:20 AM
Paid cash for my first car
Paid cash for my first car $750 for a 68 El Camino with 55k miles on it in 1980, then I bought a new car when I was 20, thinking that I was “establishing” credit. Paid cash or took a small loan, always for low mileage to mid mileage used cars, ever since and will probably stick with that.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:16 AM
I always have put my vehicle
I always have put my vehicle in the Auto Trader and sold it and then took that cash plus a little more and bought another private party vehicle out of the Auto Trader. I have spent between $4K and $13K, always took the owners service records, always purchased Toyotas and have never ended up with a “lemon.” The last 3 times I’ve sold or bought, I was able to use “kbb.com” for Private Party values.
I’ve sold and bought at least a dozen vehicles this way.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:27 AM
I’ve always paid cash because
I’ve always paid cash because in the past, financing terms weren’t that great, and to pay interest on something that depreciates so quickly, I didn’t like…
However, with this current economy, if I could get a deal with 1.0% apr or lower for the life of the loan AND also still get a good deal on the car itself, then I would bite.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:42 AM
An auction is also a
An auction is also a possibility. Never did it for a car but I bought a tractor for 23k a couple of years ago, when it was retailing used for 35K. It worked out well,except that I could get one of the same age and use for 13k now.Fortuantely, I have been able to put it to valuable use in the meantime…
September 12, 2010 @ 11:27 AM
After buying with payments
After buying with payments once when I was young (and regretting it) I paid cash for every vehicle for 16 years. But we just bought a Honda Fit with payments this summer. Why? An APR of .9% only ended up adding $452 to the entire purchase price. Crazy.
September 12, 2010 @ 1:04 PM
I always paid with payment
I always paid with payment since CD always had better return than my auto loan rates, why why give them my cash.
September 12, 2010 @ 3:13 PM
Any time you ever receive
Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.
September 12, 2010 @ 3:27 PM
Look on the internet and
Look on the internet and research what others are paying. Look at the lowest you see and bring that to the dealer after checking his inventory for the model/options. Then, I’d probably finance it if it was 0% or some really low rate and you are prudent with your money. Pay cash if not or if you get cash back instead of the 0%.
September 12, 2010 @ 4:57 PM
Raybyrnes wrote:Any time you
[quote=Raybyrnes]Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.[/quote]
Not if you negotiated first before you say how you’ll pay for it.
September 12, 2010 @ 5:25 PM
AN wrote:Raybyrnes wrote:Any
[quote=AN][quote=Raybyrnes]Any time you ever receive dealer teaser financing tack on an additional 1000$ or more to the sales price.
Paying cash is usually best when you are buying used from a private party. You have much better opportunities to find someone whose occupation is not selling cars and may simply want to get rid of it.
Whether you lease, finance or pay cash really depends on the total deal being offered. Anyone who focuses on any single aspect of a deal for instance 0% financing is typically not optimizing his overall package.[/quote]
Not if you negotiated first before you say how you’ll pay for it.[/quote]
This isn’t as straightforward as you might think. When I bought my pickup truck several years ago, I went to five different dealers. It was end of year, and Mossy gave me a much better deal than anyone else. (About 8 grand off the price of the truck I wanted, while the second best dealer’s price was only about 4 grand off) When I went to arrange the financing, I told them I wanted to pay cash. They said okay, but then they made me an offer of a $2000 rebate if I financed it. They told me I’d have to pay four months worth and the loan had to be for at least 10,000. So, I took the rebate, and the loan for 10k, putting down about 8000. Made payments for four months (total of about $300 of interest) and then paid off the loan. That was a saving of $1,700 for taking the loan instead of paying cash. I’ve never really figured out why this was done, although I’m betting that the dealer didn’t pay anything to the finance the loan, (The loan was from Ford so the cost of the loan was probably baked into the price to the dealer.)
September 12, 2010 @ 4:48 PM
I buy 2-5 used cars and try
I buy 2-5 used cars and try to pay cash.
i just bought a 2010 Used! insight paid cash
September 12, 2010 @ 5:01 PM
i like used cars because
i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.
