Tell us about your auto loan...

[The Critic]

$900/mo isn't a significant part of your monthly budget?

Mazel tov to you guys!

I should have paid attention more in school.. Or maybe not have gotten married and had 4 kids. LOL

OTOH, I love how the OP specifically asked about loan terms and half the responses are from cash buyers.

Myself, I don't go for a loan if it's not under 3% interest and I typically don't exceed 60 months. I have done a 72. I've never bought a vehicle more expensive than about $28K all-in. I try to keep my car loans so they're not more than $400/mo and I often have 2 of them.

I intentionally set a range - while $900 is definitely more than I would prefer to have, it wouldn't materially affect our lifestyle either. Of course we have no kids.

But I think I can say the same about most households in my area. That size of payment would cut into discretionary spend but probably would not result in a drastic change in lifestyle.

 

[JTK]

I intentionally set a range - while $900 is definitely more than I would prefer to have, it wouldn't materially affect our lifestyle either. Of course we have no kids.

But I think I can say the same about most households in my area. That size of payment would cut into discretionary spend but probably would not result in a drastic change in lifestyle.

I hear ya. Even for me, I'm at about ~$800/mo for two of the vehicles in my sig, plus car insurance, etc. It's not financially wise I know.

Co-workers and friends of mine pay that for one 84mo bro-dozer payment, not to mention their toy haulers, side by sides and the list goes on.

 

[odie]

Don't have one . Nice to save money .

 

[dishdude]

4 pages of my ***** is larger then yours.

My last car loan was 8.89% for 135 months. After I cashed in my Gamestop shares I paid it off and went back and bought six more so I could drive a different car every day of the week.

I had a guy PM me and engage in a little back and forth for the sole purpose of dropping a screenshot of his retirement account.

 

[PWMDMD]

$900/mo isn't a significant part of your monthly budget?

Mazel tov to you guys!

I should have paid attention more in school.. Or maybe not have gotten married and had 4 kids. LOL

OTOH, I love how the OP specifically asked about loan terms and half the responses are from cash buyers.

Myself, I don't go for a loan if it's not under 3% interest and I typically don't exceed 60 months. I have done a 72. I've never bought a vehicle more expensive than about $28K all-in. I try to keep my car loans so they're not more than $400/mo and I often have 2 of them.

I make a good living. I have three kids and would be living like a rock star if it wasn't for them! I have a 15 year old who skied 77 days this season and did over 2000 runs at our local mountain which is 15 mins aways but because he does park finished the season on his third set of skis. He loves it an it keeps him out of trouble so we support it but I'd have a lot more $$$ in my pocket without him.

 

[odie]

Always get an subcompact base model under $17,000 to get the car payment under $250 and 3 year loan with low interest rate . Trade in included along with some cash down . Gas mileage helps with money saved at the pump to be applied to monthly payments .

 

[ryster]

Last loan was $19K at 1.14% for 60 months. Paid it off 4 months early, not that it made any difference at that point. It was just nice to be done with the loan.

Have been payment free for 15 months now and I would love to get a different car. I just don't want to start all over again with payments. Maybe next year when things are back to "normal".

 

[odie]

Like stated above , we too place more money to monthly payment to go towards the principal to shorten the length of the loan . Helps with the hit on the trade when time arrives .

 

[Corollaman]

Always get an subcompact base model under $17,000 to get the car payment under $250 and 3 year loan with low interest rate . Trade in included along with some cash down . Gas mileage helps with money saved at the pump to be applied to monthly payments .

That seems like a smart way to do it, subcompact cars are a lot bigger these days.

 

[tbm5690]

I make a good living. I have three kids and would be living like a rock star if it wasn't for them! I have a 15 year old who skied 77 days this season and did over 2000 runs at our local mountain which is 15 mins aways but because he does park finished the season on his third set of skis. He loves it an it keeps him out of trouble so we support it but I'd have a lot more $$$ in my pocket without him.

And I'm sure you know that the older you get the more thankful you'll be that you chose the kids over a fatter bank account.

 

[PWMDMD]

And I'm sure you know that the older you get the more thankful you'll be that you chose the kids over a fatter bank account.

All three promise to put me in the good old folks home!

 

[JeffKeryk]

We leased an '18 Lexus RX450h instead of buying it. I hate leases, but I kinda considered it a hedge against new technology.
I had planned on paying cash as I hate loans and especially leases.
I figured in 3 years hybrid (or EV) technology might be significantly improved.
Anyways, I got sick of the payments so I just paid that sucker off after about a year.
Then Lexus was offering to pay the last 3 payments if we got another car. Dang!

Now I really hate leases.
By the way, people making $900 payments and calling it nothing, well, $900 is a lotta money to me.

 

[walterjay]

1.9% at 60 months. Paid it off early.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Other than manufacturer's zero interest financing, I find credit unions have the best simple interest rates and terms. From my CU I can get 1.97% for 48 months with as little as 10% down. That's up .25% in the last month.

 

[javacontour]

Exactly. That’s why I chuckle when folks on this forum groan about a car payment.

My annual car payment total is under 2 percent of my income. I think I can afford it.

I think it’s like 3.9 percent interest on a used car. I could pay it off tomorrow.

I made around 30 percent last year on the money that remained invested, so I am far ahead of the interest. In fact, had I pulled the money out, the opportunity cost of the money being out of the market is probably double what I will pay back for the loan.
Having payments that are 33 percent or more of your income would be unwise and uncomfortable. My under 2 percent payment lets me keep putting 15-20 percent of what I make away for the future.

 

[Nick1994]

Just curious: is a $500-$900/mo monthly payment a significant part of your overall monthly budget?

Region matters alot. Not everybody makes California money.

 

[HowAboutThis]

If you can afford $450/mth to the bank CEO why wouldn't you pay yourself $400/mth preemptively for the same vehicle? Our country, from the ground up, struggles to think long term. Me, me, me, now, now, now. Often, even with 0%, the cash off offer instead of the 0% is often a better deal.

Very limited circumstances where I might get a loan. Emergency, unplanned type stuff.

I guess conservative has a different meaning now.

 

[oberah]

Bought one of my Toyota's during their annual 0% for 60 months financing deal. Bought both of my prior toyota's using the same deal in the past as well. I usually pay off the car within 3-4 years however despite 0% because I do not like being in debt anymore.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If you can afford $450/mth to the bank CEO why wouldn't you pay yourself $400/mth preemptively for the same vehicle? Our country, from the ground up, struggles to think long term. Me, me, me, now, now, now. Often, even with 0%, the cash off offer instead of the 0% is often a better deal.

Very limited circumstances where I might get a loan. Emergency, unplanned type stuff.

I guess conservative has a different meaning now.

I agree with you, but I think it is not that simple.
If credit is cheap and you can get a decent return on your investments, then using credit can be investing with someone else's money.
Instead of paying cash for our Tesla, if I had borrowed the money and put the cash into TSLA, I would have well over $500K.

But basically, don't put money into a depreciating asset.
Cars are depreciating assets.

 

[Sierra048]

When l first moved to Seffner (Tampa) in 1987, Hwy 60 from I-75 thru Brandon was ONLY 2 lanes! It's now 6 lanes, and 8 in some spots.

Grew up in Lutz. Recently deceased in-laws lived in Seffner, off of Hwy 60, in a community called Strawberry Ridge. Brandon grew fast. Unless you drive it in the wee hours of the morning, I consider it a nightmare to drive.