Bought a new Mazda CX-5

[Mr Nice]

I think living at home at his age (22-24 ?) hurt his financial decision making cause he always has a safety net and no rent to pay.

Now if he was on his own and paying $800 for rent he would be cautiously be watching every penny. I know impulsive purchases will greatly hurt young folks down the road.... but its a lesson learned the hard way.

I avoid the yearly Palm Beach Auto Show just to avoid the new car bug.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Bladecutter
Did you not just read the previous post to yours where Nick says he was $1500 upside down on the Cruze?


Oh, duh!

I read that as Nick OWED $1,500 on the Cruze, not as he was $1,500 upside down in it.

Carry on...

 

[hattaresguy]

Don't buy a $3000 Chevy, because by next fall you will be tired of sending it to a shop and want a cheap new car...

Unless your willing to wrench yourself don't do it.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Nick R


.... I can relatively easily have no car payment by summer of next year if it works as planned.


I think an inexpensive used car is fine. However make sure you have a savings account that draws a "car payment" which can be used for repairs or applying to next purchase of vehicle. Don't be tempted to dip.

$3000 cars are a 50/50 gamble. The key is paying a good mechanic to look it over to see if you are buying problems/maintenance or a car already fixed.

They don't really have that much depreciation year to year. So when you are bored or having too many problems get the $4000-$5000 car and so on.

 

[Vikas]

Does CX5 cost about 30K? Wow!

 

[Hermann]

My SO's listed for $28,500, we paid $27,000.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
$1065 that is largely a mortgage payment. I would gladly drive a used car to build equity on a property, living in the parents basement kind of undoes any coolness that having a new car might have acquired IMO.

I find this troubling if this is the current trend our youth are heading in. Luckily I will show my kids how to avoid this mistake.


$1065 isnt a mortgage payment anywhere that Ive lived...

Its barely rent in many places.

But that's the real problem. These car payments from poor decisions make it impossible to ever own anything worth keeping... like real property.

 

[PF52]

Nick needs to hang onto the Mazda for awhile. A used Cavalier won't get him much as trade-in fodder six months or a year from now when something shiny and new catches his eye.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
$1065 isnt a mortgage payment anywhere that Ive lived...


It is in many parts of the country. We own a 1,700 sq ft house built in 1993. Very typical: 3 BR, 2 BA, 2 car garage, 1/3 acre lot, decent little neighborhood, etc. Our mortgage payment is about $790/month on a 30 year note of about $100k borrowed.

The bank told us we were approved for a $180k loan when we bought the house 10 years ago, back when I was making half of what I do today. Yeah, right!! I watch a lot of home shows where young kids are using their bank approval number to set the price of the houses they shop!

 

[supton]

We ran into that too--qualified for more than we could ever afford. Wound up in 700sqft/2bedroom on a $150k loan. We did a refi, and I don't remember the numbers, but we've never paid less than a grand/month between mortgage and property taxes. It's a good thing we were expecting, and knew we could just afford what we bought, as the temptation was definately there to go bigger (now that we have a son and a daughter we wished we had!).

[Of course we bought 7 or 8 years ago. Only lost 25% in value since then... or about the same amount I've paid off on the principle.]

 

[Hokiefyd]

I should have included that our mortgage payment includes escrow for insurance and property taxes. If only considering principle and interest, our mortgage is only something like $550/month. Fortunately, our home values have increased here since we bought, and especially in the last five years. Living close to a strong and growing military installation does that kind of thing. The value of our home has increased 27% compared to what we paid for it. That's fair market value, not a tax or rebuild value.

I suspect we're drifting off-topic here, but maybe still relevant to a discussion about personal finances and extending oneself to far on a home or a vehicle.

 

[jdeare]

Obviously you're going to do what you're going to do, but it seems to me like it would be worth it to get your loan back to the terms you agreed upon, since that would mean your overpayments would go more toward the principle, instead of the interest. I assume your loan is through Mazda, which means it's actually through Chase? They are total ***** on the phone, but if you go down to a local branch (assuming you have one) I'd be willing to bet they will help you work it out.

 

[supton]

It might be relevant. Used to be that owning a house was "good" debt. Today, not so much, although one still needs someplace to hang their hat. But I think the story is the same: don't buy too much car, don't buy too much house. One is guaranteed to lose value, the other might (and many have). One needs to hedge their bets on all purchases, "just in case".

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I should have included that our mortgage payment includes escrow for insurance and property taxes. If only considering principle and interest, our mortgage is only something like $550/month. Fortunately, our home values have increased here since we bought, and especially in the last five years. Living close to a strong and growing military installation does that kind of thing. The value of our home has increased 27% compared to what we paid for it. That's fair market value, not a tax or rebuild value.

I suspect we're drifting off-topic here, but maybe still relevant to a discussion about personal finances and extending oneself to far on a home or a vehicle.


LOL, I pay >$700/mo in property taxes alone!

Anyway, back OT...

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I should have included that our mortgage payment includes escrow for insurance and property taxes. If only considering principle and interest, our mortgage is only something like $550/month. Fortunately, our home values have increased here since we bought, and especially in the last five years. Living close to a strong and growing military installation does that kind of thing. The value of our home has increased 27% compared to what we paid for it. That's fair market value, not a tax or rebuild value.

I suspect we're drifting off-topic here, but maybe still relevant to a discussion about personal finances and extending oneself to far on a home or a vehicle.


LOL, I pay >$700/mo in property taxes alone!

Anyway, back OT...



WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Mine are under 3K a year, LOL!

 

[Hokiefyd]

At $700 per month, I hope they mow your grass for you and wash your car!

I pay a total of about $1,700/year, and that includes city and county tax.

 

[hypervish]

I pay more than 10k/year for property tax, I hate NJ. LOL

 

[JHZR2]

I love living in NJ and gladly pay it for top notch schools in small school districts so my kids dont have to ride a disgisting school bus to a school with 8000 kids where nobody knows anyone else.

Plus being halfway between DC and NY,

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I love living in NJ and gladly pay it for top notch schools in small school districts so my kids dont have to ride a disgisting school bus to a school with 8000 kids where nobody knows anyone else.

Plus being halfway between DC and NY,


I agree, I love NJ as well. Of course, I wouldn't mind if the taxes weren't so high, but you know what, you get what you pay for. Plus, there are many indian stores around me, and considering that I am Indian, that's a good thing. LOL, many people travel from out of state just to visit the indian stores here, so I'm glad I live just a few minutes away. It's great for my parents, because they still feel like it's the same environment as when they were younger and still living in India. [censored], just this weekend we had two indian day parades on the same friggin' road.

Sorry OP for going off-topic.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I love living in NJ and gladly pay it for top notch schools in small school districts so my kids dont have to ride a disgisting school bus to a school with 8000 kids where nobody knows anyone else.

Plus being halfway between DC and NY,


Meh, I guess I pay it in other ways. My kids are within walking distance from a number of excellent schools. We are less than two hours from the cottage on lake Muskoka yet property taxes, even for the cottage, aren't anywhere near what you pay.

But we pay 13% HST on everything. And we pay more for fuel....etc. So as I said, I'm sure I pay for it in other ways.