Just for fun, how are you enjoying your car payment

[John105]

Do you ever look at it as win some, lose some? I bought a 2006 Lexus LS430 in 2016, 81k. Basically nothing broke since and it’s now got 140k. Imho it was worth the $14k cash because there is no end in sight to how long I will have it. And I like it. No I love the car.

So 2 years from now I splurge and buy an $80k car. Total waste of money and I lose $20k driving off the lot. But I’m grinning like a Cheshire Cat driving it home and for 10 more years my family enjoys it. Maybe I put half down and make crazy payments for 5 years. Otherwise I could choose to never get a new car and fix the current ones indefinitely. We don’t always have to pinch Pennie’s esp if we’ve done it forever…choices

 

[odie]

Liking it . 0 $'s per month . Haven't had a car loan for over 4 years . No home loan as well .

 

[Dave Hess]

Zero car payments here.

 

[LDB]

$419 and only because it's 0% interest. Marcus pays me 5.05% on the money I would have used to buy the car. So I kind of like my car payment. My only debt.

 

[oldgrayman]

Paid off my pickup yesterday . No more vehicle payments for the foreseeable future .

 

[IndyIan]

For my cars, we've never actually had car payments. And I don't think I ever will, a simple cheap used car is fine and never from a dealer so far, so its been meeting strangers with envelopes of cash. Works out fine.
Hopefully the next car for the wife will be a long time from now, as the current interest rates would hurt a bit... TBH I don't want a new car, I think most cars are getting pointlessly complex... Even the new base Outback has got a big dumb screen, DI, auto stop start... None of which add anything for us anyways, and it now costs ~25% more!

 

[I<3oil]

Pretty good. It's giving me a used 3/4 ton truck with all the bells and whistles.

 

[Jhemiway23]

Current payment- $171.92 I’m cool with that

 

[ATex7239]

I actually financed my fridge, stove, washer, and dryer, when I bought my house in 2019. Home Depot was running a special promotion at the time. 0% interest for 24 months, and they would make the first two payments. So it was cheaper for me, than if I had paid cash. Sometimes a deal is too good to pass on.

I do this too. I have gotten smoking deals doing 0% loans or credit cards. Furniture, appliances, etc. I got I think like 10 or 15% (don’t quite remember) off on our washer and dryer with Home Depot by getting the credit card. Set it up for auto draft payments from my checking account, worked it in the budget, paid it off on time to keep the 0% interest terms, then cancelled the card. Had the cash for it but why not take the savings. Cash haggling works in some places but others you gotta sign up for the plastic to get the good deal.

 

[John105]

One thing that dawns on me is the price of vehicles, the price of many things, etc. The first that seemed to accelerate far faster than wages, was college tuition. Now I'm not talking about elite colleges which are actually quite inexpensive (have a coworker who paid only room and board for his son at UPenn). I'm talking about the average Joe whose kid goes to a lower tier school and the parent pays $30k/year for 4 years, and has 3 kids.

It's nice to not have a payment, we haven't had one for 9 years now. But guess what happened? The cars got older and may need a replacement. Again, our cars are 2006, 2007, 2011, and the 1998 was junked this year.

So is it realistic to not have a payment in 2025, when we get a new car? It's likely that no car would need anywhere near $5000 in repairs, so would it be wiser to spend $5k in repairs? Probably. But if a new car enters the household, it's coming in at $86k with tax and tags. And would need to be paid for. imho I cannot put 75% down like I did on the 2007 BMW (40-45% likely)....so I accept that there may be a 4 figure payment in my future. It's life.

What's funny is there was a time, seriously, when a luxury car was less than one's annual income. I remember seeing internal docs on the 2002 BMW 3. Typical purchaser was 37 y.o. with a median income of $130k, far more than what the vehicle cost. Now, people buy vehicles same as their household income or even more.

 

[ATex7239]

One thing that dawns on me is the price of vehicles, the price of many things, etc. The first that seemed to accelerate far faster than wages, was college tuition. Now I'm not talking about elite colleges which are actually quite inexpensive (have a coworker who paid only room and board for his son at UPenn). I'm talking about the average Joe whose kid goes to a lower tier school and the parent pays $30k/year for 4 years, and has 3 kids.

It's nice to not have a payment, we haven't had one for 9 years now. But guess what happened? The cars got older and may need a replacement. Again, our cars are 2006, 2007, 2011, and the 1998 was junked this year.

So is it realistic to not have a payment in 2025, when we get a new car? It's likely that no car would need anywhere near $5000 in repairs, so would it be wiser to spend $5k in repairs? Probably. But if a new car enters the household, it's coming in at $86k with tax and tags. And would need to be paid for. imho I cannot put 75% down like I did on the 2007 BMW (40-45% likely)....so I accept that there may be a 4 figure payment in my future. It's life.

Life in modern society requires more and more resources as time passes. Cell phones, computers and internet are must now vs luxury items. Both parents are working now by and large so that requires twice the expense for vehicles, travel and other related things. Often times it also requires daycare, after school programs or sitters which would have been a choice when I was a kid. I was 100% a latchkey kid growing up. I remember walking home after school and being alone until dinner as young as 8 or so. Now if you leave your kids alone before 12 or 13 yrs old it can be criminal or negligent should something happen. I would rather make a car payment than pay the daycare costs nowadays. A decent daycare’s monthly fee makes a high interest car payment look tolerable.

