a real problem..car payments

Abuskedti

hippiemom wrote:

A Mini Cooper or VW I could handle. The Honda would even be ok, I think. Just don't get anything like a Corvette that's on obvious penile replacement, and for the love of god, stay away from fire-engine red ... then I promise not to laugh

This is one of the reasons we need women. Us men don't necessarily look at how the car may look to others... I like the Red and Black BMW convertable - But certainly don't want to look like a senior cruising for teenagers...

Abookamongstthemany

I love our tiny little, paid for kia. It's great on gas and doesn't cause us any problems. I couldn't care less what a car looks like as long as it doesn't cause a lot of stress, is fuel efficient and cheap.

MrBrian

Abuskedti wrote:

This is one of the reasons we need women. Us men don't necessarily look at how the car may look to others... I like the Red and Black BMW convertable - But certainly don't want to look like a senior cruising for teenagers...

What does it matter what it looks to others? does it make it true? As long as you are not really a senior cruising for teens, it should'nt be a problem. hehe.

hailhailkc

I went into debt for the car I drive now...and I have to say...it's the last time I will ever go into debt for a car again. I'm sick of car payments. Cash down the drain.

CTimm46

When it comes to cars and frankly any purchase it is a personal thing.

I won't buy used cars because I know jack about cars. I know I should learn and probably could learn but I don't. I buy new because then I am not buying anybody elses problems. Plus with warranties I can feel comfortable with a new car that it will run for minimum amount of time. After I buy the car I hold on to it until it is ready to drop (aka major problems, transmission or engine), then I make a decision on affordability.

Now I do smile when I see someone driving something like a BMW because I always think they are someone who needs to spend 10k to 20k for the name and for a moment I realize I am not the only screwed up person in the world.

We all have reasons for the decisions we make, and while these (and many other) decisions don't make sense to me, it is not my place to judge, although I do it daily.

Songburst

Haha. After driving and maintaining an '86 Ranger until I was done school, the first thing that I did when I started working was drop 30k on a new truck and I love it. I would have paid double that just for the winters where I wasn't on my back on a fucking frozen driveway fighting with frozen metal and frozen fingers. Money is only money. Not everything has to be an investment. Life is too short to analyze every dollar you waste.

olderman

One of the many jobs in my life includes selling cars at Superior Chevrolet in Merriam, KS. I worked there when Chevrolet decided to quit producing the Full Size, rear wheel drive Impala. For a few years, they had built this vehicle with a shift on the tree. For the final production year, Chevy decided to put the shift on the console. This made the car extremely desirable to some. And did we ever "clock" those who just had to have these cars. One dude was an Italian chef at a prominent restaraunt in KC. He had just gone through bankruptcy. What this means is that he was an excellent credit risk, because he could not declare again for seven years which meant he would be motivated to make his car payment. I sold the vehicle to this dude for almost $2,000 OVER sticker.

It was purely an emotional decision on his part. Car purchases that seem unreasonable usually are emotional decisions. As a salesman, the first order of business is to get the potential buyer INTO the vehicle for a demo ride. Especially when it is a car that is fulfilling more than just a need for transportation. Once they fall "in love" with the car, the purchase is a done deal.

If everyone purchased a vehicle for transportation only, we'd all be driving VW bugs.

BTW, I quit the job. Not because I felt guilty about ripping off the chef (or others like him), but because they wanted me to work WAY too many hours.

I've seen that King Of Cars show. It's too realistic.

MrBrian

CTimm46 wrote:

Now I do smile when I see someone driving something like a BMW because I always think they are someone who needs to spend 10k to 20k for the name and for a moment I realize I am not the only screwed up person in the world.

We all have reasons for the decisions we make, and while these (and many other) decisions don't make sense to me, it is not my place to judge, although I do it daily.

I think that's true in some cases. People buying a car just to say they drive "x". But not in all cases.

Like I said in a previous post, some people buy Ferraris, cars that do 180mph and take corners like crazy, yet they only drive them 50mph and the only turn they make it while parking infront of a starbucks.

Or people with an SUV who never takes it off road. It all just becomes a waste.

fanch75

I asked this in another thread, but no one has helped me out.

How can I become a "magic negro"?

MrBrian

fanch75 wrote:

I asked this in another thread, but no one has helped me out.

How can I become a "magic negro"?

hmmmm, learn majic and turn black?

Shawn Smith Collective

inmytree wrote:

I was talking to my girlfriend about this. She works for a major sub-prime lender, and she told me this is common. She sees people daily who are having trouble paying there rent or mortgage, yet they are on time with their huge car payment...

Here's one explanation...the very people she sees struggling with the mortgage, but paying for the car, have no business with either...but they're able to get the mortgage b/c sub-prime lenders have been greenlighting high risk, non-verified income, high loan-to-value (95-100% financing) loans to people with piss-poor credit (which is one reason why so many "majors" are have been going bankrupt lately).

