Ever paid cash for a new car?

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Borrowed $500 to partially finance the Subaru, new.
Personal checks for 100% of the Mazda's price, new.
Check for !00% of the Toyota, "certified," 3 years old.
 
Yes, all three vehicles which two were new and one used all from dealers were paid in full when I drove off the lot. I'm old school and don't want to finance. Only regret is my last vehicle doesn't get used often now (several times a year) and hindsight I should have leased and returned it back than having it sit depreciating.
 
1st car I bought used with cash ($3,800). My second (current) car I financed but it's paid off. Next car (most likely slightly used) will be cash. Financing is no fun. With interest rates going up and 0% financing going away paying cash will be the obvious choice if you've got the money.
 
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Originally Posted by ZZman
Not me. Have always had to finance or lease. Could/can barely ever save up money as life happens...


If it costs $300/mth for payment + interest payment to bank CEOs yacht fund, why can't you afford $275/mth for just the payment into savings and then pay with cash? "I can't afford to pay cash" rarely makes numerical sense. What people need to start saying is "I can't afford to pay INTEREST."
 
Maybe once or twice when I was 18-21yrs/old. From then on, with dozens of vehicle purchases, all of them have been financed to some degree. All very low or "zero" interest rates or I wouldn't finance them, and all with some cash down. I know this topic has come up often here over the years. My personal take has always been that vehicle financing is SO cheap and easy to do, why waste a chunk of your capital on such a depreciating asset? I would never pay cash for a brand new or late model used daily driver vehicle. If you're talking a hobby or project vehicle? That's another matter.
 
Purchased 3 new cars for cash.

Cash means you don't take out a loan. Not that you go to the dealership with a duffel bag full of money. Not a drug dealer.

Some dealers wanted certified funds. Others didn't want anything. Told us to drive it home and send us a personal check when you have a chance.

My Camry was 0% down, 0% interest rate. No reason to not take that offer.
 
Originally Posted by Kruse
" Ever paid cash for a new car?"

When you say "cash", are you talking about actual paper money? Because I think the car dealer legally has to notify the IRS with cash (paper) transactions over a certain amount. They don't have to when it is written with a bank check.
Not that it would bother all people, but it would bother some.


I basically meant no financing. You could afford to buy it with funds on hand.
 
Originally Posted by HowAboutThis
Originally Posted by ZZman
Not me. Have always had to finance or lease. Could/can barely ever save up money as life happens...


If it costs $300/mth for payment + interest payment to bank CEOs yacht fund, why can't you afford $275/mth for just the payment into savings and then pay with cash? "I can't afford to pay cash" rarely makes numerical sense. What people need to start saying is "I can't afford to pay INTEREST."


I have pretty much always had a car payment until recently. I accepted that fact as I get bored with cars after a while and want something else. Usually about 3-4 years. So we pretty much just broke even from car to car. Savings in and of itself just never seemed to happen. Things would come up, household income was average. Most cars financed over 30 + years were used and not new. Did leasing a few times on new and financed a new car but got bored before loan was over.
 
My last two trucks have been all cash. (not new, they were each about a year old when I bought them) Then I start making "payments" to myself on the next vehicle. I drove my last truck for 12 years... That a lot of "payments" to myself... We had the cash to pay for my wife's current car, but we got a $1,500 discount to finance through Nissan at 0%. So we put 1/2 down, and 1/2 in CDs to mature as the payments come due. No need to make the financiers rich with money we worked hard to get!
 
"So we put 1/2 down, and 1/2 in CDs to mature as the payments come due. No need to make the financiers rich with money we worked hard to get!"

I've done the same. Negotiated what I could, then taken 0% offers, put money in 4 or 5 year CD, and paid myself interest instead of opposite. At the end of the CD term, car is paid off, CD matures, have more than what I paid for the car. Great deal all around...
 
Yes, sometimes it makes sense, other times financing makes sense. Depends on where I am in life. If I had to buy right now, I would finance the heck out of it. I want to hold on to my cash.
 
Originally Posted by JTK
Maybe once or twice when I was 18-21yrs/old. From then on, with dozens of vehicle purchases, all of them have been financed to some degree. All very low or "zero" interest rates or I wouldn't finance them, and all with some cash down. I know this topic has come up often here over the years. My personal take has always been that vehicle financing is SO cheap and easy to do, why waste a chunk of your capital on such a depreciating asset? I would never pay cash for a brand new or late model used daily driver vehicle. If you're talking a hobby or project vehicle? That's another matter.


I agree.

And very few folks have $20K+ cash to buy a new vehicle.
 
