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First of all, for a person who went to college, your grammar and the command of language is horrible.
didn't go for grammar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
Second of all, your advice to FINANCE a truck that costs $600-700/month on a $40-60K/year salary is ridiculous at best and is what's wrong with the most Americans. You CAN NOT afford a truck if you have to finance it, that's the bottom line.
strange. I paid it off in less than 5 years. Couldn't afford it? How so? My other expenses were covered.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
Cut on your expenses! You don't have to build hot-rods or race cars. You don't have to ride a Harley or (insert your dream bike here). You don't have to build ARs out of high end components and go through 2k rounds of ammo weekly.
Did the math. And what do ya know... no kids or college loans to pay back, house paid for. That's what it affords ya.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
If you can cut on your expenses, settle for a truck that doesn't have all the "bells and whistles" then may be you can pay CASH for it and not finance it.
Which I did from 16 on. So I guess buying a house isn't wise unless you have cash up front for it? Whatever point you were making. You contradicted yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
I love your advice concerning hard work and determination, but why waste money on unnecessary expenses and finance things when you could have paid cash for it.
Well it's simple really.
I know how much I have coming in. I know how much I need to cover the bare necessities. Most everything I buy is an investment. I've never lost money on anything. Especially the toys.
Example. My wide glide I bought I paid 6800 cash for it. Had 400ish miles on it. Seller needed money. Old guy with diabetes. Bought his midlife crisis. Could have bought his center console boat. They're not my thing. Had it been a Fountain or Formula or jet boat I would have. Anyways. I could turn around and sell it today for 10k with the 5500 miles I have put on it since.
Why waste money on unnecessary expenses? Because there's more to life than being a working stiff with a family to support. Plus I can stretch the money out that way. Why blow through cash in 1 shot and have no cushion should an emergency arise? When I can put 25% down on a large purchase have money in the bank, every bill cost of living is covered, and can either put hobbies on the back burner and pay double triple the payment and have the loan paid off quicker.
And still have money in the bank or safe should an emergency arise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
Making a lot of money doesn't mean anything (by the way, making 67-86K/year and driving $50-60K loaded truck is what's called "30k millionaire"). Google it if you don't know what it means. It's how you spend your money.
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gtt99
Waking up in the morning and knowing that you don't owe any bank anything is a great feeling. That's what I call a financial freedom. Having a lot of fancy stuff on credit/financed is foolish.
Wise up and stay humble!
Agreed which is why I didn't go to a bank for a mortgage and why I paid the 14 off last year.
Why? How? No wife. No kids. Freedom. The house I'm in, I have another year on the lease with the option to buy, but I'm currently looking at acreage so I can take the quads and dirtbikes out of storage beings there is no place local to rip around on them.
Americans are getting themselves in the hole by taking out loans that are 6-7 years or more for expensive trucks and SUVs. But the sales of expensive trucks keeps going up, so why would companies not build them or charge for them?
It helps people like me who buys sedans instead - easier for me to get a deal!
More American need to listen to Dave Ramsey. If you make more than 120-150k and you aren’t an idiot in finances, then you can buy a 40-50k car probably. Above posters who say you can swing a $700 per month payment with a 40-60k income is insane. Maybe lots of people these days live with their parents
My house was paid off.
I'm not married.
I don't have kids.
Odd. I paid a 50k dollar truck off last year... had a 5 year loan. Paid it off in 3.
Are you kidding, I don’t make a lot of sense? For a person who is making $60k per year and they have to pay for their own housing, and so that means utilities (electricity, water, gas, trash) and then cable, internet, auto insurance, medical insurance or expenses, gas, leisure money, etc. This is assuming you don’t have kids who use a lot of money. What about your wife’s car if you’re married?
Paying $700 a month for a 1 car payment is ridiculous for a 60k income level.
1. House was paid for.
Property taxes, school taxes, electric, propane, had a well no water bill and insurance. Gas bill was 900 dollars on average per winter.
Property taxes, last I paid them in NY, 5200 per year. So about 7500 with school tax.
2. Trucks are cheaper to insure. I paid 108.84 per month for full coverage in NY went up to 119
3. No kids. No wife. Happy life.
Some months I paid far more than the 700 to pay it off in 3 years...
Do the math. Say my average income was 60k after taxes.
Property and school taxes there's 52,500
No water bill. Had a well
Electric bill was 50 60 per month. 55 for simplicity sake.
There's 51,840
Cable internet phone was like 45 a month? I'll have to dig through stuff to give you an exact number. 51,300
Cell phone was 120 per month in NY (now it's 70 something in florida NY needs all their taxes and surcharges. ) down to 49,860
Insurance was 109 to make it easier for you per month on the truck.
Bundled home and auto and home was 950 a year. There's 47,602
Gasoline was 50-60 every week and a half. Shoot high and say we're down to 44,742
Payments 700 per month. That's 8400 per year. Down to 36,342
Maintenance 2 years free.
No college loan debt.
Groceries and house hold items. 150-200 a week. Say 175 for simplicity.
9,100 per year.
That's 27,242 that I either grew flipping cars, side work, putting away investing, or spent on toys and raising hell.
I was paying 800 a month back in 2007 for a 2006 C6 Vett making 23k a year. But then my house was paid for and no kids , plus i was left with lots of money honey. Back in the 2003 thru 2007 time frame i was buying and trading cars - trucks every 3 months. I wanted to try all the fast cars and loved the 06 C6 the most and that is what i own now a 2013 C6. I don't mind paying 500 to a 1k a month on a loan joan since i use my money to wheel and deal on used telescopes and A/V toys. Plus i have no bills, home is paid off, i don't have HOI or flood Ins to pay for or health Ins to pay for. Plus having a loan helps keep my credit score above 820. My house bills are dirt cheap, around 150 for electro, 20 for water and 28 for ulti's. I don't have a cell phone and no cable. So 90% of my money goes to toys. I can't take 1.2 mil with me when i die sly so am gonna enjoy it and leave not a penny behind for anyone.
