Just for fun, how are you enjoying your car payment

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I have neice and her husband who both have really well paying jobs. He has a "take home" truck. But he must also have the GIANT sized Ford pick up with the (4) doors and the interior like a limo that he tows the monster sized off shore fishing boat with. I know the truck was just shy of $100,000. Then she must ALWAYS get a new car when he does. Her new car since her dad spoiler her from a teen age MUST be a Mustang. Now that is all fine and good. They are as close to us as our own sons since she lost her mom. My only thing is you can not be with them unless you will hear the same old thing over and over again. "Dont know why? We make so much money YET we have no money!" Gee...... I have a clue. Between thousands of dollar truck/car notes (they never pay one off before the trades) boat payment and even insurance + house note etc.... oh and 2-3 trips to Disney each year .... duh.... there is where the money is going. Not a puzzle at all.

 

[M1Accord]

I haven’t had car payment since 2013 when I paid off my 2012 Fit.

$730 doesn’t sound bad and digestible in a family with two normal income, which averaged more than $150 in my circle. We have two couples that make below that, one is because the wife works very part time but they have a lot of nice cars and toys and the other couple is because the wife works as a lunch lady part time to be out the house. Both husbands work and make decent money. Everyone else I know have two spouse pulling over $100k each so I can see $730 as digestible and even justifiedable but I don’t see anywhere the length of this $730 payment plan. Some people will always have car payments just like mortgage. That is how they budget their life.

 

[M1Accord]

I have Gen Y and Gen Z (barely- early) kids - NO car payments!

Right there with you. No car payment in over 11 years. I may get one soon for a year as I typically pay off in a year. Or I may pay cash out right this time.

 

[M1Accord]

I have neice and her husband who both have really well paying jobs. He has a "take home" truck. But he must also have the GIANT sized Ford pick up with the (4) doors and the interior like a limo that he tows the monster sized off shore fishing boat with. I know the truck was just shy of $100,000. Then she must ALWAYS get a new car when he does. Her new car since her dad spoiler her from a teen age MUST be a Mustang. Now that is all fine and good. They are as close to us as our own sons since she lost her mom. My only thing is you can not be with them unless you will hear the same old thing over and over again. "Dont know why? We make so much money YET we have no money!" Gee...... I have a clue. Between thousands of dollar truck/car notes (they never pay one off before the trades) boat payment and even insurance + house note etc.... oh and 2-3 trips to Disney each year .... duh.... there is where the money is going. Not a puzzle at all.

I know several couples like that. But in a way I am jealous of their ability to be lucky with finance and ability to make more than me.

With my personality, I would still be buying new mid-level Honda or treat myself to a used Lexus even if I find a winning powerball on the curb. The only thing that would change is which vehicle to buy for the kid. And I like cars a lot more than an average person, just not liking to change cars at all.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I know several couples like that. But in a way I am jealous of their ability to be lucky with finance and ability to make more than me.

With my personality, I would still be buying new mid-level Honda or treat myself to a used Lexus even if I find a winning powerball on the curb. The only thing that would change is which vehicle to buy for the kid. And I like cars a lot more than an average person, just not liking to change cars at all.

I just always had a silly hobby of trying to keep our vehicles as long as I could. Attempted to keep looking and driving as close to new/original as I could. Something like that is much easier I must admit when you can keep them inside a garage all of the time when not in use. It really makes a difference.

 

[wander2039]

No payments on any of our vehicles. Think the RV was the last and that was like 5 years ago. Someday we'll need to bite the bullet and get something else. The Focus is sorta terrible, I'm still trying to figure how it had smoke come out of the two inner cylinders. Technically we could pay cash but don't think I want to wrap it all up on that purchase. Don't know how we'll ever be able to afford another RV either, we paid $22 for ours 11 years ago. I don't see that happening again.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I have neice and her husband who both have really well paying jobs. He has a "take home" truck. But he must also have the GIANT sized Ford pick up with the (4) doors and the interior like a limo that he tows the monster sized off shore fishing boat with. I know the truck was just shy of $100,000. Then she must ALWAYS get a new car when he does. Her new car since her dad spoiler her from a teen age MUST be a Mustang. Now that is all fine and good. They are as close to us as our own sons since she lost her mom. My only thing is you can not be with them unless you will hear the same old thing over and over again. "Dont know why? We make so much money YET we have no money!" Gee...... I have a clue. Between thousands of dollar truck/car notes (they never pay one off before the trades) boat payment and even insurance + house note etc.... oh and 2-3 trips to Disney each year .... duh.... there is where the money is going. Not a puzzle at all.

Well those of us who do "make decent money" and don't have all those payments have been asking who on Earth do these young families afford all of this stuff...

Those of us that DO have those things, but are paid for, probably not new, more like 10-20 years old, KNOW how much it costs to maintain the things (properly), insure them (properly), pay all the annual taxes and government fees, etc., which is a "payment" in of itself...

I enjoy having some toys and more than 1 dedicated vehicle, but I have to say the insurance, maintenance and taxes / tags gets old....quick.

 

[dadto2]

I used to have a rule for myself... No car loans greater than $300/month or longer than 36 month term. And that got me a few decent cars. And that was also 25 years ago. In that context, $750/month today doesn't sound so bad.

Now, having said that... I also haven't had a car loan since 2002. I buy with cash then start saving toward the next one.

