When your car starts breaking, you actually don’t mind paying to fix it! :)
I just dropped $270 on new tires and alignment and it is a-okay in my books, friends. The longer I can keep my ’93 Caddy on that road means the more money I can sock away until I have to get a new one! And believe me, I’ve been tempted like a mother lately to buy a Benzie latley (a C300 to be exact) – I gotsta watch my self.
But I know that if my Caddy is alive and running just fine, I would be a nut job to pick up a $20-$30k tab just to roll around more sexily. I really couldn’t justify that. Now, if it broke down completely and I had a little somethin’ somethin’ saved up on the side for this newer car (and I just may, ya never know!), we’d be singing a whole other tune.
But right now it ain’t happening. I’ve got a 17 year old car humming along nicely, and every month I reckon I save at least $500 big ones (the old car payment I used to have from my Toyota Highlander – y’all remember that? When I tried selling an SUV in the middle of “HATE ON SUVS” season & $4/gallon gas? Haha…). That thing cost me at least $400 alone in interest payments, and I’m just not ready to jump back in again.
So while I really really REALLY want a Benz or whatever other car grabs my attention that month, I just gotta remember that NO car payments is financially better than $500 car payments. And I say “financially better” because I know we’re all human and sometimes we just have to give into guilty pleasures every now and then. At least that’s what I’ll be telling myself the day I pick up that C300 ;)
How are you guys rollin’ these days? Whatcha driving, and whatcha paying for it?
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More pics of my ’93 ‘Ville.
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Sweet ride! I have always thought those mid-90’s Caddy’s are among the most stylish cars out there. They are one of the few domestics of the last 25 years that I think will one day be a ‘classic car’. We have two cars, both paid for. Both my wife and I currently average about 5,000-7,000 miles per year on our cars. My wife drives a 2007 Buick Rainier with 30,000 miles that has a warranty up to 100,000 miles, so we’re set for a long time there. I drive a 2006 Pontiac G6 with about 42,000 miles.
I have and 2009 Honda crv. I trade in my jeep last summer. Monthly payment $360. However i save about $100 in gasoline expenses every month when compared to the jeep.
Paid 10K in cash for an 2004 Mazda 3 about two years ago. It’s riding perfectly.
We pay ourselves a car payment of $100 into a high interest savings account so that in 2 years we’ll have another 10K saved up for a second car.
Being married to a general manager of a car dealership, I have had my fair share of cars. Let’s just say in my 15 years of driving, I have had at least as many cars. Since we starting following Dave Ramsey we have stopped buying new cars (ok, in those 2 1/2 years I have had 2 different cars, but they were “downgrades”)
So now I am 4 days from paying off my 2003 Yukon Denali (aka The Coug Wagon, as my husband calls is) can’t wait to use those payments for something else!
My 2002 Chrysler Town and Country is paid for with almost 90K miles on it. Still running great but looking a little shabby. Hubby drives a 2007 Escalade with a $600 monthly payment. We try to alternate buying new cars so we only have one payment to deal with a time. When the Caddy is paid for it’ll be my turn to get something new….hopefully my minivan can last another year. We bought the Caddy used last year for 45% less than original sticker price and it is in mint condition–would never have afforded a brand new one. If you can find a good deal on a quality used car go for it! Next we need to research a smaller economical car for my teen who gets her license soon. Wish we all could drive smaller cars but with 6 in the family and kids wanting to bring friends along we need the bigger vehicles.
2002 Mitsubishi Lancer….about $3k left til it is paid off!!!! Woo hoo.
Hubby and I bought a new Ford Escape during that “hate on SUV” time in 2008 (what?!?… keep reading) but we got it for a steal and at 0% interest for 60 months!! Then we promptly sold our other two cars and became a one vehicle family. So even though we have a $480 car payment each month, it is ALL going to principle – it’s super sweet to watch that balance go down by such large chunks each month. We hope to only have one car for several more years, and in the meantime are saving to buy the next one in cash (unless we can find 0% financing again!).
