I have not had one in years. What is a typical monthly car or truck payment these days.

Aint had one since 1998

I would guess that it would be 500 to 600+ a month for 5 to 8 years nowadays. That would be for an average vehicle... You want a 3/4 ton 4X4 diesel?? Closer to $800 a month. Have about three payments left on the daily driver, then no more payments for me. I own the big diesel truck.

1,5% to 1.9% of retail price/ month.

$90k SUV? 0 down ? Like 8 years $1k/mo, I get them as Enterprise upgrades Lol. Decent down payment and $35-40k vehicle should be in the $400 range Id think. We’ve one ‘18 Yota, a 01 f250 7.3, and a 00 Sienna with 100k on it still showing rubber undercoat. I don’t cover the financials so not sure but think the Yota (TRD Off-Road 4Runner) is in the $450 range.

Never had a new vehicle. 3 yrs old the newest. 3 yrs of payments, 300 a month. Ive driven crap since, few grand cash and go

New stuff is nice but too expensive imho

Shucks Slummie: your's slipping. That's only 23 years, vs the usual 30. Wazzamatter with ya?

1994 here. A new Suburban that used my 65 Corvette as a down payment. Imagine that...

Wifeo and I do one payment deals. If we have the cash we pay it. If we cant afford it we dont buy it.

It's gonna be about $60k to replace my current vehicle.

Which is exactly why I'm gonna keep driving my current vehicle.
('03 F350)

Never again in this house

Depends on what you want and what you have to trade and what you owe on that trade. Everyone is different.

It also depends on what you can afford.

A car?

I think I read the “average” is $585 for seven years.

I can’t even relate to that anymore.

zero point zero.

Bought my current 2019 3500 durtymax DRW service bed for $40,000 with 18,000 on the odo. Put twenty down and financed the other $20k at 1.9% for 5y. At 1.9% why not finance it? Damn near free money. Never “in the market” but constantly watching Autotrader.com
When a deal like that comes up you jump fast.

The topic is payments, promissory notes, debt, surety.

The Chevy part made me kinda burp up a little.

In his defense...... your most posted vehicle is that Squidbillies deer hunting mobile.

My 2015 f150 was about 650.00 a month.

That sucker got paid off this year.

Right

I’m driving that to Vanderbilt campus twice a week.

Sure

I thought he was just being a smartass

Surplus Crown Vic?

I drive old iron.

Me too. Some.

[quote=Fireball2]I drive old iron.[/quote/]

The last new vehicle we purchased was a 1989 Toyota 4WD station wagon, bought at the end of the model year for a VERY good price. Otherwise we've purchased pickup with around 50,000 miles on 'em. Due to working at home, we don't drive as much as some other people, and our two present pickups are both 2000s, which run very well due to good maintenance. But we also live in Montana, where rust ain't a problem.

If I can't write a check, we don't buy it.

Crown vic= best bang for your buck. Best cheap car out there.IMO

I like writing a check when buying, 2006 Silverado bought 8 years ago

This. Can’t imagine one good reason to ever finance a depreciating asset, even if it’s 2% or less. Pass cash and be done, if not you can’t afford it.

Had to take the vics off of the interstate. My W tires on my ‘06 are getting a little time on them. Too tempting to punch it up. Just for now.

My favorite tire shop would only sell me S rating on both of my 2004. Meh theyre okay I guess.


Now, our surplus child protective services Caravan is good for beach runs 👏🏻

Cars payments disappear once you start exclusively buying Honda or Toyota products. I've got a 10 year old Toyota, a 10 year old Acura and an 11 year old Acura. I'd think nothing of driving any of them across country. I think my last car payment was in 2014. sometimes I ponder buying a newer vehicle, but I can't see how it would improve my life. Besides, I'd have to get rid of something and I like the vehicles I've got.

Wasn’t in the market for a truck when I bought my current. Had a 2011 Silverado with 103k miles. In Jan 2018 I found a 2012 F150 FX4 with only 18k miles. Step below the King Ranch trim. After the trade my annual payment was $4,669 ($389+ / month) for 5 years. We pay $4800-5000 each year. Last payment will be about 35-3600 in Jan 23.

I hope it’s the last truck I ever buy.

I bought a brand new 4WD GMC 4 door with the small V8 last year, very basic truck. The big problem was getting a cash price. It was the first new vehicle I've bought since 1973. I've learned a lesson. Don't tell them your going to pay for it until you make as good a deal as you can.

Yes but too trucks suck for work

I've also got a 2005 F-150, long bed, V6, stick. It handles all my truck chores. I've got too many vehicles, actually. For a long time we had two. Then I bought the F-150 because I got tired of needing a truck and not having one, but I didn't want to get rid of my Camry. Then my wife bought the second Acura just because she wanted it. So we ended up with four vehicles accumulated over about a 10 year period.

It's a bit foolish considering how few miles I drive these days. But they're all in good condition and they're not worth enough to sell. I could sell all four of them and not have enough to pay what they're asking for a new vehicle these days.

