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My Last Car Payment was... - READ ONLY

44 messages,  Last post on Jun 12, 2011 at 8:05 AM

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Messages Page 2 of 5

#5 of 44 ummmm... by qbrozen

Jan 27, 2011 (4:25 am)

My last car payment was in the form of an automatic withdrawal about 28 days ago.

#6 of 44 Open question by steine13

Jan 27, 2011 (4:34 am)

Well the title was supposed to be "My Last Payment Was ...," followed presumably by a $ figure. As part of the Chronic Car Buyer's exercise.
I was just trying to be funny...
 
Heck my first car payment was in 2003.
I hated the concept so much I paid an interest-free loan off early.
I still might do a car loan in the future, who knows.
 
There are few hard rules in personal finance. Once you owe on a house,
the meaning of "cash" becomes very blurred.
 
Cheers -Mathias

#7 of 44 Re: Open question [steine13] by qbrozen

Jan 27, 2011 (5:13 am)

Replying to: steine13 (Jan 27, 2011 4:34 am)
Ah. Totally missed it.
 
Well, I don't mind car payments when the money is cheap. When you think of how much you are paying in interest on your home, for example, the interest on a car loan at less than 5 percent is nothing.
 
It is typically taboo to share how much your monthly payments are for anything... but I don't care. I pay $250 for the GTI and I was paying $315 for the mazda5 ... soon to be $465 for the T&C.
 
Our highest total was when I had the G35 and she had the XC90. It was about $825 for the pair. At least I think that was the highest. I'm not sure, as the Pacifica and Infinity may have overlapped a bit, during which time the total would have been a bit over $900.
 
Also, recently, I took out a couple of personal loans to put solar panels on the house. Those are at higher rates than the cars, so we'll definitely focus on paying those off as fast as possible before turning our attention to the car loans.

#8 of 44 last car payment by speddy

Jan 27, 2011 (6:27 am)

Im not sure how long ago, but it has to be at least 12-15 years ago. I paid off my car early and the last car we bought we paid cash for. I will never borrow on a car again. It doesn't make sense to pay interest on a depreciating asset. It's a double wammy. Another thing I will never do again is buy a new car. You get killed on depreciation.

#9 of 44 Late November, 2004... by andre1969

Jan 27, 2011 (6:41 am)

was the last payment for my 2000 Intrepid. Everything I've bought since then has been cheap enough I've been able to pay cash for.
 
That was a really happy time, financially. I was juggling a house and a condo for close to a year, but two weeks after the Intrepid was paid off, the condo finally sold!

#10 of 44 . by fintail

Jan 27, 2011 (6:43 am)

My last payment was very recent...don't know when I will have another one. As I get older, the money used to pay for a car seems to be better spent elsewhere...savings, travel, etc.

#11 of 44 Re: . [fintail] by uplanderguy

Jan 27, 2011 (6:50 am)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 27, 2011 6:43 am)
My last payment was in 2005, when I paid off our 2002 Venture van. GM had "Employee Pricing for All" in '05 when I bought our new van, and in '08 they had big rebates and I had $2,000-odd dollars on my GM card, so bought a new Cobalt 5-speed. Paid cash for both.

#12 of 44 Re: Open question [steine13] by steve_ HOST

Jan 27, 2011 (7:53 am)

Replying to: steine13 (Jan 27, 2011 4:34 am)
Well the title was supposed to be "My Last Payment Was ...," followed presumably by a $ figure.
 
I think that works better so it's been changed back. We'll accept dollar amount or years or whatever.
 
Ok, I had to borrow some money in 1982 to buy a Toyota Tercel that cost around $6,700. So we put $3,000 down and borrowed $3,700 on a two year loan from the credit union. The payments drove us nuts so we paid it off a year early and saved up to buy the next ones out of pocket.
 
paid an interest-free loan off early
 
That's pretty funny but I understand. And there are benefits to doing that as well. When we sold our Anchorage house the young woman buyer had an interest free loan on her truck and the lender made her pay it off in order to swing the home loan.

#13 of 44 hmm by stickguy

Jan 27, 2011 (8:00 am)

bought Odyssey 12/2004, with a 3 year loan that I paid off in 2 years. About $300 (my personal max!). Accord bought a year later, but no loan.
 
no payments since. Which helps when you live in a ridiculously high area for housing costs.
 
$800-$900 a month in car payments would give me a nervous breakdown.
 
I hope to never have another car payment in my life, but if I get in position to need one, will probably use the same 3 year/$300 ish rule (maybe go to 4/$350 for something really special!)

#14 of 44 Re: . [fintail] by andre1969

Jan 27, 2011 (8:22 am)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 27, 2011 6:43 am)
As I get older, the money used to pay for a car seems to be better spent elsewhere...savings, travel, etc.
 
Yeah, I know the feeling. 11+ years ago, when I bought my Intrepid, its $2000 down payment and $347.66/mo payment seemed cheap. Yet today, even though I'm a lot better off financially, and in the job situation, the thought of paying that much for a car makes me shake like a wino during Prohibition!
 
I plugged that # into an inflation calculator, and using 2009 numbers, the most recent I could find, that would come out to $2551 down and 443.44/mo.
 
The thought of even paying those unadjusted numbers today makes me cringe, let alone the inflation-adjusted numbers!

Messages Page 2 of 5

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