I really need a new car. How is my credit profile?

[Anonymous]

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@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
For what you paid for a 6 year old car with features, you could have bought a new Toyota Camry. You could have paid a whole lot less for a 2 year old Camry that would run for 10 years +, and only need oil, a starter and some tires. But you needed those features. Gtfoh.

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I'm not sure what I would do with a Camry, but I appreciate your input...

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You would drive it. 

[Anonymous]

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@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:

I went to Carmax today and got it appraised for $7500. That's $2000 less than the appraisal from a few months ago. It's also significantly lower than the NADA rough trade-in. Rough trade-in on NADA was $10000. If I sell it to them right now, I'll have to pay $8000 to the finance company.

Would it be a terrible idea to open a credit card right now? I use my Capital One cash back card right now while working down the balances on the others.

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Yes it would. Because you don't really need one. If you're thinking that opening another credit card is the key to getting your utilization wrong, you're doing it backwards. I think you're a little obsessed with getting a luxury vehicle right now. And you're not in the position to do it. You don't want to drive your working vehicle, you have a warranty on your current one but they won't pay for the repair, and you don't want to drive a vehicle that's within your means like a toyota or honda. 

You're potentially making impulsive choices to get to a point where you want to be (leasing a luxury vehicle). 

[Kevin5974]

Well said Seezer. I read it as he was going to pay the negative equity with the new credit card. Another terrible and impulsive move.

[Anonymous]

IMHO.... I work with people all the time that get all excited to buy that new car that is all the rave.  The problem is that most of them can't afford it.  Not saying you can't but here is what I think.  Have you added up the total cost of ownership of said car?  Including insurance to own the car, routine maintance and cost of maybe preminum gas that some of those high end cars take.  Land Rovers are not cheap to own and are not the most reliable car, they do look nice though.  My car is a 2007 Volvo with 225,000 miles on it and is still running pretty good but I have about 2k worth of repairs and maintance I do yearly but it is far cheaper than getting into a payment for 6 years.

I think you should buy a cheap car and drive it into the ground!

[Anonymous]

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@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:

I went to Carmax today and got it appraised for $7500. That's $2000 less than the appraisal from a few months ago. It's also significantly lower than the NADA rough trade-in. Rough trade-in on NADA was $10000. If I sell it to them right now, I'll have to pay $8000 to the finance company.

Would it be a terrible idea to open a credit card right now? I use my Capital One cash back card right now while working down the balances on the others.

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It wouldn't be the most optimal idea. I think you should shop around for different dealerships in terms of trade in value - you really don't want yourself to get into a narrow finanical situation. Credit cards and loans for these situations are dangerous because you're being beat down by interest on top of something that needs daily care (oil changes, gas, unexpected repairs).

I know for a fact CarMax likes to under value trade in's anyway, where are you located? you'll probably find a dealership that'll offer more. Don't forget you could always refinance and get that interest rate brought down.

[SoundoftheSuburbs]

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@Kevin5974 wrote:
Well said Seezer. I read it as he was going to pay the negative equity with the new credit card. Another terrible and impulsive move.

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Nooooooooooooo... How could you even do that? My finance company only takes debit and check. I was just thinking about the Amazon Prime Card. It seems like a good deal with no minimum spend.

My household income is $216,000. I'm not living beyond my means.

As I said, I just do not think it is responsible to pay $21k for a new engine and more for a DPF and insurance deductible. This car has had a stretched timing chain for almost 20k miles. How is any of this impulsive?

[SoundoftheSuburbs]

I'm looking at leasing a car, by the way, everybody. Repairs are irrelevant—and Volvo covers maintenance.

[Anonymous]

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@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:

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@Kevin5974 wrote:
Well said Seezer. I read it as he was going to pay the negative equity with the new credit card. Another terrible and impulsive move.

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Nooooooooooooo... How could you even do that? My finance company only takes debit and check. I was just thinking about the Amazon Prime Card. It seems like a good deal with no minimum spend.

My household income is $216,000. I'm not living beyond my means.

As I said, I just do not think it is responsible to pay $21k for a new engine and more for a DPF and insurance deductible. This car has had a stretched timing chain for almost 20k miles. How is any of this impulsive?

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Your utilization is really high. If there's that much money in the household, you're doing things backwards. And I thought you said the repairs would be 9k?

[SoundoftheSuburbs]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:

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@Kevin5974 wrote:
Well said Seezer. I read it as he was going to pay the negative equity with the new credit card. Another terrible and impulsive move.

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Nooooooooooooo... How could you even do that? My finance company only takes debit and check. I was just thinking about the Amazon Prime Card. It seems like a good deal with no minimum spend.

My household income is $216,000. I'm not living beyond my means.

As I said, I just do not think it is responsible to pay $21k for a new engine and more for a DPF and insurance deductible. This car has had a stretched timing chain for almost 20k miles. How is any of this impulsive?

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Your utilization is really high. If there's that much money in the household, you're doing things backwards. And I thought you said the repairs would be 9k?

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When I first wrote the post, I had a dealer estimate for approximately $9,000 worth of repairs. I needed $5,400 in powertrain repairs, $1,600 in maintenance, and $1,400 in rear entertainment repairs. I completely disregard the rear entertainment repairs because I don't use the system. However, since that estimate, I also need to replace the rear brakes, there is an electrical problem around the tailgate (had this same problem in the GL450 and cost about $1,000), and the adaptive damping suspension is failing (cost $6,700 to replace in the GL450). The DPF is also $4,500 to replace. My independent mechanic recommends that I get rid of the vehicle or have the engine replaced at a parts-only cost of $21,000. Replacing the engine would only address the otherwise $5,400 repairs. My preferred dealer service consultant has recommended that I trade-in the vehicle as well. Used engines aren't recommended in this application, because they tend to be sludged up with stretched timing chains too.

I have the credit card debt because I made some major purchases using 0% introductory offers. I've been paying it off, but it does not make sense to me to dump all my money paying off 0% interest debt ahead of time. I would rather put that money towards paying off the auto loan or making repairs to it. However, my credit card debt is only $7,800.