Would it be financially idiotic to upgrade from a 2k1 to a 2k3 Maxima? (yes, I know it would be the same generation) Have the 2k1 Max SE with cloth and few options with a smaller engine, crappy turning radius, and regular heads. Would it be dumb financially to upgrade to a 2k3 with xenons, fully loaded w/ leather and options, better engine, better turning radius, etc...? I owe maybe 10k on my 2k1...

 

How much longer will your loan term be? How much will your payment be?

 

I'd say financially, yes, it would probably be crazy unless you can swing a deal where you don't have to increase your payments too much and don't have to extend the loan out much longer....but good luck finding that.

A friend of mine thought she got a "great deal" trading up on a sequioa. She was 2 years into a 4 year loan and brought it back to trade up. They said "...only increase your payments $20/month" and she did it... didn't pay attention that now she had a 6 year loan. So where she was going to pay off her truck in 2 years, now she has 6 years to go... not a very sound financial decision but she's happy in her new truck.

It's all about what you want.... you can trade up but only you can make the decision if it's worth it.

.............and ps, the turning radius in a 2k3 isn't any better than in your 2k1.

 

yeah how much more would u be paying and for how long. i think that would have to be wut decides it. if its not much more i say go for it, if not i say just deal with yours and fix wut you are unhappy with. good luck.

-Tom

 

No - It only makes sense if you have the car paid off first and then sell it on your own. Personally, I would pay the car off as soon as possible, enjoy not having to make payments for a few months and save that money, THEN you'd be in a GREAT financial position to get a G35 at a good financial terms instead. In the meantime spend $600 bucks and install a leather interior from leatherseats.com (plus you can make most of this money up by asking about $450 more for the car when you sell it), buy a used Cattman or Stillen Y-pipe and I guarantee you'll be much happier with your car.

The turning radius is worse on 2K2-3's.

 

do it, fully loaded maxes are soo much better, if you can afford it do it. you get more power, heated leather, heated steering wheels... if you dont you will just hate your car... why do you want to play for a car you hate?

 

id say keep the 2k1, and wait till a better car comes out after you are done paying with yours. who knows.....something nice may come out later.

 

I think the title of the post is really a statement or rhetorical question. Of course it's just plain silly to go from a 2k1 to a 2k3 in most of our opinions. I'll never understand why, if high schools are doing their jobs and teaching people basic math, why everyone merely cares about a monthly payment.

My advice is if all you care about is a monthly payment, then lease a car that has a high residual value, like a Honda or BMW. Because when you lease, it's like renting an apartment and you can't afford to finance anyway, i.e. all you care about is the monthly amt.

Just remember the purpose of an installment loan--the goal is to pay-off the principal, not to borrow more money.

 

i say u finish paying off your car and then wait until something comes out that you will really like. unless they give you a great deal on an upgrade that you just cant pass up.

 

Of course it never makes sense to trade-in a highly depreciating new car near term on something else. With $10k left on your Max, you probably have what, 2 years left? I'm sure you could swing a deal on an '03 where your "payment" would not change much, but now you have like 4-5 yrs more payments to make at the same monthly vs having your current Max paid off in 2. It might not cost you anything near term, but it will long-term.

My goal is to have my 99 Max paid off in 6 months, then drive it into the ground while saving like mad for a house and investments and other projects. I have much better uses for money than car payments. When the time comes to buy my next car I'm either going to pay cash or just finance a small amount if at all possible. Monthlies suck.

 

just go to the dealer and see what they offer you. The might work with your payments.

But if they give you another 4-5 years then just wait.

 

You owe too much money on a 2001.

 

wel, thnx, I think so too, want to pay some of it for me!?

 

you can go and f*** yourself with that attitude

 

Good G-d man, you leave a message like this...
I mean, it's an obvious and aggravating statement!

 

Yeah, I was about to say, who is the one with the ****ing attitude.

 

I wouldn't do it. Drive it for a while, save for something much better than a 2k3 max.

 

personally your the only one that could answer that question. myself i would keep the car i have and pay it off and enjoy it rather than getting a new car and paying more and longer on the car. xenons, leather and all those other options dont mean crap to me, id much rather have the luxory of a smaller payment or no payment at all than all that other stuff. but to each his own, if you want a newer car with more options go for it, nothing anybody has to say hear is goin to change your mind.

