What is your monthly payment? Please read.

Haha where I live people rarely move out of their parents house. They kind of just wait for them to die and get the house and save money until then.

 

It is smart to put down at least 20%. You won't be wasting money on GAP, and you will not be upside down on your loan should something happen and you have to sell it.

Everybody has their own preferred way, and buying with cash is wise if you already have an emergency fund established on top of that. At 22, I'm doubtful that you do. Making payments will keep your savings in your possession for a rainy day. Those who double pay their loans will still have to make next month's payment, or else it will be considered late. This method only saves money on a Simple Interest loan, so be sure to avoid Schedule Interest loans when shopping around for that.

Without some well of funds to fall back on, paying full cash, or double paying is quite risky. You can still default on the loan in the same amount of time if your double payments stop, so I subscribe to making the payments as scheduled (provided you get a good, simple interest loan rate).

I also purchased my first new vehicle at 22, and I did it all wrong(nothing down, high payments). In retrospect, I could not afford it ... but it worked out. It's quite a life lesson knowing what you can afford, and just because you make enough money does not mean you can afford something. Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

Thank you sir!

 

Good luck. Value added benefit is that after market upgrades for 2nd Gen Tacomas are more affordable than the current models because of quantity. You can do a lot for $15K, plus your insurance rates will be lower.

 

This is such a silly "recommendation." You're going to tell this person to save the next 5 years to buy a truck outright? What's he going to do in the meantime? The world revolves around credit, credit history and maturity. Unless you're paying less than 10k for a car, your cash is better off doing something else. Maintaining good credit, credit history and maturity makes rates "nearly" free. Why wouldn't you do that? This is all within reason - not saying a person who makes 30k buys a 50k car obviously. There is a MAJOR difference between using cash for consumables, daily items, etc than trying to pay for a truck that's 30k out of pocket, especially with interest rates so low, and if you're worried about depreciation, your car/truck will most likely lose 8-10% automatically after you drive off the lot, making your cash payment literally lose value.

 

Thank you for all this. I don't think now would be a great time to buy new.. some great advice

 

No sir, the world revolves around transactions. Tranactions are facilitated by cash or credit. Paying someone else to borrow money so you can, pay someone else less money the next time you borrow is what is really silly. There are better ways to earn credit than on a deprecating asset with no ROI.

 

At the amounts you're discussing it's negligible on the credit report. I paid cash for my truck and it didn't affect my credit score at all. My wife forgetting to make the stupid credit card payments on time is going to affect credit more than paying cash. Interest not paid is money saved, period.

 

Revolving credit (credit cards) are always more impactful than a simple interest loan. However, that's not to say a simple interest auto loan isn't beneficial. It obviously is. Again, this guy is young. Does he have 1500-2k of "extra" income he can save to buy a truck outright (in a reasonable amount of time) that costs anywhere from 25-45k? Obviously not.

 

Rent is 500, 1000 total. Plus all other expenses. I live in NH.

 

What was your down payment if you don't mind me asking?

 

I am only 30, so not much older than you. I bought a brand new 2012 for 31k(36k after OTD price and financing totals for 5 years(1.9%APR)). My payment was around $650 a month. I had a much higher salary than you and I was 25 at the time. I ended up selling the truck about 4 months ago, got a daily driver that is dependable and now most of my money is going into my retirement funds.

If I could do it over, I would purchase a used tacoma preferably a 2005-2011. I say this because the advantage for you now is putting money into investments. Look up compounding interest statistics at different ages. Its amazing just how little you need to put in now compared to when your 40 or older to achieve the same amount of retirement dollars. Now where to put your money is another story and a completely new thread but that is my advice.

 

Buy a lightly used 2nd gen, it performs better than the 3rd gen and you won't break your bank

 

FTFY

 

A Tacoma is a big nut right out of school!! My first new car was a 2004 Civic EX and saved up to for cash down payment and my college car for trade in. My payment was very small and loved the car, owned it for 10+ years. I got rid of it because a few years back I was 32 and the family grew, could no longer fit into the Civic. Fast forward - I have a great job, house expense, budgeted, steady life etc... NOW I get the Tacoma and it is still a big nut! My point is, save the cash get a good reliable in expensive vehicle (4 door, learned my lesson) until your life is more settled. No need to take on such a large payment against your first big new job. Travel and have fun before kiddos, don't spend your hard earned cash a "kisk-ass" truck right out of the gate. Shit, I sound like my dad, but hope this helps.

 

With all that said, to the OP: I don't think you should be financing anything over 8-10k car, to be honest. If you could swing 8-10k cash outright for a car, that would be even more ideal (no payments). You're at the point in your life where it's going to suck for a few years once you get on your feet, increase your income/education/experience, to be able to "afford" (afford is relative) something nicer. You have to take into account later in life goals: mortgage/house, "nicer" vehicles, credit card(s), etc all factor into your debt to income ratio and the longevity of your credit and credit history. Take everything we're saying with a grain of salt. Everyone's situation is different and some people are comfortable paying a car payment, some like above think "cash is king" even for a 40k product, etc. Just don't be stupid about it and can't make payments. That's the opposite of what we're trying to teach.

 

Now OP... who are you going to believe? Someone who bought the product, is biased, defends and praises it @CaptAmerica ? Or someone who bought the product and gives honest feedback about it (me)?

 

I will do that, great idea! And a very strong piece of advice

 

You guys are great. Thank you. I'm learning, I am and you are 100 percent right. I really appreciate this

 

Hey now, I was the first one to tell him to get a gently used 2nd gen. You're late to the party.

And MY third gen is better than ALL OTHER third gens because I say so, making it absolutely true.

Besides, I have the best grille emblem.