Useful Links

yelnad · 02-02-2006, 06:13 PM

I paid off my car today, 18 months early! Yay!

I've had a car payment for 10 years and it feels so good to be out from under it. I have resolved to drive this car for at least another 3 years, and maybe more. It's an '03 Forester with 69k miles that I bought new in July '02.

JPatrick · 02-02-2006, 07:07 PM

Congrats yelnad.* If I had a 10 year car loan I'd be happy to out from under it also

yelnad · 02-02-2006, 07:14 PM

Haha. Can you imagine a 10 year car loan?? In total I had 10 years in a row of car payments over the lifespan of 3 cars.

virginia · 02-02-2006, 08:08 PM

Congrats Yelnad - That is a great feeling, isn't it? I paid my car off last year, and had recently thought about buying one. The only one that I was really crazy about is a really expensive car. I ended up deciding to drive my '00 Honda Civic for at least a couple more years. I like having that extra money to save, spend, do whatever. Sometimes the gratification of having a car paid for and some extra money around as well, is far greater than the gratification of having the new car. After all, that newness wears off after a while.

Jeb-NY · 02-03-2006, 08:09 AM

I drove junk that I could afford to pay cash for, till I got the bug in the mid 80s and bought a 10 month old car I couldn't afford (at least I missed the initial depreciation). I hated the car payments so much that after it was paid off I continued paying the car payments to a money market fund for the next car. Drove the car till it had 150,000 miles on it and almost dead. That was the boost I needed and the car fund has always had money to buy the next car (some used some new). The dealers look at you strange, that you don't want there great low cost loans, but it sure feels good to just right a check and drive away.

DWs car was replaced in early January, and since I ERed in December, it will get most of the miles. Now My 98 will last till funds build up again, it only has 80K on it anyway so it should be good for awhile.

Jeb

Andre1969 · 02-03-2006, 08:18 AM

Congrats Yelnad, it really is a good feeling to finally get your car paid off! And getting it paid off that early, you should be able to get several years out of it before the old age problems start to creep up.

Me, I've only had three cars in my life that I made payments on, but the frist two don't really count. Back in 1994 I found this '67 Catalina convertible I just had to have, and took out a secured loan through the bank to pay for it. Basically, I just secured a CD or savings account or something like that, and then had to make monthly payments at an interest rate 3% higher than what the CD had. I thought it was a good idea at the time. That way I'd have the car and the money, but after about 3 months I got tired of it, and just paid it off.

In 1998 I bought an '89 Gran Fury that had been a copcar, from a place that specialized in refurbishing retired police cruisers. It was actually a fun car, but fuel economy was a sore spot!

Anyway, my credit was kinda shaky at that point, from still recovering from a divorce. I was just about finished with my CCCS payments though (finished about 3 months later) and had some money saved up, so I just did another secured loan through the credit union. But again, after a few months, I just paid it off. Dunno why I didn't just do that in the first place, but again that idea of having the money AND the car appealed to me.

In 1999 I bought a 2000 Intrepid. 5 year term. I would've tried to pay it off early, but they were offering 0.9% by that time so it just didn't make sense. I was really proud of myself too, having made the final CCCS payment in November 1998, and just one year later being able to get the best financing Chrysler was offering. Made the final payment in November 2003. And now February marks my 15th month without a car payment! And contrary to popular belief, the Dodge has been a good, reliable car. It would've been a real pisser if the transmission failed or the engine sludged up right after I made the last payment.

Or even worse, WHILE I was still making payments! I knew a guy who bought a used '94 Ford Probe and financed it for 5 years. The first transmission went out under warranty, but transmission #2 went, out of warranty, at around 86,000 miles! And he still owed about 18 months of payments! He couldn't afford the $2500 for a new tranny so he just let it sit at his parents' place until it was paid off and he had the money scraped together. Somehow though, in the interim, he was able to score a '94 or so Acura Integra.

Calgary_Girl · 02-03-2006, 08:39 AM

So you go through cars every 3 or 4 years? Wow. DH and I drive our cars for 10 years before we get the urge for something new.

saluki9 · 02-03-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl

So you go through cars every 3 or 4 years? Wow. DH and I drive our cars for 10 years before we get the urge for something new.

It's a terrible terrible addiction. I drive my cars for about 2 months before I get the urge for a new car. Thankfully I can restrain myself. (for the most part)

Andre1969 · 02-03-2006, 09:55 AM

You want a really bad track record? Okay, I got my license in December 1986, a little over 19 years ago. Got my first car, a 1980 Malibu coupe, around January of 1987. I might have lost track, but I've had something like SIXTEEN cars!

Part of my problem is that I like old/antique cars, so I bought a few "toys" to play around with. Another problem is that I'd have friends and family members that, when they had a car that they didn't want anymore that they just wanted to give away, I'd take them up on it! Another enabling factor though, is if you get historic insurance through the right company, insurance is dirt cheap. I have 3 cars on an antique policy...a 1957 DeSoto, 1967 Catalina, and 1968 Dart. Insurance is about $175 per year. WITH full coverage!

And even though that's a lot of cars, if you add up the purchase prices of the other 15, it comes out to about what I've paid for my 2000 Intrepid, the only new car I ever bought. So in essence I've probably paid less for all of my cars combined than someone who bought one new Caddy or Lincoln!

Eagle43 · 02-03-2006, 03:50 PM

Congrats. We drive ours till the wheels fall off. Well, it seems like it. 17 years for my old truck and 15 years for the Taurus. Current truck has been paid off for 2 years already.

REWahoo · 02-03-2006, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle43

Congrats. We drive ours till the wheels fall off. Well, it seems like it. 17 years for my old truck and 15 years for the Taurus. Current truck has been paid off for 2 years already.

I took you 15 years to pay off your truck