 

When you say drive for a while, I would recommend driving to the point where there are just too many problems with the car that it's not worth fixing. There are many nice fully-optioned 98's which fetch 5-5300 in trade--who in their right mind would trade that in if they were original owners, who paid 22,xxx back in 1998 for a car listing around 29,400? Just drive it, it's not that easy to find a nice, reliable car for 5 grand. I know a girl with a 1991 whose only major repairs were timing belt and water pump. Not sure if she has that VTC stuff or not. So a Max I suppose pretty easily reaches the 10 yr. mark. I honestly don't believe we should waste money until we're 40+, only because of the time value of money. What we waste now shoulda grown exponentially. Look at people in their mid to late 20's who mortgaged houses and got 130%+ in just the last 5 years--money magazine said there's a new breed of ordinary couples who are halfway to being millionaires in their early 30's, just because of their awareness of the need to save. They coulda leased cars and have nothing today, but they were in the right place. my .02

By the same token, if you want to make a dumb mistake, make it when you're young and learn!! There are some folks in the office who have done some sick home equity loans based on the paper value of their home, oblivious to the speculation of a real estate bubble. That's a far more grave mistake than going from a 2k1 to 2k3. Debt su*ks!!!! No if ands or buts.

 

You're not kidding... and I probably won't trade in for the 2k3, everyone's right, it doesn't make much sense. I guess I'm a little bored with my car I know for a fact I won't drive it into the ground, I don't see cars as an investment, but rather a regular commodity, to me an investment has to have the potential to eventually fetch more than you paid for it. (whether it does or not is a different story) and yes, realestate is an investment, one which I won't make for another decade or so, not even sure I'll be making that investment in this country.

I don't believe one needs to drive their car into the ground though. I have to do a LOT of driving, it might as well be fun and somewhat interesting, having the same car for 10 years is boring to me and I like change. Having the same car for three years is ok, and I'll keep this car for another one or two. By that time I'll have both feet on the ground and firmly planted and be able to afford something nicer and more fun (hopefully whatever version of the 350Z is out at that time )

 

That's why I always pay cash, then I owe *me* and not the bank

 

I agree with Maximus 95 that if you keep the car you have, and by the time you pay it off, who knows what cars will come out by that time. In the meantime, The 2k3 are no different from the 2k1 with the turning radius, they are the same. Either you don't know the difference other than the engine or cosemtically refreshened headlight and bumper then truly you haven't done your homework.

 

For those of us (me included) who can't afford to pay cash for a $30K car, we must finance that amount over time. So the "smart " thing to do would NOT be to keep financing cars after only 2-3 years of ownership. You should be able to get what you owe ($10K) for your 01 but not much more assuming it's in excellent condition, so no negative equity to worry about. If you think that a 03 will be the car you'de like to keep for a while (you won't be dissapointed) now would be a good time to get an 03 here in 05, since they've lost about $10-12K in value since new. I owe about $16K on mine and finnally starting to owe LESS than it's worth, and will have it paid for sometime in early 2007 with about 60K-70K miles on the OD. Even though at that point i could probably get 10 grand for the car, i'll be keeping it at least another 5 years (note free of course). So either way, its up to the individual weigh your options and take action, or none at all.

 

Hmmmm....I don't agree with you when you say "now would be a good time to get an 03 here in 05." Brand-new Alitimas with 0 miles in the ODO are selling for $1500 (rebate) off already low prices, so is now the time? The poster stated he had a 2001, that has a lot to do with whether it's smart or not to get a 2003. Not sure what your terms were, but I would say on a 2 yr. old car like a Max, no more than 12.5 grand should be owed if it were purchased new. That's with ordinary assumptions (20% down, heavily discounted selling price, 36 mo. loan). But you mention 2007 so you must have done a 48-mo. or something. It's probably just me, but it's simply crazy to owe more than anything is worth, even on a house which is becoming the case (with people who home equitied their way back to 20% with an inflated appraisal) as there is speculation now on a real estate bubble. I guess it's not so much math, as that is not subject to interpretation. Maybe it's all about values and keeping up with the Jones.