September 12, 2010 @ 5:34 PM
PATB. This is not always the
PATB. This is not always the case. Ofter times dealers are intivized to move volume of cars and when they hit that volume they get a a stipend on all cars sold. In this scenario it is well worth giving a few new cars away even at a significant loss so as to secure their incentive.
The biggest hit of depreciation comes from Taxes. You pay 8.75% sales tax. Whether you buy new or used the amount of depreciation is dependent upon how well you purchased the cars. Pay 15000 for used vehicles whose market value is 10000 and you have 5000 depreciation. Pay 20000 for a new vehicle that has a market value of 22000 and you can drive it for a year and sell it for the 20K.
Generalizing just doesn’t work. Each deal needs to be evaluated whether new or used to see how you do.
September 12, 2010 @ 9:30 PM
Raybyrnes wrote:PATB. This is
[quote=Raybyrnes]PATB. This is not always the case. Ofter times dealers are intivized to move volume of cars and when they hit that volume they get a a stipend on all cars sold. In this scenario it is well worth giving a few new cars away even at a significant loss so as to secure their incentive.
The biggest hit of depreciation comes from Taxes. You pay 8.75% sales tax. Whether you buy new or used the amount of depreciation is dependent upon how well you purchased the cars. Pay 15000 for used vehicles whose market value is 10000 and you have 5000 depreciation. Pay 20000 for a new vehicle that has a market value of 22000 and you can drive it for a year and sell it for the 20K.
Generalizing just doesn’t work. Each deal needs to be evaluated whether new or used to see how you do.[/quote]
taxes are based upon price. if you pay less you get taxedless.
also those incentives also depress resale prices
now if you buy 2-5 yrs old the price equalizes.
September 12, 2010 @ 9:41 PM
I think a 6+ year-old vehicle
I think a 6+ year-old vehicle is the best kind to purchase as it is no longer eligible for *certified used* status and all the major depreciation has already taken place. Many dealers do not even want it at that point. If a new-car dealer takes in a 6+ year-old vehicle as a trade-in, they usually farm it out to a *secondary dealer* to sell.
The *certified used* status typically adds at least $3K to the Kelly Blue Book private party value when offer by a dealer. This is pure profit to them.
September 12, 2010 @ 10:51 PM
I’ve always made payments
I’ve always made payments using tax reward auto loans from the credit union, other than my renting phase when I paid cash because you need a house to itemize your taxes. I’m currently shoping cars at the moment and I plan to once again utilize the tax reward loan (subordinated lien against house but loan is still traditional car loan length, yet tax deductable). For my kids cars I pay cash cause they are under 10k to buy, but for me, I’m in the “you only live once” stage in life and I want a nice sled. Even though I’m shopping some irrational vehicles, I still go with the other piggs, 2-5 years old, let someone else take the big hit. With the economy being what it is, there are bargains right now in the high end at about 2-4 years old as many lease returns are coming back to dealers and not selling well. The higher the price, the better the deal. My dream car at the moment (6 series bmw convertable) is about 80k new and can be had for 30k or so at about 3-4 years old. A 5 series is in the 50k range new and low to mid 20k range for 2-3 years old. I haven’t had a car payment for a few years so I’m moving very slow in my search, but when i do take the plunge, deducting my car payment will be the way I go.
September 13, 2010 @ 6:40 AM
patb wrote:i like used cars
[quote=patb]i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.[/quote]
Yep. A 3 year old mercedes S class goes for 35 to 40 K around here. With 1.9 % financing, certified pre-owned and with the interior/trunk room of a minivan, it’s an option that alot of people don’t know about. I love to see all of the folks driving around in new S classes. Dropping 65K in value in the first 3 years is alot to pay for the privaledge of driving a newer s class.
