Tell me your opinions on solutions to this problem...

**ActYourWage** · 02-02-2010, 08:06 AM

I favor your idea more. I am in the "I do not like car payments" camp, because those payments drain your finances for something that depreciates fast.

However, if I were in your shoes, I would make sure that we needed a Honda Pilot before I would even think about buying one. Make sure it is not "car fever".

I noticed you like to play the numbers game, which is good, but sometimes you just have to say no and hold off buying something without looking at the numbers.

**wincrasher** · 02-02-2010, 08:15 AM

If you have a second mortage, then you cannot afford a new car.

Especially replacing a good reliable car like an Accord that is not dying of old age.

**disneysteve** · 02-02-2010, 08:39 AM

Originally posted by jIM_Ohio View Post

wife wants a honda pilot.

$400/mo on wife's accord (2+ years left on payments)

This is the only info in your post that I think is needed to answer the question. Your wife has a perfectly good car that isn't paid off yet. You shouldn't even be thinking about replacing it (or she shouldn't be).

Nobody needs a huge SUV. And a couple with a first and second mortgage and two car payments has no business looking at another vehicle at this point.

Get the current cars paid off and keep them for the long term. Once the loans are paid off, set money aside each month in a car fund so that when it is time for a new car, the money is there.

No way would I get rid of a 4-year-old Honda with only 80,000 miles. Of course, that's the opinion of someone driving a 12-year-old Toyota with 125,000 miles and whose wife has a 10-year-old Toyota with 125,000 miles.

**zetta** · 02-02-2010, 08:42 AM

Sometimes you may need to go with a plan that may be less than optimal financially in order to increase marital harmony and keep your wife on board with the rest of your financial plans. Your finances are for the most part on track. She needs to feel she has a say and that her goals are incorporated in the plan.

What are your wife's reasons for wanting the Pilot? Will this car be primarily for driving real estate clients around, or for carrying the kids and their stuff? Would buying an older and cheaper Pilot be an option?

Maybe the money for the mortgage needs to come from something that is a sacrifice for you rather than for your wife. Would the numbers work out to sell your car, buy a beater, and throw the money saved toward the 2nd mortgage? (You wanted creative options...)

**feh** · 02-02-2010, 08:51 AM

Originally posted by wincrasher View Post

Especially replacing a good reliable car like an Accord that is not dying of old age.

+1

Is there a legitimate need for a new car?

**disneysteve** · 02-02-2010, 09:04 AM

Originally posted by feh View Post

+1

Is there a legitimate need for a new car?

I know you guys have twins, so that means 2 car seats. That might be a problem in the Accord. I know my daughter's car seat only fit properly in the center of the rear seat in the Camry, so 2 car seats wouldn't have worked. Still, a Pilot is gargantuan. Surely there is something more reasonable that would accommodate 2 kids.

**wincrasher** · 02-02-2010, 09:28 AM

The problem isn't the size. There wouldn't be much difference in operating cost for ANY SUV or minivan. They all get 20-25 mpg. Sounds like they are a Honda family, so thier choices are CR-V, Element, Pilot or Odyssey. All of these would hold 2 baby seats plus more.

The problem is that its a $25,000-$30,000+ purchase most any way you slice it. You could consider used as an option as these models haven't changed much in the last few years.

BTW, never heard of a Pilot described as gargantuan. Heard that said of Suburbans and Hummers

If you must have a vehicle like this, I'd suggest having one SUV/Truck type vehicle and one economy sedan for your family. Not 2 trucks. Gas is not staying this cheap for very long.

If she's willing to drive a Pilot around town, why not your Ridgeline and you drive her car?

**disneysteve** · 02-02-2010, 09:38 AM

Originally posted by wincrasher View Post

BTW, never heard of a Pilot described as gargantuan.

I'm so NOT an SUV guy.

**jIM_Ohio** · 02-02-2010, 09:39 AM

Originally posted by zetta View Post

Sometimes you may need to go with a plan that may be less than optimal financially in order to increase marital harmony and keep your wife on board with the rest of your financial plans. Your finances are for the most part on track. She needs to feel she has a say and that her goals are incorporated in the plan.

What are your wife's reasons for wanting the Pilot? Will this car be primarily for driving real estate clients around, or for carrying the kids and their stuff? Would buying an older and cheaper Pilot be an option?

Maybe the money for the mortgage needs to come from something that is a sacrifice for you rather than for your wife. Would the numbers work out to sell your car, buy a beater, and throw the money saved toward the 2nd mortgage? (You wanted creative options...)

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

I know you guys have twins, so that means 2 car seats. That might be a problem in the Accord. I know my daughter's car seat only fit properly in the center of the rear seat in the Camry, so 2 car seats wouldn't have worked. Still, a Pilot is gargantuan. Surely there is something more reasonable that would accommodate 2 kids.

The size of the car has something to do with need to upsize. The accord was pre-twins, and it is a tight fit to take accord grocery shopping with both kids, 2 adults, a stroller, and still fit groceries in the trunk.

Wife does not put clients in the car. She does put high miles in the car, so more than likely the accord at 6 years would have 160k+ miles on it (when it is paid off) and 180k-200k miles is not out of the question. At times she is 100 miles from home in rural Ohio traveling to clients. This would imply having AAA and a reliable car in our household are necessities.

