those of you with expensive cars

[Natalie's Mommy]

How do you afford the payments??

I need to get a bigger SUV with Madilyn coming sometime this summer (since i dont have 3rd row and its illegal to put a child under 12 in the front seat in NYS) but i'm really having a hard time with the cost of a bigger SUV. So i was wondering how those of you with more expensive cars afford the monthly payments? Do you finance for longer? huge down payment? or just have a huge car payment?

i'm from the camp of pay it off in 4 years and be done, and currently have a $450 car payment for my CRV which we will hopefully be paying off with my husband's stock buyout from his old company and our tax return so i can keep it. we don't have any money to put down this time either so i can't do that to lower my payment

I'm trying to find something used, but not having much luck so i may have to go new with this one

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

this is when you stop looking at SUV and bite the bullet and get a mini van. You will appreciate the extra room. The SUV's with the 3rd rows leaves little room for carrying anything.

Sarah

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I have to agree with the previous poster. Time to look at a mini van.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

I drive a Lincoln Navigator, but bought it used and pay bi-weekly so it doesnt seem so much but even then the payments are less then $200 and it will be paid off in 2.5 more years (took out the loan for 5 years) but did add some extra to the principle when we got an unexpected bonus.

I refused to go back to a mini van not that my kids are older but sure needed the room as i cart around hockey bags and lacrosse equipment and extra kids all the time so needed the extra seating and space...........

 

[budafam]

I love my minivan. We haven't had to make a car payment in over 3 years and I don't EVER want to make another one for as long as I live. With that said, my husband is going to buy a car today. Right now he has a '96 Mitsubishi Eclipse that has waaaay too much power. It was a fun toy but time to get something more family friendly. He's going to purchase a 2003 Audi A6. We will be able to sell his car and pay for most of it, the rest will be covered by our taxes. Thankfully my dad can loan us the money so we don't have to pay any interest.

With my first vehicle, I paid $350 a month for 4 years and I cannot imagine having to pay that now... you can buy houses for less than that!

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

this is when you stop looking at SUV and bite the bullet and get a mini van. You will appreciate the extra room. The SUV's with the 3rd rows leaves little room for carrying anything.

Sarah

I have to agree with the previous poster. Time to look at a mini van.

nice mini vans cost just as much if not more than a large SUV. I don't want to drive a mini van, or any vehicle im unhappy with so getting a cheap base model mini van would make me just miserable and i won't appreciate the extra room not everyone needs to go places with a small country of crap

I live in Upstate NY with harsh winters so giving up AWD is not something im willing to do.

 

[deegack]

I have a Chevy traverse that I love. We always end up with big cars because dh is 6'7" and he doesn't fit in most cars. This time we ended up with a dealer car that had around 500 miles and we qualified for zero interest. It's just another factor in our budget. But since we take in foster kids we can go from one kid to four in a couple hours so the flexibility is nice.

 

[budafam]

nice mini vans cost just as much if not more than a large SUV. I don't want to drive a mini van, or any vehicle im unhappy with so getting a cheap base model mini van would make me just miserable and i won't appreciate the extra room not everyone needs to go places with a small country of crap

I live in Upstate NY with harsh winters so giving up AWD is not something im willing to do.

If you're looking at buying brand new, you're going to have major payments no matter what you buy. Everyone is just trying to offer advice. If you won't be happy, then you'll have to swallow making big payments.

 

[DZNEE4US]

I think it may be time for a van.
We had to get a van when I had twins. We already had a 4 year old, and there wasn't much else that would hold 3 car seats. We bought the Toyota Sierra with 3 movable seats in the middle row. For a while, we had all 3 kids in a row. Once they were a little older, we took out the middle seat, and my older child could sit alone in the back. I really didn't want to have a van, but I didn't have much of a choice. The larger SUVs where just SOOOOOOOOOOOOO expensive.
I will now say that I absolutely LOVE my van, and I wouldn't know what to do without it.

 

[DawnM]

Well, you either put a large amount down, pay cash for the vehicle, or make the payments. There really isn't any other option.

I bought my 2004 Toyota Sequoia new. I put down $9,000 and we made payments of $400/mo for two years until we got a windfall and paid the darn thing off.

I never, ever wish to have car payments again.

The problem comes when we desire more than we can realistically afford. I don't know what your aversion is to a mini-van but when we looked at a Sequoia vs. a Sienna, the Sienna was a good $8,000 or so cheaper. It also got much better gas mileage.

The reason we went with a Sequoia was because:

1. We weren't in "no debt mode yet."
2. We both worked full time and had the funds.
3. DH wanted a Tundra for the towing capacity
4. I wanted a Sienna for the seating capacity
5. The Sequoia was our compromise.

