Paying cash for a car

[nick__45]

Anyone here has dropped 20 to 30 cheeses for a new/used vehicle? That's a lot of cash to be traded in for a piece of machine but life is short so it is best to enjoy your hard-earn money playing than to turn it back in to Uncle Sam and Aunt Statey.

The reason I asked is that my wife and I went to Carmax this evening and looked at the used H2 and Landcruiser. They are very nice vehicles and are nich vehicle. For beach vacation and family tripping, they can play a major role. If my state didn't have a personal property tax, I would be the new owner of a 2007 Landcruiser or a 2008 Hummer H2 right now.

[jpg7n16]

I paid cash for my car, but it was only $13k

[disneysteve]

We paid cash for our last car, a 2000 Toyota Sienna, purchased in Sept. 2002. It was about 19K.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

If you can afford the vehicle you want, why let personal property tax stop you from buying it? Just consider any taxes part of the cost of ownership.

No, I've never spent $20K or $30K for a used vehicle. I think $13K has been tops. There's never been any trouble finishing the transaction, if that is what you are wondering.

If you just want a big vehicle for vacationing, you could think about renting. One can rent any vehicle one could buy. Or, you could buy, use it for the vacation, then turn around and re-sell. You don't need to be stuck with it for life, paying those burdensome personal property taxes year after year.

[LittleGopher]

We pay cash too, and we're a road-tripping family of 6.

When it was just my husband and I, we had a brand new Dodge Colt (1st new car for both of us)and we traveled coast to coast from MN in it. The first couple years, when the wind was right we got 60mpg - not a typo. Loved that car and drove it til it drove no more!

When our four girls were little, we had a conversion van that we traveled extensively in(tent camping and visiting family mostly in ID and NM.) I swear we'd open that side door, and stuff would explode out (mostly the Barbie dolls and their extensive essential gear,) but it was great for camping and kids. (What?? Were we the only family with Barbies along???) Drove this vehicle til its end.

Later we used a Plymouth minvan for our tent camping trips. On our trip to Galveston Island, we even drove it on the beach along the Gulf of Mexico. And yes, this van was just scrapped this week.

Now, we're traveling in relative luxury in our Honda Odyssey, and we now pull a popup trailer. We still have our tent though, as pulling a trailer too far is slow and no bargain with gas. We stick to the five states surrounding us when using the camper, and a tent for anywhere further away. We're heading to the Black Hills this year with the camper.

I say if you want to travel, any way you get to do it will be worth it. We made what we had
work mostly.

Oh, and if you're looking for more validation in not buying the vehicles you mention ....just think of the cost of fueling either one on a long journey Happy traveling in whatever you end up in!

[krantcents]

I have never paid cash for a car, however I own my cars forever. My current cars are 16 and 14 years old. I generally buy my cars using good financing from my credit union. I am not opposed to paying cash, but in mmost cases I can use my cash better elsewhere such as investing.

[nick__45]

[adstalker]

i just bought my 2011 bmw 328 cash. got it out the door at 37,500 with all the packages I wanted. I couldnt buy on credit even if I wanted to lol. walked away from 2 properties in 2009

[nick__45]

We pay cash too, and we're a road-tripping family of 6.

When it was just my husband and I, we had a brand new Dodge Colt (1st new car for both of us)and we traveled coast to coast from MN in it. The first couple years, when the wind was right we got 60mpg - not a typo. Loved that car and drove it til it drove no more!

When our four girls were little, we had a conversion van that we traveled extensively in(tent camping and visiting family mostly in ID and NM.) I swear we'd open that side door, and stuff would explode out (mostly the Barbie dolls and their extensive essential gear,) but it was great for camping and kids. (What?? Were we the only family with Barbies along???) Drove this vehicle til its end.

Later we used a Plymouth minvan for our tent camping trips. On our trip to Galveston Island, we even drove it on the beach along the Gulf of Mexico. And yes, this van was just scrapped this week.

Now, we're traveling in relative luxury in our Honda Odyssey, and we now pull a popup trailer. We still have our tent though, as pulling a trailer too far is slow and no bargain with gas. We stick to the five states surrounding us when using the camper, and a tent for anywhere further away. We're heading to the Black Hills this year with the camper.

I say if you want to travel, any way you get to do it will be worth it. We made what we had
work mostly.

Oh, and if you're looking for more validation in not buying the vehicles you mention ....just think of the cost of fueling either one on a long journey Happy traveling in whatever you end up in!

I always love to have a conversation van. They are great for camping and pretty much everything except beach driving. They are truly great vehicles and most are tough as nail as the people who use them generally take good care of them due to the fact that they are meant to be "can't be left stranded" vacation transportation. I don't know why they never made 4x4 conversion van but I suspect the popularity of large SUV killed the conversion van market.

