84 month USED car loan!

[bjl584]

Sad but true. Just as there are now 40 and 50 year mortgages and 6 and 7 year car loans.

Exactly. 50 or 60 years ago the whole concept of financing a car or even a house wasn't even that common. Either was the idea of credit cards. People used to actually save up when they wanted something, and once they saved up enough, THEN they went and bought it. Our culture is financing more and more things for more and more money for longer and longer terms.

[disneysteve]

People used to actually save up when they wanted something, and once they saved up enough, THEN they went and bought it.

Imagine that. What a concept. Save first and THEN buy. Of course, that isn't realistic for most folks where a house is concerned, but it is for pretty much everything else, cars included.

[Ima saver]

UNless you are married to a car nut like my dh. Then you have to finance a car to keep him from buying a new one every year!! I just put down a big down payment and keep the payments low.

[Tree0164]

That is just complete and utter insanity. No matter how long you expect to keep your car, if you can't pay it off in 3-4 years tops, you are looking at the wrong car. There are still perfectly good new cars well under 20K and good quality dependable used cars easily in the 10K range, if not less. Nobody should ever have to finance a car over 7 or more years.

I will not pay more than $250 a month for a 3 year car loan. If I have to pay more than that, I need to save up more for a down payment or find a cheaper car.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Did my eyes deceive me or did I last night see a BMW commercial offering 136 month financing?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will not even ask pardon for all the exclamation points. That is 11 years, four months. OMG.

Please tell me if you see this TV ad, too.

[project15]

Just wait until we get into 30 year fixed rates or 3/1 ARMs for car loans

[disneysteve]

Did my eyes deceive me or did I last night see a BMW commercial offering 136 month financing

I haven't seen that one. I think 84 months is completely insane. I don't even know what word to use to describe 136 months.

[vsjhoc]

A 10 year car loan is not out of the question. You will start to see loans of this nature becoming more and more common as quality of cars continues to improve, as warranties in the industry run for 100,000 miles or more, and as public perception of cars lasting for years and years without major problems continues to evolve. Gone are the days of a car being "worn out" after 100,000 miles. Still, I would never advise to finance a car for an extended period of time.

Sure, quality will improve, warranties will be longer, and cars will last ... but John Q. Public will still want a shiny new car every 3 or 4 years.

[disneysteve]

Sure, quality will improve, warranties will be longer, and cars will last ... but John Q. Public will still want a shiny new car every 3 or 4 years.

Which just means used cars will be better and better deals for the rest of us.

[filifefc]

7 year loan on a car is insane. Most people don't even keep a car for 5 years.

I just heard a cashier at a restaurant bragging about her new BMW last night, this is probably why...

[disneysteve]

I just heard a cashier at a restaurant bragging about her new BMW last night, this is probably why...

That may be true, but to be fair, you really can't judge that way. For all you know, the cashier has a spouse with a high income. I earn 6 figures and for years my wife worked at a sporting goods store, then as a secretary and now does data entry, none of which earned her more than $20,000/year.