topic Re: I has no car payment! in Personal Finance

I has no car payment!

tcbofade — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:07:59 GMT

Current garage:

2016 Ford F150 XLT.

2017 Ford Fusion Platinum.

2017 Ford Edge Titanium.

Paid off the pick up truck yesterday.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have NO car payment!

All three are paid for, have valid tags, and have comprehensive and collission insurance.

Yay!

Re: I has no car payment!

JoeRockhead — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:13:54 GMT

It's a nice feeling to be payment free, nicely done, congratulations!

Re: I has no car payment!

SouthJamaica — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:33:11 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:
Current garage:

2016 Ford F150 XLT.
2017 Ford Fusion Platinum.
2017 Ford Edge Titanium.

Paid off the pick up truck yesterday.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have NO car payment!

All three are paid for, have valid tags, and have comprehensive and collission insurance.

Yay!

Congratulations.

Do you have any other loans that are still open?

Re: I has no car payment!

tcbofade — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 17:23:12 GMT

One mortgage, one second mortgage.

Experian counts the second mortgage as a credit card.

TransUnion counts the second mortgage as an installment loan.

No idea how Equifax sees it.

If I see a score ding for paying it off, I'm fine with that.

Finances > Ficos.

Re: I has no car payment!

FicoMike0 — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 02:22:23 GMT

Good job!

I just helped a friend wrestle an alternator on his suv. Like I told him, it cost less than a car payment (including the beer) and only took an afternoon. Keep the old buggy.

Re: I has no car payment!

urbex — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:40:38 GMT

@FicoMike0 wrote:
Good job!
I just helped a friend wrestle an alternator on his suv. Like I told him, it cost less than a car payment (including the beer) and only took an afternoon. Keep the old buggy.

I said that for the better part of 20 years - "It's FAR cheaper for me to keep these 5 old crapboxes on the road than a single new car payment would cost me..." Then having an almost catastrophic failure on my 30 year old Chevy 1,000 miles away from home changed that mindset a tiny bit, lol.

Main crank pulley came apart on the motor, and thank god I was only a few miles outside of Denver. I was able to get it towed in to town, dropped off at a motel for the night, the parts store 1/2 mile away had the pulley I needed in stock, and I happened to have the needed tools with me to change it. I don't even want to think about what it would have cost to have a local shop do it, plus the extra motel charges for however many days it would take for them to get to it along with the "we don't want to deal with old crapboxes but since we can take advantage of someone with little choice..." surcharge.

100 miles later, I started having issues with the fuel injectors, and just barely was able to limp it home the rest of the way....3 days later, there was a new truck sitting in my driveway with a $40K loan, lol. At least I was able to spend some time in finding mostly what I wanted, at a halfway decent price, in the dry desert...rather than having to buy whatever I could find locally in that rust belt...

Re: I has no car payment!

FicoMike0 — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:20:39 GMT

Sometimes you do have to write one off.

the SUV in question is a 2016. Not that old. We replaced the alternator, tensioner pully and belt, put in a new 850 cca battery and threw in a new air filter and a set of iridium plugs for $450. Got the parts delivered from walmart.com, except the battery and beer, we picked those up at the real wamart.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:47:23 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:
Current garage:

2016 Ford F150 XLT.
2017 Ford Fusion Platinum.
2017 Ford Edge Titanium.

Paid off the pick up truck yesterday.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have NO car payment!

All three are paid for, have valid tags, and have comprehensive and collission insurance.

Yay!

Don't get another one would be the smart move.

Keep what you have. Take care of it. Fund your retirement account. Make an emergency savings.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:51:38 GMT

@urbex wrote:
@FicoMike0 wrote:
Good job!
I just helped a friend wrestle an alternator on his suv. Like I told him, it cost less than a car payment (including the beer) and only took an afternoon. Keep the old buggy.
I said that for the better part of 20 years - "It's FAR cheaper for me to keep these 5 old crapboxes on the road than a single new car payment would cost me..." Then having an almost catastrophic failure on my 30 year old Chevy 1,000 miles away from home changed that mindset a tiny bit, lol.

Main crank pulley came apart on the motor, and thank god I was only a few miles outside of Denver. I was able to get it towed in to town, dropped off at a motel for the night, the parts store 1/2 mile away had the pulley I needed in stock, and I happened to have the needed tools with me to change it. I don't even want to think about what it would have cost to have a local shop do it, plus the extra motel charges for however many days it would take for them to get to it along with the "we don't want to deal with old crapboxes but since we can take advantage of someone with little choice..." surcharge.

