Sticker shock....!!!

[two_bit_score]

I have a separate savings account for vehicles. Each month I put in $400 per vehicle we have and make the payments to myself. That's about $5000 per year. That makes a nice down payment when it's time to replace after 4 or 5 years.

Chris

That is a great idea. If more people did that they would probably drive their paid for vehicles longer. Remember everyday you drive a paid for vehicle you are making money. They would also owe less and be better off financially overall.

An old gentleman I knew always said: "One thing guaranteed to keep a working man poor is a new car."

 

[KenB2920]

The profit on a full sized truck is as much as $10K, while it is a few hundred dollars on a fuel economy type car. Which one do you think they are going to push?

Larro

Bought my 2009 GMC 2500Hd SLT 2 with Duramax Diesel for 41k and the sticker was 53k. The Economy was doing poor then and they couldn't sell a truck to save their sole. Even though I feel I did well negotiating with several dealer until I got the "final" price where I wanted it, I wonder how much they still stuck me for.

The good news, this truck was paid off 2 weeks ago!!! Great feeling. My wife drives a 2006 G6 GT which has been paid off for over 3 years. Unfortunately it has 114k on it (runs perfect) but I think our family is outgrowing it and well be gettin a new car soon. (She deserves it).

 

[Larro Darro]

Remember everyday you drive a paid for vehicle you are making money.

The last time we owed on a vehicle was for Margie's '05 Prius. We borrowed $10K from Mamma, but had it repaid that same year. We are getting the roof and front bumper painted this month for $500. The sun has faded the roof, and the paint on the bumper cover is peeling. The same fellow who is painting it installed it after a SUV backed into the Prius in the courthouse, so he isn't charging for the bumper. With new paint, the car will be looking good for another 9 years. And the higher gas prices go, the smarter I look for talking her into buying it.

Larro

 

[ultrarunner]

Never had payments on anything but first mortgages...

I can see taking advantage of a no or very low interest loan.

It's just when I have to write a check to buy something it really makes me stop and revaluate.

Only bought one new car and that was in 2002 and still have it... special deal because I was working overseas at the time...

 

[RollingsFarms]

I usually will finance something every now and then just to keep my credit score high. My dad was an old school guy and paid cash for everything. I mean everything! Never even owned a cell phone but that's another story. He went to buy his last truck and they pushed him to buy it on credit. He didn't have any because he never had a credit history! He told them that was fine he will be back in 30 mins with the cash. They thought he was full of it but he had the last laugh at their expense. My truck loan is for 1.9% for 60 months. Not too bad, I have a ton of equity already in this truck anyways from my trade in. Plus I double my payments every month and that knocks it way down. If the interest had been higher then 1.9 I would have just paid cash.

 

[Citydude]

I usually will finance something every now and then just to keep my credit score high. My dad was an old school guy and paid cash for everything. I mean everything! Never even owned a cell phone but that's another story. He went to buy his last truck and they pushed him to buy it on credit. He didn't have any because he never had a credit history! He told them that was fine he will be back in 30 mins with the cash. They thought he was full of it but he had the last laugh at their expense. My truck loan is for 1.9% for 60 months. Not too bad, I have a ton of equity already in this truck anyways from my trade in. Plus I double my payments every month and that knocks it way down. If the interest had been higher then 1.9 I would have just paid cash.

Well, even if the interest is 4%, why pay cash? The cash you would have paid, invested, could have made you your payments back plus more in last years/this years market if you have an investment fund. If not, then yep, pay cash.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Well, even if the interest is 4%, why pay cash? The cash you would have paid, invested, could have made you your payments back plus more in last years/this years market if you have an investment fund. If not, then yep, pay cash.

I wouldn't even accept new a car loan at 4% because I could run down to several banks and beat that all day. I see your point though and agree.

 

[Citydude]

I remember in the early 80's a 4% loan would have been unheard of. We're pretty fortunate now days. :thumbsup:

 

[lutt]

I wouldn't even accept new a car loan at 4% because I could run down to several banks and beat that all day. I see your point though and agree.

I agree, think our credit union is at 1.9 right now. That's pretty cheap interest. LUTT

 

[sld]

I remember years ago when fully loaded bass boats were topping 50k and they were financing for 10 years!

Just because you can afford the payment does not make it affordable!

I am thinking about downsizing from my F250 to a new F150. Thinking hard about it but just can't pull the trigger. We have paid cash for our last several vehicles and I can't see writing that big check. At least I don't HAVE to sell my F250. lol.

