Let's go way back to 2008... I was 19, I was making decent money, and the whole world seemed to be okay. I decided I needed to purchase my own vehicle. I had 6 grand in cash as a down payment. I felt it was a necessity to own a new vehicle. After searching for weeks, I had found my car...A 2009 Corolla LE. It was beautiful. It was new and fresh. The car only had 48 miles on it. The price tag was a mere 16 grand. Flash forward several weeks later...I've decided to purchase the car. It was all set in stone. The loan would be 14k at 8% interest. Without thinking I signed the papers. A 72 month haul with a payment of 248$ per month. I was ecstatic, I was the proud owner of a new vehicle.
Three years later... This bastard car has had so many problems. I now have 113k miles on it. It had been hit several times by bastard citizens that decided it was in their best interest to walk away and not leave a note. The AC condenser and compressor are shot. The Florida heat has killed me this year. I'm still making decent money, but after putting thousands more in repairs into this vehicle, and having other financial woes, I begin to question my decision in 2009. I'm no longer in school because I simply cannot afford it any longer. It is all building up.
This evening...10/7/11... My iPhone was stolen two months ago, and I've been waiting for the iPhone 4S. I finish my annual credit report to find out that I owe 7.5k still on this vehicle. I check my payment book and realize there are only 17 -payments left. "AWESOME!", I scream in joy...But why does the 7.5k not match the 4k I believe I owe? After doing some research, I read my booklet and it says,
If your loan is for more than 60 payments, an additional coupon book will be sent to you after the due date of your 60th payment.
I dropped to my knees in disbelief. The entire time I had thought the interest was included with the payment, but it wasn't. I had fooled myself. My hope to pay off the car and move back to New york suddenly became only a once-dream. It would take me a lot longer to pay this car off, and I wasn't sure how long it could hold on at this rate.
I'm sitting here wondering why I was so naive to think that I could purchase a new vehicle. I had no taken into consideration the decay that would occur in those short years. With 3 years of payments left, I feel demoralized, I feel as if I let myself down, but most of all I feel that I've sold myself out. My desire to own this car had completely overtaken me. I now realize at 22 that it was a huge mistake. Not only was it a mistake, but I had fooled myself over the past 3 years that there were only 60 payments, not 72 and that it would be paid off by next year.
I'm not quite sure how to approach this. A lot of things were revolving around paying this car off, and now it feels as if it'll never happen.
Ironic: I spelled stupidity wrong. Can a moderator please change the spelling before I look like a complete idiot Edit: 1:57 am
Sounds rough, I dont see the reasoning behind getting a 16 grand car when you could get a much cheaper used car. That or take transit as possible. Having a 14k loan sounds scary!
What does coupon book mean? I guess I would probably plan to buy a car at some point in the future so are there some pointers you could give about the whole process?
On October 07 2011 15:06 Emporio wrote: Wow that sounds really crazy TT
What does coupon book mean? I guess I would probably plan to buy a car at some point in the future so are there some pointers you could give about the whole process?
Don't buy a new car unless you have 75% cash at least. Negotiate a lot. Try to get a deal on the previous year (2011) instead of a 2012 (they are out now) because they will want to get rid of last years model faster. DO NOT EVER EVER EVER lease a car. Make sure you have good credit because interest rates will kill you. Buy a stick shift (it was 3k cheaper, but i was stupid). Honestly, buy a crappy beater until you have the cash for a new car. I wish I had purchased a used car for 6k.
On October 07 2011 15:07 TOCHMY wrote: ouch man :/ That sounds awful. And here i thought I had much to think about... Good luck man!
It sounds so silly that this is working me up so much now, I mean i've paid the payments on time for 3 years, but I honestly had so many plans around getting rid of this thing and now i'm stuck lol
Ahh, me too. I bought a car at an Auto Auction 3 months ago for 1.4k, it drove alright for a while but constantly needed little repairs. They added up and I ended spending about 500 bucks on it and now I just got hit with an engine problem. Its pouring out smoke from the exhaust like craaazy and it's definitely not suitable for the road. I asked some guys and they said it'd be about a 800-1000 dollar job to fix it and even then the engine could still have problems.
So now I'm looking at other cars, found a 2002 chevrolet cavalier with only 90k on it for 2.5k so I might just buy that and send my old car to the wreckers.
