Comments on: How To Transition From Car Loans To Paying Cash For Automobiles http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Danielle http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-56967 Danielle Tue, 14 Aug 2007 01:13:45 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-56967 I’ve only ever owned cars we paid cash for. We have a 95 Jetta and a 98 Honda Odyssey now. No plans to replace either of them, both are running fine. My husband is great at maintenance and our insurance is cheap. We currently have about 6k on hand saved for replacement cars and are adding to it monthly. No, our cars aren’t fancy looking but we don’t care!

Oh, and we loved MSNautos.com for reliability rating on used cars! Kept us from making some very bad decisions!

]]> By: Richard http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-34745 Richard Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:14:55 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-34745 I recently bought a new car and found it really helpful to look up the place that you are going to buy the car from on the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org). The first place we looked at had about 65 complaints in the last three years. The second place we looked at had 0 complaints. We went with the one that had 0 complaints and were very pleased.

]]> By: kellie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10387 kellie Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:51:46 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10387 Thanks for blogging about my comment Trent. I am in the process of trying to sell my vehicle (2002 trailblazer) and buy something – thinking a Toyota Corolla or Prius (if I can find a good deal). I’ve owned, free and clear, 2 vehicles in the past, they were older models (late 80′s early 90′s) and I got incredibly frustrated with the constant problems with them and their unreliability. When you get on first name basis with the guy who comes to start your vehicle – it’s too much. So, I decided to get a loan for a 2000 Chevy prizm however a family member backed into it causing major damage ($3K) to the front a year after I got it. We didn’t report it to the insurance company (I know I know) then the air conditioner stopped working, etc etc. So we decided to trade it in and get this suv. It’s been like 2 years and now we hate this thing. It’s sucking down gas like crazy and needs new front brakes, we already replaced the back, and we had to put in a new alternator. I don’t know what I’m suppose to do.

]]> By: Julie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10319 Julie Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:56:02 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10319 I can’t wait to get out of the car load cycle. I am in the process of snoballing my car payment to get it paid off a year early (I hope). Once it is paid off – I am putting a good chunk of my snowball payment in a savings acct for the next car.

]]> By: Alfa http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10286 Alfa Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:32:03 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10286 Great great tips. Thanks!

I’ll wait for the home version of this post. :-)

]]> By: James http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10250 James Mon, 12 Mar 2007 03:12:35 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10250 Although seemingly obvious, most discussions on (more) used vs. new(er) cars don’t make the following point: The older the cars you buy, the more often you will have to buy them. Jesse buys used ones about every five years, and TiP tries to buy new ones only every 20. Thus the long run costs even out a bit when you look at purchases over a lifetime. Given the conditions in some parts of the country, I can understand Jesse’s strategy. However, I agree with the late model used car method from a purely financial perspective–very late if possible. My friend recently got a one year old Camry with less than 12k miles on it. For $7k less than a new one, he got a practically new car that might last 19 years!
–James

]]> By: Tkriger http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10249 Tkriger Mon, 12 Mar 2007 02:41:12 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10249 I wish I had done this, I paid cash for my first car right out of HS, about 5,000 for a decent car, drove it for 3 years, then bought a new car completley financed…I wish I didn’t the $300 a month isnt killing me, but I am looking forward to getting it paid off ahead of schedule and keeping up those payments into ING or HSBC.

]]> By: Trent http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10173 Trent Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:08:45 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10173 Jessie, TiP: I agree wholeheartedly. I have only owned two cars in my life, the first one I drove into actual oblivion (a 1985 Buick SkyHawk), and the second I’ve been driving ever since. I anticipate just writing a check for a future vehicle, but not until I drive this one into oblivion, too.

Paying cash is the way to go, though, when you finally do buy (though that decision is based on other values), and late model useds are the best deal out there.

]]> By: TiP http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10157 TiP Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:05:54 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10157 I have to agree with Jesse, why have a lot of money tied up in a car when your money could be working for you elsewhere? I’d prefer to keep driving my 20 year old car (bought new back in ’87!) and save up for other things like a 20% down on another house (after house prices fall for the next year or so).

On the otherhand, I do prefer to buy new. It’s just that I haven’t bought new for 20 years, so my car is costing me about $650/year based on the purchase price (not counting maintenance, of course, but so far the most expensive repair was to replace the fuel injectors last year – $600 ). The key to doing this is to choose a car that you think will be durable enough to last a good long time. In my case I chose a Honda. Then treat it well, hang onto it for as long as you can and save up for the next one. At this point I actually think I can get about 3 more years out of my current car. In the meantime I’m waiting for a simple car that gets in the 60MPG range to be released in the US.

]]> By: Jesse http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10099 Jesse Sat, 10 Mar 2007 21:19:22 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/03/10/how-to-transition-from-car-loans-to-paying-cash-for-automobiles/#comment-10099 I am a big fan of paying cash for cars and have been doing it for years. Im at the point now where I could pay cash for a new Porsche if I wanted (maybe not turbo). So I have switched my formula to: buy a car at 5 years old, sell at 10. Right now I have a ’99 Grand Cherokee and a ’96 Jetta(which is due to be replaced). I guess my point is, once money is no longer an issue, if you decide you can live with an older car, there is still al ot of money to be saved. Around here salt, rock chips, road construction, and door dings, make me not want to have a lot of money tied up in cars. If I were to spend a lot on a car, I would not do it on my daily driver. I’d buy something less practical and use it more as a weekend toy.

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