 

You're both wrong...the smart thing to do is only buy what you can afford... 03maximan says "... can't afford to pay cash for a $30K car..." IMO if you have a car loan then you *can't* afford it and you're living above your means.

I didn't graduate college and suddenly BAM! I can afford a $30k car ($25.5k after negotiation, btw ), I drove a $3k piece of **** and saved the money I would have put in car payments. I saved what I needed to buy the car I wanted, then paid cash for it and started saving again. It takes a little sacrifice up front if you want to do the right thing financially in the long run.

I'm 35yo, wife, 2 kids, 2 cars, house...the whole deal... I bought my maxima cash and the next paycheck put some aside for the next car, and I'll do that for 3 or 4 years until that cash plus private sale on my maxima = the price of the next car I want.


I was post #3 and said it'd be crazy to trade up and I'm going to change my tune...what he should do, if he *really* wants a 2k2/2k3, is sell his 2k1 and buy a $3k reliable POS, put all the money in the bank and put the payments he's making now in the bank, and when the cash in the bank = the price of a 2k3, buy one. Taking into account the price of a 2k3 is going to drop as he's saving money and I'm guessing it'll take less than 2 years before he's in a low mileage, very nice 2k3, and he's setting the pace to only pay cash for cars for the rest of his life.

My dad taught me some pretty cool money stuff when I was pretty young, and like I said I'm 35yo and can say having all this stuff but only having a mortgage to show for it is a blessing... pay cash or don't buy it!!

 

Though your ideas are good, it usually isn't quite as simple as you say. Most people will pay cash for their car, because there is absolutely no question that it's more economical to take out a home equity loan or line of credit. The more expensive the car, the less likely that a wise person would be holding cash to pay for it outright. More realistically, a person would be liquidating some asset to pay for the car. For example, the car costs 40, so they take a line of credit for 40, with interest being deductible and lower than a car loan. Maybe it takes 2 mos., or 12 mos., to liquidate an asset, such as a security or excercising options at the appropriate time. In the interim, they pay the interest and deduct it. Everyone's situation is different, but for most, and especially earlier in life, it's not wise to be sitting on lots of cash, it needs to be at use somewhere.

 

Actually *most* people finance through the dealer or their bank/credit union so most people who bought a new $25k maxima and financed it over 4 years are going to pay almost $3000 in interest, and some finance for 5, or sometimes 6 years and pay even more!

I have my money invested and then 4-6 months before I'm going to buy a car I move it to a money market acct where it keeps drawing interest, just at a lower rate than the other investment. Basically (this is the easy way of saying it) I dollar cost average $350/month in my investments instead of paying $350 for a car payment. Then after 3 or 4 years I use that money that accumulated along with the value of my current car to pay for the next car.

It is actually very easy to do. If you can afford a $350/month car payment, you can do what I'm saying but like I said it takes sacrifice at some point. You have to drive a POS car for 3 or 4 years while starting out on my 'plan' and a lot of people can't push off their desire for a new car so they go buy it now and go in debt. I make car payments, I just make them to myself instead of the bank, and where most people are actually paying $28k for a $25k car, I'm (again, simplistic but it works for this discussion) I'm paying less than $23k of my money and the rest is interest accumulated over the 3 or 4 years.

If people could learn to control their "need it *now*" urge a lot more people wouldn't have a car payment for the rest of their lives. I haven't had a car loan in 12 years and never will again.When you're just starting out it's also not wise to accumulate debt but that's exactly what the system does... it traps you in a cycle of needing a loan to buy a car.

Instead of buying a new car when a kid is just out of college and gets a new job, that kid should be thinking "how crappy of a car can I buy and still get to work every day" then put that $350/month he would have spent on a new car in some investment. Rather than paying someone else for 4 years he'd in effect be paying himself. Sure it sucks to drive a POS car for 4 years, but in the long run it was worth it (it's what I did and look what it got me )

I used to teach high school math and would devote a whole lesson to this.... it works and I know because I did it/do it, and I still see kids I taught who comment the same... "I hated driving that POS for a few years after college but now I drive a __________ (fill in name of a really nice car) and it's totally paid off!"

 

pay off your car first, then drive it and maybe hook it up a little for a couple of yrs. then sell it for several thousand dollars and use that as a down payment for the next one plus what ever else you saved and you will have a nice car with low monthly payments that you can afford to pay.

