Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Average car payment over $700 a month

2014 Honda CRV no payment

2011 Mazda 3 no payment her daily driver

2004 Tahoe no payment

1999 Nissan Frontier no payment my daily driver

No status symbols parked in our drive

All above [except Nissan] were 48mos financed, all were paid off within 3 years

I have worked with a few guys like that. They had alot of nice stuff. But if a job got rained out and the paycheck was short a few hours. They were getting nervous

My 2012 F150 was hitting 155k miles, decided to sell it and my 2004 center consul fishing boat (three sons grown, married and moved off) and buy a new truck. Looked at used options and couldn't find anything that was reasonably priced so I ordered a new F150. Build date kept getting delayed and in the interim, in brother in law told me he wanted to sell his 2020 Chevy Silverado, four door, 4x4. We agreed on a price and I was already going to Chicago on business so I rented a car, met him in MI (his summer home) and drove the truck back to FL, stopping on the way to see my three sons and new granddaughter. With the sale of boat and truck and a little from my savings, I was able to pay cash for the truck which makes me feel a whole lot better about thing. My F150 was averaging 15 mpg on good days, the Chevy averaged 26 mpg on my 1200 mile trip home, about 20+ on my daily commute. The truck has a 2.7 turbo 4 cylinder and I can tell you I don't miss the 5.0 at all! I don't have anything to tow so this truck works just fine, especially since I bought it at basically wholesale and he added an additional 50,000 mile warranty.

That's a beauty!

Well, maybe, my son recently bought a new Ford Maverick, total was about $27k. He was going to pay cash but opted to finance at 3% and invest the difference, which he did. Sometimes money is just too cheap, especially if you have the cash reserves to cover your bets.

IMO - where people get in trouble is when they go to the limit on each big ticket item.

Max house payment
Max car payment
Max "toys" payment
Max credit cards to keep them all in fuel

If a guy has a 700 dollar truck payment and a 400 dollar house payment, he's probably okay. If he has the 700 truck, 1500 house, 450 harley and 300-500 a month on the CC - he's phoucked.

Not to be attitudinal or anything, but for the last 4 decades we have been on the one-payment plan. If we can't afford to stroke a check for the full amount, we don't buy it.

especially with the upcoming mass lay offs. The Fed want high unemployment to offset the wage increases and inflation

Sounds like if he had the cash, he was/is living within his means. Taking a loan when you have the cash to pay for the vehicle is a legitimate option, depending on interest rates and how solid one’s income and finances are.
I’ve had that discussion with myself a number of times, but always “wrote a check” and moved on.

If people do the math, a lot of the times it comes out cheaper to finance to get the incentives off that aren't offered with a cash payment. Then just pay it off over a couple months if you have to. Can save you thousands.

I was astounded at the monthly cost of insurance youths pay these days. God forbid they have a speeding ticket or three.

Living rural all my life, by choice, I have always been on the lowest rungs of the socio economic scale. Clawing, scratching, scrimping, saving, avoiding debt load, all in the attempt to achieve the old nuclear family American Dream of owning home and land, at least one decent fairly late model pickup. (a pickup being the family car and almost a necessity for a rural existence) Don't take this post as whining or complaining, it's just a statement of facts of the choices I have made over the years to raise my family in the places I thought was best for them and me. But I think the handwriting is on the wall, looking at the prices of new and near new vehicles, it is obvious that I/we have slipped to the lowest rung of the ladder since this Dem party took power in 2 1/2 short years. A used 4x4 pickup with low miles, owner sellers are asking $40,000 plus for rigs with less than 120,000 miles. I can't imagine what new rigs are selling for and more to the point, what happens to the auto industry when they price the lower middle class people clear out of the market?

I haven’t had a car payment since 1999

Wow, that's sad...

This makes me laugh. Didn't anybody plan their future. We just budget a new family car, every five years. The pickup is an 06, the boat a 2004, bike 04, plus the coupe is a 1952. But the family car is a 2021, and will be replaced in five years. With the rise of inflation we might change to six years. It's the way we roll. Mama likes newer dependable wheels , and I do also!

Last few purchases since 2019

2018 RAM 3500 4WD Dually, Cummins 6.7L, fifth wheel prep- $1100 / month. meh.
2006 Dodge RAM 3500 4WD, Dually, Cummins 5.9 G56- stroked a check for $37k in January this year.
2017 Forest River Crusader, 34 ft fifth wheel. I forget the exact price, its right at $300 / mo, but almost paid off.

Around 2007 I was paying over $240/month for insurance on a ford ranger. It was more than the truck payment was

I have a 2001 Tundra 4x4 truck, and I can sell it for nearly what I paid for it these days. Prices on uses vehicles are ridiculous. It will be in my estate sale unless I wreck it beyond repair.

The most important thing is that they love, care for, and protect their little girl.

What a cool rig!