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Smart Shopper Buy Here, Pay Here
328 messages, Last post on Jul 19, 2009 at 7:42 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: lemko (Jan 06, 2005 10:29 am)
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They have to put some cha-ching down to get a BHPH car, usually from $750-1500 - the thing is that most people don't want anyone on their block thinking they don't have any money, even thought they DON'T have any money and their credit's wrecked. They'll take that $1000 cash and put it down on a $3,995 (sale price) shiny car with some rims, and pose around and impress their friends and relatives. If they would just buy that $1000 car, maintain it and keep it a while, while saving that $200-300 in payments each month, in a year, they could pay cash for a $3-4k car...but they won't do that, because they have to pose. Neverending cycle... |
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That's if a roadworthy $1,000 car can be found these days. I recall a time when $1,200 bought a beautiful used car, but that was over 25 years ago. For $1,000, I would try to find something like a 1977-90 Chevrolet Impala/Caprice. These cars are very tough as any cabbie could tell you. They are mechanically simple and easy to repair. Parts are cheap and plentiful. I bet you could find a decent example for $1,000 if you look hard and long enough. Heck, if I'm poor and the whole neighborhood is poor, who am I looking to impress? If I were such a big shot, would I be living in the 'hood in the first place? I'll live with that $1K car and sleep well at night instead of fearing the landlord and/or repo man. I wish to God schools would teach people the basics of money management. It might not eliminate poverty entirely but would alleviate a lot of the misery. The only ones who would suffer are "merchants of misery" such as title loan offices, rent-to-own stores, pawn shops, payday loan outfits, and many BHPH lots. |
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Let's be fair - not everyone who shops at a BHPH shop is a poseur. Many just need transportation, and others just happen to find a car there - I brought my own financing, and still had no hassles at a BHPH lot.
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Replying to: kirstie_h (Jan 06, 2005 1:17 pm) Your right .. most BHPH stores can't stay open anymore unless the "bulk" (60/70%+) of their business is done on the retail side .. so if they are smart and want to continue in the business for longer than 20/30 months, they buy nice vehicles, keep the customer(s) happy and work off referral and some nice clean Ad's ..... like I said before, more and more BHPH stores have gone out of business in the last 2 years than any other time ... the sad part is, the guy who owned it, goes out stone cold broke .... Terry. |
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Replying to: kirstie_h (Jan 06, 2005 1:17 pm) Quite frankly, there are a LOT of people in big houses who have to have THAT Lexus even though they really cannot afford it either. So what's different. Why would you expect that working blue collar people not aspire to the same things that people in middle management or above aspire to? I am the only person that I know who couldn't care less about what I drive ... as long as I am not forced to ride in one of those $100k+ vehicles (read that to mean bus or train) or the famous SLE (shoe leather express). I have been to one BHPH lot a few years ago in St. Louis. I went there to rent a beater for the 2-3 week gap period between the time that I sold my old beater and could take possession of my next car. They would not rent to me as I did not carry collision/comprehensive on my car at that time. As for $1000-1500 cars, they are out there. Personally, I like Cieras, Cutlasses, Escorts and the simpler cars. Nothing with lots of electronics. Generally, I look at my friends who are selling their 100-120k miles vehicles and want to trade them in on a new vehicle. My offer doesn't look too bad to them after what the dealer has offered. Of course, at that price, a fistful of Benjis, cash on the barrel makes a very convincing argument of our intent to purchase. Or as I always say, "10-$100 bills in hand is better than the 12 or 13 that might come later. |
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who uses a BHPH dealer is a poseur - my point is that if you can scrape up the $1500 to drop on a BHPH car, you could buy a cheap car and save the payment, buying a much more decent car a year down the road...keep saving, and after 3-4 years, you can pay cash or trade allowance for a new car or certified used unit. I dislike the types of folks who have to have it now, regardless of their budget, danged kids are starving, but they have a nice ride - so many folks like that, it's a shame. It's no different from the folks with good credit, but with maxed out credit cards and charge accounts, bigger house than they can afford, living beyond their means, just so they don't look "average" although they only make $50-60k a year. And I'm sure folks who make $175k a year do the same thing, just with higher maxes on the cards and bigger houses. In my observation, only 30-40% of BHPH customers are trying to something they're not - the rest just need a car. |
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... **Quite frankly, there are a LOT of people in big houses who have to have THAT Lexus even though they really cannot afford it either. So what's different** .. Truer words have never been said.! I have seen box loads of credit reports from folks in their $800,000+ homes, their $150,000 boats and their $90,000 car combo's, that couldn't buy steam off a hotdog if they lost their job in the next 60 days -- it's common .. sad, but common ... Terry. |
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Some of these "big shots" are one missed paycheck from bankruptcy. I once had a Microsoft executive who made 150K a year. He had over 90,000 in credit card debt. He had five or six cards maxed out and he was making minimum payments. He couldn't understand why the bank turned him down. I had to explain debt to income ratios and I still don't think he understood. Finally, I just told him. One bubble in his income and he would be insolvent. He left in a huff but returned three years later to thank me for telling him the brutal truth. He bought a Civic so it looks like lessons were learned. |
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Replying to: qbrozen (Jan 05, 2005 7:18 am) Or, you could get friendly with a dealer's sales mgr, like I did and have them run car fax reports for you. I got the sales mgr at Ed Morse to run about a dozen CarFax reports on cars I was considering, most of which WEREN'T on his lot. I was nice and bought a car from him in the end though. 
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