Buying a new car! help.

In My Humble Opinion
21

Actually, they just got back to me - they can do the long-term financing I had suggested (I asked them about 7-8 year), depending on credit.

Telemark and Juanita, I’m on a 5-year plan now, anyway. Who gives a damn if it’s longer? Sure, it costs more. Is 5 better than 0? Yes.

By the way, whenever you want to get a new car, you can easily find out a dealer’s inventory. Several places in this area have the 02’s; the one I’m in contact with has a red one and a black one and has access (he says) to the off-blue one.

22

I really should add this - I really appreciate the advice, even if I don’t take it.

I’m single with no kids or other dependents. If I can afford it, I’ll do it.

Of course, I’ll still need to check with my insurance agent - bet it’ll be higher. :slight_smile:

23

Not to be a party pooper but what would you do if you had a car loan for 7 years and after 5 years the car is dead? Either from mechanical failure too expensive to repair or from an accident. Will you be able to continue payments on a car you no longer have and make payments on another car? Even if you have full insurance and you get into an accident with a car that is 6 or more years old, they mya just pay you the value of the car which will in most likelyhood be LESS than what you own on the loan.

24

Well, luckily, MannyL, I’ve been having trouble predicting the future, but I’ll be sure to let you know. :wink:

25

Dan, you have the new car fever. PLEASE take two aspirins and re-read the thread.

First off, you have a 3-year old Saturn to trade in, but you’re currently paying another 4 years on it. You didn’t list the numbers, but I’ll bet when you check with your lender on the payoff for your Saturn, you’ll find that you owe WAY more on it than you could hope to get back in a trade.

That means you will still owe X thousand dollars on your Saturn. The only way to pay it off is to add it to the cost of your new car. That means your $35,000 T-Bird could easily cost $40,000.

So you want to handle that huge payment by stretching out the loan over 7 years. Are you going to love the T-Bird for the next 7 years? You’re single with no dependents. What happens in five years when you’re married with one kid, another on the way and your wife is complaining there’s no way to put two car seats in the back of a T-Bird? More to the point, what happens in four years when you want to buy a BMW and you haven’t even paid off half the principal on your current loan?

Beware! Beware!

26

No way, man. BMWs suck. They’re just status symbols.

27

I feel compelled to give you my two cents. Surprise, huh? Here’s some things I’ve learned from, and considered in, my car buying experiences.

The Trade In: Search not only the sources listed, but also take a look through the newspapers or auto trader to get an idea of what your specific car is going for in your area. This can be a good guide to whether the dealer is giving you a good deal or not.

Know your loan payoff amount. The trade in value needs to cover that, and hopefully then some if you expect to use what’s left over as your down payment.

Researching the Car: Visiting the dealer’s website is fine to figure out the exact options you want. Know which ones you must have and which ones you’d be willing to do without.

Car & Driver is a fairly good source for reading general opinions about the car. As well as car themed bulletin boards. (Though you may get more info on the 55-57 bird than a 2002-3). :smiley:

Learn the invoice price of your car, and each option you want. This will give you an idea of the retail vs. invoice and an offer towards the low end is a good starting point, working to the middle ground between the two prices.

Financing: Do consider the dealer financing since many have promotions at 0% or at least lower than some lending institutions.

Don’t get a loan term that will last longer than the life of your car. 7-8 years on a Ford, anything more than 5 years on an American car makes me shudder, personally.

Oh yeah … also figure in how much it will cost ya to maintenance the thing. A tune up on my Saturn cost a heck of a lot less than a tune up on the vette.

Comment on the convertible thing. Ummm, they look nice but it’s a b**** to ride in em. Don’t bother locking your car; they’ll just slit the top if they want it.

hmm, guess I gave you a little more than you asked for. Typical huh? Anyway time to go look for the post I was really searching for when I stumbled on this one.

