car payments.

we have two credit card debt threads and that is GREAT. hope both of those guys kick ass and get out from under them.

what about car debt? i am constantly amazed that people will trade cars without much thought. i have a buddy that just did..he thinks he is winning because his car payment dropped a few bucks per month. his loan duration clock just got reset. his logic was that he had to act before his old car value diminshed so low, he wouldnt have a decent down payment on the next.

i love new car smell. just hate the stink of a car payment.. i want a new truck bad!! bad!

still saving up. i never seem to have enough cash saved to buy new..so i get stuck with used. one day!

my last car payment was DEC 1998. remember it like it was yesterday.

 

I have just about finished my first year of payments on my Tacoma. I have owned it for 9 months in October. Like my previous cars (with the exception of my Audi s4) I have made extra payments when I could to cut the length of the pay off down. I got a used truck because I always hate the idea of buying new when off lease is an option. And my rule of thumb is to have a payment + auto coverage = half of what I can afford or be approved for. That way the cars paid off with little to no issues even in the lean months of the year.
As far as trading in all the time, I don't get that. My last truck was a 97 nissan that I traded in on the tacoma with 278k miles and a badly cracked head.

 

I traded my nearly paid off Colorado in on this truck. I had planned to keep it but in the last 3 months I had it several serious things went wrong and I didn't see a need to see what went wrong next.

 

Nothing wrong with a car payment if its easily paid and would be easy to pay if your ever lose a job etc. Just not for stupid people who do not understand money. Same with borrowing money for anything really

 

Basically this...

People that stretch themselves super thin and don't allow room for life to happen in their budgeting are going to have issues at one point or another. Usually people are just trying to buy something they can't afford.

 

This is why we are where we are as a society(financially). We have convinced ourselves that debt is normal, and everybody has it. If we believed the opposite, we'd be a lot better off.

There is no benefit to being in debt, regardless of how affordable the monthly payment is (which is another huge problem, society focuses way too much on monthly payment vs total cost).

 

I recall when I was young, my best friends dad bought a new boat. We asked what the payments were and he told us that he couldn't afford payments, he had to pay cash.

 

Lol except the fact a car payment allows me to make it to work on time and be available to work extra hours on call and eventually make 100+k a year. So Im gonna say a car payment is a good thing if your not an idiot. It's more of an investment. An investment which is necessary in many people's lives.
.

 

I only have $27,862.96 worth of payments left! Sweet!

 

I've never ever ever bought a new car while still 'under' a car payment. That's probably the worst thing you can do financially (especially if don't have two pennies to rub together).

My husband had tried 'leasing' a car once, and that was OK....but ended up getting out from under that after 1 year. Never go back to a lease.

Car payments? Never get yourself into a car payment you can't handle. Go less....(less expensive vehicle) and have room to make extra payments to principal. Pay it off EARLY and save money (interest).

 

This is exactly how I feel. I refuse to pay the first months of the car loan to the bank as money that they make, plus interest. That's money that can go to food.

If I can't afford to pay for the car outright, then I dont' deserve it.

 

You need a car to get to work, not a car payment. I have a 1995 Honda Accord that I paid $500 for, 4 years ago, that gets me to work every day flawlessly.

And a car payment as an investment?

 

understood..but you're borrowing money for something that is depreciating.

this is usually different from borrowing something that is supposed to go up in value..like a home, or maybe a college education.

just putting it out there. i see threads where folks take a 2011 truck and trade it in for a 2013.. soon it will be a 2014. sure the payments maybe be the same, or similar. but damn,..they just keep on going at that point. dont think of the monthly payments..think of the interest payment sum at the end.

i hear it all the time from car salesmen. they ask, "how much can you pay monthly?" i've have answered, none of their business. it is a savage and effective trick. it camouflages the vehicle price. you could be paying sticker price for all you know.

 

Unless you're buying collector cars, they are never an investment - just an expense....

Unfortunately new (or gently used) cars are so expensive these days, most people just can't afford them without financing. As mentioned above, the key is to only buy what you can afford - and then pay it off as quickly as you can.

 

Investment?

A nice scooter with a basket and a rain jacket. Now THAT's an investment.

 

I like that!

 

A 500 dollar accord is not reliable and safe enough to drive my family around in. If everyone lived life like your saying it would be very dull.

 

Without a reliable vehicle I would not be able to work over time at work. Over time at my work takes your from 60k to 110 k. So yes, to me it is an investment to buy a reliable car that I can show up on time for every shift without penalty and not get kicked off overtime lists for being absent.

 

I think these rules are only a problem when people are uneducated and don't understand how money works. We are talking about a loan of what? 1-3-5% interest? I easily make 15-20% on investments and about 10% on maxing out an rrsp. I have enough saving tools that a car payment doesnt ever cross my mine. It's fun to drive my Tacoma, I love it. What's to point of working for a living if you can't enjoy it?

 

I understand what you mean by needing a reliable car. My point was that a scooter can get someone to work on better gas mileage, it's cheaper and you can pay cash for it!

So the money on OT or just GETTING to work is even sweeter! While as a car's depreciation is a greater loss than a scooter.