What would it take to get you into a new car?

I would not buy any car that I cannot pay for in cash! It is bad enough to spend that much money on anything, let alone to pay interest on the money you have to borrow to have a car. I also will never buy a new car as you are immediately down $3,000 to $10,000 dollars that can be avoided by purchasing a low milage 2-year-old car that is similar to the new one you are considering.

To me a car is "transportation", nothing more...

But, to each his/her own way...
 
hollydolly said:
have you told the missus you're gonna buy her one of those ?:sneaky:
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It's nothing more than a fantasy. Timewise has it right, pay cash, buy low mileage, under two years old.
Timewise 60+ said:
I would not buy any car that I cannot pay for in cash! It is bad enough to spend that much money on anything, let alone to pay interest on the money you have to borrow to have a car. I also will never buy a new car as you are immediately down $3,000 to $10,000 dollars that can be avoided by purchasing a low milage 2-year-old car that is similar to the new one you are considering.
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I bought the lady a VW Golf in 1997, it was eight months old, two and a half grand under list price for new. It's still her daily drive. When a car spends the night in a heated garage with a seventy-seven year old MG, it will last. Currently has two hundred thousand miles on the clock. It sounds a lot but if you divide the mileage by the age it has clocked up just 7,100 miles a year. The only thing wrong, if wrong is the best terminology, she's bored with it!
 

This reminds me of a movie I saw a couple of years ago. And makes me want to watch it again. Unfortunately I can't find it on any of the streaming servives now.

 
wisenior said:
Never borrow to purchase a depreciating asset.
Financial suicide.

I've never had a car payment.
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I disagree - I think that is too wide sweeping a statement.

People need a car, cars are expensive, many people need loans to buy them - most of them do not end up in financial suicide.

I wouldnt take out a loan now, at my age - but younger people often need to.
 
January said:
I disagree - I think that is too wide sweeping a statement.

People need a car, cars are expensive, many people need loans to buy them - most of them do not end up in financial suicide.

I wouldnt take out a loan now, at my age - but younger people often need to.
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I disagree many of those that do borrow commit financial suicide as you call it! This includes people who never get out of debt and never learn how to handle the money they make...
 
no,not as i call it, was terminology of poster i quoted.

Reality is people need cars and often finance via loans, which most people manage fine. Thinking people should never do that is a wide sweeping and unrealistic statement.
 
January said:
no,not as i call it, was terminology of poster i quoted.

Reality is people need cars and often finance via loans, which most people manage fine. Thinking people should never do that is a wide sweeping and unrealistic statement.
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I agree. While I've mostly avoided car payments, there were times when I needed an updated car and didn't have sufficient funds to buy a good one outright. I earned good salaries and could well afford the monthly payments, so that's what I did.

When raising a family, DH & I had a lot of pressing financial obligations, including the need to set aside an emergency fund. Also had 30 year a mortgage on our house.

It's no different for young people today. Most with car loans are not committing financial suicide.
 
First things first....I would need to take driving lessons as I don't know how to drive. Then I would want a 4by4...none of these flimsy show-off cars for me.
On the other hand, if someone offered to be my chauffeur....then I could be persuaded to buy a new car.
 
I don't think one can blithely dismiss car loans as benign. These days the terms of the loans can run for over 7 years, a far cry from the 3 year maximum of the past. There are brands unlikely to even last a full 7 years without turning into money pits as things break one after another all over the car.

The term "underwater" used to be a joke, it was so rare. Not so today, as people buy too much car for their pocketbooks and think nothing of financing it to the hilt.

They should be buying an old beater of a reputable make and model, but they turn it into a vanity project. Like the 8 years of college they borrowed for and try to evade paying off.
 
It depends on the interest rate or personal needs whether it's partially financed or paid for in cash outright. To me it gives a little breathing room between depleting your savings or working with rates to make an informed decision. Yeah it's nice to pay cash but sometimes it's better to finance some of it to delay the problems with cash flow.

I wouldn't recommend anyone pay outright if it will cause a problem with their budget. It's also a factor in maintaining FICO scores for making larger purchases or obtaining credit. Paying your bills off never carrying credit works against you at times. The bankers want to see how you handle credit before they extend it in emergencies situations. They call you a 'deadbeat' if you pay all your bills in full each month.