September 13, 2010 @ 7:15 AM
investor wrote:patb wrote:i
[quote=investor][quote=patb]i like used cars because someone else pays the ugly part of the depreciation.[/quote]
Yep. A 3 year old mercedes S class goes for 35 to 40 K around here. With 1.9 % financing, certified pre-owned and with the interior/trunk room of a minivan, it’s an option that alot of people don’t know about. I love to see all of the folks driving around in new S classes. Dropping 65K in value in the first 3 years is alot to pay for the privaledge of driving a newer s class.[/quote]
There’s a reason why these higher end cars depreciate quickly. (BMW 7 series, Mercedes S)
In case of the Mercedes, no free scheduled maintenance. And high repair bills. Unless one enjoys going to the shop a lot, 7 series/S series are some of the worst offenders.
September 12, 2010 @ 11:09 PM
I love these who say they
I love these who say they “..always pay cash” and are so proud of it.
Really? Always?
I bought my wife’s corolla at the darkest depths of this mega recession. Yes, that was when car sales had fallen off over 30%.
I paid $14,000, but I only put $250 down. The dealer argued with me for ten minutes trying to get more cash down outta me. I told ’em to screw off.
He knew Toyota had a ZERO interest loan offer for 48 months.
I had calculated that was worth over $2000, for me to use Toyota’s money interest-free for four years, compared to me financing that loan independently.
Now for reference, we bought the exact same tier of Corolla in mid-2005 for $15,000 (not including loan interest). To get that price then, I had to play three different dealers against each other for three weeks, walking them down on price. Most people were paying $16,000 for that car then.
So reviewing the math, I bought a new 2007 Corolla, same tier/class, for about $3000 less than I had previously paid for the same tier/class of 2005 Corolla.
But so many of you on this forum still believe we have had an inflationary environment since the market crash started in 2005. So I must be dreamin’ that I bought that car for three grand less (either that, or you inflation bugs are dreamin’ to think we’ve had inflation since 2005!)
As for why I was buying another new Corolla just two years later, that was due not to my brilliant timing (buy in recession) but because some moron smashed into the rear of that 2005 Corolla and total’d it out. So we had to buy another one. We still thank God that my wife was not injured in that accident.
September 13, 2010 @ 7:23 AM
stockstradr wrote:I love
[quote=stockstradr]I love these who say they “..always pay cash” and are so proud of it.
Really? Always?
I bought my wife’s corolla at the darkest depths of this mega recession. Yes, that was when car sales had fallen off over 30%.
I paid $14,000, but I only put $250 down. The dealer argued with me for ten minutes trying to get more cash down outta me. I told ’em to screw off.
He knew Toyota had a ZERO interest loan offer for 48 months.
I had calculated that was worth over $2000, for me to use Toyota’s money interest-free for four years, compared to me financing that loan independently.
Now for reference, we bought the exact same tier of Corolla in mid-2005 for $15,000 (not including loan interest). To get that price then, I had to play three different dealers against each other for three weeks, walking them down on price. Most people were paying $16,000 for that car then.
So reviewing the math, I bought a new 2007 Corolla, same tier/class, for about $3000 less than I had previously paid for the same tier/class of 2005 Corolla.
But so many of you on this forum still believe we have had an inflationary environment since the market crash started in 2005. So I must be dreamin’ that I bought that car for three grand less (either that, or you inflation bugs are dreamin’ to think we’ve had inflation since 2005!)
As for why I was buying another new Corolla just two years later, that was due not to my brilliant timing (buy in recession) but because some moron smashed into the rear of that 2005 Corolla and total’d it out. So we had to buy another one. We still thank God that my wife was not injured in that accident.[/quote]
Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option, you don’t get get the factory to dealer incentive. For example, Ford’s offering a $4000 incentive to cash buyers on an Edge, or $1000 and some ridiculous APR for financing. What’s in it for the $3000? It depends. Can you do better with the $3000 elsewhere? Also, comparing current year’s model price to a previous year’s model price isn’t apples to apples, since 2005 was at a time when the economy was doing well. 2007 was at the time when the economy wasn’t doing so well. Just because you paid less in 2007 versus 2005 doesn’t necessarily mean you still got the best deal in 2007. Almost all cars had the best deals in 2007, because most car co’s had overstock of inventory. An acura MDX was selling for nearly $9k below MSRP ($4000-5000 below invoice in 2007). You can’t that deal anymore now or before 2007. Simply because Acura has cut back on production.