Sorry for hijacking your blog, not sure what to do about your situation but it seems like you should just keep at her as long as you're relatively happy. Good luck!
On October 07 2011 15:10 Chrispy wrote: Ahh, me too. I bought a car at an Auto Auction 3 months ago for 1.4k, it drove alright for a while but constantly needed little repairs. They added up and I ended spending about 500 bucks on it and now I just got hit with an engine problem. Its pouring out smoke from the exhaust like craaazy and it's definitely not suitable for the road. I asked some guys and they said it'd be about a 800-1000 dollar job to fix it and even then the engine could still have problems.
So now I'm looking at other cars, found a 2002 chevrolet cavalier with only 90k on it for 2.5k so I might just buy that and send my old car to the wreckers.
Sorry for hijacking your blog, not sure what to do about your situation but it seems like you should just keep at her as long as you're relatively happy. Good luck!
Tldr cars are jerks.
yeah. I hear you. Cars can be such a bitch sometimes. Toyota wanted 2800$ to fix my AC. I laughed and I've been dealing with the heat all year. I'd really look into some corollas or hondas around your pricemark. I don't trust cavaliers.
You shouldnt have bought it (or any car for that matter) in first place, it looks like you are kinda strapped for money (even if you hadnt bought the car).
If i were you i would sell the car and get back to school. I assume you cannot repay the loan in one lump sum?
On October 07 2011 15:24 icydergosu wrote: If i were you i would sell the car and get back to school. I assume you cannot repay the loan in one lump sum?
This is probably your best option, although I doubt its possible since its how lenders make their money, but you should check the contract anyways.
8% is actually good for someone that young and in the middle of the financial crisis.
I got 6% with my parents' great credit co-signing for me in 2006. After getting on my own feet and having great credit of my own as well as my parents' only getting better credit at that point in 2008, when I thought about replacing my Honda Accord with an Element, I was offered 8% as well for the difference in my loan.
In any case, I think many people end up having the same remorse buying their first new car. I personally have sworn off new cars as well. I remember getting my first brand new car, and it got keyed up parked overnight, in none other than the Bronx, NY lol. It was a long streak, that I see every day. It got less painful overtime. Being in FL, you should kind of expect that. I mean I don't know, I don't live there, but a lot of my friends tell me it's pretty crazy like in NY. I've seen so many times when people "make room" for themselves by pushing another parked car up or down. Also, you put 60k miles on it in 3 years? No wonder it's getting busted up.
I'm a little confused. You said you had 6k in your pocket, the car cost 16k, but you took a loan for 14k? Did you not put all the 6k down? Did you take an extra warranty + heavy taxes + features?
Also, why didn't you get the Scion TC instead? I believe it was priced at like 12k at the time?
To Chrispy: Don't get a used Cavalier. Really, it was probably used by its 4th owner, some 16 year old girl bought by her parents because they knew she was going to drive it like crap. And decided to try and drive it like a manual using D1 2 3, etc. If it still has the pink fuzzy dice on it, get out quick. In all seriousness, try looking into a Honda or Toyota for a cheap and used car if you can. They're kind of hard to come by because of high demand but if you can find one, it's probably worth it. I've seen so many pre-95 Hondas/Toyotas with over 250k miles on it still trucking along. There's like community forums out there of people with odometers that have stopped working before their Hondas/Toyotas did.
On October 07 2011 15:24 icydergosu wrote: You shouldnt have bought it (or any car for that matter) in first place, it looks like you are kinda strapped for money (even if you hadnt bought the car).
If i were you i would sell the car and get back to school. I assume you cannot repay the loan in one lump sum?
I could, but I don't have 7k to put down. I have maybe 2k?
On October 07 2011 15:34 jacosajh wrote: 8% is actually good for someone that young and in the middle of the financial crisis.
I got 6% with my parents' great credit co-signing for me in 2006. After getting on my own feet and having great credit of my own as well as my parents' only getting better credit at that point in 2008, when I thought about replacing my Honda Accord with an Element, I was offered 8% as well for the difference in my loan.
