My car runs fine, and I don't think I need a new one. However, it's 10 years old and has 137k miles, so I'll need a new one in 2 or 3 years. But I was thinking, with interests rates being so low, like close to zero in some car ads, maybe it would be financially advantagous to replace it now if I can do so at a stupid-cheap interest rate. If I wait, I probably won't save up all the cash needed at the time of purchase, so the $$ difference looks fuzzy to me. Thoughts?

Sg

Same boat here, the amount saved from lower interest does not interest me enough to take on a car payment since I haven't had one for 4 years. Just my take on it...

You might be surprised how much longer your vehicle will go. 10 years old with 137,000 isn't even that much these days. I've been waiting for my SUV to die for a while but can't justify the purchase when it keeps going and knowing that I wouldn't be able to get much $ for it anyway. There have been intermittent 0% offers in the car world for many years now. I bet you could buy a particular model of car that is one year old and pay 10% interest and it would still probably cost you less than buying the same model new with 0%.

New cars sure are nice though.

Personal choice.

I don't like driving my 1996 Volvo with 209,000 miles on it because it might die on me, but it gets 28mpg (twice that of my truck), is built like a tank, hauls a lot of gear, and has been paid for since day 1, in November 2005.

It will be hard taking on a car payment, but I will when it dies, or the wheels fall off. Poor Hunter will probably get to drive it.

Zero to 2.9% interest is out there, and if you can swing the payment, buy one, if you want.

My thought is as long as the economy is in the crapper we are likely to see those deals around. And I doubt we are coming out any time soon. Car companies need to move cars and 0% is a very helpful way to do it. Drive it until the wheels fall off. And as Kaiser stated.....it might be longer than you think.

Start making car payments now, put them into an account and let the money accrue. Then, when your current rig dies, fix the old rig and use the rest of the money to take a 2-month long vacation to somewhere(s) awesome.

Guaranteed, when you look back on your life you will think more about those 2 months than driving your crappy old car.

Salmo, If you're driving a Subaru and the head gaskets haven't gone out on you then that is not too far away. This is coming from an extended Subaru family and it's hit us all between 100k and 130k. The repair for it really isn't too bad though and after repair you should be looking at another 100k before the issue comes up again. My vehicles are paid off annd won't be buying new until they have travelled their last mile.

205,000 on my 1998 Ford Ranger 4 x 4, I still get 20 mpg on the work commute.

If at all possible start saving the monthly amount of the car payment. When you have enough pay cash.

Those low interest deals are usually either take the low interest or take the cash incentives but not both. Often times it's better to take the cash back and hit up the credit union for the loan.

I still haven't listed my 98 Ranger 4x4. 115,000 miles. Hate to sell it but I never drive it any more and am paying insurance and tabs every year so need to free up some time to list it for sale.

Got rid of the big payment, bought a 4 runner w cash and have put about 2k into it this year to keep it running sweet. Hope to see 300k+ out of it if not more...

I still commute to work in a 1998 Honda Accord with 200,000 on it. I still get 32 mpg average with it also.

It's black and the air conditioner doesn't work anymore, but I haven't had a car payment in 6 years. I'll probably drive it at least another year... maybe 2?

Mark,

Try one of the A/C kits to recharge your A/C unit. I did that for the Volvo, $35.

I don't have a thing for new car vanity, so I'm not at all tired of my 2000 Outback. I just figure that sometime not too far after 170 K, it will become less reliable. And as Wntrrn points out, that might not be too far off for my vehicle. I have very strong feelings for reliable transportation and am willing to pay a bit more for it. (in the mid 60s, I was that teenager you saw crawling in and under his '55 Chevy in parking lots and alongside the road fixing his car, yet again.)

I also have cash in the bank. And will have more cash when we sell the condo, but we want to use that to buy down the house mortgage, not spend it on a car. While I'm not keen on car payments, I can afford one. But at near zero interest on a car, it would be like paying cash one month at a time. Doesn't get cheaper than that. And the car has to be replaced eventually. But if zero or cheap interest is still around in 2 years, then yeah, might as well keep driving it.

And Aunty, I thought about your idea. I might just work an extra few months and buy a new car at retirement. There's more than one possibility, that's for sure.

Sg

Oh, I didn't realize that you drove a Subaru Wagon. In that case you should get rid of it ASAP, because as I am sure you are aware, you will be continually mistaken for a lesbian.

Thanks Andy... I will!

RR,

You missed the part about vanity I take it. I like my lesbomobile, altho it's funny that that tag has stuck so long given that Subaru had endorsements by such studly figures as Crocodile Dundee and Lance Armstrong more recently than Maria. At any rate I'd have to be far less secure in myself to choose a car based on that.

Sg

Yeah but Lance is missing a nut.

I'm not judging.

Have fun at your softball game tonight!

Stlhead,

Maybe, but he rides like he's got half a dozen, although this year his performance is closer to mere mortal.

RR,

Not judging? Which is why you brought it up in the first place, right? Softball game? What game. We house builders don't have time for no softball. It's either picture rail or cabinet knobs tonight.

Sg

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Softball.... Where men are men, and so are the women.

Lol.

I am still working on my master shower room. That is my last big to do before I can 'rest'.

