Do you enjoy your car payments?

[GoodSteward]

I know that sounds silly to ask, but so many of us keep getting into them. It would almost appear as if we enjoyed them. Listening to Dave Ramsey (and then reading it for myself) the avg car payment is up to 499$ for 6 years. I know most here pay them off early, but if we are so avid about saving money why don't we better plan our vehicles to avoid payments? I always hear Dave Ramsey talk about how to buy with cash and work up, but never hear him talk about how we need to plan for another one in 7-10 years when they wear out.

My future goal once mine are paid off in year or so is to just turn those payments into savings payments and purposely set aside enough to replace a car and then keep going. I really want to avoid financing a car because I don't like being required to make a payment(or interest) or have consumer debt. We often talk about building up a down payment, but rarely talk about just buying what we can with cash, so it looks like we enjoy our payments more than we want to admit.

[DaveInPgh]

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Now because we lease a car. We did offer because we bought without income to prepay the entire 3 years up front and they said no. So we just pay monthly. When we bought our last car we financed it because it was 0.9%. It was cheaper than pulling out cash. Just made it part of the budget. In the end we just got annoyed and paid it off early. I don't know why we always seem to do that. We financed the used car we bought too though we had the cash. And the rate on that was 1.9%. Paid that off as well early.

I know one reason is when we walk in if they let us put it on a credit card we'd pay it 100% up front. But they don't and we never have that much cash in our checking and savings, it's online, so we just finance it and pay it later. That way on the weekend when it's unaccessible we can just walk out with the car.

[GoodSteward]

I know one reason is when we walk in if they let us put it on a credit card we'd pay it 100% up front. But they don't and we never have that much cash in our checking and savings, it's online, so we just finance it and pay it later. That way on the weekend when it's unaccessible we can just walk out with the car.

You wanted the car so bad you're willing to pay financing fee's just to get a few days earlier? Sounds about like my brother taking a 200$ hit to get his taxes back on a card the same day rather than waiting a couple weeks for the check. lol

[FLA]

I've always saved for the next car when the one I'm using is paid off. So the highest payment I ever had was $230 ay 0.9%. My last car was $150, I paid it off within a few months just because it was just another bill to pay.

I truly cannot imagine $500 payments over 6 yrs. I wouldn't be able to sleep, lol

[disneysteve]

I know that sounds silly to ask, but so many of us keep getting into them. It would almost appear as if we enjoyed them.

I have taken a loan for convenience and cash flow reasons. For example, I bought my car on a 2.9% loan and paid it off in 12 months. I could have drawn money from savings/investments and done it sooner but I like just paying it from current income and not touching my savings. Does that totally make sense from a financial standpoint? No. But I sleep better at night seeing my portfolio balance not take a big hit.

So do I "enjoy" car payments? No. But I appreciate the financial flexibility having one provides knowing that I could pay off the loan at any time but if we ran into any difficulty, we could just carry the loan for an extra couple of months.

I would say the exact same thing about student loans. We recently took out a 15K Parent PLUS loan for our daughter. We definitely have 15K in savings that we could have used instead, but same answer as for the car. My plan is to pay a minimum of $1,000/month on the loan out of current income so we won't keep it around for very long.

[Jluke]

I know one reason is when we walk in if they let us put it on a credit card we'd pay it 100% up front. But they don't and we never have that much cash in our checking and savings, it's online, so we just finance it and pay it later. That way on the weekend when it's unaccessible we can just walk out with the car.

sorry to pick on you, but if you're going to buy a car and want to pay cash, why wouldn't you transfer money to your checking account before you go to the dealer?

I'm not sure what I'll do with my current car loan that has exactly 2 years to go (payoff on target for 6 months earlier b/c of the small, extra payments each month).

Probably depends on how long my other paid-off car holds up before I have to trade that one in and take on a 2nd car payment.

[Fishindude77]

Manufacturers with their constant advertising and dealers are good at making the purchase emotional and getting you or your spouse worked up with desire for a new car. It's also kind of a "status symbol" to be seen in a nice, late model vehicle and we all feel like we need to keep up with the Jones.

I think this causes most to buy way more car than they truly afford, and the dealership finds a way to work financing out so they can cash flow things.

[frugal saver]

I absolutely hate car payments--but I absolutely want a new car. I've even been to the manufacturer's site and did the "build you new car!!" thing.

I've set up a virtual change jar and am tracking money towards my new car, but I have a bad feeling at some point in time (late Spring 2017) I'm going to go with the 0% interest and get the car.

It's a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport in Quartz Brown. sigh

[TexasHusker]

I hate payments in general - utilities, cars, internet, cable, taxes.

You don't make your payments though, they come get your stuff.

As for cars, you're even saving for one or paying for one.

I like nice cars so it costs me a couple grand a month. If at some point I don't like nice cars, I'll pay cash for a couple of beaters and call it good.

[annibe11e]

I love my car and I love having the warranty. I tolerate the payment. I don't cringe when I pay it, if that's what you mean.

[HundredK]

I don't mind the car payment. My hope is that we'll buy our next car using cash, but meanwhile, I feel grateful when I make the car payment because I am glad to have something to drive.

[disneysteve]

I like nice cars so it costs me a couple grand a month. If at some point I don't like nice cars, I'll pay cash for a couple of beaters and call it good.

You do realize there are many good choices between "a couple grand a month" and "a couple of beaters". The cheapest brand new cars start right around $13,000. Of course, few people actually buy those cars because they want all of the bells and whistles, but in that same price range, you could easily get a nice car that's a few years old that has the bells and whistles and is far from a beater.

My current car is a fully loaded Toyota Camry. Power everything (locks, windows, seats, sun roof), heated leather seats. Multi-disc CD changer. The works. It was $16,000 with 26,000 miles on it. Definitely not a beater.

[phantom]

I can barely remember what it felt like to have a car payment. My last payment happened to fall shortly after I got married, so most of the time I had a car payment I was living with my parents and had very few expenses. Since I had few expenses, my car payment was annoying, but not that big a deal.

I'm not in a hurry to get another car payment though. I have a better understanding of where I'd like my money to be going now, and whether my next car payment is a lump sum or another monthly deal, I'm not looking forward to it at all.

[creditcardfree]

We haven't had a car payment since March 2013. It feels really nice! I think not having the payments helps paying for college out of pocket easier. Both vehicles we have are approaching 10 years old. The plan is to get about six more years out of them if we can.