100 miles later, I started having issues with the fuel injectors, and just barely was able to limp it home the rest of the way....3 days later, there was a new truck sitting in my driveway with a $40K loan, lol. At least I was able to spend some time in finding mostly what I wanted, at a halfway decent price, in the dry desert...rather than having to buy whatever I could find locally in that rust belt...

My car needs about $600-800 in repairs every year on average.

vs. People out there with $800-900 payments every MONTH, insurance bill quadruples. Doesn't stop for 6-7 YEARS and by then their car is worthless compared to what they paid in interest and depreciation. Then it starts breaking down on them again because they're plasticware with a computer now.

Nobody ever gets out ahead by saying "I don't want to drive a $5,000 car so I'll spend $55,000 on one."

Re: I has no car payment!

urbex — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:53:13 GMT

In my case, it was more due to the engine in the thing - a 6.5L Detroit Diesel produced V8 diesel...with a generally accepted lifespan of ~250K miles, and I was showing about 230K on the odometer. Being that the truck (rather ironically) came from Denver originally, it had significant rust in the cab, was in need of a full front end suspension rebuild, and was then about due for an injection pump and injectors...I was looking at potentially investing in the area of $5K-$8K in a truck that in good shape would only be worth about $3K...I decided it was about time to buy myself something nice for once, lol.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:06:34 GMT

@urbex wrote:
In my case, it was more due to the engine in the thing - a 6.5L Detroit Diesel produced V8 diesel...with a generally accepted lifespan of ~250K miles, and I was showing about 230K on the odometer. Being that the truck (rather ironically) came from Denver originally, it had significant rust in the cab, was in need of a full front end suspension rebuild, and was then about due for an injection pump and injectors...I was looking at potentially investing in the area of $5K-$8K in a truck that in good shape would only be worth about $3K...I decided it was about time to buy myself something nice for once, lol.

Some ask me why I buy full synthetic oil to use in an old Buick. Because there's evidence that the most cost-effective way to prevent internal engine wear is to use synthetic oil and a filter that can catch more of those smaller particles of metallic shavings, dirt, and debris.

You want oil flowing in the engine, pronto, especially on a cold day, and clean oil, not something that's sanding everything down because you were too cheap to spend another couple bucks on a filter.

And flushing the coolant system out.

The best money you're ever going to spend, generally speaking, is prevention of problems.

In your case, I would not have kept driving that beater around. I'd have gone over to the auto auction and I'd have spent some money on a truck with 100,000 miles in better shape without significant rust. You can still get that done now for $8,000-9,000. It's a cash transaction. No bank, no FICO.

FICO is following me around telling everyone I filed bankruptcy in 2020. That's fine. I don't need no stinking 10.39% car loan. I can wait.

For me the loan is literally not an option because the interest rates stink more than they do for many of you other people.

Every year I can put between me and that thing, I'll have more money in savings anyway. They're not punishing me, they are disincentivizing me from borrowing money and making the people who listen to FICO scores less money.

Who knows? If they offered me 4-5% I might be tempted, so it's better this way anyway.

One thing's for sure, I'd probably be going after a Honda Civic, not a $60,000 truck.

Re: I has no car payment!

urbex — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:16:26 GMT

Right...I'm gonna pick up a clean 100K mile diesel that's been meticulously maintained...at an auction...for 8 grand...

My favorite replies are those from people who think they know my situation, in this case my maintenance habits, and what I need...all based on one mostly unrelated paragraph

So what's my other 8 vehicles in need of, oh wise one?

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:31:40 GMT

@urbex wrote:
Right...I'm gonna pick up a clean 100K mile diesel that's been meticulously maintained...at an auction...for 8 grand...

My favorite replies are those from people who think they know my situation, in this case my maintenance habits, and what I need...all based on one mostly unrelated paragraph

So what's my other 8 vehicles in need of, oh wise one?

I saw one with 150,000 on it the other day for $8,000.

No rust, decently maintained it seems.

I've had vehicles with over 300,000 miles on them and they weren't breaking down all the time, although by that point they had gotten a bit rusty.

