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S t r e t c h i n g To Buy More Than One Can Afford

85 messages,  Last post on May 13, 2013 at 9:26 AM

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What is this discussion about? Car Financing

Messages Page 8 of 9

#67 of 85 Re: The Waltons.... [fintail] by lemko

Nov 29, 2011 (1:00 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Nov 29, 2011 12:56 pm)
Bill Gates was a Porsche afficianado from way back. I believe he was once arrested for speeding in 1978 driving a 911 he acquired after he established Microsoft. He was only 23 at the time.

#68 of 85 Re: The Waltons.... [lemko] by hpmctorque

Nov 29, 2011 (3:18 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Nov 29, 2011 1:00 pm)
I once saw a photo of him behind the wheel of a red Ferrari. Of course, if he can't afford one or two exotics, who can?

#72 of 85 How does a $900 payment or a 21.95% rate grab you? by steve_ HOST

Apr 03, 2013 (1:42 pm)

"At car dealers across the United States, loans to subprime borrowers ... are surging - up 18 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, to 6.6 million borrowers, according to credit-reporting agency Equifax Inc. And as a Reuters review of court records shows, subprime auto lenders are showing up in a lot of personal bankruptcy filings, too."
 
How the Fed Fueled an Explosion in Subprime Auto Loans (Yahoo)

#73 of 85 Re: How does a $900 payment or a 21.95% rate grab you? [steve_] by andre1969

Apr 03, 2013 (2:42 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Apr 03, 2013 1:42 pm)
Yeah, I saw that...pretty disturbing. And to think that I was whining about the 3.99% I was paying on my 2012 Ram!
 
I knew some people back in the late 1990's that were paying around 20% interest on used cars. One of them had a used 1995 Monte Carlo Z34 that he only paid around $10K for, but his payment was still in excess of $300, for 60 mos. And one of my friends had a 1998 Tracker with 47 payments of $323, and a 48th of around $5600!
 
I also had a friend who initially got a new Neon coupe...some "designer" model like an Espresso or something. But then after a few days they decided to not let the deal go through, made him give the car back, but let him buy an S-10. I think it was only around $15,000, but I know his payment was in excess of $300 per month, as well.
 
So, with those monthly payments as a reference point, it was pretty easy to talk myself into buying my old 2000 Intrepid, a car that was $22,389 out the door, but with 0.9% APR, was only $2K down and $347.66 for 60 months.
 
I think that 0.9% spoiled me, though.

#74 of 85 Re: How does a $900 payment or a 21.95% rate grab you? [andre1969] by michaell

Apr 03, 2013 (2:54 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 03, 2013 2:42 pm)
So, with those monthly payments as a reference point, it was pretty easy to talk myself into buying my old 2000 Intrepid, a car that was $22,389 out the door, but with 0.9% APR, was only $2K down and $347.66 for 60 months.
  
I think that 0.9% spoiled me, though.
 
GM loaned me $25K at 0% back in 2002 when I got my Saturn L300. Can't beat free money (so to speak).
 
We're paying 3.9% on the wife's CX-7; seems like highway robbery in comparison.

#75 of 85 Re: How does a $900 payment or a 21.95% rate grab you? [michaell] by andre1969

Apr 03, 2013 (3:02 pm)

Replying to: michaell (Apr 03, 2013 2:54 pm)
When I bought my Intrepid, I think I could have gotten something like $1000 or $1500 more off if I went with conventional financing instead of the 0.9%. But, regular rates were around 6.75% back then! Overall, I think that low-interest financing saved me $1500-2000.
 
I could have gotten a lower rate on the Ram when I bought it, but I was planning on using my HELOC and then paying that down fast. However, there was a $500 incentive if I financed through the dealer, which ended up being with Chase Financial. So, I took that, made a few extra-big payments along with the regular ones, and had it paid off after a few months.

#76 of 85 Re: How does a $900 payment or a 21.95% rate grab you? [andre1969] by lemko

Apr 03, 2013 (4:14 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 03, 2013 3:02 pm)
Heck, I paid 0% for 60 months on my Cadillac DTS Performance and my wife paid 1% on her Buick LaCrosse.

Messages Page 8 of 9

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