• CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    HOLY SHIT.

    84 months!

    We are going to continue to drive our 16 year old car and 8 year old car around for a while longer, I hope. I cannot imagine paying for a car for 7 years, damn.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      My previous car I did 60 months at 0%. They were offering, I knew I’d drive it that long, so why not.

      And for a solid five months I had no car loan to pay!

      • W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 days ago

        Doing that now. If you can comfortably afford it it’s the way to go. The problem is many many many people can’t afford it or don’t qualify.

    • insufferableninja@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      You don’t have to get an 84 month loan. We just did a 48 month loan on my wife’s new car. The trick is, buy within your means and don’t roll negative equity into your new loan.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Yes, that’s so true. I remember coming into a small amount of money and had been saving a little bit, and had just paid off a ridiculously long car loan on a used car - still one of the dumbest financial decisions I had made in my youth - 5.5 years on a used car, WTF was I even thinking, LOL.

        Anyway, I was itching to buy some new car possibly, as I had never bought new. Someone handed me a book about finances and the author reiterated what my parents had always tried to drill into my head - about the only worthwhile debt is real estate.

        For cars, he had this notion of “paying yourself” the car payment once you pay off a car. Do that for many years, and use that savings for your next car, preferably used, about 2 or 3 years old, after which the depreciation has had the steepest drop.

        So I skipped buying something new or used. For so many reasons, I am glad my co-worker lent me that book at that particular time.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            This one - Live Debt Free, by Ted Carroll

            https://archive.org/details/livedebtfreemake00carr

            Even reading this in the early 00s was kinda wild when it came to some of the talk of house prices. Most of the principles still hold, though, especially when it comes to deferring gratitude and so on.

            The notion of moving somewhere low-cost is probably more relevant than ever, though, given the idea of remote work having been broken wide open because of Covid. Prior to that, most companies viewed it as something slightly scandalous to even ask about.

    • kalpol@lemmy.ca
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      6 days ago

      They’re bundling and selling these loans off just like they did real estate up until 2008. When it all exploded in their faces.

  • jaykrown@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    That’s a crazy decision to make. I own my car outright thankfully. In the future once my car is used up and completely in the green as an investment to commute to work, I’m going to consider leasing a very modern electric vehicle for 2 years.

  • Lemming6969@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Under 3% I’ll take the longest loan I can… It’s free money. Above 6 it’s a perpetual loss. 4 or 5 is borderline.

    • kalpol@lemmy.ca
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      7 days ago

      That is a little surprising. Craigslist straight died here after they started charging for car ads. Used to be all kinds of interesting things and decent deals.

    • Paddzr@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Especially as cars do come with 7 or more years of warranty, like KIA.

      If you give me 0% for more than 5 years? Sure, I’ll take it. Our EV is 2021 model, I’m in no rush to sell it. I’ll reach the mileage warranty unfortunately before the timed one.

    • maplesaga@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Mortgages used to be 7 years, and car loans were unheard of on the gold standard. Cheap debt changed all this, and we chalked up the economic growth as a positive thing.

      Now we act aghast when high debt loads exist.

  • dudesss@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    No sympathy for modern car buyers. There are almost no limits on size at the moment. Things have gone way out of reasonable limits. We need to strike down vehicle size limits by a huge amount.

    To elaborate on the no sympathy part, most new vehicle on the road are oversized. For example, SUV death wagons, and the odd clown truck bringing their 6 wheeler for a lettuce and bread trip to whatever other spot dealing with their misery.

    • nerobro@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      so… at the end of 84 months you have ~something of value~. Or at the end of the lease you have… zero… value. Leases make very, very litle sense for the end consumer of things. And… like… used cars are a thing.

      • 1dalm@lemmings.world
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        2 days ago

        At the end of 7 years the car is fully depreciated. Optimistically it’s going to be worth 15-20% of the original value minus any necessary repairs. Legitimately, it could be worth less than zero.

        Meanwhile, in that same time, you could have had 3 new cars with lower payments less maintenance issues.

    • ski11erboi@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Sorry for the downvotes but I do the same and in my situation it makes the most financial sense. I compared buying to leasing and if I bought a car and traded it in at the end of a typical lease term I would owe more money on the car than it would be worth. Even if I paid straight cash the depreciation would be more than I paid for the lease.