Audi managed very well during this recession. In fact, most cars (except the A3/A4/Q5) you will need to special order. They aren’t shipping many to the dealers… BMW does the same thing (except the 1 and 3 series,, and X3)…
September 13, 2010 @ 9:26 AM
flu wrote: Just because you
[quote=flu] Just because you paid less in 2007 versus 2005 doesn’t necessarily mean you still got the best deal in 2007. Almost all cars had the best deals in 2007, because most car co’s had overstock of inventory.[/quote]
I’ll testify – I paid $12.5K for new Corolla in March 2007 after one morning of car shopping.
September 13, 2010 @ 7:25 AM
jpinpb, If you’re still
jpinpb, If you’re still waiting to get a car, wait until the economy tanks again. There’s only so long before those people not paying for rent errr mortgage finally get kicked out 🙂
September 13, 2010 @ 8:05 AM
flu – still haven’t decided
flu – still haven’t decided exactly what car, but narrowed it down. Now trying to figure out if it’s best to pay cash, lease or payments. I have never leased and I’m against it generally. I’ve bought used before and paid cash and bought new w/payments and my last car was a certified pre-owned, which to me was like the best of both worlds. Had an extended warranty, in excellent condition, low miles and had already depreciated. I’ve been leaning towards that again. Just not sure if I should wait and pay w/cash or payments. Leaning against payments b/c still want to have a good debt to income for when and if I ever buy a house.
September 13, 2010 @ 8:32 AM
I voted for cash. And no, I
I voted for cash. And no, I haven’t always done it. The first real car I ever purchased was on a car loan. I did it to establish credit and I had nowhere near the amount in cash at that age. If I had the choice, I would always buy privately and always pay cash. But my most recent car purchase was cash at a dealership because my car was a niche item and I couldn’t find the one I wanted privately. Whenever I’m in the market for a car and have to go the dealership route, I negotiate the price and then negotiate the price if they were to get the cash today. Magically the price suddenly drops when they learn you have the money in hand and are ready to make a deal. In today’s market where I can’t park the money anywhere and get decent guaranteed interest then yes I’d just part with the cash for the better priced car.
September 13, 2010 @ 9:14 AM
I had to vote other as I’ve
I had to vote other as I’ve only done loans or cash. My sense on leases has always been that they might be okay if you swap out your car every two years, which isn’t my thing.
September 13, 2010 @ 10:02 AM
jpinpb wrote:flu – still
[quote=jpinpb]flu – still haven’t decided exactly what car, but narrowed it down. Now trying to figure out if it’s best to pay cash, lease or payments. I have never leased and I’m against it generally. I’ve bought used before and paid cash and bought new w/payments and my last car was a certified pre-owned, which to me was like the best of both worlds. Had an extended warranty, in excellent condition, low miles and had already depreciated. I’ve been leaning towards that again. Just not sure if I should wait and pay w/cash or payments. Leaning against payments b/c still want to have a good debt to income for when and if I ever buy a house.[/quote]
Lease works out if you don’t plan on keeping the car long or if you can expense part of the payments as a business expense. Folks that like to switch cars often, it probably makes sense. But they love to nickel and dime you on the lease return. Just curious, how do you manage without a car these days? SD is pretty spread out, I’m just wondering how you travel around town.
I think you should do it the old american way. Buy your home first, and then take a Heloc on it to pay for your car… 🙂
September 13, 2010 @ 10:46 AM
flu wrote:
I think you should
[quote=flu]
I think you should do it the old american way. Buy your home first, and then take a Heloc on it to pay for your car… :)[/quote]
LOL. I think that ship has sailed. In a perfect world, I would get the house first, tough, just b/c of DTI, and then the car. But so far any offers I’ve made have gone no where. I’m driving around DH’s truck for now as he is using the motorcycle. Gonna be a problem when rain gets here.