 

[JDgreen227]

I remember in the early 80's a 4% loan would have been unheard of. We're pretty fortunate now days. :thumbsup:

I recall paying 7.7% for 48 months on a new Crown Victoria in 1985...and at the time it was a great rate.

 

[Turbys_1700]

The first "new" car I bought was an 82 Volkswagen Jetta Diesel...
Those buggers were not easy to come by but we found one with 8K miles on it that was driven by the salesman...
The interest at that time on that car was a tick over 16%...
My house loan in 83 was @ 14%...
How soon we forget...
Now at the ripe old age of 54 my last three car purchases were used ones that I paid cash for...
The truck was financed for 5 years 10 years ago and I promised myself after 5 years of paying it off no more payments...
Has worked out real well so far...
I don't disparage anyone for buying new if they want to and can afford the payments if needed...
To each his own...

 

[Diamondpilot]

Well, even if the interest is 4%, why pay cash? The cash you would have paid, invested, could have made you your payments back plus more in last years/this years market if you have an investment fund. If not, then yep, pay cash.

I hate payments hanging over my head. I always finance some just to keep my credit score up.

When I bought my last truck the dealer told me I had the second highest credit score he had seen in his 20 years.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

The first "new" car I bought was an 82 Volkswagen Jetta Diesel...
Those buggers were not easy to come by but we found one with 8K miles on it that was driven by the salesman...
The interest at that time on that car was a tick over 16%...
My house loan in 83 was @ 14%...
How soon we forget...
Now at the ripe old age of 54 my last three car purchases were used ones that I paid cash for...
The truck was financed for 5 years 10 years ago and I promised myself after 5 years of paying it off no more payments...
Has worked out real well so far...
I don't disparage anyone for buying new if they want to and can afford the payments if needed...
To each his own...

Someone has to buy new. I personally do but find year old left overs. I just bought the wife a 2013 Ford Edge in February. Got it for 65% the sticker of a 2014 equipped identically. Did the same with my last truck I bought in 09 that was a 08. I am getting new cars at used prices. You have to be patient and do your research. Be ready to travel 500 miles and pull the trigger over the phone right then and there.

It takes a lot of research on the Internet to do this. Never buy a vehicle from a previous production run when the new ones just came out. It will lose its value the quickest.

Chris

 

[fordmantpw]

Someone has to buy new. I personally do but find year old left overs. I just bought the wife a 2013 Ford Edge in February. Got it for 65% the sticker of a 2014 equipped identically. Did the same with my last truck I bought in 09 that was a 08. I am getting new cars at used prices. You have to be patient and do your research. Be ready to travel 500 miles and pull the trigger over the phone right then and there.

It takes a lot of research on the Internet to do this. Never buy a vehicle from a previous production run when the new ones just came out. It will lose its value the quickest.

Chris

I did that with my '05 F150. I purchased it on 12/31/05 and bought it for about 66% of sticker price. My current vehicle is the only used vehicle I have ever purchased. I just couldn't afford a new diesel, so went with a 3 year old one with 25k miles.

I chose to take out the loan at 2.3% since my investments were earning more than that.

 

[crazyal]

Buying used is not always easy. For example last summer I got the GF a new Rav4 after looking at lower mileage used ones around 3 years old. They were only $3k to $4k less than new and most were out of warranty. With new she could get the options she wanted without getting a ton of useless features she would never use so it actually cut the price down to less than $2500. Once you add in the fact that the used ones she was looking at had about 50k miles new just seamed o make sense.

It's different if you are OK with buying older. But she wants reliable for several years. It's no fun being broken down in the middle of winter in the dark. While doing so I was looking at what used Tundras (being we were at Toyota dealers) were selling for and it was pretty scary. I didn't take the time to see just how much new ones were selling for but I know it was enough for me to laugh and say "no thanks".

 

[fordmantpw]

Buying used is not always easy. For example last summer I got the GF a new Rav4 after looking at lower mileage used ones around 3 years old. They were only $3k to $4k less than new and most were out of warranty. With new she could get the options she wanted without getting a ton of useless features she would never use so it actually cut the price down to less than $2500. Once you add in the fact that the used ones she was looking at had about 50k miles new just seamed o make sense.

It's different if you are OK with buying older. But she wants reliable for several years. It's no fun being broken down in the middle of winter in the dark. While doing so I was looking at what used Tundras (being we were at Toyota dealers) were selling for and it was pretty scary. I didn't take the time to see just how much new ones were selling for but I know it was enough for me to laugh and say "no thanks".