I think our truck is $800 and some a month. Last March we put $500 down, signed a few papers agreeing to make 84 payments at 0% interest and drove a 3500 Cummins Ram home. It's the only payment we have and more than any mortgage payment we've ever had.

Zero. Never will. Maybe.

1977 here.

And yeah, Ive driven some real pieces of schitt...but I didnt owe anybody anything on them. Me no likey debt.

Paid my 2018 chevy truck off but it had been $571, hoping not to have another payment for 10 years

I get that from a sentiment standpoint but from a financial perspective at 2% interest it’s smarter to keep your money invested and working for you while drawing out those dirt cheap interest payments for as long as you can.

Vehicles are not status symbols. Thankfully so as I drive heeps of junk... LOL

My 2019 ram was 39k out the door. Put 2k down and finances the rest at 2.9%....Payment is $560 a month. But I work hard and appreciate nice new truck. Drive the hell out of it.

For a few periods in my life I was driving a $5000 car and riding a $10,000 motorcycle.

I'm done with that now.

Same here. I’m not a “car guy” every once in a while I get the itch to price out a new truck but remind myself that it won’t do anything that my current truck doesn’t do and will eat into my lifestyle. I’d rather spend that new truck payment elsewhere. I like to buy American when I can but in my experience Chevy, Ford, and Dodge having nothing on Honda or Toyota. My Toyota truck has been bulletproof. US made vehicles mostly had reliable powertrains but lower trade in value and nickel and dimed me with other smaller but still not cheap problems as they got older.

I will drive old trucks

I like old trucks. Lots of road salt where I live and I use my truck for towing snowmobiles up North, dipping the axle at times in the river putting a boat in, and running two tracks bird hunting. I cringe when I hear brush scrape against the clear coat but a lot less than I would on a new truck.

Wife gets a new car, 0% interest. We pay it off (early). Then I get a new truck, 0% interest. We pay it off (early). Repeat.........

We get to stretch out INTEREST FREE payments, while the money we would have spent "writing a check" is making REAL money.

Simple math.

Dealers are more that willing to discuss payment and duration options, as most buyers forget to run the numbers to figure out the actual price. So, just how much of a payment can you afford a month?

When we were poor, our practice was to negotiate a price, and then we would shop for financing. Been debt free for 20+ years, so now we'll write a check.

I hadn't had a payment since probably 2004. In 2012 I bought a Toyota Tundra, paid cash and figured that would be my retirement vehicle and I'd never need another one. That was until late march 2020, when on a dark NM highway between Farmington and Albuquerque an elk showed up out of nowhere and that plan was down the drain. I replaced it with a 2019 F 150 4 door with a 5.0 and a 10 speed transmission. It was a year old with 13,000 miles so I bought it and paid the difference over what I got from the Toyota. Hopefully this one will be my retirement truck and will never need to buy another one. My wife drives a 2013 Rav 4 that she likes a lot. Paid cash for that as well. No more payments for any reason. I hope.

Driving a 21 year old Tacoma I bought new .

Wife and I haven’t had a payment in a few years now. We do however have an account that we put the “car payment” in every month however. That way when the time comes to buy a new one we can just buy it outright.

Oof......

I have two Silverados right now. Newest one is a 2006 LBZ. The 2003 has 318K on it and will need to be
replaced. The thought makes me cringe when I look at new and newer truck prices. We'll see if the fuel
prices start to drive the truck prices down.

600.00 to 800.00. Figure 20 dollars per 1000.00 loaned.

Zero down, zero interest for 5 years and only a $1k a month just to pay for something to tote your azz from point A to point B. I always bought a new truck every 3 years so I wouldn't have any problems. Then my 03 powerstroke blowed up, my 06 duramax had bad injectors, my 09 Ford 6.4 had major wiring problems, my 11 Ram had emission problems as did my 13 Ram, but it didn't leave me stranded. I deleted my 13 Ram and will never buy another new vehicle.

My new truck is 600.00, got it almost paid for in 2 yrs, helps having no other bills except that, can gang bang it, pay off early.

Yep. Save the note after you pay it off. That’s smart.

no car payments here ever again. just bought the wife a 2019 suv last month. 20,000 check and forget it.i bought new truck back in 2004,payed 3-4 payments and paid it off. i used to do payments on work trucks but don't need that much these days.

I don't do vehicle payments. Don't buy a truck very often. My '09 Tacoma will be 13 years old this coming August 30th. It was paid for when they put my license plates on it. Since then I put money in a 6 month CD at the bank every month. Some months more, some months less, but always transfer money into it monthly. When truck replacement time rolls around I'll be all set. I better be because with a truck that old, which currently has 262K miles on it, ain't gonna get me diddley squat for trade-in value. At least I got my money's worth out of it.

My truck I have now. My note was5 something a month for 5 years. Paid extra every month and did it in 3 years. Same with my wife's car.

