those of you with expensive cars

[cinmouse]

I have a Ford Explorer 2004, but bought is as a pre-owned lease for about $15K with 40K miles on it...I will drive it until it dies. It has the 3rd row, not lots of room, but fine for the 2 kids and the 2 kids we carpool with.

We had a 2001 Ford Escape bought new & traded it in this summer for the fully loaded Ford Edge 2008 = used the $$ we had saved for not haveing car payments in 3 years.

We drive our cars as long as we can. If you take care of them the normal maint is not that high...I might spend $1000 a year on the Explorer in maint cost.

I do not think our cars are expensive, but worth every penny. When looking at the Edge this summer we looked at the Kia (not the minivan) but with the 7 seats, fully loaded brand new was only about $30K.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

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 [sic] on affording an expensive car without a huge payment that im missing

Simple answer - you can afford an expensive car if you earn enough money to buy it outright or make large payments.

You aren't missing anything. There is no magic formula for buying an expensive car without having to pay for it.

 

[Nayan]

So you buy a new SUV. So you have those payments. You're insurance is going to go up so you have to figure that in, along with paying more for gas since they really aren't great in the mileage department. Repair costs if something goes wrong? Oh yeah, big hit there! I drive an expensive car but I can afford it and everything that goes with it. There's no in-between, you either can or can't and if you can't then you look for what you can afford figuring in the above-mentioned expenses.

 

[scottmel]

I never had a car payment,never will. I am an all cash kind of a gal. I buy new Volvos and run them for 10 years. Then buy another Volvo with the cash I would have stashed away for 10 years. And so the cycle goes. To me a volvo or other higher end car looks so good when detailed and cared for it never feels "old". I would drive them longer but DH puts his foot down at the 150k mark...I would never own a higher pricd car than I can afford to pay and have to cut back on my lifestyle to do so.....

 

[arihillfarm]

I never had a car payment,never will. I am an all cash kind of a gal. I buy new Volvos and run them for 10 years. Then buy another Volvo with the cash I would have stashed away for 10 years. And so the cycle goes. To me a volvo or other higher end car looks so good when detailed and cared for it never feels "old". I would drive them longer but DH puts his foot down at the 150k mark...I would never own a higher pricd car than I can afford to pay and have to cut back on my lifestyle to do so.....

Volvos are just getting broken in at the 150K mile mark. If you have an XC90, let me know when you're ready to sell it and we'll take it off of your hands.

-Astrid

 

[kathie859]

I haven't had a car payment for years because I've paid cash for a used vehicle and drove it to death while saving money to buy a new vehicle. Last year I bought a brand new Lexus (yep--paid cash) and plan on driving it as long as practical

 

[Pakey]

I have a fully loaded 2011 BMW Z4 convertible hardtop, put $12,000 down and the monthly payments are $950. We have no other debt, I've saved enough for a retirement I'm probably not going to live to use, I make a generous salary, my company compensates me for my car expenses, I've got a terminal illness and dang it, I wanted this car.

 

[scottmel]

Volvos are just getting broken in at the 150K mile mark. If you have an XC90, let me know when you're ready to sell it and we'll take it off of your hands.

-Astrid

Lol you are right!!! DH though is over obsessive with tires, perfection, etc. Anyone that buys our used cars are getting an extremely well taken care of car. He is over anal in that department!I wanted to push for 175k but we were really give a nice deal with the FORD X plan sooooo we jumped ship AGAIN at 150!

 

[arihillfarm]

I would decide on the vehicle that you want to buy, the options, age and mileage and price you can live with and then keep looking for something used that meets your criteria and be prepared to jump on it as soon as you see it.

How we afford expensive cars is to let others buy them new, drive them for a little while and take the major hit in depreciation. Then we come in and own them until they can't get themselves down the driveway anymore. Case in point, my vehicle is a 2004 GMC Yukon XL Denali with ALL the bells and whistles available that year, bought 3 years ago with 70K miles for $17,000 which was less than 1/3 of what it cost the first sucker, I mean buyer, to drive it off the lot brand new. 80K miles later, it's still going strong with only routine maintenance and preemptive starter and alternator replacements about 10K miles ago.

