If u saved enough money to pay cash for your car,

[QVCshopper]

We have enough to pay cash, but if there's a low interest rate going on, I'm charging my allowed down payment and running. I'd love that .9% Honda financing, but we weren't ready to buy yet. If we have another child, that would switch the type of car we need from a small car to a larger one.

 

[crisi]

I pay cash.

I can finance it, but really the few hundred dollars I'm likely to make in the difference in financing terms isn't really worth the monthly cash flow hit.

And I have other liquid assets.

 

[DPK400]

I don't think paying cash to a dealer is much different than financing one with them. Since dealers don't actually finance the car themselves, they end up getting cash for the car anyway just from the financing company and not you. Either way, the car is paid in full essentially when you buy it regardless of method of payment.

Is the max on a CC something that is common among dealers? I've never heard that and was thinking of doing it myself to get the reward points. Then again, I wasn't in a position before to actually put an entire car purchase on a card then either.

 

[lisaross]

That is the Car we are looking to buy..

Can i ask which model u got and any extras?

We wil be paying with a check for our new Forester on Saturday. This will be our 3rd car that we have paid in full for. We have been putting money in to an account for the last few years so that we didn't have to finance. Once it came time to buy the car we considered financing the car through a credit union or the dealer (1.99% for 3 years as well) and realized it was like throwing money away. So we're paying in full. And we'll keep putting that money in to savings that would have gone towards the car. If you have the money and it won't totally drain your savings, I'd pay cash. But make sure you have enough in savings left over in case something does happen soon after.

 

[Swimalie]

That is the Car we are looking to buy..

Can i ask which model u got and any extras?

Cool! Two new Foresters on here We are getting the 2.5X Limited. Above the normal limited items we got the rear bumper cover, luggage area rubber tray, fog lights, back-up camera, auto dimming mirror with compass and it's a partial zero emissions vehicle. We got it for $26,000 even. We actually signed the paperwork last Sunday but won't pick it up and pay for it until Saturday. I wanted to wait until the school year ended and I don't have to drive my son into that crazy parking lot!

Which one are you getting? What color?

 

[lisaross]

Wow thats a great price -- i think that is the one we were looking at as well u got alot of extras for a GREAT price! i went to a friend of a friends dealer and they were pricing me at $25,000 including tax! thinking u got a much better deal - did they have it in stock, or are u having it to order?

I was looking at the Blue - we are thinking of now waiting until the end of the summer - guess i should shop around a bit more. The sticker price i think is about 22,000 or 23,000 - the guy said its not a huge markup - $26,000 is including tax and everything?

Cool! Two new Foresters on here We are getting the 2.5X Limited. Above the normal limited items we got the rear bumper cover, luggage area rubber tray, fog lights, back-up camera, auto dimming mirror with compass and it's a partial zero emissions vehicle. We got it for $26,000 even. We actually signed the paperwork last Sunday but won't pick it up and pay for it until Saturday. I wanted to wait until the school year ended and I don't have to drive my son into that crazy parking lot!

Which one are you getting? What color?

 

[ellone]

I've always paid cash for my cars...granted I've only bought 2. Of course even after paying cash for the cars, we still have plenty of emergency money laying around.

 

[Swimalie]

Wow thats a great price -- i think that is the one we were looking at as well u got alot of extras for a GREAT price! i went to a friend of a friends dealer and they were pricing me at $25,000 including tax! thinking u got a much better deal - did they have it in stock, or are u having it to order?

I was looking at the Blue - we are thinking of now waiting until the end of the summer - guess i should shop around a bit more. The sticker price i think is about 22,000 or 23,000 - the guy said its not a huge markup - $26,000 is including tax and everything?

We went through Costco's program. So no haggling with them. The price we're getting it for is $2840 below sticker which is nice. With tax, title, etc its $27,300.

I like the blue but one weekend we went out and every Forester we saw was blue. I have a car now that is a popular color. I don't want that even though I really like the blue. We got the steel silver partially because it was in stock. It was the only one we test drove and really liked the extra features. I'm not sure we would get things like the PZEV or back up camera if we had to order one.

The dealer we went through told us that right now some dealerships are okay with the stock but as summer goes on, it will go down due to the earthquake in Japan. Something to think about....

Im so excited to pick up the car on Sat.

 

[ssawka]

We went through Costco's program. So no haggling with them. The price we're getting it for is $2840 below sticker which is nice. With tax, title, etc its $27,300.

I like the blue but one weekend we went out and every Forester we saw was blue. I have a car now that is a popular color. I don't want that even though I really like the blue. We got the steel silver partially because it was in stock. It was the only one we test drove and really liked the extra features. I'm not sure we would get things like the PZEV or back up camera if we had to order one.

The dealer we went through told us that right now some dealerships are okay with the stock but as summer goes on, it will go down due to the earthquake in Japan. Something to think about....

Im so excited to pick up the car on Sat.

I like the AAA program, because each dealership guarantees so much below invoice. Then, I haggle to see if I can get a better deal before pulling out the AAA quote. I've been able to do better than AAA so far.

 

[JKMJ441724]

The only thing that would prevent me from paying cash would be if I could get a higher return on a "safe" investment like CDs (I mean who doesn't love BonJovi, right?)

 

[Swimalie]

I like the AAA program, because each dealership guarantees so much below invoice. Then, I haggle to see if I can get a better deal before pulling out the AAA quote. I've been able to do better than AAA so far.

