Comments on: Do You Think Car Loans are Inevitable? Take My Poll and Find Out What Others Think!

By: jolyn

jolyn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:47:26 +0000

Heh-heh, so right, so true.

I can’t wait to take Dave’s class. I’m waiting until Hubs and I can take it together. I’m trying to talk some friends of ours in taking it with us, too, whenever that ends up being…

By: jolyn

jolyn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:46:12 +0000

Is it horrible that I laughed out loud when I read that? Of course it is… a car catching fire: That’s awful! But oh my word, you are funny.

“Saving a few thousand” is so easy to do and you’re only 22? (Hey, I rhymed.) That’s awesome! You’re way ahead of the game.

By: April

April — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:47:55 +0000

We are a military family of four. Been married 11 years and have only had 3 vehicles. One car payment my husband brought into the marriage and we paid off pretty quick… but didn’t quite get the whole idea yet… so we took on a $19,000 car loan at the begining of our marriage. we paid that off in ’02…then in ’05 started this financial peace class and it blew our minds. We paid off and got rid of the credit cards!! Then decided to draw a line in the sand- never again no matter what will we take on anymore car debt. We still have both cars… my husband drives the honda we’ve had for 11 years, the sports car needs fixing, but is paid for and we still have it… and we saved up, paid cash for a honda pilot (’03). Haven’t had a car payment in 8 years. It is possible, it is normal for us now and it is lovely. however… someone convinced against his will is of the same opinion still… people cannot be convinced of this if they don’t want to be!!

By: Red

Red — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:47:26 +0000

I’m 22, so I’m still relatively young when it comes to owning vehicles, but I’ve had three cars. The first was bought totaled and fixed up by my dad. It was a car that was only one year younger than me at 16. It had a bad problem leaking oil, and after Mom’s particularly bad car accident, my parents demanded I let go of the Le Baron and get a car with airbags. For Christmas, Dad gave me a 2002 Dodge Stratus, which was great. I loved that car, but someone pulled out in front of me (trying to turn onto a side road from the opposite lane) and the car was totaled when I hit them head-on. It was my first accident, and I remember staring at the car, crying and thinking, “Dad can fix that. He can totally fix it.” Then the car caught fire.

I was able to use the payout from the insurance company to pay down about 75% of my credit card debt and buy another car with cash – a 2005 Dodge Stratus that had 40,000 miles on it and cost $4,000.

I’ll never finance a car. I’m not going to pay interest for something that depreciates so quickly, especially when saving a few thousand for a car is easy to do.

By: FranticWoman

FranticWoman — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:37:12 +0000

I am 40 and have never had a car payment.
I’ve been lucky…and I’ve been smart. I also go for reliable cars and drive them into the ground if I can (some have been totaled by accidents). I think it is wise to make a “car payment” every month into an acct and then pay cash for a car in 10+ years when you are ready for your next one.

I’ve made a lot of financial mistakes in my life but I at least did car planning right. I also am not seduced by the flash of a “nice” car (atlhough I love a lot of other pointless things).

By: tiffany

tiffany — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:47:18 +0000

We’ve been married 7 years. We are on car 2 (we’ve never had 2 cars!). the first one my parents paid for when I went to college. The second won we purchased 2 1/2 years ago when car 1 died. We found a great deal on a used Civic (thanks to a cousin who sells used cars). We took out a loan for the whole car, but then immediately paid for half of the car with our first payment. Then we aggressively threw money at it, and the whole car was paid for 8 months after we bought it. It is our intention to drive this car until it dies and by that point, we’ll have enough cash saved up that we can just pay for our next USED car outright. At least that’s our plan. You never know what life might throw at you, though!

Congrats on paying off your loan. It is an awesome feeling. We are really close to paying off my husband’s school loans (maybe 4 more months). Can’t wait!

By: To Buy a New Car or Used? That is the question. Please help a reader out!

To Buy a New Car or Used? That is the question. Please help a reader out! — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:26:04 +0000

[...] a side note: Check out the results so far from the last post’s polls regarding car loans and purchasing cars with cash. I can’t say I’m surprised that the majority of you who voted don’t believe car [...]

By: jolyn

jolyn — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:50:04 +0000

I guess the best way to find out w/be to present them w/both options and see how the numbers play out! But I’d be VERY surprised to see financing giving you a better price: Money in hand is simply better business. The dealer has more flexibility and motivation to haggle the price when you offer cash that he can bank immediately, as opposed to financing which does not give the dealer immediate, full credit.

By: jolyn

jolyn — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:45:47 +0000

I’m inclined to completely agree with you, Chris. And thanks for the “certified pre-owned” car advice. Anne, I’d love to know what you guys ultimately decide and how you arrived at your decision!

By: Tonya

Tonya — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:21:33 +0000

We will be paying off our vehicle loan in April and I’m so excited. It will be paid off three years early. Whenever we plan to buy another vehicle, hopefully many years from now, we are hoping to pay cash.