I know that feeling. I had to let my beloved ‘02 MB SL500 Silver Arrow named Hilda go a few years ago (it was just too low and my orthopedist said I needed a more appropriate daily driver given my knees). I spent the last full day I owned it giving it a full scale detail — clay bar, two coats of polish, scrubbed the…
Kennedy assassination. I was in first grade. I’d excused myself during class to go to the bathroom down the hall. When I got back to the room Mrs. Koelling was crying and the other kids were freaking out. I thought they were upset because I'd taken too long. Turns out they’d announced the shooting over the intercom…
If I devote 10% of my income to a car purchase, I’m making $1100/mo car payments (or, more honestly, with insurance it’d be more like $1000/mo).
As a boomer, I agree with you. Give us a break though — back in the day, college degrees were harder to come by, and thus more desirable in the marketplace, so we encouraged all you kids and grandkids to get one. Result: an oversupply of talent.
The CPO market for luxury brands would not exist but for the fact that many, if not most, of the new purchases were financed with low-mileage-cap leases.
Paying down the principal is a good thing if your note is at a higher rate than you can earn elsewhere. (If you’re able to get “free money”, aka 0% financing over 3-4 years, you’re better off putting that pay-down money into another investment.) Look at the extra principal payment as getting a guaranteed just-over-3%…
My current DD (a 2011 Touareg) was the first car I’ve owned with a backup camera and front/rear sensors. I don’t know how I lived so long without them.
My best friend’s dad was like that. Sold shoes at the Montgomery Wards store downtown. Walked to work every day (about 3 miles each way) unless the weather was bad. Mom drove a 10 year old Ford Falcon wagon.
Some manufacturer needs to come up with a CPO Buddy System. The new car buyer gets a good deal on, say, an E350 lease; pledges to keep it in good shape for the lease period. Meanwhile that specific vehicle is matched up with a future CPO buyer, who puts a modest amount down as a “first dibs” fee. At the end of the…
it depends. what’s your overall financial situation? are you able to put money away in both tax-advantaged and ordinary savings? is your job relatively secure? do you have an exit strategy? Worst-case scenarios do happen.
As an Old, I resemble this remark.
Big difference between that home mortgage and auto finance: you don’t expect the home to depreciate 50-75% in value by the time the loan is paid off. Apples and oranges.
This definition of affordability is hair-splitting and is the kind of thinking that leads people into financial despair. Sure, technically, I can “afford” a G-Wagen, in the sense that the payment I could work out wouldn’t eat up all my disposable income. But I know damn well I really can’t afford it, because I’m…
The industry’s “average new car transaction price” includes cars from sectors not likely to be considered by buyers on a budget. Factor those luxury and other high-end types out of the equation and the average new-car price drops considerably.
My dad said “if you have to finance it more than 2 years, you can’t afford it.”
Yup. Forgot 69s had them too.
My 2011 Touareg has this feature. Not the heated part though, just the AC vent. It's come in handy on occasion.
No Bitchin Camaro retrospective is complete without the Dead Milkmen.
Yup. “Injection is nice, but I’d rather be blown.”
67 and 68. The RS package.
