Things are worse than I thought...

Status
Not open for further replies.
"Why are you looking at "retail" values at NADA? That's what dealers can charge because they offer things like a 90 day warranty."

Because my car has a 5/60 bumper-to-bumper and 6/100 powertrain warranty with only 8300 miles on the car. I'm certainly not selling it outright for 'trade-in' prices...otherwise I'll just trade it in at a dealer and forget all the hassle of doing it myself.
 
Gentlemen (and ladies too, if any are participating in this thread):

I am not looking to buy or sell, but I can see what's going on.

There is almost zero interest in buying new or used cars at any price.

Since this is a terrible time to sell a car, and new car depreciation is at a record high, the best course is to keep the car you own.

Most likely everyone who bought a new car in the last 12-18 months is underwater on the financing, unless he made a sizable down payment.
 
Originally Posted By: EricZoom
There was a guy on the Mazda6club forum that was selling his Speed6 with 40k miles for 11.5, with no luck. Last i looked, he was going to sell it to Carmax. That car had some warranty left on it, and also had a new engine and clutch.


New engine and clutch on a 40k car? Suprised people aren't jumping all over it. Examples like that remind me why I bought new. I owe $15k on my 2007 Accord EX-L, not too bad.
 
I'll be ready to buy in a few months. Matter of fact, my wife and I are pondering what kind of deal we might be able to get if we offer cash for two cars at once.
 
Hopefully Americans are coming to realize that we don't need 75% of the products we purchase and we certainly do not need a new car every 3 years. This philosophy that well, the car payment is the same so why not trade is crazy. You are always in debt and will never escape it trading every 3 years and for the most part, it is just something to get you from one place to another.

As to the Big 3 well, they gave Americans what they wanted, big SUVs, now the owners are suffering the same as the big 3, cars that no one wants because in the future they just are not practical. We all know that gas prices will go up again, bank on it!

In 1969 I owned a 1965 Pontiac Catalina with a very nice V8 that got 25 mpg highway. We have gone nowhere in MPG in 40 years, yea yea, the emissions etc but in reality we have made no progress and we basically deserve the situation we are in with the gas etc.
 
I guess the reason I would like to trade is that a 'downgrade' would be a good idea for me, if I actually came out of the deal with a lower payment. I ride the motorcycle everywhere, so I enjoy my car being a 'garage queen', but I think I'd enjoy a cheaper car as a garage queen even more.

It's definitely not the end of the world if I can't make a deal. The car is in new condition with a long warranty. I just thought now would be a prime time to try for a lower payment, until I realized that the used car market is also in the toilet.

I got a call from a very nice lady at a different Saturn dealer last night, so I dusted off the Mazda this morning and will head over there after work. Hopefully she has a more realistic idea of what it's like to 'deal'. If not, the Mazda can continue looking pretty in the garage.
 
I wish people would think more carefully BEFORE buying a car. It is MUCH easier and cheaper to get the right vehicle in the 1st place then to keep upgrading and downgrading every 3 years.
My hard working neighbor has 2 boys, close to 20 year olds. One of them buys a nice sporty pickup, pays a lot. Then he has a couple of mishaps, now is paying astronimical insurance. Of course, gas was expensive and trucks didn't sell so he was stuck with his truck that lost about half of its original price.

Now his brother just bought a used 350Z!?!?!?! Still cost him about $40K, but the timing .... What the heck?!?!?

Before getting pickups, sporty Nissans and Mazdas, first you need to pay other bills and have a cheap efficient commuter car. I would like get a new hybrid, but still keep pushing myself to keep driving my 13 yeard old Civic past 100K.

If you are getting a new car and are fully aware that it will loose 30%+ of its value in the 1st 1-2 years (sports cars, pickup and SUVs when gas is high, etc) then clearly you have to commit yourself to keeping it for 10+ years in order to get the full value out of it. You just cannot expect the used car market to bail you out because chances are many other people are looking for a bailout from used car market at the same time and prioces collapse, like right now.

With all the talk about better quality of US cars and of course good quality of foreigh cars, why would anyone NOT keep their car for at least 10 years?