In any case, I think many people end up having the same remorse buying their first new car. I personally have sworn off new cars as well. I remember getting my first brand new car, and it got keyed up parked overnight, in none other than the Bronx, NY lol. It was a long streak, that I see every day. It got less painful overtime. Being in FL, you should kind of expect that. I mean I don't know, I don't live there, but a lot of my friends tell me it's pretty crazy like in NY. I've seen so many times when people "make room" for themselves by pushing another parked car up or down. Also, you put 60k miles on it in 3 years? No wonder it's getting busted up.
I'm a little confused. You said you had 6k in your pocket, the car cost 16k, but you took a loan for 14k? Did you not put all the 6k down? Did you take an extra warranty + heavy taxes + features?
Also, why didn't you get the Scion TC instead? I believe it was priced at like 12k at the time?
To Chrispy: Don't get a used Cavalier. Really, it was probably used by its 4th owner, some 16 year old girl bought by her parents because they knew she was going to drive it like crap. And decided to try and drive it like a manual using D1 2 3, etc. If it still has the pink fuzzy dice on it, get out quick. In all seriousness, try looking into a Honda or Toyota for a cheap and used car if you can. They're kind of hard to come by because of high demand but if you can find one, it's probably worth it. I've seen so many pre-95 Hondas/Toyotas with over 250k miles on it still trucking along. There's like community forums out there of people with odometers that have stopped working before their Hondas/Toyotas did.
The car was 16k base + fees and all that other crap it was more like 20k. I took the loan out for the difference which was 14k, and that turned into 18k after interest. Which means I've paid 24k for a car lol :/
Yeah, it's not as bad as NY, but people down here don't have insurance most of the time and their cars don't need inspection. This person backed into my car and messed it up bad and drove off.
Anyways, I think this is kind of a 'You live, you learn' type experience. You won't ever make that same mistake again. Yea it sucks, but it's a good learning tool. You'll be much more vigilant in your big expenses from now on because you know what to look for.
protip: Make two payments on a car per month, first the normal payment, second one will be principal only. You'll pay the car off in half the time with MUCH less interest accrued. This could be done with a house as well. You can pay a 30 year mortgage off in like 5 years doing this.
Anyways, I think this is kind of a 'You live, you learn' type experience. You won't ever make that same mistake again. Yea it sucks, but it's a good learning tool. You'll be much more vigilant in your big expenses from now on because you know what to look for.
protip: Make two payments on a car per month, first the normal payment, second one will be principal only. You'll pay the car off in half the time with MUCH less interest accrued. This could be done with a house as well. You can pay a 30 year mortgage off in like 5 years doing this.
Does that mean I send in 2 book payments with it? I don't understand. For a while I was paying 2 payments, and then I stopped and saved up some money.
oh man, that sounds like the worst deal ever :/ would probably be fraud here in sweden.
i bought a snowmobile a few years ago for about 11k usd and the loan and the interest are taken each month from my account, no additional fees (might be a bit more in the end because of moving interest, about 4% now)
even that i bought a used vehicle i still have the warranty for 2 years from the date it was bought from the shop so any mechanical problem just goes away after that it's on me. cars here have 2-7 years warranty so a new car such as yours wouldn't cost anything to fix.
What you're doing when you use those booklets is during the first few years you're paying pretty much interest only. So maybe like out of your first couple payments of a $250 payment, you might be putting $25 towards your actual cost of your car and $225 on the interest. They frontload the interest so you can pay them a lot of money over time. Now, as you get close to the end of your contract, you start to pay more towards your principal (the actual cost of the car) then interest. This is when you start to pay down the debt faster.
If you paid two payments and didn't clarify that one was principal only then they would just use it as another interest check so it doesn't really help much. But if you did one the regular payment and stated the other as principal then you'd be taking out that backend principal thus end up getting less accrued interest over the totality of the contract.
On like a 6 year loan if you did this, you might save a year off your loan and maybe save a couple thousand dollars.
How the hell did you do 113k miles in three years?
The only way I can think of being able to do that is if you used the car for work purposes which - if you did - surely some of it can be claimed on tax? I know you can claim a lot of stuff on tax here if its for work purposes.
On October 07 2011 16:10 SleepTech wrote: What you're doing when you use those booklets is during the first few years you're paying pretty much interest only. So maybe like out of your first couple payments of a $250 payment, you might be putting $25 towards your actual cost of your car and $225 on the interest. They frontload the interest so you can pay them a lot of money over time. Now, as you get close to the end of your contract, you start to pay more towards your principal (the actual cost of the car) then interest. This is when you start to pay down the debt faster.