I usually put 10%-30% down and finance the rest on a 60 month loan- but I pay it off in 24 months or less. I tend to keep cars for 8-10 years so it works well for me.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Originally Posted by JTK
Maybe once or twice when I was 18-21yrs/old. From then on, with dozens of vehicle purchases, all of them have been financed to some degree. All very low or "zero" interest rates or I wouldn't finance them, and all with some cash down. I know this topic has come up often here over the years. My personal take has always been that vehicle financing is SO cheap and easy to do, why waste a chunk of your capital on such a depreciating asset? I would never pay cash for a brand new or late model used daily driver vehicle. If you're talking a hobby or project vehicle? That's another matter.


I agree.

And very few folks have $20K+ cash to buy a new vehicle.


It's basically the attitude of someone that doesn't have any money. I dropped about 19k in cash on one car about 4 years ago. Why didn't I just get a loan and stick it in the stock market? Because the money was already in the stock market and one year I made multiple times that in earnings from investments. Just a very good year back then. So I spent the money and took a little bit out of the market. The stock market can magnify your gains, but also does the same to your losses.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Originally Posted by JTK
Maybe once or twice when I was 18-21yrs/old. From then on, with dozens of vehicle purchases, all of them have been financed to some degree. All very low or "zero" interest rates or I wouldn't finance them, and all with some cash down. I know this topic has come up often here over the years. My personal take has always been that vehicle financing is SO cheap and easy to do, why waste a chunk of your capital on such a depreciating asset? I would never pay cash for a brand new or late model used daily driver vehicle. If you're talking a hobby or project vehicle? That's another matter.


I agree.

And very few folks have $20K+ cash to buy a new vehicle.


If you don't have $20k for a vehicle how does a person have $24k when you include interest on 5 years of payments? People can't manage money.
 
There is a difference between having $20K sitting in the bank and/or having saved $350 a month for the last 5 years to buy a car and being able to pay $350 a month for 5 future years. Circumstances change. It would be great if everyone had lots of cash sitting around, but that is not a reasonable expectation, even though there is a vocal group here that seems to think that is the case.

And sometimes (speaking from experience - luckily(for me) it was not me that was injured), people find themselves in a situation where they planned for everything and suddenly their perfect few year old, paid for car is totaled, insurance will give them $12K, and they have almost $100K in hospital bills for a one week stay and transportation after insurance, in addition to future PT, etc. The ~$50K you have in the bank is suddenly looking kind of thin and you need a vehicle. Who will give you the best interest rate is a valid question to ask on your path forward. I'll just not drive to work while we save up money for a new car is not really a great option, nor is driving a piece of crap that may or may not get you to your 6 figure job reliably. Sometimes a car loan is not a bad thing at all.

Also, with the interest rate on my last new car (Through my bank - so no dealer shenanigans), if the car had been $20K, the loan cost would have been $900, for a total cost of almost $21K. That's a pretty easy decision. I'd rather keep the money in the bank for $15 a month.

Originally Posted by HowAboutThis


If you don't have $20k for a vehicle how does a person have $24k when you include interest on 5 years of payments? People can't manage money.
 
Originally Posted by CBR.worm
There is a difference between having $20K sitting in the bank and/or having saved $350 a month for the last 5 years to buy a car and being able to pay $350 a month for 5 future years. Circumstances change. It would be great if everyone had lots of cash sitting around, but that is not a reasonable expectation, even though there is a vocal group here that seems to think that is the case.

And sometimes (speaking from experience - luckily(for me) it was not me that was injured), people find themselves in a situation where they planned for everything and suddenly their perfect few year old, paid for car is totaled, insurance will give them $12K, and they have almost $100K in hospital bills for a one week stay and transportation after insurance, in addition to future PT, etc. The ~$50K you have in the bank is suddenly looking kind of thin and you need a vehicle. Who will give you the best interest rate is a valid question to ask on your path forward. I'll just not drive to work while we save up money for a new car is not really a great option, nor is driving a piece of crap that may or may not get you to your 6 figure job reliably. Sometimes a car loan is not a bad thing at all.

Also, with the interest rate on my last new car (Through my bank - so no dealer shenanigans), if the car had been $20K, the loan cost would have been $900, for a total cost of almost $21K. That's a pretty easy decision. I'd rather keep the money in the bank for $15 a month.

Originally Posted by HowAboutThis


If you don't have $20k for a vehicle how does a person have $24k when you include interest on 5 years of payments? People can't manage money.



Medical emergencies and such aside, it has more to do with buying more than you can afford and status, from people I know. I'd much rather have your $900 spent on financing in my retirement account for the next 30 years than paying the bank's lighting costs. Each to their own, I guess.
 
The idea that you borrow money even at 0% to invest means still one cannot afford something. Not a risk Ian willing to take. That all being said my wife and I took on a car loan at 2% for $20k so I can't talk. Once our 4 year old goes to public school($10k in pocket) next year we plan on paying that car down ASAP along with wife working 32 hrs instead of 20hrs.
 
Yes, always for 'new' to me - which is always at least 5-10 years old
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