are you on the car payment merry-go-round?

[markio26]

i posted the other day about observing 3 of my neighbors have newer vehicles and i feel for them...now i have 2 family members, who went out and purchased a new jeep & freestyle ford station wagon/car?
they were telling me they went from an 18% loan on their 2002 dodge caravan trade in to a 5% fomoco loan for 5 years at $400 a month, for the freestyle... and they bragged, i swear that they had previously paid #$11,000 for their dodge caravan two years prior and traded it in for $5500, the remaining balance was rolled over to the new freestyle, but, wait they got a fomoco employee discount from a family member, plus rebate, plus local discount, etc... anyway the final amount was $17,000 for the freestyle.. then they told me they paid an extra $2000 for an extended warranty... i just about fell off my chair....what a deal???? baloney. i do not know what the jeep cost... but, i would bet you they probably owe over $40, 000 in vehicles now....
anyway, on another note, one of our pals, bought a 2005 chevy truck never been titled, used gm employee discount from laf, had a $5,000 dp, and a trade in, plus a few rebate and local dealer discount added... anyway, he will have the balance of the truck paid off at the end of this year he said.it takes patience, discipline, and a lil planning to make a good financial decision...

[PRICEPLUS]

The cars are bought and payed off. 98 Sienna and 2000 Camry. I'd like to keep the cars running until they almost fall apart. We like to get at least 10+ years out of our cars. We went with Toyota last time for that reason.

We had to replace the tranny on the Sienna but that was covered by a recall. The dealership tried to get us to pay 3500 at first. Geez everytime I leaver a dealership I want to take a bath!

I am gonna run that Camry until it falls to pieces. Buy quality and hold on as long as you can.

[sakigt]

Im not, but my boyfriend is. Right now he has a little VW but he's keeping that for a while. When he thinks hes getting sick of it, I borrow it for a while...he sure is happy to get it back then!

[fultron]

We have an 03 Accord that we paid off and has no balance. We just bought a new Odyssey last month...2 kids in car seats, a stroller and all that takes up a lot of room! Plus, its a good vehicle and I plan to keep it for a good 10 years or more, so I can live with having a car payment for awhile knowing that we're set with cars for a long time.

I had been driving an old junker just to get me to and from work but it was dying. We were hoping to get a couple hundred bucks as a trade in for the minivan, but it actually died on the way to the dealership! I got about a mile from home and KAPUT!

We left it on a side street and came back for it later, at least we'll get a small tax deduction for donating it.

[PrincessPerky]

Unfortunatly we keep needing bigger cars.. But if it wern't for that (carseat laws) I would gladdly still be driving our first car.

[billybob]

I think buying new cars is the biggest waste of money there is. Would you invest in a stock that lost 20% of its value as soon as you bought it?

I buy used hondas. They rule. I have a 94 honda accord that has about 150k on it. Ive had it for 6 years and it's been payed off for a long time now... I also have a little 1982 honda motorcycle that i bought for 900 bucks- gets me most places i need to go...

I always heard - "Drive the crappiest car you can get away with, and get the nicest home you can afford"

[miclason]

Originally Posted by billybob

I always heard - "Drive the crappiest car you can get away with, and get the nicest home you can afford"

LOL! I'm sure my neighbor's across the street never heard that one!..they own 4 cars (Mitsubishi Nativa, Hyunday Santa Fe, a convertible BMW and a Clio) and live in a very small house (with parking for only 2, which means they end up parking the two monsters on the street and blocking the passage for everyone! It also makes it really difficult to park OUR cars in our garage - little room for manouvering!...oh, and no matter how hard you honk, they WON'T come out and remove their cars!)

I just got a new (used) car...starting this month, I'll be paying $79.75/month for it...for 48 months (less if I can manage to make higher payments) ....I drove the last one until it quit....plan to do the same with this one!

[robex]

Dh drives a 1990 Honda Civic. We bought it in 1992, and paid 10,000 for it...it had been a loaner car for the dealership, so was basically new.

