Do I take the 36k or pay Cash??

[tobee43]

Sounds like the alternator is bad.

Buy as nice a car as you want. You saved for it and have emergency savings. Therefor, you DO deserve it. If you can earn more by investing the cash than you will spend on financing, then finance it.

wow!! thanks lady! your right, we have saved for it and have back up monies. as you point out we will still be earning interest on the money as well. we worked hard to save and i shouldn't feel guilty because we can afford it

the car repair totaled $420 and now it's wonderful, however, the clock stopped working and it's another 2k to replace that part, since the entire console needs replacement, who needs to know the time anyway? we will keep this for a second car and aim to buy at the beginning of next month. i will have it paid off in 10 months or even less

[LadyInTheRed]

Sounds like the alternator is bad.

Buy as nice a car as you want. You saved for it and have emergency savings. Therefor, you DO deserve it. If you can earn more by investing the cash than you will spend on financing, then finance it.

[tobee43]

OK!!! the car died and had to be towed! i knew it i knew i knew it!!! we had to get a rental car and now throw in another over $1500 to get us back on the road again. we noticed yesterday the clock was no longer keeping time, and the lights on the dashboard were teetering off and on, and then it happened. we got home from what else a doctors appt., tried to take a breather and then went to the garage and of course it didn't start. i hope they can fix it and we can use it until the 1st when i have the money coming loose without penalties. shoot i so wanted to wait until the end of sept, but whatever i guess BOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

yes pamkev, 10 years really does make a difference! you just don't want those types of hassles in your life anymore if you can help it. i'm not saying everyone feels the way i do, and maybe they want their money to go elsewhere, it's just a life choice with us. urrrrrrhhhhhhh renting this car is killing me!! the mechanic said other than what's wrong with it, it's in excellent shape and will be a great 2nd car, so i think we will stick to that plan if this works out that that is all that's wrong with it. i hope!


and thanks basketsbears, he deserves it. we got into it a bit when he got home but i told him if it were ME he would insist i get the best ones, so i'm insisting. he gracefully thanked me like it was me buying them for him, when it's US.

[pamkev]

TB,
Yep I was like you as long as the car got me from point a to point b with out much hassle I was happy. Now that I'm getting older not so much. I keep telling huibby we need a retirement car that will last at least 20 years. WE are about 10 years away from that so hoping and planning on saving for that.

Pam

[basketsbears]

Tobee, I am just so happy for you. Also, glad you ordered the different hearing aids!

I will have to check out the Lexus and see it. Sounds beautiful!

[tobee43]

well, we have always had AWD or 4 wheel because we lived in sussex county and you know Pj what that means LOL!! we didn't go anywhere without it.

my point is we are not in florida and yes, it does occasionally rain heavily but to me not worth paying 3k extra for the AWD. he wants it so i can't argue with him

here's the way i look at it i don't whether it's right or wrong, but i know this life can be done is a second. so if you have worked collectively over 90 plus years and still have a rather good income, no mortgage, a nice savings, separate savings for car, one for household items, and an emergency fund, i'm not implying a sense of we deserve this or that, i am just saying if we want it, and can afford it then it's ok. i mean exactly how much money does not really need in a lifetime?????
my car license plate reads "we are spending our children's inheritance" LOL! not really, but i think i made my point. we are not greedy people, i mean i shop at walmart and tj maxx and costco and sometimes whole foods when we are in town. but we don't spend spend spend on ourselves. i am extremely low maintenance and don't spend there.

of course i'm not saying if i had 3 kids at home and credit card debt and so on and so forth that i would even think about getting this car. it was ONLY after our kids were all set and in college that we even purchased the first one, before that, no way!

we are going to try wait to as close to the end of sept as possible so we can get a better deal on a 2013 and if i can figure out how to get a picture up i will i hve tried endlessly to upload pixs on this site and nothing works.

that promise that laz and whomever was working to put the site back together never came into reality, so i have lost complete faith in that scene!

[Pjmax]

I've never had an AWD drive car, but my Escape is 4WD and I use it a lot both in snow and heavy rain, and it does make a big difference. After a string of headache-filled cash 'transportation' cars, this car was heaven for me. It's an '02 and I've had it for 8 years now. I'm hoping to keep it going for another year or two, because I'll have to save a lot to buy another, and I'd much rather have a newer-used car with all the bells and whistles, than a stripped-down tin can that I just don't feel safe or comfortable in. I don't have the savings or income that you do, but I sooo understand how you and DH feel about your car. Getting older is difficult enough, and minimizing worry and aggravation wherever possible, is a big consideration, with everything!

We will need pix of the new car, Tobee!

[tobee43]

TB,
I'm so happy for you!

I do hope and dream my next car will be a Lexus SUV maybe a used one.