Banks & credit card issuers are in the business to make money through wise investments & the highest ROI they can. If 2 consumers walk into a bank, both with identical 800 FICO scores. One pays all his bills off every month & never carries a balance. The other carries a small balance & pays his debt off as requested who do you think the banks want as a customer. The 1st not a dime to the bank, the 2nd a small amount of interest is the banks ROI? The bank knows what the 2nd is going to do, & the 1st is a crap shoot. It's not fair but it is reality.

I used to carry 7 Credit cards, now only 1 high limit. The 'Debt to Income Ratio' was a nightmare with 7.
 
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was thinking about buying a new car but I will hold.on to my 2008 Elantra for now. 65,000 miles but I'm due for a new timing belt .bought new for my I always drove my truck. sold.my truck when she passed. my truck was 22 yrs old. bought new for my wife. she never drove much her work was always close.still miss my old truck it was very rusty and had a hole in floorboard but was fun to drive.
 
I'm unlikely to buy a new car at this time of life (when I'm living on my savings and probably won't continue driving more than another 10 yrs).

So, to get me in a new car it would take something bad happening to my current old (2014) car, plus, something wonderful available in the new car that isn't available in a used car.

As far as whether a person should or shouldn't have a car loan, I asked CHATGPT for scenarios when a car loan makes better financial sense than paying cash for a car, and this is what it came up with:

When an Auto Loan is More Economical​

  1. Low or 0% Interest Financing
    • If a dealership or bank offers 0% or very low interest financing (e.g., 1-3%), it's often better to finance the car and invest the cash in higher-yield opportunities (e.g., stocks, bonds, or real estate).
    • Example: If you get a 1.9% APR loan and your investments earn 7% per year, financing allows your money to grow.
  2. Investment or Business Opportunities
    • If your available cash could be used to start or expand a business, fund real estate, or invest in something with higher returns, it’s better to keep the cash and finance the car.
  3. Building or Maintaining Credit
    • If you want to build or maintain a strong credit score, responsibly managing an auto loan improves your credit mix and payment history.
    • Especially useful for young buyers or those with thin credit files.
  4. Liquidity and Emergency Fund Considerations
    • Keeping a larger cash cushion ensures you have money available for emergencies (medical bills, job loss, etc.).
    • Example: If paying cash leaves you with little savings, financing is the safer choice.
  5. Inflation and Depreciation Play a Role
    • If inflation is high, the real cost of borrowing money declines over time, making a low-interest loan more attractive.
    • Cars depreciate, so tying up cash in a rapidly depreciating asset may not be ideal.
 
Honey nut, those are good comparisons if you have available cash - whether to buy outright or use finance.

But reality for most young people is they don't have available cash at the point they buy their first car so finance is only option if you need a car.

A relevant comparison might be whether to use finance to buy a good car that won't have maintenance costs and will last longer vs not doing so and buying an old wreck that needs lots of maintenance and repairs and costs more to run - which is better value in the long run?

Whether or not one has time and skills to do some of the repairs/maintenance oneself - that could factor in too
 
I've been interested in a new car, but so far nothing makes it urgent.

Several things dampen my enthusiasm. One is putting up with car dealer games where every effort is made to screw you out of the last dime possible. Another is that the car I'm interested in is in its first model year since major refresh and drivetrain change. One more is that colors I am interested in are not being sold with interior colors I want (I don't care for those completely blacked-out interiors, I'm not a drug dealer).

But at the same time I'm on the clock. Right now I get offers on my current car at 40% of the price of the new car I'm considering. That trade-in value is going to decline, the 7 year mark is nearly here.
 
dilettante said:
I've been interested in a new car, but so far nothing makes it urgent.

Several things dampen my enthusiasm. One is putting up with car dealer games where every effort is made to screw you out of the last dime possible. Another is that the car I'm interested in is in its first model year since major refresh and drivetrain change. One more is that colors I am interested in are not being sold with interior colors I want (I don't care for those completely blacked-out interiors, I'm not a drug dealer).

But at the same time I'm on the clock. Right now I get offers on my current car at 40% of the price of the new car I'm considering. That trade-in value is going to decline, the 7 year mark is nearly here.
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Plus a new car starts depreciating as soon as you drive it off the lot.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Plus a new car starts depreciating as soon as you drive it off the lot.
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True enough, but the lifetime depreciation curve is not the same for all makes and models.

By buying new you know the history of its use and abuse, with used it can be a crapshoot. You usually don't get documentation of oil changes, much less more serious investments in keeping it on the road and safe to drive.

Try to find a 2 year old car that wasn't dumped for a good reason, such as unreliability or repeated repairs.
 
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