Even when you slam the door and take half your fender off with it, it beats a $1000 payment and $300 a month in insurance.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 04:55:02 GMT

It's worth repeating.

I had this conversation with my ex, yes the one who drove me into bankruptcy. We talk again sometimes.

He's in the Seattle parking enforcement. He's always sending me pictures of the illegal parking jobs across the city.

He told me he prioritizes people who drive expensive vehicles and gives them as many infractions as possible, because "they're rich and they can afford it".

I told him that's not true. Jeff Bezos was driving a '97 Honda for many years after reaching billionaire status and said "This is a perfectly good car."

Rich people drive cheaper cars, sometimes even ones that are so cheap it looks like broke college student cheap.

When you find someone making truck payments, many times he isn't rich, he's just a hillbilly and probably living off of a woman, and diverting any income potential he has to the truck payments.

But I told my ex to go ahead and aggressively ticket people with expensive cars because they're usually not rich, they're living on the edge and they need to learn.

Hillbilly with a truck living off his woman isn't a hypothetical. I've seen several cases of this including my mom's second and third husbands, and my cousin's husband. It's a pattern.

In 2001, my mom's second husband was driving a 1985 Honda Accord. It was in good shape despite the age and got fantastic gas mileage. He was a mechanic so he kept up on the repairs, but he couldn't afford anything better because he smoked and drank so much.

When she moved in, he had a woman with twice his income potential, so he put her out to pull the ice wagon, and by that I mean he financed a Dodge Ram that got 8 miles a gallon (Or was it 8 gallons to the mile? I can never remember.), and threw all the bills on her and made her work overtime.

Then his problem became that his truck payments were so bad he could never afford gas since he mainly used it to commute 30 miles to work and 30 back every day, so he started "borrowing" mom's Impala all the time, for the gas mileage (which was worse than the Honda that he got rid of).

A millionaire would never drive that awful thing. You could practically watch the fuel gauge falling while you drove it down the highway.

Re: I has no car payment!

urbex — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 05:58:19 GMT

Oh, so now I'm a hillbilly living off a woman, diverting all my money into a loan.

I have a response for you. A mere three words... That aren't appropriate for a public forum. Though I'm fairly certain you've heard them many times before.

I was curious if your postings were merely tin foil hat fodder full of half baked assumptions, or if there was actual substance. Clearly I got my answer on that one.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 08:49:14 GMT

@urbex wrote:
Oh, so now I'm a hillbilly living off a woman, diverting all my money into a loan.

I have a response for you. A mere three words... That aren't appropriate for a public forum. Though I'm fairly certain you've heard them many times before.

I was curious if your postings were merely tin foil hat fodder full of half baked assumptions, or if there was actual substance. Clearly I got my answer on that one.

I did not say that. I said I've known several cases of this and it seems there's a certain type of man out there, and some of the women in my family have really bad taste in men.

Genetic?

There's a lot of people calling Dave Ramsey because their truck cost more than their house payment.

Anyway, when I met Brian and saw he was driving a 1985 Accord, I figured he was smart with money, down to Earth, then the second he married my mother he sent the Accord off to his daughter, destroyer of cars (some being left to run out of oil and burn up, others traded for a stolen vehicle someone didn't have the title to...dunno what happened to the Accord), and got himself a huge expensive gas guzzling truck he didn't even use as a truck.

Our peer group in this apartment are people who blow all their money on DoorDash and get themselves evicted when there's no more money because of DoorDash. Is that winning by default?

Re: I has no car payment!

tcbofade — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:05:10 GMT

@IsambardPrince wrote:
@tcbofade wrote:
Current garage:

2016 Ford F150 XLT.
2017 Ford Fusion Platinum.
2017 Ford Edge Titanium.

Paid off the pick up truck yesterday.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have NO car payment!

All three are paid for, have valid tags, and have comprehensive and collission insurance.

Yay!
Don't get another one would be the smart move.

Keep what you have. Take care of it. Fund your retirement account. Make an emergency savings.

We do have an emergency savings.

Retirement accounts are funded.

My car will have to last forever. (Ford no longer makes a gasoline powered CAR for sale in the United States.)

Truck might have to last forever. I spent $30K on it and that's the most we've ever paid for a vehicle... trucks are now so expensive that this one might have to last forever...

Her SUV will be the next one replaced... we'll wait for 2027 or 2028 before we do it tho.

