Refinancing car loan

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Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Gee, I wondered how some people could make the fact that I'm, yanno, saving money into a bad thing. Guess I know now. (Not you, gofast182.)


I think you did the right thing. Saving money is great, my issue is that you have debt at all, which means the car was unaffordable.

So take that savings and pay it off ASAP
smile.gif


8% car loans? No thanks...
 
Congrats on the refinancing.

I refi-ed my car loan with my credit union last year. I would rather my CU make some money off me than Chase who had my original loan. They [self-censored] me on my mortgage so I prefer the money went to a CU than them.

Petty I know, but I'm like that.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Gee, I wondered how some people could make the fact that I'm, yanno, saving money into a bad thing. Guess I know now. (Not you, gofast182.)


I think you did the right thing. Saving money is great, my issue is that you have debt at all, which means the car was unaffordable.

So take that savings and pay it off ASAP
smile.gif


8% car loans? No thanks...


We have a local chain of BHPH dealers where double digit interest is common. Their worst rate is 25%
 
I went from a 4 year loan on the Cruze to a 3 year loan once I figured out that the payment on the 3 year loan was the same as paying ahead on the 4 year loan. The lower interest rate helped save me a few hundred dollars during the time I had the loan. The car got paid off in 1.5 years, though!

Although, if a maker offers 0% financing for 60 months on a new car you were going to purchase anyhow, do the 0%.
 
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Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: kmcavin
I refinanced my Outback at my local credit union at a 1.74% rate just last week. I'll save $450 on financing for less than an hour's work. I'd rather have the interest go to the local Credit Union than BMO Harris anyway.

for my Yota, I had to go to my local BMO Harris 4 (four) times, to setup everything (account, payment, check they have the right address in the system)
never got the book with the scheduled payments from them. or any initial paperwork
if i would haven't done that, i have a guess they would report me for late payments...

OP, good for you. money in your pocket. ignore the nay-sayers and give us more writings about driving that beauty...


It must be BMO Harris thing. The credit union wanted a copy of the title faxed to them and it took a fax and three follow up phone calls to get them to actually send it to the credit union. The dealership had set up the financing through BMO Harris and I didn't get a payment book either. I just set up an online payment through USAA and that was it.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Gee, I wondered how some people could make the fact that I'm, yanno, saving money into a bad thing. Guess I know now. (Not you, gofast182.)


I think you did the right thing. Saving money is great, my issue is that you have debt at all, which means the car was unaffordable.

So take that savings and pay it off ASAP
smile.gif


8% car loans? No thanks...


You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?
 
In today's low interest rate environment I don't know why anyone would pay cash for a vehicle.

If I had $50k to buy a new truck and GM was offering 0% for 60 months with the same OTD price I'd take the 0%.

Now if rates were high like 8% I'd skip the note.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
In today's low interest rate environment I don't know why anyone would pay cash for a vehicle.

If I had $50k to buy a new truck and GM was offering 0% for 60 months with the same OTD price I'd take the 0%.

Now if rates were high like 8% I'd skip the note.


Problem is that those very low interest loans are a prime contributor why people don't have any savings in the first place. Sure, the financially smart people will take advantage of these loans and invest their cash for hopefully a much higher return rate then the loan interest, but it's not without risks either.
For the vast majority, however, they don't have the cash in the first place, and just keep on rolling up new loans and spending whatever money they have left, in a belief that these low interest loans will not end.

It's not a coincidence that as the interest rates get lower and lower, people's debt gets higher and higher, as a population of course.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
In today's low interest rate environment I don't know why anyone would pay cash for a vehicle.

If I had $50k to buy a new truck and GM was offering 0% for 60 months with the same OTD price I'd take the 0%.

Now if rates were high like 8% I'd skip the note.


Problem is that those very low interest loans are a prime contributor why people don't have any savings in the first place. Sure, the financially smart people will take advantage of these loans and invest their cash for hopefully a much higher return rate then the loan interest, but it's not without risks either.
For the vast majority, however, they don't have the cash in the first place, and just keep on rolling up new loans and spending whatever money they have left, in a belief that these low interest loans will not end.

It's not a coincidence that as the interest rates get lower and lower, people's debt gets higher and higher, as a population of course.


Exactly. There are tons of "savvy" folks who try to do things and then end up broke or worse off. Not saying the quoted posted is or is not, but there are lots of folks who because they can afford a payment, go and spend their money on other things, and end up with so many liabilities that they get wiped out easily.

Its called living within your means. Affording a payment isnt doing that. Taking 0% on a note may be but assuming the person actually has the cash (which is doubtful) inflation and market risk make it possible for a net negative return anyway.

Still, it is what it is, and people arent going to stop financing, even if to their own long-term detriment. So the OP did the right thing to minimize incurred interest and get paid off sooner hopefully.
 
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?


Absolutely, but you do realize that nobody "deserves" anything, and what they can afford is what they can afford - maybe not new. And "affording" doesnt necessarily mean what monthly payment one can handle and have $0 (or negative) savings at the end of the month. Lots of broke people out there, broke off of bad decisions... With uptrimmed cars with fancy nameplates and nothing to show for it at the end.

There's nothing wrong with trying to prevent people from making poor decisions. Not sure why people have to bring up these same kind of arguments each time. Im free to my opinions and strategy, as are you.

But your question in reality is OT from the OP, who made the right move.
 
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?


That's the type of thinking that gets people into perpetual debt.

