GAS-puh!

Got a fishing email from Toyota and having nothing better to do, crawled down that rabbit hole.

Looked at Highlanders, base LE trim. Sticker at $39xxx, figured with a decent trade in and enough game playing with the salesman, I could get it out the door for $30,000. Maybe a little bit of wishful thinking there, but used those numbers as a first-guess scenario.

Navy Federal will do a 60 month loan on a new car at 2.2% which translates to over $500 a month.

NOT gonna happen. Drive the truck more, take more Ibuprofen if getting in and out of the Corolla gets to be too much of a problem.

Yeah, I played that game with my wife. She's been wanting a new Jeep since forever, so I told her to figure out the payments on a 50k car. That's the last I've heard of a new Jeep.

$30,000 at 0% interest is $500 per month for 60 months.
$30,000 at 2.2% interest is $528 per month for 60 months.

The cost of financing at that rate totals $1,708 over 5 years.

I guess I don't know that I understand the exasperation. If you want to pay $30,000 over five years with interest, the payments are going to be over $500 a month since the principal alone is $500 a month.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
$30,000 at 0% interest is $500 per month for 60 months.
$30,000 at 2.2% interest is $528 per month for 60 months.

The cost of financing at that rate totals $1,708 over 5 years.

I guess I don't know that I understand the exasperation. If you want to pay $30,000 over five years with interest, the payments are going to be over $500 a month since the principal alone is $500 a month.

I guess it's because $30,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money given today's prices until you sit down and figure out how you're going to pay it.

As you noted, even 0% comes out to more money than I'm willing to pony up every month. The 2.2% rate is very reasonable.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I guess it's because $30,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money given today's prices until you sit down and figure out how you're going to pay it.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Those numbers don't sound like much to me either until I start putting them down on paper and calculating the monthly cost. We went through that at our house at the end of last year. I was doing a lot of "figuring" for my fiancee with the different scenarios. She ended up putting down a pretty good chunk of $ on a used 2019 Highlander (less than 9K on the odometer) after we negotiated an acceptable price with some "freebies" (cross-bars, remote starter, 3M Clear bra...) thrown in to sweeten the deal.

ETA: We usually keep out vehicles for a long time. Heck, I've had my Camry for 7 years and I still think of it as my "new" vehicle.

30k? man, that is like 1.5 gyro copters and some maintenance from a pretty good shady tree mechanic.

I get what you’re saying. 30k doesn’t sound bad but more than $500 a month for longer than it takes to get through college makes it hit your brain harder.

Paul,

Find the cost of a 3YO version and rerun the numbers. A lot of depreciation in those first three years.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Paul,

Find the cost of a 3YO version and rerun the numbers. A lot of depreciation in those first three years.

If I NEEDED a replacement vehicle, that'd certainly be an option. As noted, this was a whim and reinforced my plan to keep what I have.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

I guess it's because $30,000 doesn't sound like a lot of money given today's prices until you sit down and figure out how you're going to pay it.

As you noted, even 0% comes out to more money than I'm willing to pony up every month. The 2.2% rate is very reasonable.

I certainly understand the sticker shock. It explains the world of 72 and 84 month loans, doesn't it?

I honestly don't see how people do it. The truck I'm in now I paid 138 dollars a month for 60 months and it was brand new. Of course that was 1993. I could cough up 500 a month but I'd have little other money. I want a truck or SUV, but want to pay for a Carolla.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
Paul,

Find the cost of a 3YO version and rerun the numbers. A lot of depreciation in those first three years.

A 3 year old version of the Highlander is a completely different vehicle it should be pennies on the dollar.

My wife was smart. Once her previous vehicle was paid for, she kept making "payments" into a savings account, so last year she was able to pay cash for her new RAV4 Hybrid.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
My wife was smart. Once her previous vehicle was paid for, she kept making "payments" into a savings account, so last year she was able to pay cash for her new RAV4 Hybrid.

That’s why you buy instead of rent.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
I certainly understand the sticker shock. It explains the world of 72 and 84 month loans, doesn't it?

It does, but I don't think I could face that long of a term. There's a statistically measurable chance I wouldn't live that long.

Brother in Law (the one who lives with us) actually NEEDED a new car as his Suzuki SX4 was starting to need significant repairs and since Suzuki bailed on US sales, parts have become an issue. He's on SS Disability and has seriously limited means so we went with the 84 months to keep the monthly within his means on a Yaris.

But stretching it that far just to live beyond your means is ignorant IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
My wife was smart. Once her previous vehicle was paid for, she kept making "payments" into a savings account, so last year she was able to pay cash for her new RAV4 Hybrid.

My wife is still smart. She got me to pay for her 2001 F150 and she just keeps driving it. She can see over the roof of every midget SUV, it's safer that way.

I believe it also speaks to how much cars have gone up in price. A baseline Honda Civic is $20k these days...

I played that same game with a new F-150 Lariat equipped just like my, paid for, 2008 Lariat.

The 08 is sitting in the garage looking good.

Went with a friend last weekend who is actively seeking a new, DIESEL, either Dodge or Chevy. He doesn't tow a thing. Just wants a diesel for the torque, the sound and for something different.

My first HOUSE didn't cost what Dodge wanted for a middle of the line Ram.

Current vehicle prices for many models are borderline crazy.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I believe it also speaks to how much cars have gone up in price. A baseline Honda Civic is $20k these days...

Sedans have generally followed inflation. And a base Civic is an incredibly well-equipped car. Friend bought a middle of the road Civic two years ago and paid something like $22k. The interior is better than a BMW 3-Series of five years ago, it's quiet, smooth, spacious, and I'm sure will be flawlessly reliable.