Driving a 2000 Honda accord with 197,000 miles. No payments for 5 years now! I’ll drive it for another 10 if it let’s me!
I have a 1998 Honda Civic with 232,000 miles on it. It still runs great too! Being a college student, it does great on gas (recently got 34.7 MPG out of it) and it looks great as well!
I finally sold my car last month because I was paying almost $500/month for a car I only drove twice a month! I live, work, & play in the downtown area of my city, so there’s really no point. Right now I’m trying to see how long I can go without one (but when I buy another one, it’ll be an old beater, to hell with car payments!), anyone want to take bets?
2006 Honda Civic with 38,000 miles on it. Payments of $329.93/month. I was trying to pay it off this year, 2 years ahead of schedule, but it might have to wait until 3-4 months into next year. That will still be fine by me! And given her low mileage, I plan to ride her until she slaps the last set of tires I try to replace her with :D.
Rocking out my 2006 Mitsu Galant Special Edition – has 55K miles on it and I owe about 12K on it. But i recently decided not to be an idiot, and stop thinking about getting rid of it. So I am going to concentrate on paying it off and run it in to the ground.
Wife rocks out a lease – and we just picked up a bad ass 2010 Altima HOOKED UP for only 338 a month.
I drive a 2005 Honda CR-V (bought new), which is awesome in the crappy winter weather we get here in the NorthEast. My boyfriend drives a 2003 Jeep Liberty (bought used). Both will be completely paid off next year. His has 100k miles, mine has 50k miles. He wants to get rid of his but we will more than likely be holding onto it until it rots LOL. I plan on running mine into the ground, which I hope will be at least another 10 years.
I’m driving a 1998 Honda Accord with 246,000 km. I paid $5000 (cash) for this car close to 2 years ago, and I’ve only replaced the timing belt, cv joints, and link bar.
I’ve also got a 2009 Kawasaki ninja (bike/insurance paid full) for the summer months.
ps. you’re a pimp. That old caddy rocks
Buy the C300. I love mine! I buy a new car too frequently now (average every 18 months), but plan to keep this car for quite some time! It’s a great car and MB has really updated the interior. I own three different makes of cars (C300 is the only one with a payment) and completely understand it’s easier to sink $$ into a car you plan to keep! Enjoy the caddie, but the MB is fun too!
I have a 2003 Subaru Impreza. Bought it new, after my 1988 Subaru was going to need to have the axle replaced — again. It was at the point that I couldn’t stomach paying so much in repairs, especially considering I was driving 50 miles to work (each way), and I wanted to feel SAFE in my car. Got a two-year no-interest loan, and paid $728 monthly payments until the car was ALL mine 24 months later. Definitely am planning on keeping this car for as long as I can!
J, is there some tactic/approach/matrix to determining when it’s time to give in a get a new car (how do you determine the breakeven point when it’s just not worth it to make very regular, very expensive repairs?)?
Nice post. 99′ Honda Accord is what I roll.
I don’t have a car. Sad face. But I do ride around in my parents’ 2003 Sienna Minivan or their 2001 Mistubishi Eclipse. BF has a 2007 Pontiac G6. Overall, I’m hooked up! I do agree with you, no car payments = most amazing thing ever. But I do have an itch to get a car. I am eyeing a Nissan Sentra…
I have a used ’04 Durango-paid for! And I LOVE it! It is the perfect size for our (growing:) family. I will drive this car until it dies. My hubby, on the other hand, has a used ’03 Malibu (also paid for!) which has seen better days. He would have liked a new car as of yesterday and even as cheap as I am I really can see his point. He has to drive around clients in the ‘Bu and it really is not pretty. We have a car fund going and will get him a new car as soon as the right deal comes around. Until then, I really appreciate his patience.
A ’93 Caddy sounds tight my friend;)
Trina
A 2002 Dodge Stratus RT that is completely paid off. My dad actually hooked me up with a deal when I bought it in 2003 at the ripe age of 23. I am the second owner…the first was an old lady who bought it drove it back and forth to the law firm she worked in, in my tiny hometown for about a year and decided she wanted something else. It had 12K miles on it when I got it for a steal of $13K. My dad new the manager of the dealership that had sold it to her and where she traded it in.