I know I do not put much milage on my truck- most of the big miles have come from 500 mile trips to Buffalo (we do that 1000 mile round trip in my truck 3-5 times per year). There are many times I go 2 weeks without needing to fill my gas tank as my commute is under 10 miles ROUND TRIP.

If I resume coaching soccer, I will need the truck... so turning in a paid off truck for a beater is not my #1, #2 or even #5 choice. I will leave option on table (we considered trading in my truck for pilot and me driving accord, but then the kids situation transfers to me (cannot shop in my car) and that is not something I want to deal with either.

My wife has wanted a pilot for about 3-4 years. When we purchased my ridgeline and bought her car, we already had the 1st and 2nd mortgage. We bought both because my car was a 97 saturn with about 160,000 miles and it was nickel and diming us, and her 02 Focus was nickel and diming us too- both cars in 6 months cost us 20k in car repairs, so we decided to ditch buy american, went to Honda, and a day later we had $1100 in car payments. Mine was a purchase for 4 years and hers was a lease for 3 (I thought it was other way around at time- mine being 3 hers being 4)...

When her lease was up we either owed another 4k or so (milage penalty) and would still have taken on a $400/mo car payment (minimum), so we bought out lease (no 4k penalty) and maintained a $400/mo car payment long enough to get my truck paid off. We would then discuss her pilot when my truck was paid off, and we are approaching that now.

A few extras-
we have 4 months where we get an extra paycheck, and that adds $8000+ not accounted for into budget. Some of that is savings, some of that is vacation, some of that could be used to "impact" this problem.

I am looking into the tax credit for buying a new car, as if we get some of the payment back, that might also help the bottom line.

I know as long as my wife has this job, every 5 years one of the cars in the household will need to turn over. Might stretch it to 7 years, but she drives all over southwestern ohio for her job, putting 500-1000 miles on her car in one week is easily possible.

Keep comments coming, hope this info helped.

**jIM_Ohio** · 02-02-2010, 09:50 AM

Originally posted by wincrasher View Post

The problem isn't the size. There wouldn't be much difference in operating cost for ANY SUV or minivan. They all get 20-25 mpg. Sounds like they are a Honda family, so thier choices are CR-V, Element, Pilot or Odyssey. All of these would hold 2 baby seats plus more.

The problem is that its a $25,000-$30,000+ purchase most any way you slice it. You could consider used as an option as these models haven't changed much in the last few years.

BTW, never heard of a Pilot described as gargantuan. Heard that said of Suburbans and Hummers

If you must have a vehicle like this, I'd suggest having one SUV/Truck type vehicle and one economy sedan for your family. Not 2 trucks. Gas is not staying this cheap for very long.

If she's willing to drive a Pilot around town, why not your Ridgeline and you drive her car?

The ridgeline was what I picked- for me- when the decision to replace both came down from the car repair gods.

I coached soccer at the time, and wife stated their was an odor in my saturn from wet soccer equipment in the back seat... those same wet pieces of equipment then went to bed of truck, problem solved. I do not coach soccer right now, but if I did return to coaching (I get 1-2 offers per year), I would need the truck to carry my equipment to training field.

In addition, my commute is about 4.5 miles one way, and at 17 mpg on a good tank, I really don't notice the guzzler feature of the car. If wife had the guzzler, at 400 miles per week she would notice... she gets reimbursed for some of the milage, but that should not factor into her driving something which is grossly inefficient fuel wise.

Right now if we go anywhere as a family, we take my truck. Whether it be 5 miles or 500 miles away.

Wife test drove pilot in 2006 when we acquired both, test drove again in 2009 when we decided to buy out accord lease. The size and friend recomendations make that her vehicle of choice.

For most part I will pick my battles- I will not tell her what car she can or can't have, only thing I will do is influence when we acquire it, and will have 90% of the say as to how long we finance it (2 years probably). She lets me invest 20% of our gross income, so her getting pilot is a matter of when, not "if".

**jIM_Ohio** · 02-02-2010, 10:20 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

I know you guys have twins, so that means 2 car seats. That might be a problem in the Accord. I know my daughter's car seat only fit properly in the center of the rear seat in the Camry, so 2 car seats wouldn't have worked. Still, a Pilot is gargantuan. Surely there is something more reasonable that would accommodate 2 kids.

FYI I know some people have given you grief over size

Pilot has 3 rows of seats... back row folds down, so its possible for 2 car seats, grandma and 2 parents to travel in one vehicle with Pilot. It gets 25 mph or so I believe.

It is smaller than a minivan IMO and wife will NOT drive a mini van.

**disneysteve** · 02-02-2010, 10:36 AM

I retract my "gargantuan" comment. I had Googled a photo of the Pilot and it looked really big in the picture. Apparently, it isn't as big as that photo made it seem.

We have a minivan and have had one for the past 13 years. I wouldn't be without it whether we had a kid or not.

**creditcardfree** · 02-02-2010, 11:16 AM

Jim, although not a fan of you guys getting a new vehicle, I understand marriage means compromises and would pick option 1. Pay off the pilot as soon as possible. And then hit the second mortgage again.

In the meantime, save as much as you can towards the downpayment. Sell something or just hold on to extra cash you accumulate that doesn't yet have a job.

**zetta** · 02-02-2010, 01:19 PM

If your wife's work is commission-based, perhaps anything earned over some baseline can go to the pilot fund? Sort of a personal sales incentive?

Tell me your opinions on solutions to this problem...