September 13, 2010 @ 11:20 AM
Coming to this poll
Coming to this poll late.
When I was young and broke I financed my car. But it killed me when I looked at amortization tables about how much more interest I paid vs principal.
About 15 years ago I paid off the balance on my car. I’ve bought one car since then, new, fairly expensive, and paid all cash. I felt a little like scaredy/walter seeing my savings take the hit – but have had no regrets. In the meantime I have that extra money to go into savings/investing that would otherwise be going towards a payment.
My long term goal is to be debt free… I’m down to just my mortgage. It gives you options in life.
My take on leases… you still need a down, you still need to maintain the car – the payments are less than purchase loans – but not by enough to make it worth it. Might as well buy the car.
September 13, 2010 @ 11:46 AM
I stated earlier that I have
I stated earlier that I have paid $4K to $13K for a used vehicle from Auto Trader ads. But UCGal’s “young and broke” statement made me think. In the seventies, I bought cars for $200, $500 and $700, the last two running for at least two years before needing major repairs, IIRC. Also, I bought an awesome Honda Prelude (fun car to drive) at an auction in ’91, I think, for $1700 (vehs seized in “secondary” at the border and not reclaimed due to storage costs).
I STILL think a decent-running and reliable Japanese car can be purchased today for $4000 – $4500. One of my kids bought a nice Subaru SUV for $3000 about 3 years ago which still runs great!
I see no reason whatsoever to go into debt for a depreciating asset such a vehicle.
September 13, 2010 @ 10:04 PM
bearishgurl wrote:I see no
[quote=bearishgurl]I see no reason whatsoever to go into debt for a depreciating asset such a vehicle.[/quote]
It’s not an asset, it’s a toy. Motorhomes, boats, motorcycles, shoes, clothes, cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, timeshares, hobbies, vacations and to some extent, wives. They are all things we can do without, if you try to have the ones you can’t afford it will backfire, if you try to have them all, it will backfire, but everybody should get to have one thing that makes them happy. They should be low on the priority list but after years of saving, investing and working hard, everyone should reward themselves somehow. This debate is really about net worth, not financing. If have a million invested in your 401k and other illiquid investments, yet finance a car at very low rates, are you really in debt? Or are you just making a decision. My credit union will loan me 50k for under 4% and it’s tax deductable, I’m doing that before I bother with my my money because my money is real busy. I’m also not selling certain investments because I believe those investments are undervalued at the moment. Let’s say for example, last year I sold my ford stock for $2 to buy a ford so I could avoid a few hundred in interest. For a 20k car, I’d need to sell 10,000 shares. Then by the end of the year, the stock goes above $10, I just lost 80K to save $300.
Am I rationalizing my decision to buy a nice car that doesn’t make sense on paper, hell yes!! But I’ll just buy one that is 2-4 years old, let someone else take the biggest hit and at least feel a little better about myself. It’s a piggington version of a midlife crisis, tempered and calculated self indulgence.
September 14, 2010 @ 6:33 AM
UCGal wrote:Coming to this
[quote=UCGal]Coming to this poll late.
When I was young and broke I financed my car. But it killed me when I looked at amortization tables about how much more interest I paid vs principal.
About 15 years ago I paid off the balance on my car. I’ve bought one car since then, new, fairly expensive, and paid all cash. I felt a little like scaredy/walter seeing my savings take the hit – but have had no regrets. In the meantime I have that extra money to go into savings/investing that would otherwise be going towards a payment.
My long term goal is to be debt free… I’m down to just my mortgage. It gives you options in life.
My take on leases… you still need a down, you still need to maintain the car – the payments are less than purchase loans – but not by enough to make it worth it. Might as well buy the car.[/quote]
I could not agree more. I keep my cars for 10 years, maintain them well and strive to have no car payment for most of that time. Debt is very expensive, especially considering that it is after tax money paying most of it off. An S class or a toyota is a matter of what you want to drive in. IMHO nothing feels as good driving as a well designed german car. Sorry detroit.