New Honda Accord: $25K, .9% for 60 months = $426 per month = $5,112 per year (Current Honda financing offer)
Fuel costs (assuming 15K miles per year, 30mpg, $2.10 per gallon): $1050.
Insurance: $720
Oil Changes: 3 at $70: $210
Total 1st year costs: $7092
New F150 Lariat 4X4 Crew Cab: $57K (MSRP $65K): 4.9% for 60 months (Ford financing offer): $1073 per month, $12876 per year.
Fuel Costs: (Assuming 15K per year, 17mpg, $2.10 per gallon): $1852
Insurance: $720
Oil Changes: 3 at $70: $210
Total 1st year costs: $15,658
So, for the first year of ownership, the difference between driving an Accord and an F150 Platinum is $8,556. More than enough to cover a beater truck, including fuel, maintenance, and insurance. It gets worse in year two, since the beater truck is paid for. Or just rent/borrow a truck when you really need it.
Oh, and it's not twice the maintenance, etc. You're only driving one vehicle at a time so most of the bigger costs (fuel) aren't double. I've know people who actually paid less to insure 2 vehicles than it one due to multi-car discounts, etc.
But, you have inadvertently proved my point - coming up with easily discredited "logic" to defend the use of a utility vehicle as a daily driver. It's OK to say you love your truck because of the image it projects. Just do it.
This is total nonsense (not to mention your costs of things like oil changes on a gas burner are bloated.... my Expedition costs $50 for an oil change at the dealership). You don't hit the pause button on cost when one of the two vehicles isn't being driven at the moment. There is still a cost associated.
My 2012 Ram 2500 cost me $36k with 53k miles 2 years ago. The monthly payment was $520 per month, but is now $0.
My maintenance costs average $500 per year or less. ($85 oil changes every 7,500 miles, new fuel filter every other oil change at $45 ea). I average 17k miles per year.
Insurance is $620 every 6 months.
MPG = 18.5. At $2.59/gallon my yearly fuel cost is around $2,380 per year.
So let's look at what the truck was costing me on average per month when I bought it.
Payment: $520
Maintenance: $41.67
Insurance: $104
Fuel: $198.33
Total monthly cost: $864
Total yearly cost: $10,368
Current yearly cost:
Now..... let's assume I bought that Honda you mentioned above and a "beater truck".
Average monthly cost of the Honda(using your numbers above): $1,304.83
Average yearly cost of the Honda: $15,657.96
2006 F150 Lariat crew cab with 140k miles (NADA $12k)
Monthly payment: $0
Yearly liability insurance: $740 (liability only @ $370/6 mos.... this was my previous truck so I still have my records of what it cost me)
Miles driven per year: 5k
MPG: 16
Yearly fuel cost (@$2.20/gal): $687.50
Oil changes (2 @ $50 ea) : $100
Registration: $110/year
Base yearly cost: $1,637.50 (assuming no repairs are required that year, which is unlikely)
Total yearly cost of two vehicles: $17,295.46
Total yearly cost of my one truck (with monthly payment included): $10,368
Which makes more sense?
If you want to compare a car to a truck (which you really can't do, because they are apples and oranges) you need to find a luxury car to compare the Platinum to. It is the highest trim level and the most expensive that Ford offers.
I read some more of the posts. When I pull up at a light and see a newer truck I bet 9 times out of 10 that truck owner is heavily in debt. Unless all of the posts here are by college grads who make big bucks.I still feel trucks have been priced out of reality for the average person. I believe owning a small car that is decent on gas and a truck is the way to go.Having a spare vehicle comes in mighty handy. I can throw in this monkey wrench.How about folks who buy these very expensive vehicles and where they live they use salt on the roads and basically destroy vehicles in a few years. This was a cost I considered when thinking about moving. I figured out that living in the upper midwest was very expensive. Taxes are very high there also.
I love it when people make assumptions by stopping next to someone at a red light. I find it amazing how much personal information one can glean just by looking at the vehicle someone drives. It's pure 100% envy of another person, or you wouldn't think twice about it. I couldn't care less if someone pulls up next to me in a 1988 Honda Civic, or a 2018 Ferrari. It's not my business nor my concern. I have no idea what they can or cannot afford.
If someone needs a truck, then fantastic. If they don't.... move along. I don't get the obsession with trying to justify why someone whom you have never met couldn't possibly need a truck. Not all of us simply commute to and from work and the grocery store and spend the rest of our time sitting on the internet. Some of us actually have lives outside of the internet and our desk jobs where we are performing physical labor that requires use of a truck.
Assuming that you know what goes on in someone's personal lives based upon a 30 second glance at a red light is asinine. Even more asinine is trying to justify why they don't need a certain vehicle simply because you don't.
This "discussion" comes up monthly in the automotive forum. It typically begins as someone saying they don't understand the usefulness of a truck and that most don't really use them to their potential. It typically ends with people making comments like " they're compensating for something" or some other obvious signs of malcontent towards those who choose to own one.
It's pretty ridiculous to assume that you can determine what is best suited for anyone but yourself. If the discussion were to try and understand why the cost of a new truck increased so much over past years then that's a conversation that is understandable and can be had.
But these truck hating threads (thinly-veiled as a truck question) get old. If you don't like them, don't buy them.
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didn't go for grammar.
strange. I paid it off in less than 5 years. Couldn't afford it? How so? My other expenses were covered.