We checked other programs (USAA as well) and Costco's was the cheapest for this car. It's in good demand so they aren't dealing at all right now.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We just bought a car in January and wrote a check for it (minus the $3000 they let us put on our Disney Visa!) Money is not making much right now in the bank (credit union) so it made sense to just buy it. WE have only 1 debt right now and that is our house. It is nice to not have to be paying for cars each month.

 

[lisaross]

my husband went thru AAA program for his car - we were not happy with the salesman etc. - that was from Nissan

I have Costco so i guess i will check them out....do i just call them? how does it work with them knowing what cars are available with what features?

thanks for all the info - the salesman did tell us about the shortage of cars as well....

Goodluck! i really wanted the silvery grey color but i want the dark interior and that comes with the lighter interior so i was told!

We checked other programs (USAA as well) and Costco's was the cheapest for this car. It's in good demand so they aren't dealing at all right now.

 

[Philleigh]

OP, couldn't tell if you decided to pay cash (AAA and Costco are discount programs, no?), so I'll still chime in. Pay cash! The only time I would even consider financing is if you can get 0%, but need to have the $$$ set aside to pay it off if your income being used to make payments drops due to layoff, illness etc. or car could be repossessed. I bought a 2009 used Subaru for cash last July (well, $5,000 on Disney Visa, which was paid off immediately - was going to WDW in Sept. and used the points - and check to dealer for rest). I negotiated price first then told how I was paying. It gives me peace of mind to know that I have a paid-for car that will last a long time, whatever else happens. Enjoy your new car!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

If you can get a loan at that rate take it! Invest the cash. I'd split it up between easily liquidated investments and long term investments that have a higher return.

Life is unpredictable, its better to have liquid assets instead of throwing your money into an investment that is going to depreciate by thousands the moment you drive it off the lot. If life throws you a curveball you aren't going to get a loan for that rate.

Exactly! We'd done exactly that. I have a loan on my car and DH has a loan on his truck at 1.9% interest. Meanwhile, in a bad quarter, we are earning at least 5-6% on our investments, and we have cash free for curve balls. No one is immune from these, btw. I had a $12K curve ball last month! It felt good to be able to pay that off. If I'd paid cash for our vehicles, we couldn't have done that, and we'd have a much higher interest rate on that loan than our car insurance loan.

 

[lisaross]

Didn't make a final decision yet!

how do u like your Subaru? i just love them..

OP, couldn't tell if you decided to pay cash (AAA and Costco are discount programs, no?), so I'll still chime in. Pay cash! The only time I would even consider financing is if you can get 0%, but need to have the $$$ set aside to pay it off if your income being used to make payments drops due to layoff, illness etc. or car could be repossessed. I bought a 2009 used Subaru for cash last July (well, $5,000 on Disney Visa, which was paid off immediately - was going to WDW in Sept. and used the points - and check to dealer for rest). I negotiated price first then told how I was paying. It gives me peace of mind to know that I have a paid-for car that will last a long time, whatever else happens. Enjoy your new car!

 

[Swimalie]

my husband went thru AAA program for his car - we were not happy with the salesman etc. - that was from Nissan

I have Costco so i guess i will check them out....do i just call them? how does it work with them knowing what cars are available with what features?

thanks for all the info - the salesman did tell us about the shortage of cars as well....

Goodluck! i really wanted the silvery grey color but i want the dark interior and that comes with the lighter interior so i was told!

Go to this web site http://www.costcoauto.com/enterzipcode.aspx?gotourl=/default.aspx and you can put in what you want for a car and get a price. All we were supposed to do was show our Costco card to the dealer but they never asked for it. For us we had already gone shopping and found a dealer we liked. Luckily they were on the Costco program so it worked out. Once you decide which car exactly, go through the web site and they will have a dealer call you.

We ended up with the lighter interior. I liked the darker but that's what I have now and I wanted a change.

 

[MAH4546]

Wow thats a great price -- i think that is the one we were looking at as well u got alot of extras for a GREAT price! i went to a friend of a friends dealer and they were pricing me at $25,000 including tax! thinking u got a much better deal - did they have it in stock, or are u having it to order?

I was looking at the Blue - we are thinking of now waiting until the end of the summer - guess i should shop around a bit more. The sticker price i think is about 22,000 or 23,000 - the guy said its not a huge markup - $26,000 is including tax and everything?

You're paying $25,000 for a $22,000 sticker price? Depending on your sales tax rate, that's either a bad deal or a terrible deal. Run away from that.

 

[tomthebarncat]

We paid cash for our last 2 cars. I agree not to tell them you will be paying cash until you have to. Dealerships make a good deal on that financing. We ended up with great deals but were told that paying cash was not a good thing in the eyes of the dealership.

I could care less what the dealership thinks of paying cash for a car. I have never financed a car and always pay cash. I buy good used cars and I have had good luck with the last 4 cars I have bought. My DH is a terrible driver and so he has totaled 2 cars, thankfully no one was injured just a guard rail. I agree about not mentioning methods of payment until an agreeable price was reached. Good luck, I would just find the car and then return with a cashiers check, and insurance papers, and drive off in my new car!

 

[lisaross]

NO including tax transfer fees etc. - sticker price i think was about 23,000

You're paying $25,000 for a $22,000 sticker price? Depending on your sales tax rate, that's either a bad deal or a terrible deal. Run away from that.