September 13, 2010 @ 8:25 AM
XBoxBoy wrote:They said okay,
[quote XBoxBoy]They said okay, but then they made me an offer of a $2000 rebate if I financed it. They told me I’d have to pay four months worth and the loan had to be for at least 10,000. So, I took the rebate, and the loan for 10k, putting down about 8000. Made payments for four months (total of about $300 of interest) and then paid off the loan. That was a saving of $1,700 for taking the loan instead of paying cash. I’ve never really figured out why this was done…
[/quote]
They were trying to ‘hook’ a fish.. but the fish slipped the hook (or bit through the line). Over the life of the loan, it it had gone to term, the interest rate would have brought them a lot of money. They were ‘banking’ on someone not having the discipline to follow through and clear the loan after the four month period (or spending that money on something else after getting the loan and not having the cash to clear the loan afterwards). It is similar to the initial low rates on a credit card for transferring your balance.
September 13, 2010 @ 11:15 AM
“Chances are you would have
“Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option”
(As usual, I can always count on “flu” to give me some manner of a poke in the ribs, in response to any of my posts)
Good point, but in this case of our purchase, you are wrong. Remember it was the peak of the recession. Toyota was giving full dealer incentive PLUS the zero-interest financing.
I asked about it at the time. Same as cash! (We did receive the full set of dealer incentives.)
September 13, 2010 @ 12:18 PM
stockstradr wrote:”Chances
[quote=stockstradr]”Chances are you would have done better with cash, because usually if you get the financing option”
(As usual, I can always count on “flu” to give me some manner of a poke in the ribs, in response to any of my posts)
Good point, but in this case of our purchase, you are wrong. Remember it was the peak of the recession. Toyota was giving full dealer incentive PLUS the zero-interest financing.
I asked about it at the time. Same as cash! (We did receive the full set of dealer incentives.)[/quote]
I find that slightly hard to believe because usually financing close to 0% is a “cost” for the manufacturer, they wouldn’t mark down the car as low as before.
It’s typical that when manufacturer is running those low incentive financing terms, they are concurrently running deals to sell the car below invoice by a few grand. (I wouldn’t trust what a salesman says about something being same as cash…Because a lot of times, there are hidden incentives too…)
The exceptions are luxury cars, in which they don’t want to muck with the “prestige/snob” factor… But nevertheless, I’ll take your word for it, since I wasn’t at the dealing table and you were.
And I did have a disclaimer. IF I were able to get a 0% deal and get the same below invoice price, I would bite…But like I said, I haven’t ever found a dealer that would give me the same below invoice cost and while extending a 0% financing (or close to it).
Anyway, as much as I like cars, I hate car shopping.
September 13, 2010 @ 12:58 PM
I have bought with cash or
I have bought with cash or payments before. It depends on the math…that’s the piggington way.
September 13, 2010 @ 3:11 PM
I’m looking into a new or
I’m looking into a new or used Mazda 3 hatchback right now. Probably just going to go use our already-open HELOC because the rate is 1 point below prime, which is really in the mud.
Will just bump up HELOC payments by an amount that would pay the loan off in 3 years or so.
I can write off the interest this way as well.
Also allows me to buy used, new, private or dealer.
If I buy new, I may check into rates, in case they are actually below the HELOC rate.
September 13, 2010 @ 4:24 PM
i paid cash for our last new
i paid cash for our last new car. didn’t feel bad at all paying the cash, felt good, smart. got all kinds of incentives, including a special “this one only” newspaper ad deal! it was cheap, $14,000, but really shouldve been about 20k. i still feel good about the deal, but hate the car. but we still ahve it, six years later. use it till it dies, give it to a kid. my main ride is the same car I have had for over 20 years. i financed it. that was dumb. 14% interest rate! if only i could go back in time and tell young scaredy a thing or two. he wasnt scared of anything back then.