0% interest is hard to resist, left the money sit and financed 600.00 per month

We do the 100% down plan.

My favorite line from an athlete ever.

A feeble attempt it was.

0% interest is just a means of raising the cost of the vehicle under the guise of “giving you a free loan”.

That’s a good way to do it.

Marry a CPA and it'll be the only way.

We drive our vehicles for 10+ years though. I've never been big on expensive or flashy, so it works.

I drive 51 and 48 year old cars... And a 99 F-150.

Last 4 vehicles were cash w/ a trade-in.
Wife bought a new 2018 GMC Terrain with a trade-in of her 2012 Chevy Equnox. We never mentioned cash and the salesman said I can knock off another $500 if you use GMC Credit. I said sounds like a good deal, any penalty for early payoff, he said non.
So made one payment then paid it off.
Talk about car depreciation, was looking for a summer fun car to replace my 03 BMW Z4 that I've owned for 17 years, came across a 2010 Jaguar XK Convertible with 50K miles, car was a FL car, owned by an older couple that also used it for pleasure. Perfect maintenance records all done by Jag dealers , car looked new.
Sticker price on it in 2010 was $91,000, they sold it to me for $20,500. Hope to drive this one for the next 10 years, by that time I'm 86.

US too. We have a "one" payment plan.

Bingo. Stuff isn’t hard to figure out, dealership needs to make money. Consumer always does best when cash is paid (in full). But many justify their killer financing deals and feel good about it, little do they know they overpaid, period.

Everyone's budget is different, and most Americans can't just pay cash for a vehicle...therefore they have payments.

I have three vehicles...two are paid for, one is not. I have a 99 tacoma I'll never sell, a Honda civic with 220k that is my commuter, and a newer lexus that I still owe on. It's funny because seems most people I know have no problem dropping 50k+ on a car. Unless you're writing it off through a company expense its retarded. Buy used, let somebody else take the hit.

My 2014 F-150 4wd is paid off and has 65,000 miles on it. My Wife's 2008 Toyota RAV4 has been paid off since 2012 and has 195k on it. It's nice to have zero car payments.

Ron

Dave Ramsey says the average new car loan is $508 a month for 78 months.

He also says that, unless you have over a million dollars in assets you cannot afford a new car.
Dave says that new car loans and student loans are the two quickest ways to financial ruin.

No payments here. Nor planning on buying either. Im gonna fix whatever fails on my trucks.

There is NO such thing as ZERO interest. It's there and you are paying it.

Ex had to have a brand new truck every two years. Lots of money flushed down the toilet...

I've got a 2015 Taco I originally purchased for one of my kids. Think it'll serve me just fine for at least the next decade. I've been wanting to get another vehicle. Something that gets better gas milage... still undecided and figure I'll wait till the end of the year.

People give me schit about my 05 Honda... its paid for and gets almost 40mpg in the summer. Still looks nice and nice interior so I'm keeping it going... if you're going to own older cars, you better own tools though.
.

Dave Ramsey has done the math on new car loans. If you have a 30 year old couple, and like many couples do, every three years they both buy new cars. If that is a $35K car, there will be about $5,000 depreciation for each car, every year. That is ten thousand a year in depreciation plus maybe $300 a month in interest. That is about $14,000 a year lost because of new cars. Gone with the wind.

If, on the other hand, the young couple buys a good used car for $15K, like the way I bought my pickup three years ago, there is little, if any depreciation. Maybe a thousand a year. Also, save up the money and pay cash and there is no interest.

So as Dave says, the young couple with the new cars is throwing away about $14,000 a year on new cars. Take that forward thirty years, it is getting near retirement time, the young couple has thrown away over $400,000 on new cars. Had they put that money in a mutual fund, where the average return is 12 percent annually, as Dave says they would have $2,000,000 for their retirement fund. They could have retired as millionaires but instead they retire broke because they drove new cars.

My oldest is a 96, my newest is a 06. I know how to work on all of them and have the tools to replace most any part on the trucks, even my TD. Being able to buy parts at a fraction of the cost that a mechanic or dealer will charge saves quite a bit of money, and being able to work on my own trucks saves a ton of money.

My college student son has a 2010 Toyota Watchmacallit. Last winter he slid into a curb in a snowstorm and bent the tie rod. Toyota dealer said the tie rod is bent we have to replace the ENTIRE rack and pinion steering--$1800. WTF?!!!!

Parts store wanted $200 for the tie rod,, went online and found it for $50, and a special tool required (it wasn't really needed) for $10. Took us about 2 hours (I've never worked on rack and pinion before) to replace it.

A few months later the wheel bearing on that side started making noise. I told my son to take it to the dealer and get it diagnosed, pay them for the diagnosis, and get back with me. He just got a big tax return back so he tells them to just go ahead and repair it. $1500 to replace a wheel bearing..........WTF!!!!!

"Well dad, I should have listened to you"........

