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Smart Shopper Percentage of monthly income spent on a car?
390 messages, Last post on Mar 21, 2009 at 5:50 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: joesmith2 (Mar 05, 2008 9:40 am) All the cars that I have purchased since 1986 have been paid in cash. When I go to the dealership, I know that I am going to write a check for the amount of the purchase price. Last year's purchase was $15k including taxes and fees out the door. It was hard to write the check because I know how hard it was to save that much money to pay for the vehicle. And the vehicle was a GREAT deal! (After 25 years of used cars, I had to keep tellig myself that this was my last car for the next 15 years. And I will know in that period if Toyota products are truly better than their domestic counterparts. It is a lot easier to spend $350/month for 39 months because those are small payments to make ... even if you are making them forever. |
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An article today on Kiplinger's Personal Finance, linked by Yahoo, basically the 10 tips are: Buy a Used Car Buy a Sipper, Not a Guzzler Re-Shop Your Car Insurance Drop Collision & Comprehensive Coverage Raise Your Deductible Join Policies (car & homeowners) Shop Around for Gas Use a Gas Rebate Credit Card Hop on the Bus, Gus Car Pool 4 of the "tips" are "pay less for insurance", 2 are "don't drive", 2 are "buy cheap gas", the other 2 are "buy a cheap car that doesn't use much gas". What a useless article. My tips to cut car costs would include: 1) Pay cash for your car. You'll save the finance charges, and you'll be allowed to drop your collision & comprehensive coverage (Kiplinger's says to drop them, but doesn't address the fact that you can't if you're financing). 2) Lie to your insurance company about how many miles you drive per year, i.e. lower it. "How many miles do you drive to work?" Answer: "I work from home". 3) Don't get any tickets and don't have any accidents. If you do get a ticket, fight it in court. I've beaten half the tickets I've gotten just by showing up. Sure, you have to miss work, but you get to say you haven't had any tickets in the last 3 years. 4) Tell your insurance company your car is for "Farm Use". I used to work for GMAC Insurance, and rates are lowest for "Farm Use" vehicles. Just because you don't live on a farm doesn't mean you can't say Farm Use. I know farmers who live in apartments, they store their equipment on a farm somewhere and hire themselves and their equipment out. 5) Ask your insurance company how you can get a discount. Ask over and over. I got a discount from Geico by taking a "driver improvement" class. The class was one day, most of the people there were ordered by the court to go. I saved enough in one year to pay for the class. Also, insurance companies give discounts if you belong to certain college alumni associations. Many of these alumni associations don't require you to have ever taken a class to join. No, I don't feel guilty about lying to the insurance company. I never have any claims, so it's free money for them. The reason I don't have any claims is because I work real hard at not having accidents. Right now I'm working in Philladelphia, driving a car that is a "Farm Use" vehicle in Michigan. Because of this, I drive very carefully. Not having collision insurance makes you drive more carefully. 
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Replying to: joesmith2 (Mar 06, 2008 7:00 am)
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Replying to: joesmith2 (Mar 06, 2008 7:00 am) |
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Replying to: joesmith2 (Mar 06, 2008 7:00 am) I never have any claims, so it's free money for them. In that case, one wonders why you bother to have insurance. Oh, that's right, it's compulsory. Just be aware that one day when you do file a claim it will likely be denied when the insurance company discoveres your true mileage. tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper
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Replying to: tidester (Mar 06, 2008 11:01 am) |
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Replying to: joesmith2 (Mar 06, 2008 7:00 am) 4) Tell your insurance company your car is for "Farm Use". I used to work for GMAC Insurance, and rates are lowest for "Farm Use" vehicles. Just because you don't live on a farm doesn't mean you can't say Farm Use. I know farmers who live in apartments, they store their equipment on a farm somewhere and hire themselves and their equipment out. << Reminds me of a young lady that I used to work with a decade ago. She lived in the city but registered her vehicle at her parents' house in the healthy suburbs which saved her about 50% in insurance costs. Well, she parked her car in the wrong area and the car was flooded out one rainy night. Total loss - $12k. She would have gotten away with it if she would have kept her mouth shut. However, she told everybody at work about the situation and how "pulled one over on the insurance company." Somehow, the insurance company found out, assigned surveillance, and eventually declined the claim. |
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Replying to: jlawrence01 (Mar 06, 2008 2:05 pm) 
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Sorry I just can't agree with the never finance a car. It depends on your financial situation and what interest rates are doing right now. Our brand is running 3.9 APR on certain CPO vehicles right now up to the 2004 MY. That is an insane rate on a four year old car so you get the bonus of buying a car that has already depreciated by half or more then half, it is under warranty for two or three years and the interest rate is well below what you can earn in a decent money market account or CD.
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| ...if all you want is an underinsured beater subcompact. I can picture our frugal pal looking a lot like the guy in the "Free Credit Report" TV commercial driving the beat-up blue Geo Metro that stalls at the stoplight as two girls in a convertible laugh at him. The only difference is he'd have a stellar credit rating. | |
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