Agreed! When I bought my '05 F150, I actually paid less for a new truck than most used trucks I was looking at. I looked long and hard to find the 'perfect' used truck when I bought my '08 F250. So many trucks I found had 80-100k miles, and I wasn't interested in that. I wanted low miles, so I looked until I found what I wanted.

 

[The Fred]

Buying used is not always easy. For example last summer I got the GF a new Rav4 after looking at lower mileage used ones around 3 years old. They were only $3k to $4k less than new and most were out of warranty. With new she could get the options she wanted without getting a ton of useless features she would never use so it actually cut the price down to less than $2500. Once you add in the fact that the used ones she was looking at had about 50k miles new just seamed o make sense.

It's different if you are OK with buying older. But she wants reliable for several years. It's no fun being broken down in the middle of winter in the dark. While doing so I was looking at what used Tundras (being we were at Toyota dealers) were selling for and it was pretty scary. I didn't take the time to see just how much new ones were selling for but I know it was enough for me to laugh and say "no thanks".

Used cars around our neck of the woods are absolute GARBAGE! This last season was huge in salt usage. The stealers here are clearing 4-6K on used junk. I see people get the shaft weekly on used crap. Best to buy new unless you are out of the salt belt.

Buyer beware and always always always get a pre-purchase inspection when buying someone else's headaches (like my Kubota tUrbo soon to be released).

Fred

 

[JDgreen227]

Buying used is not always easy. For example last summer I got the GF a new Rav4 after looking at lower mileage used ones around 3 years old. They were only $3k to $4k less than new and most were out of warranty. With new she could get the options she wanted without getting a ton of useless features she would never use so it actually cut the price down to less than $2500. Once you add in the fact that the used ones she was looking at had about 50k miles new just seamed o make sense.

It's different if you are OK with buying older. But she wants reliable for several years. It's no fun being broken down in the middle of winter in the dark. While doing so I was looking at what used Tundras (being we were at Toyota dealers) were selling for and it was pretty scary. I didn't take the time to see just how much new ones were selling for but I know it was enough for me to laugh and say "no thanks".

Much of the worries about buying used can be eased if you know the prior owners of the vehicle AND if you don't drive much. My last purchase used was a 2004 Saturn L-300 from my former in laws, they purchased it new for 22 grand and it had always been garaged and well maintained, it had 44,000 on it back in April 2010 and I paid them $7000 for it. Best used car I have ever owned, it has 66,000 miles on it and although I have put about 2 grand in repairs and maintenance into it, my cost per mile of ownership has been less than half theirs. A lot of the costs of ownership depend on how much you drive and how handy you are at fixing things yourself. Depreciation digs deep into your pockets, which is why I will never again buy a new vehicle.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I would buy used but it's getting to where it doesn't make sense anymore for me. Taking a look at CarMax website, I see lots of nice used trucks that I'd be happy with. The problem is they price them so high for what they are. I looked up a 2014 Z71 crew cab exactly like mine with 5k miles on it (mine has 2k). They wanted $39,995! I got my truck for $36,000 with all the rebates and haggling. Same truck, same options, same color even, except mine was brand new and this one is used and CarMax won't haggle on the price at all. Why in the world am I going to pay $3k MORE for a used truck? Another problem is a lot of dealers around here love to stock used junk. I'm talking former rental cars with high miles (ex. 30,000 miles on a 2014 vehicle). If it's not a former rental car it's a truck with 100,000 miles on it and they're asking the moon for it and act insulted if you offer lower then their asking price.

Now, if you REALLY want to be scared from ever buying used again here's a story for you. I was at the Toyota place getting my mothers car serviced for her. I saw that had a 2014 Silverado LTZ Z71 sitting in the back that had just come in on trade. Truck had 7k miles on it and was absolutely covered in mud and was hit in the front end by something (the whole lower face of the bumper was smashed in). Whoever traded this in didn't even take the time to wash the truck off before they traded it in. I asked about the truck and was told it was owned by a chicken farmer. That right there scared me off because around here the chicken farmers I know treat their equipment like absolute crap, and this truck looked like it had 70k miles as opposed to 7k. Anyways, week or two later I ride by this same dealership and they have the truck sitting on the lot, front end is fixed and it's cleaned up. Some unsuspecting sole is going to think they are buying a practically brand new '14 Silverado, but if only they had seen what I saw the shape of the truck was in just a couple of weeks ago they'd run, not walk away from it.