It feels great to be done!

I haven't made a car payment since about 1988. I pay cash for used vehicles and drive them until the wheels fall off and have the junk yard haul them away. I have an '87 Volvo wagon with just short of 300,000 miles. Our Jeep has about 200,000 on it. My $200. '71 VW, which I've fixed out of pocket, is almost ready to roll so the Volvo will probably be sold cheap if I decide to keep the VW. Paid cash for my Arima also, so no payment there either.
My wife says I'm cheap but I prefer cost effective. I don't buy cheap beer however because you just have to draw the line somewhere.

Chuck E.,

Yes, life is too short to drink either cheap beer or cheap wine.

Aunty,

I think you have a point. I enjoy beer, wine, and maybe some recreational drugs, but I'm too cheap to cross the line to where any of those are the only things in life.

BWP,

Cars are different things to different people. Reliable transportation is my foremost concern in cars and trucks. As I've gotten older I also like a quiet comfortable ride too. It looks like the cheap financing may stick around for a while, so I might just keep this Subie. When I get a new one, I'll have to fork out the $400 for another towing hitch. May as well postpone that expense.

Sg

Wait for the rumored Camaro Z28 with 556 hp...with a hitch of course.

As far as gadgets go.....the one gadget I don't think I'll ever do without again is the backup camera on my F150. I can put the hitch on a dime.

You really need to expand your horizons and take the plunge into world of unreal things......................... you are far to well grounded!

with true 4x4 and locking differentials.

I can vouch for everything Chuck said---even the cheap part.

Here's what Chuck was referring too:

My wife got a new car yesterday. We've had the minivan for 5 years and decided that it was too big, too bulky, a KIA, a MiniVan, and we needed to downsize.

The Mazda3 Touring is a great little 4-door hatchback, great price, and Mazda was even offering 0% for 60 months! How could we refuse? I even managed to get 7K for the Minivan when blue book on it is $6900

Got over $300 UNDER invoice for the car.

I'm on a damn ROLL!!!! Win! Win! Win!

Here's the wife and her brand new Mazda:



We picked the car up at the dealer's lot yesterday at 1:00 and drove it off of the lot (45th and Roosevelt) at 1:15.

We made it down to 41st and Roosevelt and were in the left hand lane about to turn down in to the UW when this white Chevy Blazer comes up on our right hand side, doesn't see us, and basically lane-changes in to our car! We basically got t-boned and side swiped by 1:30, at the latest.

I got to look Death in the face, as I was not the drivef in this accident. Ok, maybe not Death, but I did see the front end of a white Blazer before impact.....

35 miles on the car. Been in it less than 5 minutes. All the dealer stickers were still in it. About 300 yards off of the damn dealer's lot....



Oh, and it get's better. I can't make this up.

The lady had JUST gotten out of the hospital this week. Why, you ask? Well, apparently she got her car destroyed and totaled in a car accident. Seems she had just gotten this newly used Chevy Blazer 6 days ago. 6 damn days ago....and she freakin' plows in to us!!!

Of course, "right of mass" always seems to win out in car wrecks. The damage to her vehicle wasn't nearly as bad....



Here's my wife, back at our parking lot, about 2:00 or so.



Good luck with that new car!

That's the car I would have wanted when I was a teenager, with or without the hitch! However, Camaros hadn't yet been introduced when I acquired my '55 Chevy hotrod.

Sg

Parker,

Ouch! Sorry about that! And you were doing so well. Must have been startling to whoever of you was riding in the passenger seat when that happened.

Sg

..sitting on the back deck, catching some rays, typing this on my iphone4...about to head back to work after this lunch break...

I was the passenger. It sucked.

Parker, sorry for the mishap.

I had 30 miles on a new Ford Ranger back in '91 when I got t-boned going thru a green light.

Like you said you are on a roll. Get the car fixed and something extra for pain and suffering. Let it ride. You're making money. Next might be falling down a manhole cover the city left open. Jackpot!

Stop!!!! Your killing me!!!!!!!!!

That blows Parker!

I too had something similar happen to me.

In 1988 I bought my very first new car... a Chevy S-10 Blazer.

The next day after we got it home, we went to the supermarket for some groceries. When we came out, we saw that someone had smashed in the rear quarter panel and twisted the bumper all to hell. We had a $1,000 deductible on our insurance to get it fixed. That SUCKED!

Sorry you have to go through this.

Dont worry Parker....stam can have it fixed up for you in no time.

Too bad about the car Parker but look on the bright side.

At least your wife is hot!

Naw. Another Lemon. The iPhone4.

Parker, Sorry about the new car. glad you all are OK.

Per the original post by salmo g, and whether to buy new or not, I think it's a matter of pay now or pay later, your pick. No such thing as a cheap car, unless you buy it and park it.

All the older cars I have had required maintenance and repair continuously if I really drove them, and the newer ones didn't need the repairs, just the monthly payment.

After many years of maintaining a fleet of old GM products i sold them off and bought 2 Hondas. Now the son has the Accord '07 and wifey and I share the CRV '07 and I walk to work. Having a newer car and not driving it much is the best of both worlds.

Prolly depends on cash flow and how much you intend to drive it and how long you plan to own it.