If you paid two payments and didn't clarify that one was principal only then they would just use it as another interest check so it doesn't really help much. But if you did one the regular payment and stated the other as principal then you'd be taking out that backend principal thus end up getting less accrued interest over the totality of the contract.
On like a 6 year loan if you did this, you might save a year off your loan and maybe save a couple thousand dollars.
On a 30 year mortgage, you save a TON of money.
Man, I would just give them 2 payments, but it would be labeled like "october and november"
I guess it's too late to pay on pricipal now isn't it?
On October 07 2011 16:10 Dhalphir wrote: How the hell did you do 113k miles in three years?
The only way I can think of being able to do that is if you used the car for work purposes which - if you did - surely some of it can be claimed on tax? I know you can claim a lot of stuff on tax here if its for work purposes.
yeah one of my jobs is delivery for a chinese restaurant...which is weird because I make more money there than my other job lol.
It is very weird to me that the restaurant is in no way obligated to provide you with any sort of transport or to reimburse you for car costs. Here, there is no way the company wouldn't, at minimum, pay for your fuel and servicing.
Is this just a thing that you happened to not ask about due to inexperience, or is this the way a lot of jobs are in the US?
On October 07 2011 16:29 Dhalphir wrote: It is very weird to me that the restaurant is in no way obligated to provide you with any sort of transport or to reimburse you for car costs. Here, there is no way the company wouldn't, at minimum, pay for your fuel and servicing.
Is this just a thing that you happened to not ask about due to inexperience, or is this the way a lot of jobs are in the US?
There's a 2$ delivery charge included with every order. I make decent money. I make 100$ in tips a night. 4 hours of work. Plus, 5$ an hour.
They don't pay for servicing or anything like that
Yeah thats the part thats weird to me. Like, here in Australia, a Dominoes Pizza delivery guy will get provided with a car (not a fancy one, but a car nonetheless) which is owned by the company that he uses to do all the deliveries, rather than using his own car.
Ahh. I worked for a credit union for a long time... and giving an 8% interest rate in 2009 to someone who probably had little to no credit history is outstanding actually. So, you didn't do that bad with a regular for profit bank.
I can't believe no one in your life stopped you from spending that much on a NEW car.
Last November I bought my 2009 Toyota Corolla LE for 12 grand (that's after all the extra fees, etc) with about 30,000 miles on it. I'm 21, and I had been driving a piece of shit Saturn (that I bought for 3k in 2006) up until that time. Also random, I lived in FL too and drove around with no AC for nearly 4 years. At least I had people in my life to stop me from financing a car I couldn't afford years earlier. I'm sorry you made that choice, but at least you don't have that bad of an interest rate. You learned a good lesson! Also, this vehicle is rated very highly by consumer reports! I'm trying to stay positive haha.
Does your car have so many issues because you've put so many miles on it in a short (kind of) period of time? I'm concerned since I just bought the same car lol.
I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
On October 07 2011 16:42 Dhalphir wrote: Yeah thats the part thats weird to me. Like, here in Australia, a Dominoes Pizza delivery guy will get provided with a car (not a fancy one, but a car nonetheless) which is owned by the company that he uses to do all the deliveries, rather than using his own car.
that's why pizzas in Australia are so fucking expensive if you call for delivery ...
anyway, imo ... if you really don't see how you can meet all the future payments, i'd suggest to sell that piece of junk and use the proceeds for your repayments ... then maybe try to find another job that doesn't require you having your own transportation (a restaurant that provides you car or sth) ... credit can be a bitch ... so unless you can draw out a clear plan on how to settle it, i'd suggest to take a slap in the face right now, rather than a chuckfuckingnorris roundhouse kick in the nuts a year later ...
Where were your parents to tell you it was a bad idea? My Dad would have literally kicked the shit out of me for buying a new car at 19. Its sad you had to learn this the hard way, someone should have told you it was a bad idea.
I think even though it sucks and it feels like your trapped, in time you will get out from under it and be fine. So don't worry mate, just keep paying it off, sell it when you can for a decent price if its still giving you troubles. Just don't lower the price on it to cover your payments, my brother had to do that with a truck, he got a nice lecture from the old guy who bought it from him for almost nothing.