Sigh* Ah J with your perfect timing…I just dropped $250 on my 2000 Taurus for an oil change and new motor mounts. Made me angry lol seeing as how I just bought the gas guzzler for $3400 last month after my trusty ‘ole gas efficient ’99 Saturn got totaled. But you… you’ve made me feel slightly better… thx J :-P
We’ve got a 2008 Subaru Forester. Paid cash for it, new. Plan to keep it for a long time, and don’t know if we’ll buy new again – I don’t like the way they are restyling vehicles, especially tapering windows. I like excellent visibility and think that creating blind spots for the sake of style is a good argument for buying an older car. Love the Forester, though :)
I drive a 2002 Dodge Neon that I got in 2003. It has 118,000 miles on it. I recently took it to my dad (not a mechanic by trade, but grew up on a farm repairing things all the time). He just called me and told me it was fixed and it cost “slightly less than $2,000–$1,900 less, to be exact.” My car cost me about $200 to repair, which is well under the payment for a new(er) car. I’m hoping to get this car to 200K miles–at least!
I actually just got a car…a few days ago as an anniversary gift from my husband. I actually needed a car desperately bad…I hadn’t had one in 7 months!!! I have a 2010 volvo s40. And I’m not paying a dime for it! He haggled the dealership down like $6,000 for it and had researched it and we’ve been saving for a car since forever and a day and the old car’s trade in value didn’t hurt.
Driving a ’93 Mazda Protege. It’s definitely a beater–scratched and scraped and mottled paint. I call it built-in anti-theft protection. Who needs a car alarm? No self-respecting thief would ever jack my piece of junk! But it runs just fine (a little creaky maybe…) and I barely spend any money on it (oil changes mainly). And you know what? When it finally dies, I won’t be upgrading to a fancier vehicle. I’m gonna get another Mazda–these cars are pretty much indestructible!
I drive a 1999 Honda Accord with 135,000 miles on it and plan to keep it ’til it falls apart. I bought it for around $13.5K in 2003 and it had 48,000 miles on it at the time. Looking back on that purchase, I realize now I did not need to pay that much for a car and could have probably found a great car for half that price (I was only 23 and in college) but didn’t know better. Using money from my savings and waiting tables, I paid it off in 2 years. I hope it lasts at least 200,000 miles!
Between the wife and I we have three cars. I paid cash for both my Datsun 240Z and ’69 beetle. She has a payment for her 500SL. It is to her dad so there is on interest. Althought It is time to look for another car. We need a sedan or at least something with a back seat. looking at used cars because I don’t like payments on anything.
Ah, J., wonderful post. Good timing, too, as the hubby and I are considering a newER vehicle. 2001 Windstar to lug the kiddos around in paid off 3 years ago and has 180,000 miles. 2003 Taurus (my baby) paid off 3 years ago with 115,000 miles. I feel ya about the repair costs b/c we do feel it’s no biggie due to the fact that we do not have monster car payments each month (and also b/c the hubby is a mechanic and does all the work himself which saves us mad money in labor)!!!
Does anyone else out there feel like I do sometimes, though (and this includes you, J.) where if you got a new car, you’d miss your old one? I like my old beat-up baby. Yes, it’s left me on the side of the road. Yes, I’ve crawled under it many times to tweak it here or there just to get me home. But that car has been with me for 7 years, thick and thin….it’s been with me longer than my husband! LOL! I don’t know….just some food for thought. I’d miss my car if I got a new one. :)
When I landed my first job, I bought a new BMW 323. Three years later, (during a depressed period) I bought a new Mercedes C230, trading the beamer in for a loss. Three years ago I found myself shuffling my parents around quite often and it was hard for my mom to get into the back seat (the C230 has two doors). So I had to trade the C230 for another car, and while I flirted with another luxury car, I decided instead on a new Hyundai Elantra, which I bought outright. And with the remaining balance of the money that I would have used towards a luxury car, I paid off my college loans.