September 13, 2010 @ 11:27 PM
I like 3 year old, slightly
I like 3 year old, slightly high mileage (~60K), Japanese cars. The mileage doesn’t really matter much if it is mostly freeway. It is also almost sure to be honest as a rollback would have gone back at least to 30K.
Get a 3 week old Autotrader, start calling, take cash, offer 20% below kbb.com dealer wholesale price.
Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.
September 14, 2010 @ 6:04 AM
sreeb wrote:Avoid dealers
[quote=sreeb]Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.[/quote]
But if you get a certified pre-owned, as I had done w/my Audi, I got an extended warranty. I liked the security of that b/c w/used cars, you don’t know how well people maintained them or drove them.
September 14, 2010 @ 8:45 PM
jpinpb wrote:sreeb
[quote=jpinpb][quote=sreeb]Avoid dealers like the plague. Not because their is anything wrong with them or their cars but because they are sure to be a better negotiator than you are. It is like buying a house without your own realtor.[/quote]
But if you get a certified pre-owned, as I had done w/my Audi, I got an extended warranty. I liked the security of that b/c w/used cars, you don’t know how well people maintained them or drove them.[/quote]
Not sure how true, but I’ve read that people treat leases poorly since they have no intention of keeping the car after their lease runs out…
CPO helps if there are problems, but isn’t a lease just like renting a car? Think how those are treated…
As I mentioned in another post, I don’t see the big deal when folks want to blow some of their hard earned money on things they like and makes them happy or improves their quality of life…Especially if everything else is mostly taken care of. We probably all splurge on some things that others would feel is a waste.
Would love to take some of these cars on the various race tracks across the state since city/freeways just isn’t the same.
September 14, 2010 @ 2:23 PM
jpinpb,
Just saw this….
You
jpinpb,
Just saw this….
You know what? Screw the home…Go knee deep in debt for this car…..This has your calling(And you can thank me for being of of the folks that signed the petition…Though I think it was a AoA marketing ploy)…
You earned it. You deserve it. And by golly, it’s about time…
That’s one sick ride…
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/14/audi-tt-rs-headed-to-america-after-facebook-petition-success/
Audi has just announced that it will begin importing the hottest version of its little sports car, the TT-RS, in the third quarter of next year.
The product move comes after Audi whipped up a Facebook petition page that gathered in excess of 11,500 signatures in just a month’s time.
The move to import the 360-horsepower Porsche Boxster and Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG-fighter isn’t much of a surprise – after all, Audi has been courting the media with test drives for months, and an Audi executive at last week’s launch of the A7 Sportback in Sardinia hinted that a decision was to be revealed in a few days.
No word yet on what pricing or the options list will look like, but only the hard-hatted coupe will make it to these shores – the Roadster will remain forbidden fruit.
September 14, 2010 @ 2:46 PM
I’m afraid to even think
I’m afraid to even think about how much it’ll cost. Sure is nice. Think they’ll get around to shipping the forbidden fruit. I’d love to have the roadster version. Very tempting. You just had to post this, huh. I probably would’ve seen it eventually. One heck of a ride. 360-horsepower. That’ll get me in trouble. I’m sure I won’t need to worry about it. I have a feeling buying this would set me back and wouldn’t be in my budget. I would end up not buying a house. That car looks too small to live out of 😉
September 14, 2010 @ 2:51 PM
jpinpb wrote:I’m afraid to
[quote=jpinpb]I’m afraid to even think about how much it’ll cost. Sure is nice. Think they’ll get around to shipping the forbidden fruit. I’d love to have the roadster version. Very tempting. You just had to post this, huh. I probably would’ve seen it eventually. One heck of a ride. 360-horsepower. That’ll get me in trouble. I’m sure I won’t need to worry about it. I have a feeling buying this would set me back and wouldn’t be in my budget. I would end up not buying a house. That car looks too small to live out of ;)[/quote]
Don’t worry, you’re hubby can sleep in the dog house….