After four years, two extended periods of unemployment and a re-negotiation of the loan, I have finally written the last check for my auto loan and my car is paid off.
There’s a huge dent in the left front quarter panel, the cover over one of the tail lights is broken, the driver’s window doesn’t roll down and the lock on the gas tank cover is broken. But, by god, it’s mine.
Who-hooo! Congratulations! 
Congratulations!
Be wary for the next few months, though; the car might try to break down.
Oh, it’s already tried. Sometime last year it started stalling out at highway speeds, scaring the shit out of me. Some $100 sensor or other had failed.
I do have a certain level of anxiety that I’ll be involved in a major accident in the next few weeks. I blame that TV commercial, All State I think.
Isn’t that a great feeling?
I know it was for us when we got the last of our cars paid off.
It was even a better feeling when we paid off our mortgage a few years ago.
Congratulations!
I’m right behind you, Otto. Mine’s going to be paid off by auto-debit on Dec 6!!
I was going to start a thread with a pool for betting on how long it’ll take me to need a repair equal to or greater than the cost of a month’s payment.
Now maybe I’ll just see which one of us has to do a repair first (my looming oil change doesn’t count)
Don’t you feel all growed up now?
I paid mine off 13 years ago and still don’t feel the need to do that again. The bonus is that I also never feel the need to wash a 17 year old truck. Enjoy it.
Congratulations, Otto!!!
And soon-to-be congratulations to ZipperJJ!!!
Isn’t it a wonderful feeling? We’ve had our cars paid off for 7 and 4 years respectively. We are trying hard to save up for when the 96 Saturn finally bites it. At them moment it’s running great. We aren’t car snobs, so we’d rather have paid for 96 and 02 cars than newer cars with a car payment.
Who-hooo! Congratulations!
Heh, the only time I paid off a car was when it was broken into and written off, the insurance payment was enough to pay off what was left 
My Dad’s done it the good way though, must be a nice feeling for you all
SSSSSSHH!
Don’t say that so loud, the car will hear you.
You don’t want the car to hear that you have money to spare. Bad things happen when the car knows you have money laying around gathering dust.
Congratulations! It’s a wonderful feeling. We recently purchased a new car with cash, but before that, we drove some old beaters. I would sit in the '88 S10 with its leaky roof, look at the Lexus in the next lane, and think, “It’s paid for. It’s paid for. I love this truck!”
I remember that feeling well from a couple of years ago. I went so far as to call the loan people on the day the last payment went out to confirm that that had, indeed, been my last payment. The woman on the phone was amused, but she understood, because I was thrilled, I just wanted to be absolutely sure.
I love my paid-off car. I’m planning on driving her into the ground. I don’t want car payments again until I can actually afford them!
Well, this did actually happen to us! Back in 93 - we’d just paid off our Honda Civic about a month earlier. We were on our way out to dinner for our 10th wedding anniversary.
Car coming the other way lost control on a curve on wet roads and hit us head-on. :eek: (is pretty much exactly what we said). 3,000ish worth of damage.
Fortunately the other driver was held at fault and their insurance paid for everything. Even more fortunately, nobody was injured and I don’t think any of us even needed new underwear!
Cost of car repair: 3,000
Cost of cab ride home from the place they towed our car to: 25.00
Unique anniversary memories: priceless
Oh - and congrats on getting your ride paid off!! We’re back into car payments for a couple more years due to replacing our 10-year-old minivan last years; that car will be paid off right about the time our current older car (a 98 Civic, bought when another accident totaled the other one) is likely to need to be replaced.
Lucky you. My wife totaled the Family Truckster (and nearly herself) with 1 payment go.
I paid off my Aerostar 7 years ago, and drove it pretty much daily till last Feb when I got me another car payment on a new Scion xA. Fortunately, it’s cheap enough that it’ll be paid off before I retire in 2 years, so yay. And the Aerostar still runs, but it’s been consigned to dump runs and hauling big purchases.
We paid off our daughter’s car a couple of years ago, and by this time next year, my husband’s Jetta will be all ours. Unfortunately, he sees that as a signal to start shopping for a roadster. Boys and their toys…
yes, be afraid of Delayed-Onset-Car-Leprosy (Particus Falloficus), my paid-off '02 Dodge Neon got hit by a particularly malignant strain and I had to put it down (then I traded out of it), so now I’m back into car payments again :mad:
hopefully, I can keep my '07 Saturn Ion vaccinated against DOCL (PF) and it’ll be with me for 200K-300K, I tend to drive the wheels off my car (which with the Neon, happened far sooner than expected)
good luck and enjoy the bliss of no car payments