Price was the same if I paid cash or took the 0% interest

So Dave will point me to these three year old Toyota Tundras, Tacomas, Sequoias, Highlanders, 4Runners etc... that I can pick up for $15k under new?

What interest rate am I sitting at on a $35000 vehicle that I'm paying $300 in interest each month?

If I save to put cash on a car at $XXX a month there is little difference that me having the vehicle and handing the bank $XXX a month at 0-2 (which is a pittance), no?


Dave Ramsey is great if you are a product of the depression or are not disciplined enough to keep your head above water - you know, the kind of people that put vacay on a credit card and let her ride at 27%.

Dave Ramsey also assumes people have giant paychecks...

Haven't had one in a while. 10 years or so.

I'd think it'd be pretty dependent on the situation.
Work truck? Is it making you money? Tax benefits?
0% finance? If so, keeping the $50k or whatever in the market making you money may be a better play than dumping it into a car/truck. Then again, if you can't access money to pay it off if you lose your job,etc.., better to not be in that situation.

That is never true if you will dig into it. Price other places. Look for hidden rebates the dealer keeps. Also check out what happens if they claim you are late with one payment. You agree not to sue them. Anyone wishing to give you credit is not your friend unless maybe it's your mother.

Have not had a car or house payment in over 20 years.
Cash is king

$256.00 per month, for me, with 3.23% annual interest. It's for a car that was a couple of years old when I bought it.

Plus you still have a loan, which means you'll pay full coverage for insurance.

I buy liability only, even on brand new vehicles. Don't get in a wreck.

Save enough in ten years to buy another new vehicle....

For some, yes, for others not so much.

I don't make major purchases on credit. So I only pay once for my purchases. If you buy something on credit the eventual cost will be twice as much. If you have the personal discipline to wait, save your money and pay cash, then you can buy twice as much because you pay half the price.

I assume that someone else has mentioned this but I'm not going to read the entire thread to find out. Sorry if the sentiment is a repeat.

close by PD has three going up for auction.

I was tempted.

wife thinks our three already in the driveway are too many, especially when she looked at the insurance bill!

CaribouJack: If that is ones plan, do equip the rig with a serious rou guard. Have a big 350 Ford purchased with those same intentions and it's packing about an 800lb bumper. Ten years in we got center punched by a van that came into our lane and absolutely destroyed the van from the bumper to the dashboard. Our bumper was bent, but absolutely nothing on the truck was touched. We got a nice new free bumper out of the deal.

Decisions, decisions eh?

Maybe Uncle Joe will offer us all a "free" new e-vehicle?

We went the 0% route in 2016 on the wife's vehicle. I wanted her to have AWD when she moved here to snow country, I got to keep the old paid off Matrix for a daily driver and I get to save my old Tacoma for a hunting and "farm supply" vehicle to keep the mileage down on it. ANd our little bit of money got to stay in investment accounts to supplement my retirement.

Y'all keep paying taxes so we Boomers can live these lavish lifestyles we should be accustomed too.

I always price several places, always do my homework. I never have a late payment

Dave, and I, didn't say you would buy a 3 year old vehicle. You mis read my post. You get one older than that. My Nissan Frontier was 8 years old, always garaged with 42K miles on it, and I paid $15 grand for it. This is a 4WD vehicle that costs $32 grand new.
I have had the Nissan for 2 1/2 years and it is a great vehicle. Still looks like

I said you would pay $300 a month interest on TWO new vehicles, not one. Once again, you misread my post. Actually that number is low in my experience, in fact the last time I had a car loan the interest rate was 10 percent, so the interest on two new cars would be about double that.

Dave's advice is unassailable if you will closely read the numbers that Dave puts up, and not make up your own numbers in a misguided attempt to show that Dave is wrong. In fact, the interest costs even at 10 percent are insignificant compared to depreciation.
Dave is correct that, if you buy a new car every 3 years on a note it will cost you a million bucks by the time you are 60.

And he is also right that you can't afford a new car unless you have a net worth of a million dollars. The only way around that, and I know several people who are doing it, is to buy an expensive new vehicle, and drive it until the wheels fall off. Keep the new car for 16 years and it will work out well for you.

You say that you can get a car note for 2 percent. Well, they used to be 10 and 12 percent, and interest rates will be back up high again by and by. These things run in cycles.

P

I'd rather we take on an "Adopt a Boomer" type program.
Instead of paying SS taxes, cut out the middle man and just send a check to your adopted Boomer.


😁

Send me your first payment on a trial run.

I'll let you know how it works.

Kinda like a Beta Test on your idea.

Of course, I keep my Social Security I paid into for 50+ years, until all the bugs are worked out.

Oh, and my pensions and IRA type income too.

Check’s in the mail, Geno!

I bought my first new car since 1990 a couple years ago. The two in between were used. New ride was a bit over $25,500, I put down $10,000 that I accumulated by putting what I was paying and what I was willing to pay aside. When the monthly financed payment made it to down to just over $300 bucks and my Focus with 250,000+ needed work, I bought a new car.

