Posted on 04/01/2014 7:14:21 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
I'm trying to steer him away from financing a new car.(Trying to get him to buy used and pay cash)
I know my chances are weak, but maybe reading advice from people other than dad my have better odds. He banks at USAA, FWIW.
Most young bloods are looking to 1) go fast and 2) impress girls.
Let him know that classic cars can do both often with just a little bit of work to restore. For example, a Mercedes 300 1980’s ish can be had for less than $5,000. A 2005 Porche Boxter can run for less that $25,000. A 2004 BMW 325 for less than $15,000. And there are lots of others at CarMax.
I would encourage you to clarify WHY he wants a car.
At 16 I asked my dad for a motorcycle. He said yes. I said let’s go find one. He said do you have the cash for it? Later when I worked for the cash, his next question was can you afford insurance?
At 17 I wanted my first car, got identical responses. Wound up buying a 1958 Chevy for $40. Was a great first car, wish I had today.
I tried treating our daughters the same way, this was impossible due to peer pressure and cultural shift.
Anyone believing others can parent today as they were parented has their head in a dark smelly spot. With the cultural shift, school propaganda, the feds making more decisions for us, the media, popular trending against religion & moral values, the social networking, Hollywood, and on and on, it is increasingly less likely we can compete with our parents skills.
Actually, it may be a good lesson to let him buy and pay for a new car. He will or should quickly learn that the flair will dry up in about 2-3 months, and then he is stuck making the higher payments. Most of us have wanted to buy a brand new car at one time or another, and know full well how silly that it, but perhaps he needs to learn now.
I used to buy a vehicle that I wanted, let my wife drive it for the first 100k, then I'd (finally) get to drive my selected vehicle for as long as I could keep it running.
CR is a leftist organization that help usher in Obama care and they’re a bunch of elitist arseholes. Can you tell I don’t like them much?
CR
“Our own annual autos reliability survey of more than a million vehicles routinely finds that some of these vehicles, including the TL, Avalon, Camry, and Civic, are reliability all-stars, with many years of very good or better scores. It is worth noting that while the Civic has a long track record of reliability.”
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/03/10-best-cars-to-last-200-000-miles/index.htm
Honda Accord
Subaru Legacy
Toyota Avalon
Honda Odyssey
Nissan Maxima
Toyota Camry
Ford Taurus
Honda Civic
Acura TL
Subaru Outback
I’d agree, but would be saving coin to get a brand new Magna Cart(a) when they were finally on the the market.
Probably the strongest point. (always take some pics of your new ride - it'll never look better)
Maintenance costs: some car parts and repairs are much more expensive then others.
Repair costs: What do parts cost on average? In pocket and time wasted?
Care: Better wax that new baby 3 to 4 times a year to really keep that special metallic paint protected from oxidization from the elements.
Stress: Your new shiny bank-owned vehicle will get dinged by some inconsiderate idjut next to you in the parking lot. Not once, but often. Also rocks and pebbles love hoods and windshields...now that ‘new car’ isn't so new anymore. And you are left stressed out and wishing that in another 42 months you can afford to buy..wait for it!... ANOTHER new car!lol
Seriously, back in the day, nobody started with their dream car. It is something to work for like a home. It demonstrates self and financial disciple to put off a ‘want’ to a later date in life. Today's generation is a fast food culture always wanting it today. Never using the wisdom and vision to see down the road into the future. If he has the discipline to be in the military, he certainly has the discipline to put off a huge expense like this and opt for a more economically feasible vehicle.
Long advice short: If possible go quality used and pay with cash. Check maintenance records and pay the 50 bucks to check the title for any possible accidents.
Second choice: put as much down as possible and for the rest stick with a maximum 2 to 3 year loan.
If he does opt for the full 60+ month debt payment plan ( :( ) it is imperative that he take good car of his vehicle doing regular maintenance like clockwork. It's also imperative he stick with a budget he can absolutely "afford", including payment, fuel, care, and maintenance. The biggest risk with long term debt like this is you are presuming on the future. You are presuming that you will have the exact same income 5 years from today and that nothing will affect your finances any differently then today for the length of the loan. And don't even get me started on depreciation...;) Once it's payed off, he should drive it as long as possible. If he buys quality made and does research on long term maintenance and reliability ratings for that particular vehicle in the long run he could drive a vehicle for 5 years or longer without a payment and much lower insurance costs long term. Or even pass it down to grandchildrens in the future.:)
Right after the invasion huh...did ya get a good deal?
This website is a motherlode of long-term reliability ratings. Might come in handy:
I did. I knew the car I wanted, I worked for the down payment and then worked to pay it off. I learned about financing, the rule of 78, and about having a budget. I polished it every chance I got and went on a date every weekend. ;)
Our problem today is not that we dream too big, our problem today is that we dream too little. In the process of fulfilling our goals, we learn more than we will ever learn in school. My dream car in '72 was a '68 Mercury Cougar (one below is not mine):
I had ayellow one with a 428. Put my f-—n’ brother in the hospital for 6 mo.s while I was in VN. I prayed for my Cougar, never saw it again and beat my f’...’g brother (after he could walk again). I hate that man.
Don't know...probably an early chariot?
FMCDH(BITS)
4 door 15 year old Japanese or Korean car. Make sure it is 4 door because he will be the defacto taxi driver for his dorm. Don’t finance. Not worth taking on the debt, it will require full insurance, and tougher to unload if he is shipped overseas.
Insurance on a younger male is going to be pretty hefty, stratospheric if the vehicle is a performance model. It’s also going to be higher for a new vehicle as opposed to an older one that has depreciated. Have him look at total cost of ownership.
That said, it’s often “cheaper” month-to-month to buy a new economy car than it is to buy one that’s a few years old, due to special promotional interest rates sometimes as low as 0%, longer terms on financing available for new as opposed to used. Total out of pocket is higher on the new one, though.
Good luck getting someone in their late teens to mid-twenties to see that far ahead, though. Five years is forever to them, and they want their cool stuff now.
My advice would be to pay cash for a reasonably well-kept 90’s era American full-size granny car, cheap to own and operate, not expensive to insure. GM sedans are particularly noted for this, Bonneville, LeSabre, Delta88. Roomy, pretty decent gas mileage. Drive it until it dies, sell it for scrap, repeat.
Ego might not allow him to do this but he’d bank a lot more of his pay.
Those early Cougars had really nice lines that have grown on me over the years. I’m a pushover for those sequential turn signals too, lol. Top of the line XR7, leather, sunroof, triple black. Very cool car. Almost more like a concept/show car with all the metal strakes, in the grille, hidden headlights, on the taillights, even carried over inside if I recall correctly.
I loaned mine to a gf and she clipped a chevy pickup with the right front fender head-on. I had to fix both vehicles myself as no one had any insurance in those days.
I'm a Subaru owner and a big advocate of the "Boxer" flat four engine and nearly bulletproof AWD drivetrain, great cars. Hard to find one cheap, though, unless it's the more basic Legacy wagon. Careful about previous owners though, being what they are they can see hard use, so check vehicle history out thoroughly. I'd want service records.
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