Argh

[bertine]

Cars are so expensive. I wish I liked fixing cars or had my own garage so I could fix my own cars because it would be so much cheaper.

All the cars I am looking at are around 25k. With a 5 year loan that would be $500 a month! How do people buy new cars and have mortgages? I am going to go hide my head in the sand right now.

Comments

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

whereas I would buy a new $500 car, each month.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

Other than the fact that it would take too much time to buy the car and then get rid of the old one, that isn't a bad plan.

ARGH.

[sacramentalist.livejournal.com]

I know! It's awful.

My car has treated me well, and I still have to put money into it. The lack of A/C is killing me.

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

So, you're not putting any money down?

[bertine.livejournal.com]

I am but it doesn't help much. I only have about 4k to put down. I wasn't really expecting to buy a car this summer so I wasn't saving for this. I have no idea what tax will be but I think it is 7% of the price (I think, I am not sure).

I am back to looking at low milage used cars.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

My car doesn't have A/C right now either. I hate it.

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

Well.. the interest rate you pay on a used car will likely be much higher than the rate you'll be charged on a new car given all the deals out there. So unless you're married to a particular badge or model you should be able to secure a much lower interest rate.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

THIS IS SO COMPLICATED.

I didn't know that. Good point. I have great credit and I am pretty sure I can get the best deals around right now. Well... if I can get a really low interest rate than it drops my price by a lot.

I can't wait until Zach gets back in town and we can start shopping around for this stuff. I know I can afford a new car, I changed my 401k savings rate from 12% of my income to 6% which should free up a car payment. Ha!

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

There is some blood on the street right now. Usually car ads come out in the paper on Wed and Sun. Don't fall for the "3 in stock" loss leaders. You're really looking for the specials that the manufacturer's have on.

Or you can just look at the local incentives the OEMs have: http://www.fordvehicles.com/incentives/

[bertine.livejournal.com]

I'll buy a paper tomorrow and look at the Sunday paper tonight. I have never bought a car like this before. My current car (my first) I bought from Jenni.

The funny thing is that if we were talking about buying a house I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. I know houses and how to buy them.

[springbok1.livejournal.com]

Are you okay with buying used? I have a used car dealership I really like, Keewaydin Auto. It's run by a couple, Gloria and Paul - they're upfront with the pricing, no games, genuine, nice people. They keep all the back issues of Consumer Reports that deal with cars in their office and will show you the reliability results for any car you're thinking of buying. I bought my Prizm from them 9ish years ago, and was really sad they didn't have anything like what I wanted this time around. I would have bought from them if they had.

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

And check the incentives online. Just looking here I see that F has 3.9% financing on 60 month loans on most of their models.
I'm sure the other OEMs are in the same boat. Generally you're looking at 9-12% for a loan on a used car.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

You must have a different definition of the word "New" than I do.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

I am debating it. It would have to be pretty low milage. I am really the type of person to drive a car forever until it falls apart and so I would like to get a car that is either new or pretty close to new. seattleforge has a good point about the interest rate (and some of the incentives) that I wouldn't get if I was getting a used car.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

Most people have downpayment to bring that amount down, and/or use their old car as a downpayment, the value of which is TOTALLY random and negotiable. Then you get them to go down on the price of the new car. All those "No Haggle No Hassle" places might not negotiate the price of the car you're buying, but WILL negotiate your trade-in value and interest rate, etc.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

Actually, looking at my credit union, it looks like I might be able to get a good used car loan.

http://www.affinityplus.org/pages/CurrentRates/Loans.aspx

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

Good luck!

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

The ole four-square.

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

Wow. I've never had or considered having a new car...I forget how MUCH they cost! I couldn't do it, honestly. Give me a decent $5k used car any day.

[seattleforge.livejournal.com]

Here's a good article on how dealerships target their profit: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/finance/articles/47277/article.html

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

LOL...that is a truly brilliant plan!

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

My main concern with used cars is peace of mind. I've bought used cars before and they always, ALWAYS started falling apart REALLY fast. No matter what the "reliability" of the thing is, you just don't know what the previous owner did. I used to have that RAV4, and I mean it's a friggin Toyota, the transmission should NOT start falling apart so soon.

If you DO get a used car, it's not a bad idea to get a certified used one from a dealer. Some of those still have the remainder of the 36mo/30,000 mile warranty on them. If you do get a used car, buy an extended warranty.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

Explain.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

Or I could click the link under that. (:

I dunno that I agree with that article. I've actually had pretty good luck going to a dealer and saying "I want car X, I'm willing to pay $Y a month." and walking away if they can only get me Y+1. I don't believe I just wrote that.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

Oh! That is useful!

I am selling my car (for not that much and mostly to help out my cousin but it takes it out of the picture). I am going to go to my Credit Union and see if they will give me a loan because it gives me something to negotiate with the dealership with. I will not be touching my Credit Cards for this (WTF??) and know exactly what I have as a down payment. So it basically comes down to the price of the car.