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
Words of wisdom from my uncle (mechanic/minor cardealer:
1. Don't buy a new car EVER except the cut into your budget is not noticeable to you. 3+ year old ones are just so much cheaper that you always make a way better deal. You can get unlucky by buying a used car, but you also can get unlucky if you buy a new car.. In other words: If you buy a car and shred it on the next day, whiteout any insurance money (theoretically ) and so on you shouldn't have to change a single thing about your financial situation.
2. Don't buy a car if you can't pay for it on the spot in cash (it's a bit different for super expensive cars, but that’s for different reasons). You never know what happens to you the next week/day/year and suddenly your sitting on a loan/rates and don't know wtf to do..
2 is actually a pretty good rule for about everything except buying a House/Flat .
On October 07 2011 20:28 Wrongspeedy wrote: Where were your parents to tell you it was a bad idea? My Dad would have literally kicked the shit out of me for buying a new car at 19. Its sad you had to learn this the hard way, someone should have told you it was a bad idea.
This is why financial education needs to be in the high school curriculum.
Not "make a weekly budget" retard classes, but a class that will help you understand what a financing arrangement for a car or a mortgage is, and how it works. It's not that difficult, and is well within high-school-level math to understand.
IMO, bottom line is, if you can afford to buy a new car, negotiate the lowest possible price you can get, then pay all of that upfront immediately. Get some insurance coverage right away. If you can't afford to do that, buy a used car. Don't take out loans and commit yourself to some monthly repayment for the next couple of years. If anything changes in your financial situation, it can become a huge headache.
On October 07 2011 20:28 Wrongspeedy wrote: Where were your parents to tell you it was a bad idea? My Dad would have literally kicked the shit out of me for buying a new car at 19. Its sad you had to learn this the hard way, someone should have told you it was a bad idea.
This is why financial education needs to be in the high school curriculum.
Not "make a weekly budget" retard classes, but a class that will help you understand what a financing arrangement for a car or a mortgage is, and how it works. It's not that difficult, and is well within high-school-level math to understand.
I agree with this 100%. Most people don't learn this shit without really sharp parents, or by falling flat on their face themselves
also, for the future, never buy new. You lose a shitload of value when you roll off the lot (as much as ~20%), and you get much better deals/overall value with a Certified Pre Owned (CPO). Almost all companies do this for any of their cars made in the last four years that pass an inspection and are under a certain milage (usually 50k or so). You could have gotten the same car from the year prior with 20k on it, so it's virtally brand new, but you'd pay like 4-5k less, and you'd get an additional warranty beyond what's left on the original.
as someone said, you also want ot make sure that you're paying down the principle when you sign and just generally understand everything.
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
the car was new when he bought it.
I got the idea that it hadn't been used much, but it still wasn't brand new.
you still don't have your priorities in line.. iphone 4s? try getting a phone you can get for less than $50.
my guess is you aren't following the scheduled maintenance plan of your car (in your handbook) and that's going to be a huge part of why this is so expensive for you. also, why do you have that many miles on it? over 100k for a 3-4 year old car just seems too much for me?
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
the car was new when he bought it.
I got the idea that it hadn't been used much, but it still wasn't brand new.
On October 08 2011 02:23 LaSt)ChAnCe wrote: you still don't have your priorities in line.. iphone 4s? try getting a phone you can get for less than $50.
my guess is you aren't following the scheduled maintenance plan of your car (in your handbook) and that's going to be a huge part of why this is so expensive for you. also, why do you have that many miles on it? over 100k for a 3-4 year old car just seems too much for me?
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
the car was new when he bought it.
I got the idea that it hadn't been used much, but it still wasn't brand new.
from what he described, it definitely was.
I follow all the maintenance stuff correctly. The AC blew simply because it was overworked. I use amsoil synthetic 0-30 oil which is fantastic. I take care of thing, but the outside is a mess. It's been hit 3 times. I never caught any of them, and I never decided to take it to insurance (don't want my insurance to go up). The car runs fine, but I fear that over the next 3 years or so it'll finally give out. Then again, I've heard of these cars lasting 350k easily. We'll see...
