Car Payments

[catherine]

DH's truck (2004 Avalanche) was up for inspection but because of the rust he couldn't get it in inspected in VT. He bought it in 2018 in NJ and the rust was already there but oddly, Vermont's inspection rules are more restrictive than New Jersey's. We went through all the discussions of, do we pay $6000 to get rid of the rust, even though the car is almost 20 years old and has over 200,000 miles on it? Or do we buy a new-to-us truck? After looking at the outrageous prices of used pick-ups, and considering how much DH loves his truck, despite its quirks and rust, we decided to keep the truck.

Actually, we decided to gift the truck to my son in New Jersey, and have it registered and inspected down there. My son, the lawyer, made sure that he registered it with his father as operator to cover his butt legally, and so in the end we didn't have to pay $6000--just the cost of DH to drive round trip to NJ and stay in a hotel for a night.

I've always figured that in retirement, we would allocate retirement savings to buy a car in cash rather than finance it when we needed to, but at this point, I dread the thought of what we would have to shell out for even a used car when that time comes.

[Klunick]

I bought a 2020 Camry at the end of this summer. My payments are about $300 and we are paying another $300 against the principle so it gets paid off quicker.

[pinkytoe]

I recall wondering about all the huge new SUVs when I first joined this group years ago right before the 90s crash. Yet here we are once again except now it seems to be huge and luxurious trucks. And lots of huge SUVs too. I can only presume they can afford it but 60K and up for a vehicle seems ludicrous. I miss my old Volvo 240 sedan - very basic indeed. Son in law just bought a new top of the line Kia Genesis. I bet it was up there in price too.

[bae]

My plan is to mostly drive classic cars for much of the rest of my life.

Luckily, I bought most of them when they were brand-new, decades ago :-)

[Teacher Terry]

Unless some moron totals my car I will never need another car. I have a 2008!Toyota Corolla with 67k miles on it. It doesn’t rust here because it rarely snows so less need for road salt.

[ToomuchStuff]

I recall wondering about all the huge new SUVs when I first joined this group years ago right before the 90s crash. Yet here we are once again except now it seems to be huge and luxurious trucks. And lots of huge SUVs too. I can only presume they can afford it but 60K and up for a vehicle seems ludicrous. I miss my old Volvo 240 sedan - very basic indeed. Son in law just bought a new top of the line Kia Genesis. I bet it was up there in price too.

Because of work, I kept the full size truck and sold the Ranger. I wish I didn't need a full size truck for those years and could have kept the Ranger.
Now, my parents and I are all talking about the Ford Maverick, hybrid. Although mom is a Toyota person and they are supposed to be coming up with their own, based on a preexisting platform. I am going to wait a few years, until the big truck is dead (1500 miles a year now, I work too much to be the runner and have to get stuff delivered now). The little running I still do, will fit in the car trunk. (kind of miss a hatchback too)

[jp1]

I guess I just don't understand the "need" for a car/truck with a payment that's fully a third of our mortgage. Admittedly I don't drive nearly as much as the average American, but even if I did I can't imagine dropping nearly $800/month on a car payment. By the time it was paid off 5-7 years later it would just be an old car and I'd have spent a whole lot of money month after month on it. And then I'd probably feel like I "needed" a new car and start the whole process over again. No thanks. At the end of the day I'd rather people be jealous of my bank account than my car...

[Klunick]

My plan is to mostly drive classic cars for much of the rest of my life.

Luckily, I bought most of them when they were brand-new, decades ago :-)

You sound like my husband. He owns several classic cars. A Cyclone, a Barracuda, and a SuperBee. He also owns his Trans Am that he bought when he was a teenager. He is almost 60 now.

[Tybee]

So Catherine, your husband can drive the car in Vermont legally-- is it now owned by your son, or is it just the car is domiciled in NJ? I ask because Geico was so weird about when we moved and we weren't even decided if we were staying, and they said they would cancel our car insurance if we did not change it over to Maine.

[catherine]

I guess I just don't understand the "need" for a car/truck with a payment that's fully a third of our mortgage. Admittedly I don't drive nearly as much as the average American, but even if I did I can't imagine dropping nearly $800/month on a car payment. By the time it was paid off 5-7 years later it would just be an old car and I'd have spent a whole lot of money month after month on it. And then I'd probably feel like I "needed" a new car and start the whole process over again. No thanks. At the end of the day I'd rather people be jealous of my bank account than my car...

That's why I don't understand leasing cars. I know a lot of people who want to drive late model cars all the time so every 3 years they turn in their "old" car and lease a new one. They don't care that they have a car payment every month for years and years. The payment is less than a purchase payment but still... I financed my 2007 Prius when I bought it new, but I haven't had any car payments now for over 10 years. I was thrilled to lose that payment.