Latest vehicle purchase incentives

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Dec 31, 2017
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SE British Columbia, Canada
Just saw this one at the GM dealer.

7A8B0C4E-8647-4203-87F6-471E78E3CC46.jpeg
 
Yeah, my eye is starting to wander around. Now might be a good time to buy*.

If I were to look, I'd inquire how payments are handled. Is it all online, and can you make a payment when the mood strikes? Years ago the wife and I took advantage of Sear's 0% for a year financing on a washer & dryer--one of those deals we couldn't pass up, as long as we signed up for the credit card, like 10% off and 0%. Well... 3 months went by and no bill. Our plan was to make 12 payments BUT not to pay interest (new house, new kid, lots of worry about money). Once we realized they weren't going to send a bill until they were going to make money off us... we chased them to start sending statements, and we quickly paid it off. IMO, if I were to jump on a new car, I'd just as soon start paying from the beginning. Without going too far down the usual BITOG "if you can't pay cash then you can't afford it" ... if I can't make the payment today then I really shouldn't be signing up.

0% over x years though.

[*Every time I think about buying another car I am reminded that I went from 500-700 miles per week to... maybe 40? Hard to justify at the moment!]
 
I see GM finally figured out the since wheels are round, round wheelwells look much better than those ugly things they used. They are so huge my old 4 post lift I have, you can not fit it on it, will not clear. The Colorado and Canyon was beat with a ugly stick. The Ranger may not fit, they look pretty big. IN a couple of years I may need to find out.

Rod
 
I like the 84 months** - especially with prices out there.

But, delaying payments will put you in a bad place - upside down

with a value/ debit ration under 1.0.

You get in an accident and you may be 8 grand in the hole easily

______

If 84 months at 0% makes the vehicle a lot pricier, skip it. You want to pay lowest $$ out of the gate.
 
These 0% deals are great [and kind of scary]. Great as long as you pay it off in no more than 5 years even though it is "free money". Scary in that this is what the state of the market is right now, and also scary going out more than 5 years on a quickly depreciating asset like this. If you go in planning to keep the vehicle forever, then it is a great way to get a new vehicle and pay no interest.

The deferral is just a bad deal. Hopefully no one does that. If you can't afford to start paying the monthly payment right away, you shouldn't be buying the car. Now, if you use the deferral period to save the equivalent of 6 payments, and then send that in with your first "real" payment that would be a wise use of the deferral period and help knock down the principal.
 
the inventories are piling up, they need to find a way how to get rid off them

all i know, one's live without car payment is priceless
grin.gif
 
I bought a new Toyota Tundra SR5 with upgrade package, 4WD, spray-in bed liner, side steps, 20" ultra motorsports wheels, etc., for $36,000 plus tax in December 2014. Sticker was $44,300, IIRC. They were also offering 0% for 5 years. I took it only after offering to write a check for $36,000 OTD (including tax). They said they couldn't, they were at rock bottom. This was 4 days before Christmas and this truck had been on the lot for 7 months. This dealer is in an area where 4x4 trucks are not hot sellers. nor were $40k vehicles. Let's just say their primary source of revenue was either long-term renting or leasing Corollas.

I think I did ok. I did take 58 months to pay it off, primarily because I told myself each month there was no benefit to paying it off early. My wife started in on me about year 4 and kept saying "we should just pay that off." I had to tell her there was no interest accumulating and there was no different payoff amount other than X number of payments left.

So there was not a cheaper price for me to pay cash or finance elsewhere with my deal. I can prove that by saying I kept up with fair market value of my truck for about 3 years. At about month 20, my truck was still worth about $33,000 on the street. That's a drop in value of $3,000 from what I paid for it almost 2 years earlier.

I'll probably never run into a deal like that again.

As far as the "deals" on GM vehicles right now, I'd take one if given to me, no way I'd finance one for 84 months, much less buy one for $1.
 
Originally Posted by ryster
These 0% deals are great [and kind of scary]. Great as long as you pay it off in no more than 5 years even though it is "free money". Scary in that this is what the state of the market is right now, and also scary going out more than 5 years on a quickly depreciating asset like this. If you go in planning to keep the vehicle forever, then it is a great way to get a new vehicle and pay no interest.

The deferral is just a bad deal. Hopefully no one does that. If you can't afford to start paying the monthly payment right away, you shouldn't be buying the car. Now, if you use the deferral period to save the equivalent of 6 payments, and then send that in with your first "real" payment that would be a wise use of the deferral period and help knock down the principal.



Yep. That truck in the picture is what, probably stickered at $52k? In 2 years, the actual street value will be somewhere around $30k, at the highest. Don't make any payments for 6 months, finance $46,000 and you're STILL underwater by at least $3,000, if not more.
 
Don't pay for 6 months... yeah and then what? How are unemployed or furloughed people supposed to qualify? I don't know anyone buying a new car right now, for good reason.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I like the 84 months** - especially with prices out there.

But, delaying payments will put you in a bad place - upside down

with a value/ debit ration under 1.0.

You get in an accident and you may be 8 grand in the hole easily



Dealers are happy to sell you gap insurance to protect against this scenario.
 
The zero APR often means you'll forego a substantial rebate that otherwise everyone gets. So the actual street price of the truck and the resale value reflects the rebate not what you're going to finance. The sticker price on GM has always been greatly inflated.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by supton
...
Years ago the wife and I took advantage of Sear's 0% for a year financing on a washer & dryer--one of those deals we couldn't pass up, as long as we signed up for the credit card, like 10% off and 0%. Well... 3 months went by and no bill. Our plan was to make 12 payments BUT not to pay interest (new house, new kid, lots of worry about money). Once we realized they weren't going to send a bill until they were going to make money off us... we chased them to start sending statements, and we quickly paid it off.