 

One of your major points is dead-on, that is resisting an urge. Many people don't experience it until their mid to late 20's--weight gain. So to stay in shape, we go to the gym, exercise, pass-up fattening or high-cal foods. When we pass it up, we feel good and did ourselves a favor. Same thing with material items--the more we resist now, the more we can have later.

But I wasn't clear on what you meant about dollar-cost avg. Do you mean buy securities every month in the amt. of $350, and then withdraw the entire amt. 4-6 mos. before your purchase? Just for round numbers' sake, say the car were 22,600, where would you get 22.6 - (350*36) = 10k? Because at $350 you would have to wait around 64-65 mos before you had the 22.6k. That's what I wasn't sure about.

Anyway, I guess to be politically correct I wont mention the countries, but I know some women who work for multi-national cos., one say based in the place that builds the most television tubes in the world, and whose city that ends in hai has a standard of living that makes Manhattan look like childs-play, and the other in the country that is playing Canada for the World Juniors tonight. I see their values to be way way different than ours. In the former case, I know of women who purchased studio or 1-bed condos in North Jersey with cash--one doesn't have to be a genius to figure that is flirting with 300 to 400. Yet their cars are not that good, often used (some of them never drove until they came here for business) and their overall lifestyle is modest. In the latter, they are not very wealthy but highly educated, and are used to also paying for their apts. in cash back home. What gets lost in translation is how they can rent until they can buy, mathematically something is not right, that is, renting all along and one day having 100% of the principal to buy. I think the govt. does something to make the purchase eventually possible in time. My point is with both these cultures, which are very different than ours, the notion of an installment loan is something somewhat strange to them--but of course, they are human too and start to use credit as the assimilate to our lifestyle. Perhaps we can learn from them.

 

2k2kev makes some excellant points. i plan on gettin my car paidoff asap so i can start doing something similar. putting money aside like this is a good idea no matter what. for buying a new car, house or whatever toys you may come across, i wish all the money im payin on my car was going into something that im makin money on rather than losing money on.

 

It sounds like you can't "trade up" so easily given your position and financial circumstances. Then again, do what you want to do if you can afford it.

Bottom line with all things material...especially cars...they are depreciative objects that lose value over time. The dealer financing / bank / credit union all make out in the end through interest and the terms of the loan.

I have a 97 Maxima GXE...boring by most Maxima standards...but still a reliable performer. It is paid off and I maintain it...with 174K on it, it is a matter of keeping it up...regular maintenance and the occasional part replacement because of age. I am getting my money's worth out of it.

So there you have it...it is better to save, save and save...get rid of all your credit cards except maybe one...save for more worthwhile investments. When you have a pile of cash...not just enough for a car...but more so that you have a cushion...then purchase the car you want.

Just my 02.

 

You're forgetting about my current car which is totally paid off.

Right now my prefered "car investment plan" is my company's employee stock purchase plan.

Again, to keep this kind of simple, I dump about $400 (I put away a little more because I can, and because the next car I want is expensive) in that every month and buy stock at 15% discount. I could turn around and sell it that day for a 15% gain (and I have done that), but usually I keep it there (there's only been one time when I lost money and that was a few years ago when *every* company's stock tanked) and after about 3 years the money in there + the 15% I'll make when I sell (and sometimes it's more) + the value of my current car will equal the car I want. If I don't have enough I wait 6 more months and get another ~$2,700 ($400 * 6 + 15% gain). If I don't get the offer I want on my car I'll wait...that's the other cool thing about doing it this way, I get to sell my car when, and at the price, I want.

So let's use real numbers......... right now I'm putting $400/month away and getting 15% on it...that's like I'm putting away $460/month. I've been doing that for almost 3 years (since I bought my car in march 2002). This spring I expect to sell my car and buy an SUV in the $38k range, and I'm going to pay for it by selling the stock (at the time It's going to be worth about $18k) and I'm going to sell my car (and it's going to be worth about $17k). There's $35k.....I'll come up with the other ~$3k somewhere, or I'll wait 6 more months and my car will depreciate a few hundred but I'll gain ~$2700.

Patience is the key.