Re: I has no car payment!

coldfusion — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:59:52 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:
@IsambardPrince wrote:
@tcbofade wrote:
Current garage:

2016 Ford F150 XLT.
2017 Ford Fusion Platinum.
2017 Ford Edge Titanium.

Paid off the pick up truck yesterday.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, we have NO car payment!

All three are paid for, have valid tags, and have comprehensive and collission insurance.

Yay!
Don't get another one would be the smart move.

Keep what you have. Take care of it. Fund your retirement account. Make an emergency savings.
We do have an emergency savings.

Retirement accounts are funded.

My car will have to last forever. (Ford no longer makes a gasoline powered CAR for sale in the United States.)

Truck might have to last forever. I spent $30K on it and that's the most we've ever paid for a vehicle... trucks are now so expensive that this one might have to last forever...

Her SUV will be the next one replaced... we'll wait for 2027 or 2028 before we do it tho.

Congrats on getting out from underneath the car payments!

Hope the wife and girls are all doing OK as well.

Re: I has no car payment!

IsambardPrince — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 19:52:07 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:
We do have an emergency savings.

Retirement accounts are funded.

My car will have to last forever. (Ford no longer makes a gasoline powered CAR for sale in the United States.)

Truck might have to last forever. I spent $30K on it and that's the most we've ever paid for a vehicle... trucks are now so expensive that this one might have to last forever...

Her SUV will be the next one replaced... we'll wait for 2027 or 2028 before we do it tho.

That makes sense. The part about not being excited about EVs. They're the most ridiculous and non-practical meme car I have ever seen.

Mandates to buy one make as much sense as coming out and saying the Dollar will be illegal and by 2035 everyone will have to use Bitcoin. I mean, you could, but it wouldn't work well. Political types rarely have an engineering degree, and if any of them do, we should ask them what they honestly think of all of this.

Trucks get more and more expensive because they've decided to stop selling compliance cars. Ford was able to shunt a lot of their CAFE fines into making the Fiesta and Focus, and they decided they'd rather just take part in Socialism and give your truck money to Elon Musk for turning part of the Earth into another car.

Essentially, this is nothing more than giving fake discounts to people who participate in the EV nonsense, using other people's money.

Money that could otherwise be spent on mass transit, or some other form of transportation project that would actually lower carbon emissions.

I fully expect that "car Socialism" will continue to get worse.

Financing a car and having someone joke "How much did that thing set you back?" is a literal statement of fact.

The bank interest alone on a note, assuming good credit and a truck, would have generated about three times more than you paid for the truck in less than 30 years had you invested it, and that's not even the price of the truck, it's just what the interest could have done.

As a general rule, banks understand the time value of money. (SVB didn't, but look where that got them. They did worse with Treasuries than they would have even with ESG portfolios, and it ruined the bank.) People who want a truck and don't have $60,000 today so they assume they'll have it with interest in 6-7 years if they don't lose their job, tend not to.

With people like my mom's second husband, if he had lived longer than 59.5 years (done in by smoking, booze, and salt), it would have been "truck today, cat food in retirement".

Re: I has no car payment!

urbex — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:30:20 GMT

@tcbofade wrote:

Truck might have to last forever. I spent $30K on it and that's the most we've ever paid for a vehicle... trucks are now so expensive that this one might have to last forever...

I feel your pain there. Before this one, I've owned over 50 different cars/trucks (50 is where I lost count, lol...I'm guesstimating the true number is somewhere around 75-80) and I can't recall ever having spent more than maybe $4K on a vehicle, at least for the initial acquistion, with three exceptions - the 4 I took loans on. There's about $40K wrapped up in a Suzuki Samurai and Pontiac Ventura sitting in the garage, all paid in cash, but initial purchase on them were $1,800 and $3,000 respectively.

I've had four car loans in my 30 years of driving experience. One at 18 for something like $6K, one 12 years ago at $14K, and the third about 5 years ago at $13K. I about had a heart attack writing out the check for the downpayment on my current one @40K. But then I looked at my maintenace and repair logs for my vehicles over the past decade, what has gone in to keeping the old stuff on the road, along with countless hours of downtime for repairs, and what fully restoring one of the old ones cost vs the cost of a new card....suddenly $40K for something that I can realistically get another 20 years out of didn't seem so bad any more.