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My boyfriend wants to finance a six thousand dollar car, I think he should just save money and buy a cheap one for around one thousand on Craigslist. With my car, I have to pay $260 a month for it. I don't think we could afford another car and insurance payment right now.
He thinks we'd be better off financing the 6k car because it's less likely to break down. But what if it breaks down and we still have to make the payment?
Any thoughts? What would you do?
Having only one car isn't an option anymore, due to the hours we work and the distance to and from our employers.
Having one car is not an option anyway. We learned this the hard way, when we had 3 drivers, all 3 working, one working out of state, 219 miles commute one way and 2 cars broke down on us Thursday and Friday, and I had to drive out of state Monday morning for work.
That's when we made it a principle to always have a spare. Came handy again, when my son's Mazda lost clutch 2 days ago, but we have a spare to use while it will be fixed.
But that's ad hoc.
I think, this is more of relationship question than money. Whatever you decide, you both must be comfortable with it. Eating each other for the next observed future because of this is really not worth money spent.
I am all for buying cash, having no debt, and buying used, but I repair my own cars. Seldom do I outsource anything. So, for me, it is quite a different situation.
For your BF it may be well worth paying for car, and insurance and not being concerned with fixing it.
With used cars, it's a crap shot anyway. One never knows what it will turn out to be. I firmly believe no one sells good cars, as good cars are keepers. The rest is everyone's gamble. There is an occult way on checking if car is good or bad, but to avoid mockery, I shall not tell you this. You can PM me and I'll do that.
Otherwise, I'd have bought a made in Japan beater at public auction or on c-list, drive till wheels fall off with minimum insurance, and buy another one. But that's me. You will have otherwise many opinions, as everyone has belly button and opinion.
Remember, I bet 5 bucks on whatever you will decide, you will regret it later and you BOTH must be comfortable with this decision.
My boyfriend wants to finance a six thousand dollar car, I think he should just save money and buy a cheap one for around one thousand on Craigslist. With my car, I have to pay $260 a month for it. I don't think we could afford another car and insurance payment right now.
He thinks we'd be better off financing the 6k car because it's less likely to break down. But what if it breaks down and we still have to make the payment?
I can work on my own stuff for the most part (aside from internal engine/tranny work), so I always buy used.
I just bought a new, 22 year old Jeep. It is in damned good shape, but needs tranmission work. Even with the work to be done, I'm still going to be debt free and have a vehicle bought and paid for for presumably, quite a few years. At least as long as it would take to pay off 6K on a "newer", "throw away" car, that will probably be worth 1K, if that, by the time it's "mine". It will probably also be time for a new vehicle.
The Jeep I currently drive is also 22 years old. She has been reletivly trouble free for 2 1/2 years. The frame is rotten though (notorious on these old YJ's), and beyond what I'm willing to do to repair. I'm going to strip it for parts, and have back up stuff for the new Jeep. Bang. Savin' money. lol
Buy the beater. No interest, paid in full. Use less insurance coverage and save there as well. Of course my ideas are not suitable for everybody.
I agree. I wish I had been smart enough to just buy a used car before I bought what I have, and not be stuck with monthly payments, but I can't go back now. And all I have heard from him since we first got together was that I shouldn't have got it, I should have just bought a cheap one off Craigslist. And now he wants to turn around and finance.
At least with my car, I have a bunch of warranties on it so if anything goes wrong I can get it fixed for free, so we do have a good car. We only need a second one for one of us to get to work and back.
I just wish I could get through to him that it makes no sense to finance a six thousand dollar car, especially since it'll be "as is", with no guarantee that it would be a better buy than something off Craigslist.
When he gets home from work in the morning I'll be showing him this thread. I want to prevent him from doing something stupid and potentially screwing himself over. Not to mention adding another bill when we can barely pay what we have now.
When he gets home from work in the morning I'll be showing him this thread. I want to prevent him from doing something stupid and potentially screwing himself over. Not to mention adding another bill when we can barely pay what we have now.
Whatever the case, if you're financing, you make damned sure it has a warrenty, safetied AND emissions tested (if applicable in your State). Lets say he goes ahead and gets it. Let's also say the payments $200 p/month. Let's also say two weeks down the road, the transmission goes out.
Now what?
Even if you buy off CL, don't get anything "as is" unless you have a trusted mechanic verify it's in good working order before you lay any money down. Do this anyway, even if it is safetied and e-tested.
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