 

[Charmet37]

I trade in my old but decent condition Volvo XC70 Crossover wagon, The Volvo needed some work so I had a choice to put $2,000 in the Volvo or find a cheap affordable used car, Traded in the Volvo and used 2 grand and purchased another car, My car payment is super cheap. Enjoying the cheap car note.
The Volvo had over 230,000 miles on the clock

 

[John105]

I trade in my old but decent condition Volvo XC70 Crossover wagon, The Volvo needed some work so I had a choice to put $2,000 in the Volvo or find a cheap affordable used car, Traded in the Volvo and used 2 grand and purchased another car, My car payment is super cheap. Enjoying the cheap car note.
The Volvo had over 230,000 miles on the clock

My first 3 cars were Volvos starting at age 19. I remember proudly tacking on the high mileage club emblem on my 264 for 200k. But having given it to my bro, it didn’t see 300k. For a while I found myself watching that dude I. YouTube named David Bello. The first video I saw of his was actually on a Lexus ls430

 

[demarpaint]

I don't have a crystal ball, but interest rates are going to be high for a very long time. We just exited a time of historically ridiculously low interest rates.

That said, for any purchase you have to consider how you're going to raise the cash to buy it, and the opportunity cost for other things you might have done with that money. I don't like to borrow money either, but those are all the factors that go into the decision. If you have an excellent credit score today you might be able to get a new car loan under 6%. It is what it is. But if you're going to sell stocks to buy a car, you're going to pay 15% tax on any gains (assuming you held the stock at least one year), and then there's however the stocks might perform over the next several years after you've paid for your car.

I agree. I don't have a crystal ball either, but when the time comes to pull the trigger I'll know exactly how to play it.

 

[John105]

I agree. I don't have a crystal ball either, but when the time comes to pull the trigger I'll know exactly how to play it.

Some things are beyond our control and we only have so many hours in a day. I have $20k or so cash doing nothing in my JPM account. I did not choose that. I had shares of VMWare and I thought they would all be converted to Broadcom. But seems only half. What am I going to do with the cash? It’s probably worse that it’s cash and not Broadcom stock. I’ll pay whatever gains I have to pay. But this happened while I had zero say in the matter (I said I want stock according to my election). Sometimes we have to just accept things. Having no mortgage or car loan is a win. But what if we need a car? How will we pay when its $86k out the door….

 

[demarpaint]

Some things are beyond our control and we only have so many hours in a day. I have $20k or so cash doing nothing in my JPM account. I did not choose that. I had shares of VMWare and I thought they would all be converted to Broadcom. But seems only half. What am I going to do with the cash? It’s probably worse that it’s cash and not Broadcom stock. I’ll pay whatever gains I have to pay. But this happened while I had zero say in the matter (I said I want stock according to my election). Sometimes we have to just accept things. Having no mortgage or car loan is a win. But what if we need a car? How will we pay when its $86k out the door….

Unfortunately no two people have the exact same situation for lack of a better term. Our situations are totally different.

 

[ecotourist]

Just before my dad died I took him for a ride in my brand new 1981 Toyota Celica 5 speed lift back. He asked how big the payments were. I said "No dad, there was only one payment". "Well, you must be doing all right then" he replied.

I had just started my career and he was proud of me for being able to buy a new car and pay for it with cash. I've only bought cars with "one payment" since then.

It's hard to do it the first time, but when you do it you get ahead and it's much easier after that.

 

[ecotourist]

How will we pay when its $86k out the door….

First off I don't think anyone needs an $86K car.

I firmly believe you should only buy what you can afford. When you have $86K on hand you're ready to write that big cheque.

But actually I'd rather have a $50k car (which I can afford) and have that other $36k working for me in the stock market.

 

[John105]

Just before my dad died I took him for a ride in my brand new 1981 Toyota Celica 5 speed lift back. He asked how big the payments were. I said "No dad, there was only one payment". "Well, you must be doing all right then" he replied.

I had just started my career and he was proud of me for being able to buy a new car and pay for it with cash. I've only bought cars with "one payment" since then.

It's hard to do it the first time, but when you do it you get ahead and it's much easier after that.

My parents had a coupe with the 20R engine. I remember putting Hella fogs and a Kamei air dam on it. My buddy remembers me hooking a timing light up to it. Also put a clarion eq amp and Jensen 6x9 coaxes (my buddy insists triaxes but I couldn’t afford those).

The one I really wished they had gotten was the USGP with the honeycomb grill

1980 Toyota Celica USGP Edition

Bid for the chance to own a 1980 Toyota Celica USGP Edition at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #4,802.

bringatrailer.com

 

[John105]

First off I don't think anyone needs an $86K car.

I firmly believe you should only buy what you can afford. When you have $86K on hand you're ready to write that big cheque.

But actually I'd rather have a $50k car (which I can afford) and have that other $36k working for me in the stock market.

Needs and wants are two different things.

I personally believe my family deserves a 2025 Tahoe.

My buddy who is an avid follower of DR (I actually can’t stand him) says that if I were to call in, DR would say to get the car.

I’d rather have an $86k car and just keep stocks out of it. I never bought into that line of reasoning, even though I’m of the generation where to yesterday, stocks have never gone down in my lifetime of investing (since 1994).

I’m just being honest. I have zero intention of taking $86k out of the bank and paying cash. Maybe $45k and that’s it. I’m not averse to loans, but I will say I have none as I type.