PS: can I have a ride when ya get it??? :smiley:

28

BSQ, I will look into your suggestions. You are wise and all-knowing, much like the others who have posted to this thread.

And of course you can ride in it. Heck, if I get it, I might drive down there and pick you up.

Couple more points I want to make - and again, I truly appreciate everyone’s input.

  1. Although this is a Ford, it’s a sports car. This is a good compromise for me. I want a sportier car, but I don’t want a foreign car. I just prefer to buy American, at least when it comes to cars. Japan and Germany are slowly kicking our asses in that department, and with our economy tanking, I figure it can’t hurt to be supportive.

In addition, I don’t have the overwhelming bad impression that some might have of Ford. Sure, some say it’s an acronym for “found on road dead,” but I’m not one of 'em.

  1. I have another reason for wanting this car. I have been to the bottom of the inky abyss and have clawed back to the crest of the peak. In other words, I’ve never been so stable, and this is after a terrible period of complete financial insolvency. I don’t wish to dwell on it, but things have been going very well for about a year now, and this purchase will cement my own self-esteem that much more.

I’ll let you know how things go. :slight_smile:

29

Dan, may I suggest keeping the saturn and leasing the T-bird for 1-3 years. You may find out you hate the thing but with a long car loan you would be stuck with it

30

Dan, not to pile on, but you have already made mistake #2 in the car buying game, and you are about to make mistake #1.

The #2 rule is never lease a car and then buy it at the end of the lease. You nearly always take a bath because all you’ve been paying for is the depreciation, and now you have to pay the actual cost of the car, and at a used car (higher) interest rate. Bad idea, but already done, so you’ve got to live with it.

But the big big #1 mistake is trying to buy a car based on the monthly payment. There is no bigger “kick me” sign you can wear than to tell a dealer you want X car at $Y a month.

My best advice to you is if you really want this car, then lease it. You have already proven to yourself (I hope) that you lust after the latest new thing. If you lease the TBird, you can just turn it in at the end of the lease and go get whatever tickles your fancy at that time.

One last thing: BMWs are status symbols only to idiots who seek status. To those of us that really enjoy driving, they really are the Ultimate Driving Machine. (I still miss my dearly departed '88 325ix)

31

Oh my, they killed it. I thought they actually looked nice, and I read the specs, while it could probably use a slightly larger engine instead of squeezing the power out of the small one, performance looks like it should be pretty good. (7 seconds 0-60 according to Motor Trend) I was pretty impressed, until I got to transmission options. I really should have a 6 speed, but other than that, it looks like a pretty nice car. I probably won’t be paying the much for a vehicle for quite some time though.

32

I’ve leased before, and when I was done leasing I wondered why I didn’t just buy the thing outright. What do you guys think about leasing versus purchasing?

I’m heading over to the dealer tomorrow so he can assess my car and talk deal. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

33

Why ask for advice when you clearly have no intention of following any of it? Pretty much everybody here is giving you the same advice: you are going about this the wrong way, making poor choices, and are opening yourself up to be royally screwed.

Which is certainly your right. I’d just as soon you spare us the further details. It’s like watching an accident happen; it’s fascinating but when it’s over, you wish you were somewhere else. I’ll just spare myself by unsubscribing.

34

Geez, what’s with the tone? Did I do something to you personally, yojimboguy?

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: I appreciate the advice, even if I don’t follow it.

35

Now he has to let us know how it turns out, sheesh, the drama’s been built up.

36

As another who worked for well too long in the auto sales business, I offer a few modest predictions:

First prediction: dantheman is buried in the Saturn. A T-bird might be able to cover a max of $3-4,000 in negative equity, or, of course, you could just put down $4,000 of your own money just to get back to zero. IMHO, that would be a bad plan.

