New car prices are out of control

[bignateyk]

If you've ever owned a house, you need a truck at some point (or a van).

Or just a small SUV capable of towing a utility trailer. I'd rather that than a truck. I can haul full sheets of drywall and plywood in my 5x10 trailer. Not many trucks can fit full size drywall laying flat in the bed. Plus you have to deal with getting whatever you're hauling up into the bed. I can just tilt my utility trailer down and roll right on and off it with a dolly.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I drive a car from 1995.

 

[PricklyPete]

Or just a small SUV capable of towing a utility trailer. I'd rather that than a truck. I can haul full sheets of drywall and plywood in my 5x10 trailer. Not many trucks can fit full size drywall laying flat in the bed. Plus you have to deal with getting whatever you're hauling up into the bed. I can just tilt my utility trailer down and roll right on and off it with a dolly.

Cars can do the same. Owning a home in no way requires a truck.

 

[SandEagle]

i'm a fool. i paid off a car after making payments for 5 years only to trade it in a month after payoff and get stuck with another 5 years of payments

 

[purbeast0]

i just borrow my moms van or have my brother come over with his pickup truck when i need to move/haul big items

 

[JM Aggie08]

There is so much sound financial advice in this thread, I would to sign up for all of your newsletters.

Don't spend money. EVER. Sit on it, and one day, ya know, when you're in your 60s, you'll TRUELY be able to enjoy it.

Avoid any luxuries that are available to you, because if you die tomorrow you'll be glad that you never spent a dime on yourself.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

were you living month to month that you had no savings? Why do people always equate annual salary with what they can afford with one-time or semi-rare purchases?

My wife and I both paid cash for our cars and we each don't make 150k.

I think people rightfully equate annual salary (monthly income, really) with the amount of debt that can be sustainably serviced.

Paying cash, in and of itself, shouldn't be a point of pride. It should come down to simple mathematics. If you make a return on your investment portfolio that's appreciably better than the APR on the car loan, then keep the money working for you now and finance the car.

If you're buying an older car, loan rates are higher and paying cash makes more sense.

How a person divides and prioritizes their financial resources is something that's open to judgement, and potentially ridicule - your choices reflect your priorities and, ultimately, who you are. It's not the amounts, either. A minimum wage earner who spends $15/month on WoW but can't keep their kid in shoes should be shamed. So should a high-income-earner who eats out at fancy restaurants three times a day, and doesn't save for retirement.

 

[CPA]

Anyone that buys a truck is bad with money. This is the most useless type of car in America unless you have a business that needs one.

lol, you guys are so funny.

 

[Fritzo]

Don't spend money. EVER. Sit on it, and one day, ya know, when you're in your 60s, you'll TRUELY be able to enjoy it.

Avoid any luxuries that are available to you, because if you die tomorrow you'll be glad that you never spent a dime on yourself.

I bought a box to live in. Should I return it and put that $1.80 in a savings bond or something?

 

[Yourself]

I bought a box to live in. Should I return it and put that $1.80 in a savings bond or something?

Depends on the rate I would imagine.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I bought a box to live in. Should I return it and put that $1.80 in a savings bond or something?

How irresponsible of you! Better yet, just roll it into your 401k.

 

[SSSnail]

YOLO. I think that needs to be said in this thread.

Prudent is one thing, but if you can afford it, then why the hell not?

One day (could be tomorrow) when you're on your death bed, you're going to reflect upon your fond memories of...?

Yeah, some people may be careless, but at least they made it to their respective mountain tops. And that, my friends, is what life is all about. You only get to go round once.

I don't mean go liquidate your assets and buy a Ferrari, but if you can even rent one and not break the bank, do it.

 

[PrinceofWands]

I thought prices even into the mid teens were ridiculous, until I did an analysis of purchase price as a percentage of annual income over the last 80 years. Turns out, mid to high teens are perfectly in line for average family sedan equivalents. Once you get above 20k, except for luxury vehicles, then you're skewed.

