freeze2k2

BigDogJonx

iTrader: (7)

Payed out a 2001? What does that mean? You paid it off? If you paid it off, how does this make it easier to get a 2002?

Might want to give more details.

maximawanabee

Paid out a 2001? Did you get in a wreck? Insurance write off?

freeze2k2

payed it out, I own it. Its easier to get a 2k2 when I have a 2k1 to trade in.

jkratzer

How does a paid off 2K1 make it easier to trade?

As long as you are not upside down on your 2K1 loan( which you should never be to begin with ), you can still trade in your 2K1 whether it is paid off or not. It does not matter whether you use all equity on your trade or equity+cash on your trade for a 2K2. Personally, I would rather keep my cash invested and growing instead of paying off my car early, especially since I have the 3.9% financing through NMAC. I can surely earn more than 3.9% by keeping my money invested instead of sinking it into a depreciating asset.

BigDogJonx

iTrader: (7)

It aint no easier. The same. Dealer would have paid it off for you. It aint that complicated. Aint like you gonna have more leverage at the dealer

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

I feel the same. 3.9% financing is FREE money in my book.

freeze2k2

Small loan= less payment= less stress.

Spudskier

So wait, it'd be better to trade in a car early and get a newer model, than pay it off, wait a year or two, then get a new one?

does it make a difference if you bought or leased?

BigDogJonx

iTrader: (7)

That is 100% true, BUT not true about making it easier to get a 2k2.

jkratzer

You always lose big when you trade in early. It is always better to keep your new car for at least 4 or 5 years than to trade it in only after few years. If you trade in your car early, the cost of buying a new car is much greater than the cost of buying a used car. The cost of buying new goes down greatly after the car is paid for and you continue to drive it without making payments(as long as repairs are reasonable). As an example, I just sold a 1995 Mustang GT yesterday. If I had sold it after 3 years( loan was for 3 years), that car would have cost me $7000/year to own. But since I kept driving the car for 6 years, the cost of ownership has been reduced to just over 3000/year.

As for leasing, if you trade every few years leasing is OK. You will have lower payments than if you buy, but you will also have never ending payments. It is better to buy and hold a car for 5 years or more than to lease.

rocketshipon19"

If you keep a car 4 or 5 years, you might as well keep it! All dealers do is discount the new car so that they make a profit and take your car from you(as if if they are giving you money for your car) and then sell your car for an exorbitant amount of money. Making more profit off of the used car than they do the new car. I was allowed 16,900 for my 97 SE fully loaded which was 8000 less than i paid for it a year and a half before. They sold it for 21,500. 3000 less than what I paid for it. CARS ARE BAD INVESTMENTS! Make sure that you don't attempt to pay something off early if your return is not greater than your payout!

Spudskier

Hmm, I have my first lease (3 yrs) to keep payments down, but I plan to buy it after the lease is over and keep it for an additional 3 or 4 years after the lease is over (total 7 yrs or so) then go for a new Max or Inifinity, depending on my finances... smart idea or needs work?

jkratzer

I just sold my 1995 Mustang GT yesterday through AutoTrader. It was 6 years old. I got more than double what the dealer was going to give me on a trade because the dealer wanted to low-ball me. I sold it myself for 1/3 of what the new car cost me 6 years ago. Not a bad deal at all and it greatly lowers my cost of owning that Mustang over the last 6 years. Not only have I gone without car payments for the last 3.5 years( since I kept the car so long ), but I recouped 1/3 of my original cost. I would recommend not trading a car unless you can't afford to do anything else. You are right that dealers will discount the new car only to rip you off on the trade. My answer is to not trade but to sell it yourself. Also, when buying the new car, the transaction is much more clear and easy to understand when there is only one transaction going on instead of two such as during a trade-in. My experience is the dealer makes the contract so confusing that you no longer know what you are buying the car for OR what you are getting for your trade-in.

Cars are not just bad investments, cars are not investments at all! When I make an investment, I expect at least some probability that the value of that investment might go up over time. Cars never go up in value, hence they are not investments.

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

Just to add to what jkratzer was saying. BTW are you an accountant, man? I'd like to comment on trade-in/sell on your own decision most of us have to go through. Factors at play are your own time, the need for $, your old car's condition (state inspection, year, mileage).

I would recommend trading-in if you just don't care about couple extra thousand dollars and have limited time. With economy in recession, people buy less of everything...unless you have a popular make. It took me 3 months to sell my 1st car, and 1 month to sell my 2nd car. Consider the costs of keeping the car on insurance before it sells. Also, it is good to trade-in if your car's value is above $12K (ones with mileage below 60K, nice condition). Whoever is in the market for a used car, buy used for a reason-lack of money. These people usually pay cash, and highly unlikely to come up with 20K cash for your Y2K AE. It'd really take you time to sell privately here.

You could sell it on your own if your older car is under $12K, high-mileage (between 60K and 150K miles), no major probs, and State Inspected. Here's where selling on your own gives you the most benefit. People will gladly buy a 5-7 yr old car under 100K miles and pay cash for it.

If your ride is falling apart, you got very high miles (close to 200K) people will get scared away, and you wont sell it on your own. The dealer may give you couple hundred bucks. Here I have two options: leaving it to be stolen in tha hood or donating to charity to get a break @ end of year on your taxes, as they value your ride by the year/make/model not by #miles on it.

jkratzer

No, but my wife used to be.

BTW, thanks for your real world experience. Very informative. If anyone has a car to sell, I would recommend AutoTrader.com highly. I'm not trying to plug them but the response was really overwhelming and the car sold in the first week it was listed. The buyer actually drove 3.5 hours to get to my car. I wish I had another one to sell to the ones that are still calling.