making a down payment.. how much?

thanks a lot! i am starting to do the h/w...and math... if only money could grow on trees....

 

Here's how it works bro the down payment. For every 1k that you put down, your payment goes down 16 dollars. They also pay for your tax and lic out of your down payment. So figure out how much your tax and lic is going to be, then subtract that from your down payment and that is what is actually going to go towards your truck.. Now if your lucky and dont have sales tax then its all gravy bro...

 

I wouldn't make a decision on your down payment until you know the interest rate. I believe Toyota is offering 0%/36mo financing right now...if you do that don't put anything down. As the interest rate goes up put more down; that is money you don't pay interest on.

 

If you can try and go thru fleet sales like costco or something like that. You dont pay sticker price, you pay invoice. Then also look at what is offered in the packages and see if the dealer is marking the price up for something that is already included. Dont buy a lifted truck from the dealership, they tend to charge 150% of what it costs to lift it ( because people think that warranty is voided as soon as you lift the truck). Find out where they send their trucks out to get lifted and have that same shop lift the truck. Youll pay less for it, and the dealership can't say anything about it being lifted if the shop that does the lifts for them also lifts your truck.

Like everyone says though, do your research on what you want, and know what you can afford. Also you need to know what your warranties are that come with the truck your purchasing, and dont let the dealership push you into paying more then what you can afford. The deal will always be there...

 

Hey beefy, cheesy by any chance are you stationed at Minot.

 

Put 10k on mine!

 

Nope Minot is North Dakota, I'm at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. I have a couple peeps at Minot though...

 

Put 5k down on mine. It was a last minute because my car got totaled.

 

Oh ok. My bad. I always get mixed up on those two. The only reason why I ask is cause I have a buddy up there in the Air Force.

 

thanks a ton guys. def. helps. im assuming this financing stuff toyota is doing is only for the new cars right? im most likely only going to be able to afford used right now. unless some crazy deal goes down on a 09 or something and im able to afford it.

 

LOL yeah happens all the time...people hear Dakota and think Minot automatically...I have a buddy i went to high school with that is up there and a few basic/tech school peeps there too...

 

Ya, i've never heard of it before my buddy went there like a year ago.

 

excel is your friend.

anytime i do a big purchase, i turn to my handy excel sheet and plug in known numbers and estimate unknown numbers to see what payment is going to look like before i go to a dealer.

i also like to know what the total intrest will be before buying

 

Yeah usually (almost always) the rate for used cars is higher. I don't know if you are a member of a credit union, but for instance I am a member of USAA (insurance and a credit card), and have been for several years. Every once in a while they have a promo for auto loans at like 2.9% for used and 1.9% for new (obviously a lot of fine print). I know you're not in the military so USAA doesn't apply to you but I'm sure other credit unions have similar offerings once in while. It is probably too late now but worth checking out next time you get a vehicle.

 

I put 2k down on mine. i agree with 81shark you need to calculate how much interest you will end up paying thru the life of the loan which will be based on your interest rate. so if you buy one for 20k and your interest rate is say 5% for 5 years in the end you will end up paying 25-27k unless you make extra payments ect.

 

Depending on your interest rate I would put zero down!!! You might think I'm crazy but dealers want to RAPE you!!!!! You have more leverage because they can't finance more than blue book!!! Again only if you get a good rate I had 1.9 on mine so the second I could I put my money towards the principal! Also this therory only works when you don't care about the payment!! Hope it helps!!

 

actually i do have USAA. got my car insurance with them and motorcycle insurance as well (well... progressive... but for usaa members) i will have to check in to that. THANKS!

 

Ok to correct myself you could also negotiate price before you tell them how much you want to put down! But you lose some leverage cause they will hide more money somewhere !! They are evil those stealerships!!

 

yeh. it sucks big time. they always hide that money in the stupid b.s. paper work fee crap.