Anyone who can afford payments can afford to pay cash. All you need to do is practice some self-discipline and save up the money first. Take the money you're blowing on payments and put it into a safe investment. Continue making that payment to yourself every month, and in 3-4 years you'll have enough to buy that new car.

Then, if you're really smart you'll pay cash for an inexpensive used vehicle, and continue saving.

And while you're saving it up you'll be collecting some interest as well, so instead of paying interest you'll be collecting it. And unlike the original poster who was excited over saving a few dollars in interest, you'll be able to get very excited about both the interest you've saved and the interest you've earned.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
And the Dave Ramsey police show up.


The truth is oftentimes uncomfortable to those that are trying to turn a blind eye to it.
Would you make a similar comment if all the replies were encouraging OP to get the longest loan possible with the least amount of down payment?
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
And the Dave Ramsey police show up.


And the financially irresponsible are uncomfortable.
 
Some people fear money, others use it as it as the tool it is. Different strokes as they say.

It just gets old whenever anyone posts about a new vehicle the DR police kick down the door.

Contrary to popular BITOG belief not everyone who *gasp* finances a vehicle purchase is financially busted and should be in an old beater.
 
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The easiest to re-finance a car loan was with IBM Mid-America Credit Union, they also had very good interest rate.

All they want is either email or phone call to give them the Vin number of the car, they will deposit the amount you like up to 100% of the car value into your account the same day, either into checking or saving, and you need to mail them the title within 30 days. This procedure is applied to buying a new or used car from dealer or private seller.

They even allowed you to re-finance by phone their car loan when interest rate went down, as long as you re-finance with at least $100 more than current loan balance, but you can pay that amount to the new loan on the same day.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?


That's the type of thinking that gets people into perpetual debt.

Anyone who can afford payments can afford to pay cash. All you need to do is practice some self-discipline and save up the money first. Take the money you're blowing on payments and put it into a safe investment. Continue making that payment to yourself every month, and in 3-4 years you'll have enough to buy that new car.

Then, if you're really smart you'll pay cash for an inexpensive used vehicle, and continue saving.

And while you're saving it up you'll be collecting some interest as well, so instead of paying interest you'll be collecting it. And unlike the original poster who was excited over saving a few dollars in interest, you'll be able to get very excited about both the interest you've saved and the interest you've earned.

Uh, that is exactly what I've done for the last four years, since paying the PA off way early: save. I was able to make a whopping down payment on the Regal, so that my note was much lower than I paid for the previous car. I could have paid cash, yes; but I didn't like to touch more of my capital than I could help. And now, with this low-interest loan, I'll be earning more in savings interest than I'm paying out.

I don't call $250 a "few" dollars in interest, either.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?


That's the type of thinking that gets people into perpetual debt.

Anyone who can afford payments can afford to pay cash. All you need to do is practice some self-discipline and save up the money first. Take the money you're blowing on payments and put it into a safe investment. Continue making that payment to yourself every month, and in 3-4 years you'll have enough to buy that new car.

Then, if you're really smart you'll pay cash for an inexpensive used vehicle, and continue saving.

And while you're saving it up you'll be collecting some interest as well, so instead of paying interest you'll be collecting it. And unlike the original poster who was excited over saving a few dollars in interest, you'll be able to get very excited about both the interest you've saved and the interest you've earned.


Banks stopped paying interest a while ago. It's nice to sit on cash, but technically it's losing money, if it sits at the bank.

Whenever I saved up money I made the mistake of putting it towards the principle on my house under the thought of saving money off interest. Now I'm not sure that was wise; what I've put towards principle could have paid off my current vehicle loans.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Whenever I saved up money I made the mistake of putting it towards the principle on my house under the thought of saving money off interest. Now I'm not sure that was wise; what I've put towards principle could have paid off my current vehicle loans.

Well, it would make sense to pay off the loan with a higher interest rate first.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI


You do realize that not everyone can afford to pay cash for a vehicle right?


Absolutely, but you do realize that nobody "deserves" anything, and what they can afford is what they can afford - maybe not new. And "affording" doesnt necessarily mean what monthly payment one can handle and have $0 (or negative) savings at the end of the month. Lots of broke people out there, broke off of bad decisions... With uptrimmed cars with fancy nameplates and nothing to show for it at the end.

There's nothing wrong with trying to prevent people from making poor decisions. Not sure why people have to bring up these same kind of arguments each time. Im free to my opinions and strategy, as are you.

But your question in reality is OT from the OP, who made the right move.


I took it OT? Ha that's rich Mr. Moderator. YOU sir took it off topic with your condescending comments about the OP having debt and not being able to afford the car because he took a loan on it. You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. 1st he can't afford it because he didn't pay cash then he did the right thing. Just crazy.

Yes, you have a right to your opinion( so do I sir )but it is the way you put it( like some others do who preach about no debt here ). The reality is most people can not afford to pay cash for a new vehicle these days. They cost too much.

I am very responsible financially. I have a savings account( small but a few grand - was more before I got sick and can't work regular anymore )and my bills are paid on time or early every month leaving me plenty of money for food, entertainment, and to put some away if I need to. I do not need you telling me/others that I/we am irresponsible or can't afford a vehicle because I have to make payments on it.

You may be a Mod and me standing up to you may have consequences but you are out of line Sir. You went beyond opinion here and got insulting!

EDIT and for the record I just bought a brand new vehicle last week. What I wanted for trim and options and what I could afford were two different things. I settled on a lesser trim level and left off some options on the vehicle to keep the payment down to my predetermined budget. So people who need car loans can be responsible too.
 
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