I'll drive this until it isn't viable and will save the car payment every month once it is paid off so I have money down again. At my age I likely only have two cars left to purchase.

Dude,

The Corona has the USPS all f'd up.

Don't you read the new threads every week about a lost gun, or my order from Midway hasn't arrived, it's in Oregon and I live in NC?

You should send it by special courier. I like brunettes, female by birth and left that way, not too fat or too skinny, good teefers are a plus.

If you can’t pay cash you can’t afford it, by definition.

I really think most folks that do buy on credit spend more than they would if they paid cash up front, even if they can afford it. It’s easy to talk yourself into a low or zero interest note, and miss the fact that if you paid up front you would likely buy a cheaper rig. I like Dave, he speaks of the pain associated with cash purchases and I think it’s true.

I dont agree with Dave in everything, I do buy new Toyota pickups. The retained value is just nuts, it winds up being pretty cheap when you run it out 10+ years. That said, since I pay cash, I have no desire to pay 50k+ for a rig (paid 34k for my 2019 tundra). Would be easier to talk myself into an expensive pickup it if financed. Cars, we buy Toyota/Lexus used, the depreciation savings is real.

Same goes for boats and toys IMO. They sell a hell of a lot more than they would if credit wasn’t available which means most folks are buying things they can’t afford.

I guess lots of folks are fine with never accumulating wealth because they are buying things they can’t afford on credit. Until later in life I suppose.

Hardly, give him a listen. You are waaay off base. Furthermore, and to your earlier comment, most American can pay cash for a car. You are wrong, they just need to buy a less expensive car. This stuff isn’t that hard. Although if one is a Democrat . . . most of them believe everyone should be entitled to a nice car, it’s needed and expected.

I get a feeling that fire members are exceptions to the norm. I sure see a lot of $65K+ trucks running around with guys driving them that I know don't make that much in a year. I think a lot of them are upside down and will never get ahead....

A lot of high end trucks and cars are leased by those who can't afford them.

^^ Quote "$5000 depreciation for each car, EVERY year" ^^







$32,000 - $15,000 = $17,000
$17,000/8 = $2125
$2,125 < $5,000 .... Yes?
.....BTW - $5,000 x 8 years = $40,000 (guy owes YOU $8,000 for taking it off his hands)....
OR, did it depreciate at a rate of $5,000 per year for the first three years at which point depreciation decreased to $400 per year over the course of the next 5 years?



That was foolish on your part



I used your numbers - if you think they're made up, look in the mirror

Please check my math if you get a moment - I'm open to learning. Also if you want to compare local comps between brand new 2021 and used 2019/2018/2017 model years for the vehicles above I'm ready to be wrong.



Used to be a lot of things - obviously if rates were at 10-12% that would change the equation. They are not (unless you have the credit of a deadbeat or a 17 year old).

Just put an O2 sensor in my 03 Tacoma 4x4. Good as new, will haul my fat azz anywhere, and no friggin car payment!

mine is 32 years old... so none...

bought it new with 2 miles on the odometer...

its now got 576,500 miles on the odometer ....

original engine and trans....

it was $14,400 brand new...in Sept 1987...

Love this place. Only forum I visit where the vast majority of members have a paid off house and no vehicle payments.
Guess I am not a typical member because I have one of each.

I put down a lump sum or down payment big enough so my payment will be where I want it. Thank God I just spent $60k on a diesel crew cab or else I’d be writing big checks to Uncle Clam this year

What’s cool is since we don’t make car or house payments, we could drive anything available. I just choose not to. I am 47 and plan on retiring before the end of the year. Hope you guys enjoy your new trucks!

I don't agree with Dave on the buying used vehicles thing. I drive Toyotas too and trying to find a three year old used one with less than 50,000 miles for any appreciable sum less than the new price is a pipe dream. My last Camry, a 2018, I bought new for $21.5K. I looked around for used ones and anything with less than 50,000 miles was within a couple of thousand dollars of what I could buy new for. Paying $19.5K for a three year old car with 50,000 miles that will need new tires and probably a battery soon, and has no warranty left, is dumb when for $2k more I can buy a new one with full warranty. It's the same with my 2016 Tundra, when I was shopping for it most asking prices on 2-3 year old tundras were as much or more as I could buy new, people seem to think the value of their used truck goes up because they sat in it for a couple of years.

Maybe a Ford or Chevy depreciates more but the reason I buy Toyotas is because I need reliability. That's the reason they hold their value so well but I'm not concerned with resale, I drive them until they're done. I drive 250 miles one way to work and am gone for a week or two at a time, driving some 10 year old beater isn't an option because if it breaks down on the way to work I'm out a couple of weeks pay, which is more than the car would be worth.

I've done the math every which way over the issue and the conclusion that I've come to is that at least with Toyotas it doesn't pencil out to buy 2-3 year old ones when you can buy new for a couple thousand more.