That's weird. Every time I've taken advantage of one of those deals from Sears or when buying furniture, they sent a monthly statement. The minimum payment due was $0 but interest accrued and there was a notation on the bottom that the full amount had to be paid by xx/xx/xx or the accrued interest would be added to the total due.

But, back on topic...been debating looking myself. VW is offering 0% on 5 years for CPO vehicles, and the dealer near me has a number of TDI's that have been fixed due to Dieselgate. It's tempting...
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I like the 84 months** - especially with prices out there.

But, delaying payments will put you in a bad place - upside down

with a value/ debit ration under 1.0.

You get in an accident and you may be 8 grand in the hole easily

______

If 84 months at 0% makes the vehicle a lot pricier, skip it. You want to pay lowest $$ out of the gate.


Gap insurance. Wouldn't be surprised if it were required.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
Originally Posted by supton
...
Years ago the wife and I took advantage of Sear's 0% for a year financing on a washer & dryer--one of those deals we couldn't pass up, as long as we signed up for the credit card, like 10% off and 0%. Well... 3 months went by and no bill. Our plan was to make 12 payments BUT not to pay interest (new house, new kid, lots of worry about money). Once we realized they weren't going to send a bill until they were going to make money off us... we chased them to start sending statements, and we quickly paid it off.


That's weird. Every time I've taken advantage of one of those deals from Sears or when buying furniture, they sent a monthly statement. The minimum payment due was $0 but interest accrued and there was a notation on the bottom that the full amount had to be paid by xx/xx/xx or the accrued interest would be added to the total due.


Yeah it was weird. This would have been 2005 and I was expecting monthly bills. But our first was born couple months later and things were a flurry for a bit, then we were like... um, bill? Thankfully everything settled down, the new house didn't implode on us, and so we had plenty of case to pay off.

Quote
But, back on topic...been debating looking myself. VW is offering 0% on 5 years for CPO vehicles, and the dealer near me has a number of TDI's that have been fixed due to Dieselgate. It's tempting...

I do miss my old TDI. Stickshift, wagon, and right now heated seats sure do sound good to my sore back. If I was any good as a diesel mechanic it'd be really tempting.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
120 months at 0% will be needed to jump start new vehicle sales.

I'm not joking.


I hope not, but the way things are going it is looking kind of grim.

The automakers are basically "front loading" their profit by charging more for the car and making nothing on the financing. I get it. They want their profit right away. The customer doesn't necessarily benefit. Any interest savings you get with the 0% loan is eaten up by the higher price of the car and is in the loan principal. It is the typical new car numbers game.

$30,000 car, less $4500 rebate = $25,500 price. $25,500 @ 3.5% for 60 months = $463.89/mo. $27,833.40 total
$30,000 car, not eligible for rebates = $30,000 price. $30,000 @ 0% for 84 months = $357.00/mo. $30,000 total

Forget the 0%. I'm going with the traditional financing.
 
It boggles my mind that so many folks are still opting for a new vehicle even though the market has been overproducing cars and trucks for near 7 years now.

Thanks to leasing and rentals, there is usually an extra six to seven million vehicles every year that are built to last well over a decade but are only used for 3 years at most.

The deals I am getting at the wholesale dealer auctions are incredibly low at the moment. Even trucks are going for cheap.
 
Originally Posted by macarose
It boggles my mind that so many folks are still opting for a new vehicle even though the market has been overproducing cars and trucks for near 7 years now.

Thanks to leasing and rentals, there is usually an extra six to seven million vehicles every year that are built to last well over a decade but are only used for 3 years at most.

The deals I am getting at the wholesale dealer auctions are incredibly low at the moment. Even trucks are going for cheap.



People don't want the maintenance bills associated with keeping a car more than 36 months. Especially European cars. So they would rather lease every 3 years and never build up any equity. It is a flawed plan, because they end up putting the same, if not more, money down on the new lease that they would have spent getting the routine maintenance done and just buying the car originally. Vehicles don't change that much in 3 years, unless you are leasing a vehicle at the end of it's current design run.

They want their "complimentary" maintenance plan to cover oil changes and tire rotations, go in once per year for the service, make the monthly payment, and walk away after 3 years. Rinse and repeat.

The person buying it used gets a great deal on price. Then within the first 6 months they are stuck with putting tires and brakes on it (~$1500) and getting the 30,000 mile ($600+) service on it. So within the first several months of buying the car the 2nd owner is putting $2,000+ into it.
 
If you are financially stable with a nest egg and plan on keeping the vehicle, take $10K of the nest egg as a down payment, purchase a $30K car and you can pay it off at $238 a month over the next 7 years. Sweet deal if you ask me. The down payment will keep the negative equity down in case the car gets totaled early on. An added bonus is that the insurance cost of a $30K vehicle is probably lower than the more expensive performance vehicles that can be bought instead.

Of course, this advice is not for the car enthusiast/performance crowd.
 
Originally Posted by SeaJay
If you are financially stable with a nest egg and plan on keeping the vehicle, take $10K of the nest egg as a down payment, purchase a $30K car and you can pay it off at $238 a month over the next 7 years. Sweet deal if you ask me. The down payment will keep the negative equity down in case the car gets totaled early on. An added bonus is that the insurance cost of a $30K vehicle is probably lower than the more expensive performance vehicles that can be bought instead.

Of course, this advice is not for the car enthusiast/performance crowd.


Or put the $10,000 down on top of the $4500 rebate, finance traditionally at $282 per month for 5 years, and come out ahead. Not only is it costing you $3,000 less than the 0% deal, you would have a little higher equity in the paid off car in case you need to get out of it for some reason. If you are financially stable, you can afford the extra $44 per month to pay it off 2 years sooner.
 
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