These people can't afford the car or the house or anything else and usually live on credit cards, and since they have little or no vested interest in the house, all they see as a risk in defaulting is credit damage. Even if they stopped paying for the car, they still couldn't pay the mortgage. So they might as well keep the car and stick the bank with the house.

boxwine_in_hell

inmytree wrote:

I was watching the show King of Cars on A&E this weekend...and was stunned to see people buying new cars with payments of 600 to 800 bucks a month...I was talking to my girlfriend about this. She works for a major sub-prime lender, and she told me this is common. She sees people daily who are having trouble paying there rent or mortgage, yet they are on time with their huge car payment...

this is insane to me....I know it's nice to have a "new" car, but to pay so much for something that does nothing but lose value is just plain stupid...

It seems people have their priorities mess-up....for me, I see a car/vehicle as something that gets me to point A to B...the last the vehicles I bought were 1200 and 2500. Granted, I've put some money into them due to age and worn parts (I'm doing a lot of my own work, too), but it's nothing compared to paying 800 a month for something that's going to need work and maintenance anyway....

Pimp my ride dude.

My3rdEye

know1 wrote:

I agree. You should only buy used cars and you should only pay in cash.

Whether you can afford it or not, the gigantic hit that you take in depreciation almost immediately just makes very poor financial sense to truly consider buying a new vehicle.

(Just watch as I get bashed for these opinions.)

I completely agree. I'm one of the idiots bought a brand new ford explorer back in 02. $533 a month... I wanted to shoot myself every month when I wrote that payment out.

Cars are worthless. The most expensive disposable item created.

Fortunately I was paying no interest.

inmytree

pjny wrote:

Here's one explanation...the very people she sees struggling with the mortgage, but paying for the car, have no business with either...but they're able to get the mortgage b/c sub-prime lenders have been greenlighting high risk, non-verified income, high loan-to-value (95-100% financing) loans to people with piss-poor credit (which is one reason why so many "majors" are have been going bankrupt lately).

These people can't afford the car or the house or anything else and usually live on credit cards, and since they have little or no vested interest in the house, all they see as a risk in defaulting is credit damage. Even if they stopped paying for the car, they still couldn't pay the mortgage. So they might as well keep the car and stick the bank with the house.

I hear ya, but it just makes no sense to me...

unless one wants to live in their car...

SPEEDY MCCREADY

know1 wrote:

Because of my outdoor pursuits of camping, kayaking and boating, it's a 6-cylinder Jeep Cherokee. I'd plan on buying something similar in the future.

ok...

there are some of us who feel spending $18,000 on a 2-3 year old car is just plain fucking ridiculous......

to each their own though....

mammasan

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

ok...

there are some of us who feel spending $18,000 on a 2-3 year old car is just plain fucking ridiculous......

to each their own though....

Couldn't agree more.

know1

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

ok...

there are some of us who feel spending $18,000 on a 2-3 year old car is just plain fucking ridiculous......

to each their own though....

Count me as one of them. I didn't say that's what I would spend. I said that's what I would HAVE at the end of that time making a payment to myself.

I bought the last one for just under $10K.

fanch75

My3rdEye wrote:

I completely agree. I'm one of the idiots bought a brand new ford explorer back in 02. $533 a month... I wanted to shoot myself every month when I wrote that payment out.

Cars are worthless. The most expensive disposable item created.

Fortunately I was paying no interest.

Don't worry, the interest is imputed and built into the price of the vehicle itself.

That's $32k that will be worthless at the end of five years.

There's a reason that every "How to build wealth" book says not to buy a brand new car!

inmytree

fanch75 wrote:

Don't worry, the interest is imputed and built into the price of the vehicle itself.

That's $32k that will be worthless at the end of five years.

There's a reason that every "How to build wealth" book says not to buy a brand new car!

right on...

imagine, for that 32 grand, one could pick up a junker, pretty much replace everything, including the engine and tranny, have it painted, and have money left over...

and not having any knowledge about cars is a waste of money in itself...it's like having the word "sucker" tattooed on your forehead...

with the internets and the message boards devoted to vehicles of all shapes and sizes, one can find out how fix a car, or at least what needs repaired prior to dealing with a mechanic...

SPEEDY MCCREADY

fanch75 wrote:

Don't worry, the interest is imputed and built into the price of the vehicle itself.

That's $32k that will be worthless at the end of five years.

There's a reason that every "How to build wealth" book says not to buy a brand new car!

ok mr. moneymaker.....hehehehehehehehe

so i should take $15,000 and buy a used car huh????

or...

i could take $2000 ...put a downstroke on a car.....get my monthy payments that i can afford......

take the other $13,000 and put a down stroke on some re-hab property.....

makes more sense to me....