Do I take the 36k or pay Cash??

[frogger]

like if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there etc. etc lol!

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

[df04527]

like if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there etc. etc lol!

Exactly!

[Mayo]

I'd buy a nice used car for under 20K and put the rest in the bank.

[tobee43]

Good for you Tobee! Love that plan! Don't forget pics or it didn't happen! lololol

like if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there etc. etc lol!

[df04527]

Good for you Tobee! Love that plan! Don't forget pics or it didn't happen! lololol

[tobee43]

Tobee, i like the heck out of you....lol...you go girl

LOL!! i'm going i'm going!

i love you too df! always have LOL!!!

new plan, i scrounged up 15k to put down, we are going to KEEP and fix the old car and use it for backup. i will drop the collation, so it won't cost so much to insure here in florida. we will park the new car in the garage and promise not to drive it until it's paid off.

JUST KIDDING!, but this way we can have a back up just in case. now, i might not be able to afford buffalo jerky from whole foods for awhile, but i think we can do this. we are going to try and hold out until the 2014s are in so we can get a better deal on a new 2013.

[df04527]

Tobee, i like the heck out of you....lol...you go girl

[tobee43]

My 'deserving' comment is partially based on knowing a bit more of Tobee's history than it seems you do, especially when you make comments like that without reading the whole thread. Tobee can afford the car and has significant savings in addition to the car savings.

thanks Pj, LOL! (you are too much ) and yes, the car savings is separate from our long term saving. we have a low 6 figure savings that stays put. we now have a DMI of over 4k monthly. the car fund has (after checking i was incorrect) just over 50k. and girlfriend you got that right I DESERVE IT! it's NOT like i just want it because, it's BECAUSE it's one of the top rated safety cars, as well as resale value is excellent...shoot, i just looked up on kelly bb and our 16 year old car is still worth almost 8k!

one needs to look at the full picture and each one of us are individual in what is affordable to us. if we have no other expense than a car loan we feel we can handle it. also we NEVER miss managed our money ever, illness and job loss were the contributing factors to our BK NOT overspending or over charging. we spend our saving on medical bills, we used our charge cards after we ran out of hundreds of thousands of savings on hospitals and doctors, we had nothing left, no 401, but at least a good pension and ss. we have a fixed income so nothing will change. it's been nice having no car payment for 16 years, but we need to be safe and if i have to run to the hospital for a life death situation i have to make sure the car will start. i'm too stressed to worry about that when we don't have to at this point in our lives.

magic and all those that think i should buy a used car...i thought so also until i realize when you have a critically ill person and you live in the extreme heat, you must have the most reliable mode of transportation possible.

df; remember this is my auto fund...NOT our savings we also just paid our mortgage in full this past june! it does feel great and we have struggled to get there.

km: the rate on the used cars are substantially higher so that's a big NO

i'm with Pj, this car is 16 years old and i don't want to start throwing good money after bad. since the cost of repairs on this type of car is high before we know it we will have dropped 2-3 thousand dollars for repairs.

here's what we thought....take the loan, pay it triple monthly payments and STILL i will be able to save money on a monthly basis. it's best for us to take the 50k put it into a 6.5% investment and pay off a 5% loan and still be up 1.5% on our money. we can afford this. we are in a different place in our lives than most. how much do we need and for what?? over the past 4 years really we have replaced everything we lost, we don't want for anything, other than a younger body!!! (you can buy some of that too LOL!!)

OH! and km, yes, i really thought about all that as well. i just want to be the first owner and know the car. you never know what you are buying even if it has 20k miles on it. i want to make my own car karma LOL!

thanks for all the input!!!!

[kmjatl]

In line with what magic13 said, here's a thought...

A significant amount of high-end car sales are actually leases. When returned, most leased cars become "certified pre-owned" cars. These come with the balance of factory warranty PLUS an additional warranty (example: 100K TOTAL miles or 3 years).

So a 2 year old Lexus with 20K miles on it can come with a warranty of 3 years 80,000 miles.

Now this depends on the make/model you are looking for. Some start the calendar on the original vehicle in service date, so in theory a 2012 car could have been in service sometime in 2011.

Have a look at the Edmund's comparison tool. http://www.edmunds.com/certified-car...e-program.html

[angel7821]

If I was able to pay cash for a car and not have to worry about a monthly payment that is the way I would go. If your payment was to be 560.00 then I would just put that amount back into the savings account every month. I think you will enjoy your new car much more knowing it is paid for.

[magic13]

Unless you feel you have to have a "brand new car" I would purchase a car that is one or two years old for cash and save about $15,000 and still be all new, shiny and current. A one year old $46,000 car may cost $30,000.

[Pjmax]

I disagree with the notion of "deserving a new car". I won't speak for anyone else, but that kind of thinking is what lead me to overextend myself.

Is this 36K the extent of your savings? I wouldn't recommend spending the entire cash reserve. If it were me, and I were hell bent on buying the car, I'd probably do as Pjmax suggests and put enough of a down payment on it that it will no be upside down. Then, you can make accelerated payments as your financial situation allows.

My 'deserving' comment is partially based on knowing a bit more of Tobee's history than it seems you do, especially when you make comments like that without reading the whole thread. Tobee can afford the car and has significant savings in addition to the car savings.

[TXskyblue]

I disagree with the notion of "deserving a new car". I won't speak for anyone else, but that kind of thinking is what lead me to overextend myself.

Is this 36K the extent of your savings? I wouldn't recommend spending the entire cash reserve. If it were me, and I were hell bent on buying the car, I'd probably do as Pjmax suggests and put enough of a down payment on it that it will no be upside down. Then, you can make accelerated payments as your financial situation allows.

[Pjmax]

Although I appreciate the suggestions of 'get it fixed' keeping a car going for 16 yrs. is quite remarkable. You deserve a new one at this point and should not feel guilty about buying one.

You have substantial savings in addition to your car money, so if you pay cash, you have backup savings should you need it, however, if you can finance for 2% or so, and keep the car savings I don't see how you would lose. You can afford the payments and still have the ability to pay it off at anytime. Make a large enough down payment so the car's value isn't underwater, just in case. You don't need a possible deficiency hanging over you should something happen to the car.

[AngelinaCat]

I also recommend paying cash. That way you don't have that payment every month--with interest!--and you can put that 'payment' back toward your savings.

Although, I am also with Spidge. See if you can get it fixed for a reasonable amount.