$0.00. if I can't pay cash for it then I don't need it. Granted I never buy new.🤷‍♂️

It’ll fly on a Toyota or Honda eventually. You’ll never not be upside down on an American hunk of crap

Lol. I don’t have a vehicle payment because most of my vehicles are about 20 years old. Newest one was 12 yo when I bought it.

What is the purchase price of the vehicle. A more or less normal payment would be around $200 per ten thousand.

For the average car purchase of $38,000, that’s less than $800 for a 60 month loan. Sometimes there is even zero interest. You do that math.

Even though I could pay cash for my vehicles, interest rates are so low, it is stupid to pay cash. My investments yield about double what current rates are.

None since I learned to hotwire

Definitely an older group. Most vehicles in the US are financed, and there’s a reason for it. And the average car loan term is ‘way over the 60 months that I do.

I like to drive nice vehicles as I spend a lot of time driving. An I want my wife to always have a stone reliable vehicle as well. And that means she can’t drive a beater like many on this forum.

BTW, I like making payments on depreciating assets, as it spreads risk. And I never put any cash down, ever. Trade in only.

I retired at 39. Wife retired from her first career at 41. Then retired from her second when she was 58. There is nothing wrong with a car or a house payment as long as your budget allows it.
Thank you Uncle Sam!

I bought a 6 year old used Tacoma with 75,000 miles on it for $15K some years back. At 225 miles I hit a steer, and the insurance company totaled it, sending me a check for darn near 11K. Works out to depreciation at $0.03 a mile.

The redhead just bought a 4 year old beemer with about 30K on the clock, for about 40% of new price. Someone took a $1,000 a month ass kicking on that one.

Ramsey's examples are spot on for domestic and luxury vehicle. His point is still valid for imports and trucks, but the time periods shift a little becaue they tend to hold their value longer because they last longer.

A sad commentary when folks need such advise.

The rules are different for those of us who live in the salt belt. I need to enlist my friends from down south in helping me find a good used Land Cruiser.

Having some money in the bank is nice for negotiations...then you can pay cash, finance, or lease based upon what is the best scenario for you.

Remember, the seller is the one who has has to develop the sense of urgency as to 'better hurry it's the last one on the lot'....[of over 200k of the same vehicle made sitting on other lots]. Get used to walking away from those jerk salesman and jerk dealers or people on craig's list...it will give you a sense of freedom too. Let the dealer who treats you right earn your business.

If you are really hurting for transportation for work or something like that, then either rent a subcompact or ride share for a month while you get things settled...but still walk away from deals that are just trying to gouge you...because you are making a 4-7 year commitment on the vehicle that your are buying...either in payments that you make for it, or payments that you will make to restrengthen your bank account by paying cash.

Lastly, money is a tool. Some families know how to use it, some don't. Mine doesn't...we're not Rockefellers...but, my mom and dad are retired. They have no payments except utilities and they get to do everything they want as long as someone will come by and feed their chickens. Many people cannot do that...either because they have too many chickens or everything is a payment...which = living from paycheck to paycheck...which just sucks.

OK, enough rambling.

Good grief, a car is NOT a 4-7 year "commitment"! It's a bleeping car! Don't like, it? Sell it, get you a different one. Cars are about as liquid as any asset we have.

I paid cash for my truck.

Well Charlie Brown, YES it is a 4-7 year commitment. If someone is in need of financing...they usually finance new vehicles for that long. If someone is asking about financing...then they are in the same boat...even if they have 50K in the bank to pay for the new vehicle outright, it will probably take them 4-7 years to replace what they spent.

Once the car is driven off the lot, it has depreciated and will continue to do so...your vision of car as liquid gold asset is a terrible investment, that's why young people get so upside down on them just trading them in over and over...a used car features the same situation just shorter.

For people who do not even think about financing, then their income or situation is much different and the above philosophy doesn't apply.

Oh..and GFY...because it's campfire and all...

$388/month on a 2014 Ram. 38K miles on the island. Right around that $400 mark has been what we usually end up being around with rigs.

Dave Ramsey is great if you don’t know how to hold yourself to a budget, and/or live in town in an area you can find cheap housing.

Buy older cars, run them into the ground.
I like to have played under $1k per year.
$500 is better, with repairs that keeps it under $1k/yr.

From 2007 until 2020 I ran 3 Subarus that totaled $6700.
Gave one away, sold the last 2 for $300. So, it averaged out well.
Even if I put $1k a year in them (did`t average half that)
Cost of ownership was less than many pay in two monthly payments.

The 2012 Ford at $6k won't pencil out as well.
But it is nice.

Lustine Toyota in Woodbridge has a gray one, 2019 with only 27,000 miles. Lifetime warranty on power train.
Owned by the dealership and driven by the GM for a year.
It’s nice. $72k

https://www.lustinetoyota.com/exoti...dge-9d5ea7e00a0e09b134dbe3d19965f955.htm

That not bad, but I'm looking for something a little more vintage.