I/We will never spend that much on a vehicle again.

Dawn

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

If you're looking at buying brand new, you're going to have major payments no matter what you buy. Everyone is just trying to offer advice. If you won't be happy, then you'll have to swallow making big payments.

no one is offering advice everyone is telling me to buy something i don't want that is just as expensive as what i do want, so how does that answer my question of how do those of you with an expensive car afford it.

if i have to have a higher car payment i will, but im looking to see if there is some out of the box idea's on affording an expensive car without a huge payment that im missing

 

[Julie*]

I live in Northern Vermont and have been driving a mini van for years with no problems. Mine doesn't have AWD but it does have a trac system- good snow tires work wonders IMO.
My Dodge Grand Caravan was a year old when I bought it from the dealer and it is fully loaded. I paid $285.00 per month for 5 years. I think we only put 2K down on it and now I've been driving it w/o a payment for an additional 2 years. I did alot of price comparison then and found that SUV's were quite a bit more expensive but maybe that has changed.
Good luck.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Not the best option, but you could finance it for 72 months.

 

[bear_mom]

We test drove many different vehicles until we found exactly what we wanted (which did turn out to be a mini-van - drives fine in the snow). Then we looked around on-line and found one that was about a year old: 20,000'ish miles and saved about $12,000 off the new van price.

Emily

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

no one is offering advice everyone is telling me to buy something i don't want that is just as expensive as what i do want, so how does that answer my question of how do those of you with an expensive car afford it.

if i have to have a higher car payment i will, but im looking to see if there is some out of the box idea's on affording an expensive car without a huge payment that im missing

They are offering you advice. It is very common to find much better deals on mini-vans than SUV's. Their prices are normally much less and the availability (which you are finding to be almost none for a SUV) will be much larger with a mini-van, as there are way more to choose from and you can work the price with the dealership.

No matter what anyone says though, you don't want a Mini-van and that is fine, but you asked and the bottom line for driving a larger vehicle and to make it specific to one type SUV, is it is EXPENSIVE.

You will have to pay for it, even for an older vehicle. In all of my vehicle purchasing experiences, you are looking for something that doesn't exist. Hopefully someone here can offer you some advice you are looking for, but I think the bottom line is it doesn't really exist. Sorry.

Hope you get the vehicle you want and enjoy it.

 

[momxx5]

I think that on this board most people try to find a "happy solution" to any problem.....thus steering you towards the mini-van.

(which btw has about 6+ inches more leg room in 3rd row than a suburban~ I measured~ has sliding doors which make putting infant carseats in easier than opeing a big SUV door at risk hitting car next to you ~ less space in back for stroller, groceries, etc ~ many vans come with front wheel drive or some even 4WD ~ access to third row is easier in van rather than having to fold down 2nd row seat and crawl into back......but I digress)

Anyway.....back to OP's original question. Most people on budget board purchase what they can afford......SO if havng a more expensive vehicle is what they want/need, then it is because they can afford the higher payments. Most people on here are about living within your means....so if they are driving an expensive SUV its because they are comfortable making the payments or have saved a lot for a large downpayment!

Maybe checkout the Family Forum for ideas on how others stretch it so they can get a more expensive ride.....they might have some "out of the box" thinking.
Good luck and Congrats on your new addition.

(a van driver for over 20 years.....having 5 kids, a nice van and still enjoyed all the comforts that a luxury vehicle would of had)

 

[LoriKutchey]

You either have the money to make the payments or you don't. Simple as that. If you cannot make the payments then you have to buy something you CAN afford.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I will never buy a brand new vehicle, a few years old will save lots of money.

 

[robinb]

no one is offering advice everyone is telling me to buy something i don't want that is just as expensive as what i do want, so how does that answer my question of how do those of you with an expensive car afford it.

if i have to have a higher car payment i will, but im looking to see if there is some out of the box idea's on affording an expensive car without a huge payment that im missing

There is no magic bullet. People afford "expensive" cars by either (1) having a comfortably high income or (2) buying a used car or (3) burdening themselves with high monthly payments. Apparently #1 and #2 are both out, so if you insist on buying an "expensive" car you'll need to cough up for huge monthly payments.

 

[ICF]

You either have the money to make the payments or you don't. Simple as that. If you cannot make the payments then you have to buy something you CAN afford.

The above is your answer.

There is no magic solution.....you need to figure out how much you can afford to pay each month and then determine what type of SUV (or Mini - van) you can afford with that payment.

Asking how someone can do afford the payments on a new car it isn't going to get you an answer.....as some people might make $30K a year and others $300K...some might have a trade in to use, a family discount, borrow money from family or have enough saved up to just pay cash. Their method of paying for a car is most likely not going to be what works for you.