Oh well, I guess we learn the hard way now
frown.gif
 
I've been thinking about ditching my 9-5 b/c although it's up to 150k relatively troublefree miles, I have sludge nightmares every night when I sleep. But if we do buy a couple of new cars, we'd still keep the CR-V b/c it's just too dang good to get rid of. But alas, I'll probably drive that 9-5 into the ground. Whenever it may be.
 
Now that you've said it, your 9-5 will go another 150K without issue. It's when you AREN'T expecting it that they die a sludgy death at the worst possible time.
 
Yep. That's probably what will happen. When I wrecked my 900 and got my 9-5, I just knew the thing would blow up inside of two years. I just realized yesterday that I have steamrolled past three years and everything is fine.
 
Originally Posted By: BrianWC
I'll be ready to buy in a few months. Matter of fact, my wife and I are pondering what kind of deal we might be able to get if we offer cash for two cars at once.


Around here, I don't think cash has made for a better deal for at least the last couple of decades. It is a negative from the seller's perspective, because they receive no note to discount as an additional profit on the sale.

The advantage of cash is keeping the interest you would otherwise pay in your pocket instead of the bank's. That is enough of a deal for me.

edit: I would bet that a very large percentage of the few cars being sold right now are being sold for cash, because financing is so hard to get. Wall Street sucking up all the money is killing car sales.
 
Last edited:
"Greedy, irresponsible lenders, eschewing decades of underwriting conventions, offered risky, expensive loans to irresponsible borrowers, enabling them to either purchase grossly overvalued, unaffordable properties or to 'refinance' their debt-ridden, profligate lifestyles via a series of unconventional variable-rate 'timebombs'"

"If my neighbor is 'upside down' on the car he can't afford and the BMW dealership writes the balance into a lease on a new BMW he can't afford, am I now supposed to worry about it being repossessed and how to BAIL OUT him, the dealership, the finance company and BMW of North America?"

September 8, 2007 Letter to the Editor: The Oregonian (now commonly known as The Obamagonian)

Check the date of the published letter & Cheers!
 
Originally Posted By: bob_ninja
With all the talk about better quality of US cars and of course good quality of foreigh cars, why would anyone NOT keep their car for at least 10 years?

The Saab 900 I bought in 1987 was paid off in 1990 -- then I drove it for 13 MORE years without any payments to worry about.

The Golf TDI I bought in 2003 (0.9% financing) was paid off in July 2008 -- and I plan to drive it into the ground over the next 10-15 years, without any payments.

It is a wonderful thing not to have car payments.
 
OR keep driving that paid-off older car until you really cannot. And that $400 you shelled out 4 months ago for a new rack, well, that's $100/month for 4 months for a car. Can't find a beater used car for that price even.

And $100/month in repair bills is still a LOT less than a new car payment. Add to that insurance costs of old vs. new and suddenly your old car looks like quite the pretty girl at the dance...that you're going home with!
 
I paid $1,500 down in cash the day I ordered my car in '96, and I dropped another $27,000 cash on the salesman's desk the day I picked the car up 4 months later. I also left him my decrepit Bucik, fo which I got $1,100, which was about what I had paid for that POS. I would never finance a car. It would always feel like I'm driving the bank's car. Over 12 years later I'm perfectly happy with the same Audi, which is my primary daily driver. Maintenance and repairs run me about $300 a year. Insurance is a little over $700 a year. I see no reason to not keep driving this car until it becomes unreasonably expensive. Maintenance and repairs have however become less expensive over time (since I ditched the dealer and independent mechanic six years ago), so with around 180k miles on the clock there's really no end in sight.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Thermo1223
Tiguan decided to identify as the Exxon Valdez...
Replies
18
Views
3K
meep
shortyb
Took a 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo for a spin (almost)
Replies
11
Views
447
KCJeep
U
2019 Lincoln MKC Reserve - should I buy???
2
Replies
31
Views
9K
urdrwho
P
Should I use PH7317 Fram oil filters or throw them out?
2
Replies
34
Views
8K
ARCOgraphite
Blake1107
When is it Time to Trade?
2
Replies
37
Views
4K
facility1
Back
Top Bottom