In 1990 I bought 2 ford falcons with factory 4sp, for $1000 a piece. Went around the country and found 4 dead ones and towed them home and stripped every part off them. Drove those two cars for twenty years. Carried tools and spare parts in the trunk. They were about as simple to work on as a Ford 8n tractor. When I retired I sold the cars and parts and made money. Had enough saved to pay cash for a dodge ram 1 ton with 12k on the clock,and a brand new artic fox trailer. Miss those cars though.

There's nothing people love more than to apply their financial position and purchasing decisions to others people's market behaviors.

I bought an 01 Chevy Z71 two years ago for $4700. I probably spent close to $1000 in maintenance. I sold ot a couple of weeks back for $6000. That’s how I like to operate a vehicle.

I still have an 06 F150 4 door 4x4 I bought at a repo auction a couple of years ago. It was $2700. I had to put a set of tires on it and a windshield. I figure it would bring 6-7k, but I don’t want to sell it yet.

If you don’t get yourself in a bind and stay away from dealerships, you can drive a decent vehicle cheap.
If you then take those car payments and put them in a mutual fund, over a period of years you will become wealthy. These are simple facts.

No car payment. Haven't had one in a long time. We drive Toyota's (car, van, truck) and drive them until they die.....but we haven't had one die yet. My commuter Corolla has way over 300,000 on it now....the odometer stops at 299,999.

At some point I'll probably by another commuter, either a couple year old one or may buy new. If buying new I'll buy a base model without the "extras", usually the lowest priced one of what I'm looking at on the lot that hasn't sold because of color or no special whatever someone is looking for... Ask for the invoice sheet and work out a fair deal with the dealer based on final price not monthly payment. It makes things a little easier if I go over the invoice price vs sticker price line by line and then ask about dealer incentives.

I know I can save $ buying a couple of year old used, and did that on the last van, but sometimes it just ain't worth the hassle on a vehicle like what I have now that I'll drive for the next 16+ years.

I see a handful of peoples credit histories and there's a LOT of people making 800-1100.00 month vehicle payments. SCARY to say the least

My father, age 30, had a car payment in 1952 for a 52 Buick.
At age 30, I had a car payment in 1982 for an 82 Saab.
My son was wealthy at age 29 and has bought a Toyota minivan and Scion new for cash.

Point of order, but the situation you describe is a commitment (enslavement, even) to the debt, not a commitment to the vehicle.....

Yes, but the debt is linked solidly to an asset. That asset is depreciating, and there are significant costs in transactions.

Never underestimate the value of a late model used 4 wheel drive pickup to a guy with 6 teeth that lives in a trailer park.

huge difference having this conversation with a man in his late 40's to early 60's where you're established, you're generally flush with cash or least as much cash as you've ever been in your life

and a guy in his 20's trying to juggle a rent or a house payment, keep diapers on kids and food on the table just starting out at the low end of his earning career.

When I was 33 or so I bought a Honda Odyssey mini van. I remember at the end of the day it was $27K and some change, a $500 a month car payment for 48 months with whatever little I could put down as a payment. I held on to that car for 12 years and 225K trouble free miles.

The funny part is 20 years later I still won't buy a car worth more than $27K, I guess I have some mental hangup that no car should be cost more than that. But now I have the liquidity that it doesn't impact my life at all if I own one.....or two.

that said, I have 4 vehicles and if you totaled what I paid for them, Its still less than $20K

But I encourage everyone who can do it to go buy those expensive new cars and leases. I need to keep being able to buy low mileage nice vehicles in a price range I can afford. I'll be there in 10 years to make you a deal on it.

To each is own, that doesn't look like a land cruiser to me. That design has taken its character away.

My 19yo son purchased a 2015 Lariat w/ 85k miles in Nov 2019 for $26k. He put $10k down on a 5yr loan and paid the 2.5% loan down to $3k by Nov 2020 and is now just paying the remaining payments to build his credit for a house purchase down the road. Over the last year he's also saved enough to make that same truck purchase in cash now so he could trade it and own a new one outright but he's doing meticulous preventive maintenance and is planning on driving it another 125-150k miles.

My 17yo daughter bought her first car for $3k cash at 15yo before she had a license and then sold it last year and upgraded to a 2012 Subaru w/95k and its paid off.

I purchased a loaded 2013 Suburban w/117k miles last August its paid off.

My wife's 2002 Lexus LX470 needed some serious work in Nov 2020 so we traded it off for 6k and purchased a 2015 Lexus RX350 w/37k miles. We took out a $22k loan for the vehicle/taxes/plates.
I'm paying that off March 15th so we'll have free and clear titles on everything in a couple weeks and some nice (to us) vehicles to drive.

We're small fish in the economic pond so I like to find nice vehicles with lots of life left in them and usually take out a 5yr low interest car loan just in case and then, since I hate debt, try to pay them off ASAP as long as everything goes ok. I'd like to have enough $$ to just write a check without worrying about it but that's usually not an option. We are working on it though and moving in the right direction!

