Cars- some questions for you

[jIMOh]

I am working out budget to get wife the car she wants (Honda Pilot). Curious for those working and those retired- do you finance cars or pay cash, and do you buy new or used?

Comment if needed.

Thank you in advance for replies

 

[LOL!]

Try to pay cash, but when they offer 0% loan for same price as cash, we do that.

 

[Rustic23]

Paid Cash, we have paid cash for our cars since 1983 when we paid off our car. I read somewhere that you should not finance a depreciating asset. Just a footnote, we bought our Pilot three years ago. At the time the two wheel drive model had cylinder cutoff. It seems like most of the time the car is running on three cylinders rather than 6. We got 25 mpg at 80 miles an hour average speed crossing west Texas.

 

[FIREd]

We buy new and pay cash unless we can find really, really cheap financing. We are still working and usually use bonus money to buy our cars.

 

[Bestwifeever]

When working, we usually financed (and paid off early); but we paid cash for the car we bought after retirement.

 

[ziggy29]

In the past we've financed. As of now, barring calamity we're to the point now where we can pay cash in the future.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

We paid cash for our last new car, and intend to do so again when we buy our next new car. We financed 2 new cars when we were younger, but probably won't do that again unless we get a great rate. The used cars we've purchased have always been bought with cash. DW & I are both still working.

 

[Zathras]

Pay cash, unless we can get %1 or 0% financing.
We also buy new, although slightly used is probably the financially smarter way to go.

 

[Texas Proud]

Since there was not time frame...

Bought some used, bought some used

Financed some, paid cash for some...


The one we just purchased... we financed... only because I was recently married and we are buying it from 'our' cash... and 'we' don't have any

Hopefully, the wife can get into the LBYMs more... I thought she was, but seems it was her cashflow that limited her spending..

 

[ziggy29]

It's important to keep in mind that dirt-cheap dealer financing often comes at the expense of losing a rebate or other cash back promotion. If that's not the case, by all means use the cheap financing (but if you can afford to pay cash, put that money aside and use it to make the payments). But if it is the case, its probably better to take the cash incentives.

 

[Zathras]

Excellent point Ziggy!

 

[Keim]

Buy used and pay cash.

I get a kick out of dressing down and haggling over price, while refusing to discuss loan options until it is agreed on.

"We don't need a loan. We'll be paying in cash." The look on the salespersons face is priceless!

 

[calmloki]

Buy used and pay cash.

Thee and me both, though I don't haggle much and have only dealt with private party sellers.

 

[Trek]

Used and cash club too.

 

[Walt34]

In the past we've financed, but that was when there really wasn't an option. We kept those two for 14 and 18 years. The last two we paid cash for and plan to keep "forever" while planning on paying cash for the next vehicle purchases many years from now.

 

[Bikerdude]

Over the years I've had 5 new cars and 7 used. I financed all but the current new car and two used, one that cost $50 and one that was free. I used a HELOC for most after they took the interest deduction away. I will pay cash from now on and probably buy slightly used.

 

[W2R]

I was married from 1975-1998. During that time my ex almost always took out loans to finance the cars that we bought, which were usually new except for one dog of a Plymouth Acclaim which was used and one very old Buick for me that we bought for $400 cash when we were newlyweds.

Since 1998, I have only bought new cars and only in cash. So, this was the basis for my votes.

 

[easysurfer]

In past had paid cash and brand new, but in the future think I'll pay cash and get lightly used. That is, after the one I own now goes to car heaven (or car h*ll ).

 

[Alan]

Always paid cash which meant some clunkers in the early years.

There was one time back in '86 when I just couldn't get any more off the car we wanted (a demo car, already discounted) and they were offering 0% financing so we just used the cash to make the payments. For this poll I counted that as paying in cash as we had saved the money and fully intended to pay cash.

 

[freebird5825]

prior to 1992 - all used, all cash
1992 - new, financed approx 2/3 total cost
2004 - used 2002 model, financed 1/4 total cost
2005 - new midlife crisis car , all cash
Nothing purchased since 2005

 

[Lakedog]

Mostly new and mostly cash but financed the last one at 0% since they would not reduce the price for cash.

 

[Goonie]

My first 3 cars were bought used and for cash. My next 7 cars, trucks, or vans were purchased new using loans, and were paid off well ahead of schedule. My current car was purchased very gently used....it was bought new by the prior owner 8 months before I bought it, and it had been sitting on the dealer's lot for 4 months.....the prior owner didn't like it for some reason, and traded it in. The original sticker was $18,475 (give or take a dollar or two), I got it for $11,000 plus my 11 year old Mitsubishi.....and I was happier than you could imagine! I got a very low interest rate on a car loan, so I used that and left my money in an account that was making better interest.

I don't see myself buying new anymore.....I'll stick with the gently used, and will pay for it in which ever way seems that makes the most sense at the time.

........Oops, just remembered that my first new truck (one of the seven new vehicles), was paid for with a cash settlement from a van that I totaled out...........

 

[scrabbler1]

I bought cars in 1986 (new), 1992 (used), and 2007 (new) and I paid cash for all of them. The one I bought in 1986 left me with about $20 in my bank account but I was living with my parents at the time and got paid from work 2 days later. Within 6 months I had saved up and gotten back to what I had before I bought the car.

 

[calmloki]

anybody got the urge for one of these cuties?

Street Legal Bumper Cars Pack Cool In Small Packages - Auto Motto

 

[My Dream]

Cash Is King!