The real issue that I've found is with used vehicle pricing. People expecting vehicles with 120,000 miles to still be worth nearly 10k. This is where most of the reduction needs to occur.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Anyone that buys a truck is bad with money. This is the most useless type of car in America unless you have a business that needs one.

A truck has way more utility value so it's one of the few vehicles where it's actually worth paying more for. Even then though I'd go with used but you will pay more even for used.

There are so many times where I wish I had a truck. Even something as simple as needing a sheet of drywall, if you have a truck, you can just go to Home Depot and pick one up and bring it home. If you only have a car you need to pay $50 for delivery, which is not worth it for a single sheet, so chances are you'll put off the project or just not bother with it, or even hire someone. Dump runs is another nice time where owning a truck is great.

My next vehicle will probably be a truck. For something that will last I'd probably be looking in the 10k range, so I'd have to save up. My goal with vehicles is to never go in debt for one. Debt is for emergencies like if a storm takes out your roof or you need a new furnace, etc... You can have a vehicle to get to work (primary use of a vehicle), and not be in debt, by going with something used that you've saved up for. The only debt that really makes sense is a house, because nobody has 200k lying around to buy one cash, and it would take too long to save up for that, meanwhile you'd be dishing out money on an apartment which would cost more than the interest of a mortgage.

Now if you are a business lot of things change. It actually makes sense to lease vehicles because you can claim it on your taxes. So you are always driving a brand new vehicle, AND it adds to the money you get back at tax time.

 

[TXHokie]

Anyone that buys a truck is bad with money. This is the most useless type of car in America unless you have a business that needs one.

My business is called enjoying the weekend and DYI homeowner. On weekends I can either throw my kayak in the back or sometime haul my 3 kids and all their bikes to the the beach or trail for a ride (that's 5 bikes total). Not to mention all the heavy crap I've hauled from Home Depot/Lowes and several full pallets of sod for my lawn. I've also towed trailers and campers. Having moved twice the past year, it's been a godsend. It's been put to good use that a car just won't cut it. I would say don't buy new since a good truck with 70k miles is just broken in. Used trucks seem to really hold their value tho even with high miles. I bought mine used 2 yrs ago and haven't had to do much with anything to it beside change the oil and fill with gas. It's only a waste if you get it to haul stuffs once it a while but I use the heck out of mine.

 

[bignateyk]

A truck has way more utility value so it's one of the few vehicles where it's actually worth paying more for. Even then though I'd go with used but you will pay more even for used.

There are so many times where I wish I had a truck. Even something as simple as needing a sheet of drywall, if you have a truck, you can just go to Home Depot and pick one up and bring it home. If you only have a car you need to pay $50 for delivery, which is not worth it for a single sheet, so chances are you'll put off the project or just not bother with it, or even hire someone. Dump runs is another nice time where owning a truck is great.

My next vehicle will probably be a truck. For something that will last I'd probably be looking in the 10k range, so I'd have to save up. My goal with vehicles is to never go in debt for one. Debt is for emergencies like if a storm takes out your roof or you need a new furnace, etc... You can have a vehicle to get to work (primary use of a vehicle), and not be in debt, by going with something used that you've saved up for. The only debt that really makes sense is a house, because nobody has 200k lying around to buy one cash, and it would take too long to save up for that, meanwhile you'd be dishing out money on an apartment which would cost more than the interest of a mortgage.

Now if you are a business lot of things change. It actually makes sense to lease vehicles because you can claim it on your taxes. So you are always driving a brand new vehicle, AND it adds to the money you get back at tax time.

Good luck finding a decent used truck for $10K. You might find one from the 90's with 200K miles on it.

Anything that a truck is useful for, you can accomplish with a small utility trailer. It'll be much cheaper and you have the added benefit of a more comfortable car and better gas mileage.

I've gutted and remodeled two houses now and haven't had need of anything more than my little trailer.

 

[JTsyo]

New cars are notoriously bad purchases. Where else can you buy something for 50k that, in 3-4 years, will be worth 25k?