All true...... but it is the buyer that chooses to link them. It's actually legal in this country to buy a car, heck, even a house, without slapping on the shackles of debt.

Anyone that utters "I had to take out a loan" should automatically get a noogie.....

My pickup is worth about 10% of what I make in a year.


And I don't make much....lol


Hell, my two saddle horses are worth as much as that pickup...

WTF?!

I guess the argument could be made for signature loans, which are not tied to real property collateral or title.
I won't make it, and I won't support the "borrowing against" argument either.
But the subject here IS auto payments and loans. And they require collateral in most cases.
Of course, those who must pursue loans to obtain a vehicle have a choice to simply take the bus.

My fishing boat is the most valuable piece of transportation we own, followed by the lawn mower. I think the wire’s car is third.

When I worked at various companies as an engineer, I would ask people if they lived paycheck to paycheck or saved money.
a) Nearly 50% were paycheck to paycheck
b) Nearly 50% donated the max to 401k, but other than that, could not save money.

It turns out married couples are in a race to spend the money before the spouse does.

The few exceptions were:
a) Bachelors who saved half their income.
b) Old people who did not need to work, but worked for fun.

Well, you all do know that having payments for the car/truck/house is the American way.. Buying the retirement home, it will have a Mortgage. Only deduction we will have. At the interest rates they are now. No brainier. I could pay cash, but can do better using the money else where.

I sure like how everyone talks about paying cash! And how new is bad, only way to go is used, ect..ect.! At our house we keep most daily drivers 15 years or so! We always buy the wife new! I get used. I'm still driving my 06 duramax purchased used in 08. She just got a new Subaru Asent! We have no house payments or card debt! She also brings in good retirement checks monthly! I pay cash. She pays interest! But it's all good, cant take it with us!

I don't do loans. I save until I can pay in cash.

First words out of a car salesmen's mouth "What monthly payment can you afford?". They will hook you up with a $40K truck for $300/month..........and many people will jump at it without even knowing what the interest rate and term actually is.........I suppose being bad at math is not the salesman's fault.

I just ran the numbers on my current truck, it's a ram 2500 tradesman I bought for 45k. I just didn't think the additional 10k for leather seats and chrome on the laramie model was worth it to me. Anyway, 45k at 3.11% for 60 months is $811 a month. A fancier model at $55k would have run $991 a month. That seems like a lot for the average family, but then again a starter home around here is $350k, with taxes and insurance that would be about $1800 a month. I guess everyone got a raise this last year.

That ain't 30 years......

Same.

0% with a great markdown is rare these days, you can choose 0% or the incentives...you aren't going to get both. I just went through this on a 2020 gmc, the final number is within a few hundred dollars either way over the life of the loan...so dont think you are exactly saving by taking the 0% when it maybe a lot of the times cheaper to take the incentives up front, with the 1.9% interest.

Cash price isn't always the best price either. A lot of makers have incentives if you finance with them, take that extra cash they are offering, and then pay it off shortly afterwards. If not, could be throwing away a few grand. Sort of like what I said above.

My truck financing costs me an average of $350 per year in finance charges . Big deal

Killer V,

Your name reminds me of Friday night. Except it was killer P , you know that late twenties type.

It actually came from a guitar I own, I traded for a 1983 Gibson Flying V...and instead of the truss rod cover saying Flying V....it said Killer V. It's red too. Just sort of took.

My last couple of vehicles thry required me to borrow at least $20,000 to get an additional $1500 discount. You have to leave the loan active for at least 6 months so I pay about $18000 for the first payment and the make 6 payments of a little over $300 each.

With all discounts I paid $39,600 for my 2019 ram Laramie new in 2019 when sticker was $59,000. A few weeks ago the dealer offered me $44,000 cash to sell it to them because I only have 8,000 miles on it.

I bought a new GMC 1500 all terrain in 2014 and drove it 2.5 years putting 30,000 miles on 8t and then sold it for $2,000 more than I paid. Once in a while you can get good deals on a new one if you but when deals there instead of waiting until you need a new ride. Lately there hasn't been any good deals.

I tried the old used thing before and bought a used Buick regal with a supercharged 3.8. Over 2 years I averaged $4,000 a year in repairs and up keep. I ditched it and leased a brand new Toyota camry fir zero down and $199/month. After 3 years I sold the camry for more than the residual payoff.

If I was a better mechanic I'd own more older vehicles. I still have my 94 yukon 2 door but I don't mind working on it.

Bb

With the covid thing going on, gm had supplier pricing for 1st responders and educators until the end of 2020...so I got that along with all the other incentives, took an easy 11k off sticker. Plus the same package for that group of people only allowed a dealer to charge at most a $75 doc fee. Low interest rate through credit union....I feel great about my deal. Plus i was able to put about 1/3 down on it.

Always thought 72 months are too long for vehicle loans, then found RV loans can be 240 months with 5% interests rate...