The itch to drive luxury is constantly there wanting to be scratched, but fortunately getting older and the responsibilities that come with it helped me make some wiser financial decisions. Though not as sexy as your caddy J, I’ll drive this Hyundai to the ground and then splurge again at the end of the road, whenever this car decides to give.
Nice post – really made me reflect on how much I’ve spent on cars and the “growing up” process.
Jen, yes, I did miss my old car and never will forget her. Her name was Victoria and she was a 2000 red Ford Escort. We got her in around 2004 used and abused, but she got 24-26 mpg in city driving. When we got her, we couldn’t afford anything but to fix her, but she had gotten so dirty inside that she couldn’t really get totally clean – especially in the back seat and back floor area. I would have waited longer for a new vehicle, but my husband pressured me to hurry up and get a new one. She was a great car for what she was, and I was able to sell her right away for cheap to a neighbor’s son’s girlfriend who was buying her first car. I couldn’t stand the thought of owning and insuring two vehicles. I don’t think I’d ever trade in a car, because I don’t think you get anything for doing that – maybe you do if you trade them in every two years, but our history with brand new cars is to keep them for 12 years. I got a Camry in 1992 and sold it in 2004 a few months before getting the Escort. I liked the Escort much better than the Camry. It happened that the Camry was made in Kentucky, and Victoria was made in Mexico. Off topic, but I wonder about the Toyota recalls and the stats regarding country of origin. Wonder if there’s any difference as to where the car was manufactured.
ONLY 2 more payments to my grandpa and I’ve got a great car paid in full!!!
No car payments. No interest. A DECENT car that won’t break down every 5 weeks or so.
LOVE IT!
I am driving a paid for 2001 Chevy Malibu. I paid it off a year early and have been without a car payment for 5 years. My car has 95,000 miles and runs perfectly! I must admit that I am tempted to buy a newer car, but I will wait until I can pay for it cash. When I buy a new car, I will reward myself with the car that I truly want, but it will be a certified pre-owned vehicle. Brand new cars are soooo 1990s.
I roll in a 1999 Ford Contour. Bought it at a government Auction for $1100. Runs fine, good gas mileage, excellent car really. I have your mentality as well. I almost bought a Lincoln Zepher (similar to MKZ) a few months back, but decided to continue saving for a larger down payment/paying down student loans. I don’t regret my decision for a second, I’m saving a ton!
I got a brand new car this summer, thanks to Obama. I got 4500 for my old hunk of junk Jeep that would have been worth… maybe 1000 if I was lucky. So I made bank, got a 0% interest loan, and only have to pay $148 a month for my brand new Yaris. :)
My wife drove an old mercury sable that had been restored. It wasn’t the nicest or “sexiest” car, but it held up well for a while and it was really nice to not have any car payments. Because of that, we were able to afford a Nissan Murano and paid for that up front. We might have driven the sable for a little white longer, but we moved to a region that has a lot of snow and a nicer car because a necessity because of the safety features. But we are definitely fans of no car payments!!
Great post, thanks. I roll in a ’92 Mercury Capri XR2. I bought it from a relative for $1 and it has 92K miles. I will drive it till it drops. Luckily my work commute is only 6 miles. I’d be singing a different tune if that were longer. It’s got a bumped up nose from where I hit the back of a cop’s brand new Dodge Charger but I don’t mind. No car payments equals savings equals debt payoff equals financial freedom one day!!!!
I have a 1995 Ford Explorer Limited rocking about 205K miles. I bought 6 years ago for about $6800. I would like this puppy to go at LEAST another 2 years so that I have time to save money for a newer vehicle. I really want to ride this puppy until the wheels fall off as I want to have as many options as possible when it comes time to buy a newer vehicle without a payment attached.
Dang! I wish my ride looked at nice as your PimP Mobile! My poor baby can bearly can a wash nowadays.