As an example, we leased a loaded '99 Saturn SC2 for three years for $275 a month. At the end of the lease, the buyout was $11,100 but the car was worth only $7,000 cash, yet had only 18,000 true miles. Rather than buy the car for $4,000 more than it was worth, we walked away and let Saturn take the $4,000 hit. IMHO you probably would have been wise to have done the same if you were faced with a similar situation. Instead we leased another new, larger Saturn, this time for $255/month.

Second prediction: limited production vehicles do not qualify for rebates and low financing. Assuming your cash down covers your negative equity and no more, you’re looking at $880/month or more for a 60 month loan. Somewhat less for a longer term.

Third prediction: there is no subsidised lease on this vehicle. Leasing will limit the risk, but not reduce the payment in this case.

Fourth prediction: you will tire of this vehicle long before the term of the loan. Say you roll $4,000 negative equity into this baby and breakeven on the seven year loan occurs in the sixth year. To get out after five years could cost you many, many thousands of dollars.

Fifth prediction: most people purchasing this vehicle will not use it for a daily driver, rather a “toy” car for the summer if purchased in the northern states. If you’re putting 12- 15,000 miles per year on yours while the others on the market average 3-6,000 miles per year, your resale will take a huge hit, making getting out of the vehicle prior to term that much more difficult and making your T-Bird that much less valuable if you do take it to term.

If you want this car at all costs, there’s no sense in making a thread about it unless you’re just looking for confirmation after your mind is already made up. Even that is not very honest because IMHO, we’re supposed to be soliciting opinions here with an open mind. On the other hand, I have read some pretty compelling reasons so far to put this one on hold for awhile.

37

HEY!!!

I have a Saturn SC2 and I LOVE it! I get comments all the time on how pretty and sexy and sporty it looks. Plus, it is REALLY safe, gets great gas mileage and has been a dream in the matter of low operating costs.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread, with apologies for my rude hijack. I just couldn’t resist any longer. :smiley:

38

Well, I went. I didn’t drive the thing home, which is a good thing. I know how much they want you to make a snap decision, but of course I wasn’t gonna do that.

I basically went there for two reasons: I wanted to determine the tradein value of my car, and I wanted to see how much of the price I’d need to finance. I accomplished both goals.

I got to see the car, of course. Damn, it’s sweet.

39

To lease or not. I personally have never leased a vehicle because I had the same beliefs as already expressed in a previous post, if you end up buying it later you get screwed. Howeveah …

Bubba is a lease pro. His first Accord he turned in and leased another Accord. The first one would have fit the gettin screwed category because it was worth less at turn in than he owed. He’s one who always drools over the new models and likes getting new cars (though his choices are limited because of his height).

His current car he will keep and finance. It is worth considerably more than what would be owed. He may turn around and sell it, take the profit and start the cycle all over again, time will tell. If you feel your car will hold it’s value, to me, a lease seems like an option to get something you really want, at a reasonable price … if you don’t mind ignoring all the interest you’ll have paid when all is said n done. There is also nothing that says you may get a long term loan and pay it off early.

I’m gonna also add, let’s say you don’t get a T-bird, but something nice and you like well enough. 1 or 2 years from now will you really still want that bird? If you think that answers gonna be yes, then screw what anyone says and do it. BTDT with the first vette.

40

So you’re going to celebrate your hard-won financial and emotional independence…by buying a car that is way too expensive?

MY SIL leased a 5 series BMW after her divorce. It was an emotional purchase. She didn’t seek anyone’s advice prior to doing it because it was a “fuck you” car and she didn’t WANT to be talked out of it. At the time, she could afford the $600/mo. lease. It was tight but doable. And it made her feel GOOD to drive it.

Fast forward 2 years. She’s getting remarried to a guy who has 3 kids. She wants to buy a house but is inhibited by a $600 car payment, not to mention the $25,000 she threw away by leasing that car. To make matters worse, she has to go buy ANOTHER car 27 months into the lease because she is nearing the mileage limit on her BMW.

Net, what started out as a self-esteem booster ended up being a real drain on her emotionally and financially.