-Astrid

 

[Sadie22]

Expensive is relative.

 

[scrapquitler]

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

You'll also appreciate the extra seats when you start carpooling and having to lug sports equipment etc along with the extra children.

As for the payments, we always take the shortes payment term, and suck it up for the two years of a high payment (last time, we bought DH car with almost no money down, and we paid it off in two years because we had 0% interest rate by only taking the two year term). Then we drive the car until the wheels are ready to fall off (usually around 150K miles).

I'd suggest that you look into mini vans and also check out used vehicles (esp. ones that are only 1-2 years old).

ETA: I just wanted to add something that a couple of other people touched on. I've been driving my 2002 minivan in Southern Vermont for 135K miles now (unfortunately, I think it's got an unrepairable problem at the moment) but I certainly think that with a home on a dirt road at the top of a mountain in Vermont, I can speak about winter driving with a bit of authority...my minivan has front wheel drive, and with studded snow tires on it, that thing would go ANYWHERE in the snow and ice without a problem. It has traction control and I have never had an issue driving it in winter, and as my DH points, out, it's probably SAFER than an SUV in the snow because it doesn't have the high tippy center of gravity that many SUVs have. If you live in NY State (which I think you mentioned), then a front wheel drive van with good snow tires should get you anywhere at all you need to go, unless of course you are off-roading, which I don't envision you doing with a bunch of kids in car seats.

 

[SaraJayne]

I'm in Wisconsin... there are lots of foreclosures around here right now... ranging from $20,000-$40,000 - making payments less than $300 a month with property taxes & insurance included (CRAZY!)... there are places for rent for $350 as well. That car I bought was "only" $11,500 but to me that's expensive. I don't plan to ever spend that much again on a vehicle and so far, so good.

I'm guessing that's in the middle of the state, since that's certainly not true in this neck of WI.

 

[disneyofcourse]

I recently sold off my last car and that had a pretty hefty payment of $900+ and that's with a very nice down payment. I mean honestly most nice SUV's are going to cost a ton of money. Start looking at used, start looking at craigslist and see what YOU are comfortable affording. It's all relative to what you make. You can't get a huge expensive car without paying for it. (well unless you win it and then have a butt load of taxes to pay)

Just remember most are super gas guzzlers so factor that in. Also, insurance is much higher it seems. Many of these expensive cars lose a ton of value at 1-3 years old so really check that out. Oh and look at minivans.


One more idea MAZDA5. Take a look at those!!!

 

[SaraJayne]

OP, I completely understand not wanting a mini van. I refuse to purchase one, too.

We drive a Traverse (bought brand new), and had a large down payment. Our payments are well within our budget.

DH is looking at an Audi (with $0 down payment) and the monthly costs would still be well within our budget.

As was said before, it's all relative.

 

[disneyofcourse]

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

Mazda 5 seating for 6 . Starts at under 20k with 3 rows and its cute

Here I priced out the top of the line one at 24,800 with leather at 6% interest over 60 months with 2k down. $441 a month. Not bad!

 

[SaraJayne]

I recently sold off my last car and that had a pretty hefty payment of $900+ and that's with a very nice down payment. I mean honestly most nice SUV's are going to cost a ton of money. Start looking at used, start looking at craigslist and see what YOU are comfortable affording. It's all relative to what you make. You can't get a huge expensive car without paying for it. (well unless you win it and then have a butt load of taxes to pay)

Just remember most are super gas guzzlers so factor that in. Also, insurance is much higher it seems. Many of these expensive cars lose a ton of value at 1-3 years old so really check that out. Oh and look at minivans.


One more idea MAZDA5. Take a look at those!!!

Our insurance stayed the same when we bought our Traverse.

 

[karenos]

Wow I wish I could buy a house for only $350 month....

I wish my property taxes were only $350/month!! Ugh... the joys of living NJ!

karenos

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

Your current car payment is more than 2x my current car payment, so I could ask you the same question - how do you afford your car payment?

