How much is your car payment?

[Snowysmom]

I really wish I could pay cash for a car! We have one DS in college and another one on the way to college in a year. College gets the cash! We have a car payment of $500 a month, ending in June, 2007. Can't wait! Then the money will go to college unless DH's old, old minivan dies and then new car gets the cash! It's a vicious cycle.

 

[chasbos]

$0 is my answer.

My 2004 Trailblazer was paid for the day I drove it off the lot and DH 1999 3/4 Dodge Diesel truck was also paid for in full.

 

[skiwee1]

That's very interesting. Everyone in my family pays cash for cars. The trick is to buy that very first car, or your next car used. And don't pay a lot, just a few thousand dollar car to get you around. Save up for that and pay cash...and then keep making "imaginary payments" towards your next car. As your income increases, you'll be able to put more away, and when the wheels fall off that first car...you buy yourself another used car, but this time a better one. And so on.

We get rid of our cars every couple of years so there is never really a lull in payments. Right now we have no payments as I paid off our new Acura recently when DH got anothe bonus. Next month DH is getting a BMW and leasing it. The payments will be over $1000 a month. We have all our bases covered in life and having new cars is something we enjoy. I have read your posts before and I know you are all into saving for this and that but we already do that. Life is too short to worry about a car payment. We figure it is a part of our enjoyment in life and do not stress over it.

 

[cardaway]

A little over $300. Since it's a 0% loan, that will be all I send until it's paid off next year.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow, I wish I could pay my car off!!! I bought a 2004 Pathfinder and my monthly payment is $437.45!!!!! I didn't want to pay in cash because I was saving up for my first house that I bought in April of 2005.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Not only do I pay around $600 a month (some of that is due to me being upside down in a lease and needing to get out it b/c of work-related reasons), I've also NEVER paid off a car!

I've consistently had a car payment for around 21 years now. They see me coming!

If only they'd make perfume that smelled like "new car smell" I think I could pay one off...

 

[shamrock30]

$0. We have a 2005 Corolla. We only own one vehicle, and we usually keep it for about 7 years.

 

[Blondie]

Nothing at the moment as both our vehicles are paid off!

That's going to change in the fall though when we get a new SUV and pass down my current SUV to our sons, that is if it lasts that long. What a piece of garbage this Blazer has turned out to be! I have to tell you, being car payment free is a whole new feeling of freedom I didn't know existed!

 

[SC Minnie]

Apparently I'm not hanging with the right group of friends. I don't know a single person, NOT ONE, who has ever paid cash for a car. You guys seriously have $20K+ lying around? Wow, that's it, just wow.

Our cars are now both paid for (not early either, lol) but when we had payments, they were each appx $350 a month.

We must hang out with the same people

We don't have a car payment right now because both are paid off-- 97 Explorer and 99 Grand Prix. I am hoping to get another 2 years out of the Explorer while we pay some things off then will get something new. Will try to have a payment around $500/month

 

[poohandwendy]

zero, we have 3 cars and no car payments...

 

[poohandwendy]

No car payment here. Started paying cash for cars with the last round. Keep them 10-15 years and then pay cash for the next one. We plan to never have a car payment again.

Exactly, we do the same thing. We just see a car as the worst investment ever and one we refuse to pay interest on.

 

[skiwee1]

Exactly, we do the same thing. We just see a car as the worst investment ever and one we refuse to pay interest on.

I think it's only bad if you consider any car purchase as an investment. To me they are just fun frivolous expenditures. Same as vacations, eating out, buying junk. I don't consider any of those investments. Just things that give us enjoyment out of life. There is no way I'm taking $80,000 out of the bank for a car when I can just buy it and pay payments for a couple of years til I trade it in. The MDX was only $45,000 but we did pay off almost immedietely due to a bonus that we didn't see coming. Now if we are talking about cars under $20,000 then it isn't a big deal to pay cash for. We are indeed paying cash this weekend for, what my DH calls a beater truck, but that is only $21,000. I would never finance a used car but an expensive new car gets financed every time!

 

[dvcgirl]

We get rid of our cars every couple of years so there is never really a lull in payments. Right now we have no payments as I paid off our new Acura recently when DH got anothe bonus. Next month DH is getting a BMW and leasing it. The payments will be over $1000 a month. We have all our bases covered in life and having new cars is something we enjoy. I have read your posts before and I know you are all into saving for this and that but we already do that. Life is too short to worry about a car payment. We figure it is a part of our enjoyment in life and do not stress over it.

I'm not against folks having luxuries in life....none of my business. Personally, we could afford to purchase a luxury car, and we actually did own a BMW once...nice (and very expensive) car. We sold it when my DH decided he was through that phase. We just don't get a charge out of that kind of thing anymore. But hey, to each his own. I do think that it's obviously a good idea that one could afford it. Not you, just people in general. Car payments/leases are a huge part of where people's budgets take a hard left turn down broke street.

Yes, I guess you could label me a saver. Guilty as charged . We don't like oweing money to anyone.....ever. It puts us in a position where we control our own lives...our own destiny while we're here on this planet. Not having
any debt at all has allowed us to really, really ramp up our savings. And our savings were pretty healthy before that. If we have a spell where one of us is unemployed, we really have no worries. We don't have to worry about making the car payment or the CC payment.

It would be very easy for us to head out and buy a BMW tomorrow, but in our experience, when people do that it tends to overflow into other areas of your life. If you have the BWM 750, you have to have the house that goes with it...and in that house...the best of everything...and the clothes...and on and on. Not saying this is you, but I've seen this "disease" so many times I can't begin to tell you. We made a conscious decision years ago to not get caught up in "stuff". "Places"...now that we get caught up in....we love to travel. And so that's where we spend our "splurge money" for now. But when we travel, we don't spend like many in our income bracket do. We keep it simple.