As far as gas, my 4x4 that I drive once or twice a month has a 32 gallons capacity. It cost around 100 dollars to fill up. I personally don't care about that as driving a Landcruiser or H2 around town would alone cost me 10 dollars or less for a nice evening out with my family. I can spare 10 dollars a week. I wouldn't commute with them though and long distance driving outside of vacation is only meant to give the vehicle a chance to burn off condensation and get the gears moving right.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

What is a driving on the beach vacation anyway? I'm in the middle of the continent, so I have only been to ocean beaches a few times, but never were they places where anyone could drive a car. In fact, they were accessible on foot only and there were protected dunes scattered here and there among the areas where it was permissible to walk, play, and frolic. Driving on the beach seems odd to me. I've just never seen it. I just cannot imagine a Hummer on the beach!

For the record, I've only been to ocean beaches on the northeast coast (mostly rocky beaches), on the panhandle of Florida, the east coast of Florida, off Texas (where I've heard there is vehicle camping allowed, but I don't remember seeing it) and the southern-most coast of Georgia. I've been to numerous lake front beaches on the Great lakes and in many of the small glacial lakes in the upper Mid-west, also to river island beaches. But I've never seen car driving on the beach. Is this more a Pacific beaches custom?

Are they huge, long beaches with no paved access roads to get you closer to various points on the beach so that you have to drive on the beach to get to the spot you want? Or is driving on the beach the whole point? Speeding around in the sand with the ocean to one side?

[1yearfrom0debt]

This all depends on the rate environment. Right now, I would say borrow as rates are historically low. But if they are high, cash is a nice option. I think it's important to understand how much you could get on a trade or resell for your vehicle. Some purchases are just not worth it!

[nick__45]

What is a driving on the beach vacation anyway? I'm in the middle of the continent, so I have only been to ocean beaches a few times, but never were they places where anyone could drive a car. In fact, they were accessible on foot only and there were protected dunes scattered here and there among the areas where it was permissible to walk, play, and frolic. Driving on the beach seems odd to me. I've just never seen it. I just cannot imagine a Hummer on the beach!

For the record, I've only been to ocean beaches on the northeast coast (mostly rocky beaches), on the panhandle of Florida, the east coast of Florida, off Texas (where I've heard there is vehicle camping allowed, but I don't remember seeing it) and the southern-most coast of Georgia. I've been to numerous lake front beaches on the Great lakes and in many of the small glacial lakes in the upper Mid-west, also to river island beaches. But I've never seen car driving on the beach. Is this more a Pacific beaches custom?

Are they huge, long beaches with no paved access roads to get you closer to various points on the beach so that you have to drive on the beach to get to the spot you want? Or is driving on the beach the whole point? Speeding around in the sand with the ocean to one side?

There are a few beaches on the East Coast and Texas that you can drive your 4x4 on. Basically, the beaches have multi-millions dollars houses but there is absolute no paved roads and people take their families and friends to the beaches where these houses are located. Some of the ones I have been to have strict rules against racing but the driving area is so large that it is the same as traveling on a 10 lanes highway; therefore, accident is very rare as speed is usually below 30 mph. The only time there would be an accident is when idiots do illegal passing and the front vehicle hit a rut and crossover the driving path. I would think that would be the fault of the passing vehicle but I don't know the traffic law relating to that. When someone pass me too close or drive too stupid as to make a 3+ row of vehicle traveling one direction, I slow down and just let them pass. In my opinion, there should only be one lane per direciton but people just use whatever traction I see and go. Some area is very bad and some area is so flat and wet that a tiny front wheel drive car can go. However, a wet area is an indication that it will be underwater when the tide comes in. Without off-road lights and a good running and lifted vehicle with 33 inches tires, I wouldn't dare being out there when sun down.

I heard this is maybe some private area like that on the west coast but I am not sure. I figure CA is so strict that they wouldn't allow public beach to have 4x4. Amazingly, all of the 4x4 beaches I have been to are completely clean unlike regular beach even though 4x4 beaches goers tend to bring everything and their kitchen sink with them as they camp along the beach all day.

I highly recommend you find a 4x4 beach and try it. If you don't have a real 4x4 (CRV, Element, anything from Subaru and Volvo, and RAV4 and many other vehicles aren't 4x4 even if they claim they are) you can easily rent a Jeep for a few days and try out. Just don't rent the one near the beach as it cost 3 times more and you are looking at substandard vehicles.

Here are some videos:

‪Corolla 4x4 Beaches‬‏ - YouTube
‪Jeeps on the Beach - OBX 2009‬‏ - YouTube

[HousingCounselor]

I thought about paying $20-$30k for a car at one point but around here you could buy a $50 to $70k valued home for that much. I will probably never do another car payment unless it's three years or less so I understand where wanting to pay cash comes from but I won't do it at the expense of my sense of entitlement. Well...I have none. My current car is 6 years old and has 86k miles on it I've put about $2500k in maintenance and tires over the years including $1k this year for a new serpentine belt and two control arms. I so want to drive this car til the wheels fall off but it sucks in the winter months and now I'm thinking about safety over frugalty. Til I decide I guess I'll keep saving.