We bought a 99 chevy cavalier (new) After paying it off we enjoyed having NO car payments.In January 2010 we bought a 96 chevy blazer for cash.It was so hard to part with the cash but we think we did the right thing.We needed that four wheel drive this past winter :-)
My car payment is the bane of my existence. Ok, not really, but it’s my one financial regret. I absolutely LOVE my 2008 Acura RDX… heated leather seats, moonroof, fog lights, built-in navigation system (I get lost easily), voice controls, etc. It has 11k miles on it. I pay $500 every month for that sucker (5.25% interest, pretty decent!). But, it’s the only car my husband and I have.
We’ve looked into getting rid of it, however, I have about $4-5k negative equity in the vehicle and we’d have to take a SERIOUS downgrade to lower the payment even by half (I had a friend who works at a Toyota dealership run the #s for me and it’s so not worth it)! Once you get used to luxury, it’s really hard to get rid of.
We’ve decided to keep it since it’s practically brand new, low miles, will run for at least the next 10 years, and roomy enough for our Siberian Husky and for a baby we plan to have in a two years or so. If we downgraded to a smaller vehicle now, then we’d probably end up wanting to trade up at least for the sake of the baby and get stuck with another big car payment. We figure we might as well keep the car and get it paid off as soon as we can.
It’s amazing how much money is lost to vehicle depreciation and to interest charges. If you add those costs up over a 40 year period, it’s staggering to think what you could have done with all of that money and how much interest you could have earned if you saved/invested it.
Sometimes other factors would dictate how often you should change cars. If your lifestyle and work demands a lot of traveling, then the dependability of your car can be a crucial factor. Being late to a very important business appointment can wipe out the savings you have kept from not buying a brand new car. Plus, the peace of mind that you have knowing that your car won’t bog down on you that easily can be priceless. But I guess different people have different priorities.
I don’t want to spend on the car I do have either! We’re sharing the little Cobalt while we finish off the Dave Ramsey plan, and we’re hoping the pain of that will keep us highly motivated. 4 people, rolling in a Cobalt, and one of those people is 6’4″ (me). So, we are suffering for our debt free dream. Love the Caddy pics.
We have a 2001 Acura CL Type S and a 2005 Acura RSX both bought new and paid off. Kind of expensive cars but they have served us well and I anticipate a decent resale value if we ever decide to get rid of them. The only thing I dislike about these cars is that I feel like I have to spend a lot on maintaining them. As for a new C300, I would highly recommend it. The experience of luxury service when you own a luxury car surprised me. They really kiss your butt to make sure you buy another car from them. Don’t underestimate the resale value of a luxury car either, unless you get a totally screwed up deal. I’m constantly surprised when people make offers to buy my cars as I’m sure many want to buy your sweet Caddy. Always difficult to balance saving and spending but life is truly too short to be so miserly.
2001 Rodeo with 155,000 miles and 2006 Ascender w/ 57,000 miles. Bought the Ascender last summer w/ 38,000 for $7700 with a swipe of the credit card that was paid off the next billing statement.
The frustrating thing is that I have collision insurance for the Ascender (extra $40 per month). Maybe in 4 years when that isn’t worth anything I’ll drop the insurance.
I didn’t want to pay much as I thought that maybe my next car would be electric.
Zero. Hooray for public transportation.
I used to have a Honda Accord that I paid about $300 for. It got totalled in an accident and I got the retail value paid to me. I made a little extra after I paid back my loan.
I drive a 2007 Mazda3 that will be 4 years old this summer and still runs great. I’m fortunate enough not to have a payment, so I put away money each month with the goal that I can pay cash when I need to buy my next vehicle. And I hope that won’t be for another 4-6 years, at least!!
The comments here are almost way more interesting than the post itself, ha… So funny to read how many people have SUV’s and *had* to have them. (Don’t give me your paltry excuses, you CAN get by without them, what do you think Europeans do?!?! Waste of space IMO.) Then again, Americans don’t get the awesome assortment of wagons to choose from that Europe & Japan does, because everyone would rather buy giant SUV’s and be afraid of wagons and hatchbacks.