Many of our friends are caught up in appearances and things, and they'll be working far longer than my DH or I will. That's fine, it's their choice, but it's definitely not for me.

 

[skiwee1]

I'm not against folks having luxuries in life....none of my business. Personally, we could afford to purchase a luxury car, and we actually did own a BMW once...nice (and very expensive) car. We sold it when my DH decided he was through that phase. We just don't get a charge out of that kind of thing anymore. But hey, to each his own. I do think that it's obviously a good idea that one could afford it. Not you, just people in general. Car payments/leases are a huge part of where people's budgets take a hard left turn down broke street.

Yes, I guess you could label me a saver. Guilty as charged . We don't like oweing money to anyone.....ever. It puts us in a position where we control our own lives...our own destiny while we're here on this planet. Not having
any debt at all has allowed us to really, really ramp up our savings. And our savings were pretty healthy before that. If we have a spell where one of us is unemployed, we really have no worries. We don't have to worry about making the car payment or the CC payment.

It would be very easy for us to head out and buy a BMW tomorrow, but in our experience, when people do that it tends to overflow into other areas of your life. If you have the BWM 750, you have to have the house that goes with it...and in that house...the best of everything...and the clothes...and on and on. Not saying this is you, but I've seen this "disease" so many times I can't begin to tell you. We made a conscious decision years ago to not get caught up in "stuff". "Places"...now that we get caught up in....we love to travel. And so that's where we spend our "splurge money" for now. But when we travel, we don't spend like many in our income bracket do. We keep it simple.

Many of our friends are caught up in appearances and things, and they'll be working far longer than my DH or I will. That's fine, it's their choice, but it's definitely not for me.

To each his own. We love our stuff and our travel too. I can't imagine doing it for "appearances". We have it and do it because we love it. If we have to keep up with some of our friends we'd have to go out and buy private jets! No thanks! We will have a car payment but it is nothing for us to worry about. We have the money and we pay them. Actually when we do have payments we just put in our account and Quicken pays it each month. We don't even have to worry about sending it out! LOL! DH is a saver too so he does sock away quite bit but we also know we can't take it with us and thoroughly enjoy the here and now.

 

[EthansMom]

If only they'd make perfume that smelled like "new car smell" I think I could pay one off...

They do make an aerosol spray that is "New Car Smell". It doesn't smell exactly like a new car, but it's close.

Also, it's amazing what spending a day every six months doing a complete detailing of your car will do! DH goes out and declutters, vacuums & steam cleans, dusts, washes, and waxes the cars in the spring and fall. He even touches up ding spots with touch-up paint. It feels like a completely new car when he's done.

 

[rt2dz]

A lot of factors go into what is the best course of action. How much money you make and what are your other bills? The cost of the vehicle and how much are you putting down. It also depends on how long you make payments for and under what interest rate. We have a 0% interest rate, so our money works better for us to make payments rather than paying cash. We also pay our cars off in 3 years (v. some people who take 5-6), but drive our cars 5-8 years.

I always have a "nicer" car than my dh simply because we need a larger car for the kids to all fit in, drives the price up. But, of course, we never purchase anything out of budget. Cars are a way to get to point b from point A, and I don't care much more beyond safety and realibilty--especially on something that technically is a money loss.

 

[EthansMom]

Regarding having a vehicle "paid off", we buy our vehicles new, but try to buy the base model (no leather seats, fancy stereo systems, etc.). We're looking for good, reliable transportation that will work for our family for the long term. We try to keep our vehicles until the maintenance starts costing too much.

When you buy a car and have it for 9 years, even with a 5 year car note, you'd have 4 years to save up for the next car.

As much as we had been wanting to trade in our Corolla for a new Sienna, there was nothing wrong with the Corolla. DH has been driving it to/from work and it has proven extremely reliable. Funny how with rising gas prices, DH's buddies at work have been envying him his cheap, reliable Corolla.

 

[Magix]

I'm paying $418 a month for an 06 Ford Mustang, loaded with some good options. 5 year loan that I hope to pay off in 4. I don't have any other major expenses, though, so I can afford payments of that size. It was the right time in my life for a car like this one (my previous was a 94 Saturn SL, which my best friend now owns), so it's worth every penny! Man, I love that car!!

 

[puffkin]

When you buy a car and have it for 9 years, even with a 5 year car note, you'd have 4 years to save up for the next car.

This logic is good, however our problem comes with needing two cars. Therefore, we buy one car and finance for 4/5 years. Then, when that is paid off we have to replace our other car which is 9/10 years old for 4/5 years. Then, that car is paid off and we start the vicious cycle all over again. We never really get to that point where both cars are paid off and we can save up for a decent down payment or buy with cash.

I look at cars as a necessity, not a luxury or investment. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that we only have one car payment at a time.

 

[Galahad]

This logic is good, however our problem comes with needing two cars. Therefore, we buy one car and finance for 4/5 years. Then, when that is paid off we have to replace our other car which is 9/10 years old for 4/5 years. Then, that car is paid off and we start the vicious cycle all over again. We never really get to that point where both cars are paid off and we can save up for a decent down payment or buy with cash.

I look at cars as a necessity, not a luxury or investment. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that we only have one car payment at a time.

Again, it take a few years to get the "pattern" down, but it works once you do. DW's car is a 1999, mine is a 2004. That way we shouldn't need to replace two at the same time. In a few months DW will buy another car (probably an Accord) and give her 1999 to DS. Then, when DS goes to college, (or more likely, the second year of college - he can be car-less the first year) he'll take the "newer" Accord and DW will get rid of the '99. But still, it means that you set your sights on utility, safety and reliability rather than luxury. To each his own of course, but for us, the money for a car more that 20K or 25K is better put into retirement - retirement sooner rather than later.