I drive a 1996 Dodge Caravan. We paid 6500 cash for it in 2004. We haven't had a car loan since 1993 and don't plan on ever having another. We also don't plan on ever buying a brand new vehicle! If I have my way, we'll wait for the Honda to die, share the van until it dies, and then buy another used Honda.

[Ima saver]

My husband drives a 2001 dodge van. Before that, he had a 1990 van. If his van quits running he cannot go to work. You can't carry tools in a vette. So when he has serious problems, he will get a new work van.
I think i am the only frugal one on here that will only buy new cars.
They don't always lose value. I have a 1978 corvette that I bought new in 1978. It was one of only 16 in the country to come into the dealership in primer. Then it was painted tu tone blue.
It still runs, is garaged and it worth at least what I paid for it.

[markio26]

imasaver... i have owned 3 brand new corvettes in my life... i had a 1976 buckskin, 1980 white with black see thru top, 1990 blue vette... i sold all of them for a thousand dollar profit.. i used to belong to all the vette clubs in the surrounding areas... did i mention that i used to be a race car driver??? i owned the rapher, it was a 1969 black camaro with white sprinkles in the paint, white racing stripes on the hood and deck with cobwebbing... i ran a tunnel ram and nitro.... anywho. i sold the camaro for a thousand dollar profit. it is in fla. somewhere.. anyway, a lil trivia..

[tgavin71]

As I have posted elsewhere we have just bought as "new to us" second hand car. It has 73,000 and we plan to upgrade when it reaches 200,000 or there abouts. Means we will have this car for over 10 years. We average about 10,000kms a year.
Payments are $240 a month over 5 years. At the end of this time I will still keep up the payments but instead go into a high interest savings account. Hopefully this should mean we will be able to pay cash for our next car. Should have done this with the old car but didn't. Oh well can't go back now.

[stngymama]

NEVER had a car payment! Always bought used and drove into the ground!

[jodi]

We have one car payment now, about $1900 owed on a $8000 loan from Jan 05. I've been throwing all our extra money at it since I HATE car payments. DH and I both paid our first car loans off years early, then paid cash for our third car (minivan), but then his car died a few months later. He talked me into getting a new car...ugh. But hopefully we won't need anything new for a long, long time.

[abowers]

My previous cars were all used, and paid cash up front. My car right now we bought new. I plan on driving it until it dies. I think it came to $17,800 after taxes, etc. Then a $1000 rebate, and a $3000 down payment. This amount was financed over 5 years at a 4.9% APR, for a monthly payment of $262.

This is A-OK with me after my last car was totalled (not my fault). The timing was bad, I didn't want to buy another used car right before moving 340 miles from my parents and the garage where I took my car before (a good friend of my dad's). Unfortunately everything was working well (due to some expensive repairs I made) on the used 95 Ford Contour with something like 80k miles, in May of 2005. I would have felt comfortable taking that car, but not starting over with another used car.

Doing well with this car, and I've got a warranty for the next 3-5 years (depending on what part of the car). In 3 years I'll have money for repairs if the car needs it. (I don't so much have lots of spare cash for that right now).

Anyway, this is my first new car, I love it, and I will drive it until it stops working or until the bills for repairs are no longer worth it.

[Snoopy2645]

Well I have a 1999 van paid cash for all my cars dont believe in buying new can you tell I was raised by a used car dealer LOL!! But dh on the other hand has to have a brand new truck at all times now has a 2004 ram which my name is on but only for the cheaper payments I could get a lower interest rate than he could. He wants another one this time hes on his own will never sign for him again!!

Funny all the talk about vets reminds me of my dad he always had to have a corvette my whole life & I hated them things because guess where they put me in the back ya know the luggage area LOL!! I was the youngest my 8 yrs so I was the only kid they ever had to take with them so thats where I rode maybe thats why I am hunched back today no just kidding!!