Then again, the hubs and I are those annoying “rich” sports car driving folk. With NO car payments and NO annoying kiddos to think about. My oldest is 20 years old this year, the middle “child” is 13 and our youngest is going to be nine. They eat a good part of the budget every month, because we want them to and they’re pretty much our *only* hobby. Car spending comes first! :)
Though today… I was tempted to want a $23k loan to buy the 1994 Ford Escort RS Cosworth I was shown…. I want that Cosworth something awful, haha! :D
Holy crap, this is a HUGE database of car information! haha…thanks for sharing everyone! I can’t respond to everyone here, but it was a pleasure reading through all these :) Here are few shout outs:
@Money Beagle, Brian, Trina, Shelley, Brian – Thanks! I was just told it was a “piece of $hit” by a friend ;) But hey, as long as the owners love it who cares, right?
@sarah oneill – Your husband is a car dealership manager? AWESOME!!! I’d be in a lot of trouble too if either I or my wife worked at one…glad you’re calming things down a bit now – 1 a year is insane. But I’m guessing you got the hook up like crazy ;) Ooooh, wait a second. If I were to drive out there would your man hook me up too? Is it a Benz dealership? haha….
@bestmommy – The Escalade is still in my Top 3 cars to own one day – Enjoy it! :) Esp if you blinged it out…
@Stacey – 0% interest is where it’s at. unless it gets you to spend even more than you wanted…hate when that happens.
@Steveoismynameo – Well done, sir. Def. makes more sense.
@Brian Drolet – I’ve been eyeing a motorcyle too actually, but I doubt I’ll pull the trigger anytime soon…it’s already been 3 years now since I’ve started thinking of it :) and that’s WITH my dad already owning one! but if my bro picks one up, I might be in trouble.
@Shannon – OOoooh really? I haven’t thought about the VIP service like that, thanks for the insight! You better have my back here on the blog when I blog about it one day ;) I’m gonna get some haters for sure…
@Claudia – That’s a great question and I have noooo idea when you cut your losses. I think it’s just a matter of what feels good to you and what you prefer in each instance. I could tell you that if I were driving long distance to work every day I’d have DEF gotten that Benz by now…safety/reliability becomes even more important then.
@Anysa – I’m here for you, baby ;) thanks for reading!
@Yana – Tapering windows? haha…never heard of that one before.
@Jen – YES yes YES. I always miss my older car for sure. I mean, it’s hard not to after spending so much quality time with them, right? In fact, 2 cars ago I had the EXACT same Cadillac I do now except it was black. Then It died and I got that Highlander, which was fine, but when I saw this Red Caddy I got all nostalgic again and said F it – I’m going back! And now here we are one happy family again :) So yes, missing your old cars def. come into play. Unless it was just junk and pissed you off.
@Tom – Hah! I did NOT see that coming when you started listing out those first 2 fancy pants cars – good one :) I guess it is good we grow up like that, but sometimes I wish we didn’t….growing up can get boring.
@Your Mogul – “Brand new cars are soooo 1990s.” haha…good one.
@Heather – Oooooh…RDXs are smooth as hell. really REALLY like those guys, but you’re right it comes along with a pretty hefty price tag….the price of V.I.P.! ;)
@Manny – No doubt, the amount you drive around is a big factor.
@StackingCash – You are tempting me!!! You devil…in a good way :)
@Meg – I just had to Google that Cosworth car….never heard of, but would love to test drive one to see what the fuss is about! I always base my opinions on the way cars look over anything else, haha…once i *drive* one though it usually changes my idea REAL fast…for the good and the bad.
I’m drivin an 01 crown vic police interceptor with 138451 miles (I’m in it right now) I got 6 more payments on it! The car runs like a dream.. always starts right up tranny is solid doesn’t leak any fluids and not as bad on gas as it may seem. I know I’m going to have this car for a long time drivin for basically nothin (oil changes every 4000 miles, gas, tires, other routine maintenence) and I’m 21 with thousands saved up in the bank! how’s that for being responsible