I make 2.5k a month. I need a smartphone for business stuff (not my deliveries, although the gps works) and the iphone honestly is my best bet right now. I guess I just made it seem a lot worse than it really is. I was incredibly upset/pissed off last night. I'm over it today. I live with the mistake of the car, but the rest of the stuff I'll deal with.
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
the car was new when he bought it.
I got the idea that it hadn't been used much, but it still wasn't brand new.
Car's don't come new from the dealership/factory with 0 miles / km on them.
On October 08 2011 02:23 LaSt)ChAnCe wrote: you still don't have your priorities in line.. iphone 4s? try getting a phone you can get for less than $50.
my guess is you aren't following the scheduled maintenance plan of your car (in your handbook) and that's going to be a huge part of why this is so expensive for you. also, why do you have that many miles on it? over 100k for a 3-4 year old car just seems too much for me?
On October 08 2011 02:20 Sotamursu wrote:
On October 07 2011 20:45 Dhalphir wrote:
On October 07 2011 19:42 Sotamursu wrote: I would never buy a used car that costs more than 3 or 4 thousand euros/dollars. They pretty much always have hidden problems and eventually the repairs are going to cost so much that it's just better to send the car to the junkyard and buy a new one. Investing so much to a car at that age was a pretty bad idea, I hope you learned from your mistakes.
the car was new when he bought it.
I got the idea that it hadn't been used much, but it still wasn't brand new.
from what he described, it definitely was.
I follow all the maintenance stuff correctly. The AC blew simply because it was overworked. I use amsoil synthetic 0-30 oil which is fantastic. I take care of thing, but the outside is a mess. It's been hit 3 times. I never caught any of them, and I never decided to take it to insurance (don't want my insurance to go up). The car runs fine, but I fear that over the next 3 years or so it'll finally give out. Then again, I've heard of these cars lasting 350k easily. We'll see...
I make 2.5k a month. I need a smartphone for business stuff (not my deliveries, although the gps works) and the iphone honestly is my best bet right now. I guess I just made it seem a lot worse than it really is. I was incredibly upset/pissed off last night. I'm over it today. I live with the mistake of the car, but the rest of the stuff I'll deal with.
if you need a smartphone for business, your company should provide it. if they don't, you don't.
On October 08 2011 03:57 ranshaked wrote: I make 2.5k a month.
Then what's the problem? You should be able to pay it off in no time within a year by doubling the payments. If you need more than 1000$ per month to pay all your nescessities (rent, utilities, cell phone bill) then you're living way above your means. I'd say 1500$ including food + bills is a generous estimate for what you need to live. That leaves 1000$ a month to screw around with, which you could dump onto the car getting paid off easily.
And is this a rant about you having to pay 72 months of a 72 month loan? You thought you were going to only have to pay 60 months? WTF?
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but how did you put 113,000 miles on a brand new car in 3 years? Thats an average of 100+ miles every single day including weekends.
On October 08 2011 09:13 v1dom wrote: Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but how did you put 113,000 miles on a brand new car in 3 years? Thats an average of 100+ miles every single day including weekends.
I have a 2005 corolla and I drive about 170 miles per day.
I'm a big believer in buying a new car, as long as you really know what you are getting yourself into. People think new cars are a waste of money compared to used, but if you factor in so many things like repairs, life of the car, improved reliability and gas mileage compared to older cars, it is likely cheaper in the long run to buy new. That assumes that you will be keeping and using the car for the long haul, and you make sure that as the sole owner of the car, you take very good care of it and don't run it down.
Someone said that 8% is a good rate during this financial crises? No, that's backwards. With the car companies doing so poorly recently and struggling, they are actually giving very good deals and lowering interest rates across the board. But you can't simply walk into the dealership and take whatever they offer you. A good piece of advice is to get the cheapest approved financing from a bank that you can before going to the dealer. They make quite a bit of profit from the interest, so they will have an incentive to beat your current rate in order to win the financing away from the bank. 3 years ago, with absolutely no credit, I got a bank rate of about 7%. I walked out of the dealership with a 3% rate. It sounds like the OP did get financing from a bank, so I'm not sure why the dealership didn't offer to beat it...
EPT![[image loading]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b354/bmxliveit2/IMG_0047-1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b354/bmxliveit2/IMG_0046.jpg)
after that it's on me. ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mEBQs.jpg)
<3
) and so on you shouldn't have to change a single thing about your financial situation.