 

[LDB]

I have neice and her husband who both have really well paying jobs. He has a "take home" truck. But he must also have the GIANT sized Ford pick up with the (4) doors and the interior like a limo that he tows the monster sized off shore fishing boat with. I know the truck was just shy of $100,000. Then she must ALWAYS get a new car when he does. Her new car since her dad spoiler her from a teen age MUST be a Mustang. Now that is all fine and good. They are as close to us as our own sons since she lost her mom. My only thing is you can not be with them unless you will hear the same old thing over and over again. "Dont know why? We make so much money YET we have no money!" Gee...... I have a clue. Between thousands of dollar truck/car notes (they never pay one off before the trades) boat payment and even insurance + house note etc.... oh and 2-3 trips to Disney each year .... duh.... there is where the money is going. Not a puzzle at all.

If they were mine I'd give them a copy of The Total Money Makeover and explain fully and clearly how the cow at the cabbage.

 

[Dave Hess]

The average person needs a $10K reliable vehicle to get from point A to B.

Tons of folks living paycheck to paycheck and driving something not needed.

Ego gets people in a lot of financial trouble. Its OK to drive a used Camry or Accord with 100K miles.

 

[Lubener]

I can say I am getting much enjoyment NOT having a car payment...

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I used to have a rule for myself... No car loans greater than $300/month or longer than 36 month term. And that got me a few decent cars. And that was also 25 years ago. In that context, $750/month today doesn't sound so bad.

Now, having said that... I also haven't had a car loan since 2002. I buy with cash then start saving toward the next one.

I have to say that I seriously dread buying a new(er) car in the future. I have three extremely high-quality Toyotas in the driveway, one is designed and built to endure 25 hard years and over 500k miles, I plan on spending what it takes to keep that one forever.

The other two, most people would say that they envision replacing them at some point no matter what, but I bet they will also last another 20+ years. It might take $15-20k in a few major repairs and re-conditioning (seats, paint, etc) to get there, but $20k won't touch a "decent" used vehicle in 5 more years.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

None. I called my guy and asked how much for the car and was told my price. It was acceptable so I bought it. About 5-10 minutes with him to get a batch of paperwork ready and about 5-10 minutes with the finance lady to sign 37 times. All done.

So you didn’t negotiate the price. You pay no interest, but the amount you pay is more. You also must have full insurance.

 

[M1Accord]

I just always had a silly hobby of trying to keep our vehicles as long as I could. Attempted to keep looking and driving as close to new/original as I could. Something like that is much easier I must admit when you can keep them inside a garage all of the time when not in use. It really makes a difference.

I am the same way except the exterior upkeep has always been challenging. My goal is to the Fit to 300k, which is completely doable but will be awhile as we don’t drive much nowadays. At this rate, then next vehicle or the next one after would be a well proven EV from Honda or Toyota in 10-15 years.

 

[M1Accord]

The average person needs a $10K reliable vehicle to get from point A to B.

Tons of folks living paycheck to paycheck and driving something not needed.

Ego gets people in a lot of financial trouble. Its OK to drive a used Camry or Accord with 100K miles.

And when the market value of such $10k vehicle drops to $5k, they need to keep driving it.

I made poor financial decisons throughout my life. Getting married was one that leads to many others. But I still have plenty income and resource to get a $100k vehicle. But such $100k doesn’t buy much vehicle; however, the insurance and tax fees would be detrimental and unnecessary. But somehow my investment in insurance companies doesn’t get the memo and never seen to stay up because insurance companies are so bloated with employees as it is an industry that takes something and trying to net zero their revenue so they hire and spend like drunken sailors on liberty.

 

[M1Accord]

If they were mine I'd give them a copy of The Total Money Makeover and explain fully and clearly how the cow at the cabbage.

It is not one of d Ramsey’s cookbook, is it? I don’t believe 75% of his business testimonies as people with bad financial choices somehow clear thousands and sometime hundreds thousands of debts. I think his stuffs are either common sens or too good to be true and people should learn how to manage money from their parents or from the lack of in early life. But then Apple would be out of business if people don’t feel the need to replace within 18-24 months.

 

[LDB]

So you didn’t negotiate the price. You pay no interest, but the amount you pay is more. You also must have full insurance.

I got a good discount off MSRP. Fair for me. Fair for them. I don't need to "negotiate" the last couple hundred dollars. I'm not that stingy. And I'm not that cheap. Fair is perfectly fine. And yes, I have full coverage insurance.

 

[LDB]

It is not one of d Ramsey’s cookbook, is it? I don’t believe 75% of his business testimonies as people with bad financial choices somehow clear thousands and sometime hundreds thousands of debts. I think his stuffs are either common sens or too good to be true and people should learn how to manage money from their parents or from the lack of in early life. But then Apple would be out of business if people don’t feel the need to replace within 18-24 months.

Yes, it's a Dave Ramsey book and it works if followed as given.

 

[proveitwithdata]

How much more did you pay for the truck by giving up your negotiating power though?

None.

If you are an informed customer, you are presenting a well prepared, line by line deal terms for either a yes or a no. The price should not change regardless of your financing as that would be tied selling, which would be illegal.

You loose the so called negotiating power, by visiting a dealership, by going in blind and hoping the dealer has your best fiduciary interests in mind, by not understanding the product you are about to buy or not knowing what you want to buy, not reading the contract at your own pace, or by simply being emotional in a business transaction.

The internet age has lessened the information asymmetry that existed as the dealers primary tool in negotiations.

 

[supton]

Something like that is much easier I must admit when you can keep them inside a garage all of the time when not in use. It really makes a difference.

Mine will last less as long as they might, due to the garage. Stays too warm in winter, promotes rusting. I think my cars were rusting slower when they stayed outside all winter.

Regional thing I know.