You afford your car payment by budgeting for it and not buying more car than you can afford. I have no idea what an SUV costs but if you're already swinging $450 for a car payment, I can't imagine buying an SUV is going to cost you a LOT more than that.

i only have a 4 year loan and didnt put any money down on this car. our plan was to keep it forever but now i need something to haul 4. i was unaware i could not put my oldest in the front seat until she was 12.

I'm sympathetic, OP. I drive around and look at all the expensive cars on the road and wonder how people do it too!. I'm shoping for a new(ish) car that I hope to buy at the end of 2012 and even putting half down, I still can only afford a car less than $20k. And DH and I make good money! Of course our definition of "afford" is a bit different than some I suppose, I refuse to have a car payment longer than 36 months ever again so that limits us somewhat, but still...I see cars on the road for $30k and higher and I know the average household income isn't all that high in my area.

Play with the numbers a bit, maybe adding another year to the loan will make the difference? If you plan on keeping the car for a long, long time and get a decent interest rate, it won't make that much difference in the end.

im the same way, pay it off as soon as possible and they drive it until it has a serious problem. my husband works on cars and does all our mainence so this is usually a long while

Look into used minivans. They are typicaly alot cheeper.
And here is a little hit, most SUV drivers are just minivan drivers that are in denile. I know there are people that use their SUVs for towing, off roading ect, but they are easy to identify compared to the soccer / mall SUV drivers.

Also, don't forget that TIRES not awd/ 4wd/ fwd/ rwd will determine how well a auto will do in the snow. If you believe otherwise, please turn your license back into the DMV.
I have refused to help pull people out of ditches before if they where on bald tires. Why pull them out when they will just mess up traffic even more and find them selves in a ditch again in a few miles.

i dont really care if im a mini van driver in denial....at least im not rude and leave helpless people on the side of the road. maybe they couldn't AFFORD new tires, way to be judgemental.

Okay, I don't mean this to be nasty, but here it is. Others have already told you that there is no magic bullet. However, if you still insist on having a car with payments that you cannot comfortably afford, then your only other choice is to cut every other aspect of your lifestyle to the bone. No eating out, no nice clothes, no cable TV, no vacations, no activities for the kids, etc. That will free up the money to cover the payments. Of course, you'll have no life or other nice things, but you'll have the car you desire.

That's called choices. If you want the car, you have to make the choice to make it the priority and sacrifice in other areas. If you want to keep the lifestyle you have now, you need to settle for a cheaper car. It's that way with any financial choice for everyone except the gloriously rich.

for someone who didnt mean to be nasty you sure were. i dont appreciate being talking to like im some dumb blonde who knows nothing about life. im not selfish enough to drive something that would negitivly effect my kids and their lifestyle.

As for cars with 3rd row, check out the Rav-4. The sport model has a 3rd row and is around the same price as my Forester.

i didn't know the Rav-4 had 3rd row.....i will have to look into that! thanks

I'm not a huge fan of minivans. I actually traded mine in for a used SUV with a third row seat. As far as expensive....one might think my car payment is expensive but it is well within my budget. Personally, I would not purchase a car that would break the bank so to speak. There are a ton of used SUV's out there with third row seats. At lease there are in my area.

Good luck with your search.

i wouldn't purchase a car that broke the bank either, i have a budget and i will stick to it. now im going to be searching car dealerships to see if something that i would like comes up. i figure if i start now ill find one by late spring and not have to settle.

im also looking into interest rates and dealer financing offerings to get the best deal. when i bought my car we planned on using our credit union with the last car we bought but the dealer was able to get us a better interest rate

 

[hsmamato2]

you can't beat a good minivan when you have a bunch of kids and their stuff to tote.....beats a crossover/SUV for cost vs. usefulness anyday!
(I drove a 1995 Mercury Villager for over 12 years,loved that van! great MPG,carried 7 people plus luggage!)
now we've downsized.....

 

[Bob NC]

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.

Okay, the answer is that people that can afford more expensive cars than you have more money than you. Did THAT answer it?