This is precisely why I drive a 2003 corolla everyday instead of a BMW, Mercedez, etc. Sure I could afford those cars, but I simply cannot justify purchasing them given how quickly they depreciate in value.

It's actually the upkeep costs that keep me from luxury cars. I would be OK with a $50K purchase for a nice car if it didn't come with more expensive fuel and maintenance.

 

[rh71]

Cash for clunkers? We walked during that, came back 2 months later when they were hungry.

We tried to trade in my Isuzu Rodeo during that program for a new Honda Odyssey and in addition to the clunker value, wanted them to go $3-4k below MSRP which without the clunkers program would've been do-able. They were still selling Hondas for below MSRP, but because they weren't sure if the gov't was really going to give them their money back, they didn't want to budge too much. We walked - we would've only bought at that time if it was an insane deal. Dealers didn't see it that way for themselves because of the uncertainty at the time.

How a person divides and prioritizes their financial resources is something that's open to judgement, and potentially ridicule - your choices reflect your priorities and, ultimately, who you are. It's not the amounts, either. A minimum wage earner who spends $15/month on WoW but can't keep their kid in shoes should be shamed. So should a high-income-earner who eats out at fancy restaurants three times a day, and doesn't save for retirement.

Did I leave out the part that we both have 401k making good return since we were 22 years old? I also put some salary towards company stock pre-tax (I actually take home a good chunk less because putting it aside pre-tax is smart). The point about paying "cash" for cars was to illustrate how savings has a role since you don't know what people's total expenses are - hence annual salary means nothing sometimes.

You can't judge people because you don't know the whole story. Well you can but you're only trying to make yourself feel better by doing it. Everyone knows a person/family or two living month-to-month splurging with no savings and they think that's how everyone else is.

I see a new car in a neighbor's driveway and the first thing I think about is what are the car's specs, not the person's financials. Now THAT would reflect who you are.

 

[purbeast0]

Did I leave out the part that we both have 401k making good return? I also put some towards company stock pre-tax (I actually take home a good chunk less because putting it aside pre-tax is smart).

You can't judge people because you don't know the whole story. Well you can but you're only trying to make yourself feel better by doing it.

i've definitely learned from these forums that people who aren't as well off as other people financially like to say things like this to make them feel better about their situation. (not say what you said, but say what the person you quoted said).

 

[surfsatwerk]

I don't have dick for money. I drive a 94' exploder.

 

[highland145]

I don't have dick for money. I drive a 94' exploder.

But would you, you know, have dick for $$?

 

[purbeast0]

But would you, you know, have dick for $$?

you ever sucked dick for coke?

 

[highland145]

you ever sucked dick for coke?

My name is Robert but not Downey Jr.

 

[WackyDan]

Good luck finding a decent used truck for $10K. You might find one from the 90's with 200K miles on it.

Anything that a truck is useful for, you can accomplish with a small utility trailer. It'll be much cheaper and you have the added benefit of a more comfortable car and better gas mileage.

I've gutted and remodeled two houses now and haven't had need of anything more than my little trailer.

Can that small SUV tow my trailer? See, it is 5400# dry weight before being loaded. The "no one needs a truck" - "all you need is this" argument is pretty lame.

When your small SUV can tow 7000#+ once a month while carrying the family, and all supplies please let me know which one and I'll trade down the first chance I get. And oh... It needs to handle a tongue weight of 1300#.

Good luck!

 

[amdhunter]

Don't spend money. EVER. Sit on it, and one day, ya know, when you're in your 60s, you'll TRUELY be able to enjoy it.

Avoid any luxuries that are available to you, because if you die tomorrow you'll be glad that you never spent a dime on yourself.

My father told me the other day that he regrets waiting until he was so old to buy the things he really wanted.

When I told him I wanted to get a Lotus, but it cost so damned much, he looked at me with sorrow and told me to just do it, and not to wait until I am old and seeing doctors more days of the week than anything else.

He's looking to get rid of his current SRT 300c for a new one. He doesn't give a shit about money anymore. He thinks he'll die in the next two years.