My hubby drove my daughters Lexus the other day and was thrilled he had a REAL car under him and could go

thanks that's so nice of you

i'm sure it will be i do want to mention this. my d/h commuter car was a kia and i'll tell you what, it drove much like the lexus! really a great ride, less expensive and reliable. tell your hubby he can come down and we will let him drive ours for a block LOL!! ( a lesson learned the hard way, never lend out your car or expensive power tools!).

what i'm surprised about is really neither or really cared much about what we drove as long as it got us to where we were going. funny thing about getting older, you want to not worry about your ride, even funnier and most shocking to me, yesterday he says i want all the bells and whistles on this car??!! i was in shock, we are simple people and to me less is best, as there is less to go wrong. he wants a moon roof again although i pointed out to him he used it maybe 3 times in 16 years...he wants AWD again when the 2WD is fine for here in florida and the cost difference is about 3k. he says no because of the heavy rains. in all our years i have never heard him ask for anything, so whatever he wants i'll get another job on top of what i'm doing now if i had to so he can have what he wants. actually he has never wanted anything! no man toys, nothing, so i'm not saying no now.

also lets keep in mind we are about 6 years out of bk but was savings before that time since we didn't have to pay bills and then for a few years rented at a discounted amount from a relative so we were lucky to be able to almost save every dime. our kids our out of the house (although they still cost us quite a bit), but we just don't have the expenses many do anymore. it's a different phase of life now. i look at our checking account at the end of the month and can't believe there is money left!

[pamkev]

TB,
I'm so happy for you!

I do hope and dream my next car will be a Lexus SUV maybe a used one.

My hubby drove my daughters Lexus the other day and was thrilled he had a REAL car under him and could go

[tobee43]

basketsbears! so good to c you too!!!!! and, you are right, i can pay off the loan if i feel trapped, even by paying off the loan in 10 months it leaves us after contributing to all savings accounts and general expenses 2k of DMI.

well pamkev, and basketsbear it is a lexus suv. lol!! to funny that's what you were thinking about. we have one. we paid cash for it and really it's NOT the fact it's such a "luxury" car, it's just that it's such great car. also in these 16 years this is the first problems we have had with it. when we were younger and had jobs we both had bmws but they were model 2002s because someone in this family was hooked on them. they didn't make good practical family cars tho, so we started out with a converted toyota van it was like the first suv! loved that that too! of course they stopped making them when with the birth of the suv..

when we were shopping to buy back then, we looked at the rav and the buick suv shoot this lexus was approx 5k more and had a much better resale value, PLUS, and since it rated top in safety our car insurance went down. so it's not to look nice when we go out, but it's to make use feel safe as well as comfortable.

it's funny about money...my poor dh after going through this cancer needed hearing aids. so we go to the doctor and of course they put in the 6100 dollar set and he's hearing like he's 10 again. so he insists on buying the midgrade hearing aid at 3k, orders it and we have to pick it up in 2 weeks. now i'm thinking, WHAT? so you want to half hear because it's cheaper? the cheaper ones also make that noise back to you that high pitch sound, AND the new ones they have out now go behind the ear and you don't see them at all if that matter to anyone. he's still young and handsome LOL!! anyway but i thought to myself i'm calling and he's having the best ones so he can hear without noise. what a shame!! money buys back your hearing and takes your wrinkles out too! LOL!! he was angry with me for changing the order. too bad.

[basketsbears]

Glad to see you back. I also would like to know what car. I dream of a Lexus SUV all the time my daughter is driving a 1997 Lexus and I love it

Thank you! Just reading stuff and had to congratulate Tobee!!!

Lynn

[pamkev]

Tobee - I am so happy for you!!! I haven't been on here in a while, I say go for it. You have made so many smart decisions. Also, if something came up and you needed to or wanted to pay off the loan all at once, before your 10 month plan, you have the funds. I say go for it!

Lynn
P.S. What kind of car is it? I may have missed it, but thought I read everything. ;)

Glad to see you back. I also would like to know what car. I dream of a Lexus SUV all the time my daughter is driving a 1997 Lexus and I love it

[basketsbears]

Tobee - I am so happy for you!!! I haven't been on here in a while, I say go for it. You have made so many smart decisions. Also, if something came up and you needed to or wanted to pay off the loan all at once, before your 10 month plan, you have the funds. I say go for it!

Lynn
P.S. What kind of car is it? I may have missed it, but thought I read everything. ;)

[tobee43]

If a tree falls in a forest and a woman is not there to hear it, is the man still wrong?

ROFL!!! only YOU frogger! and all the woman here know the correct answer to that one!

thanks Mayo, i just don't know a nice used car for 20k. remember we are OLDER and my interruption of camping is giving the valet your keys while you get your room at the plaza (JUST KIDDING!) i was looking up some of the "used" cars on the model we want and they still what 38k for it, so i'm thinking if look around well i should get a new one for less than 6k.

besides i can get this paid off in less than 10 months!

[pamkev]

If a tree falls in a forest and a woman is not there to hear it, is the man still wrong?

Yep still wrong