Quote:
Originally Posted by middle-aged mom
No one was forced to buy a home they could not afford.
No one is forced to buy a car they can’t afford.
Unlike a home, the auto depreciates the moment it is driven off the lot.
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I have said that before regarding houses...
But every bleeding heart wanted to blame bush and blame "predatory lenders".
Here's the thing.
A president can have some influence over public spending and the economy, however, it all comes down to each and every individual and how they budget/plan, and how they view money.
This isn't a direct cause and effect. For example, I can't say, Obama caused the economy to tank so badly that I was laid off from a place I worked for, for 4 and a half years. Around November 2014 the place I worked at, literally slowed to a halt.
Sales dept was not moving many vehicles.
From around Mid August that year onward, me, a grease monkey, the work flow started to slow... I worked on trucks and trucks only. F250s-F750s.
People did not have the money to go and buy new vehicles. Many kept what they had and repaired them. So the service department was booming. Sales... one after another sales staff started to leave on their own. They were paid comission only, not on a draw where they're guaranteed a paycheck regardless, but wind up paying back the dealer when they make sales.
Usually by october, the truck shop was flooded with guys who needed their trucks in tip top shape for winter plowing and such. Not so much. Landscaper companies did double duty. Come winter months they'd plow. Spring-fall, do clean ups, groom, etc.
2 of the bigger landscaping companies had let guys go because the demand wasn't there. Also sold off trucks and equipment or took trucks off of the road.
My boss and the owner of the place approached me with tears welling up and said for my own good, find somewhere else to work... they had no guarantee I'd even have a place to work at come Christmas time.
3 weeks in a row, not a single vehicle came in for service. Not even for the car shop.
So no I can't blame Obama but I can blame a doldrum economy. It's okay where I relocated to was slammed with work.
Then I moved to Florida a couple years later...
I don't work for dealerships anymore. Reasons are plentiful. The main one, not many have the money to repair and maintain their vehicles... but they sure do have money for lift kits, mud tires, blasting stereos that make rock concerts seem weak, and enough LED lights to make a fire truck envious. Couple that with no state inspections, there's no incentive to maintaining and keeping vehicles in tip top shape. Not complaining though, there wasn't nearly the volume of trucks to work on down here than there was up in upstate NY/northern version of Tennessee/Georgia...
Cars? If that were my thing I'd have work flowing out of my ears.
Especially mustangs.
Folks don't think interest and principal be like they are, but they do.
There were many a financial institutions that worked with various car dealers to approve anyone for a loan. My ex, prime example. She was bad with money at first...
Her credit was shot.
She had stifling student loan debt plus massive credit card debt.
The car she had at the time when we first started dating was 2 years old. She had purchased it used. Payments were low. But so was the amount going to the principal of the loan. I sat down the 2 and a half year mark with her and we talked money.
I did the calculations on her car loan.
She merely was paying interest. Maybe each month, she chipped 50 dollars off the principal of the loan. Her warranty was up due to mileage. I was working on it to save her money... Who's in the wrong here? The lender? Or her? I said then and I will say now, her.
1. She bought a used car that more than likely was a lease turn in, that had for the year, high mileage.
2. She did not shop around. She just HAD to have that particular car.
3. She did not ask anyone for an opinion or advice.
4. She did not read the fine print and call BS on tricks dealerships use to tag more money onto the loan.
5. She literally dove head first into the unknown solely because the finance manager showed her what her monthly payments were and never asked what would be going to the balance of the loan vs interest.
Came to be she was paying 18% interest on 22k dollars. Cost of car, what the dealer bundled in, and sales tax.
"But I was approved! Why would they do that to me!?"
Because they don't care about you. They care about making a sale. They care about money. Not your well being. You brought it upon yourself...
Then when her settlement check came in from an accident, she wound up paying her college loan off and the car? No don't pay that off...
She traded in for a new cherokee...
Went upside down on the trade which I knew would happen...
But the payments are the same though!
Yawn.
You'll be paying that off for the next 10 years...
But you have a brand new truck!
Yeah. I also put money down on it. I also had a truck to trade in on. A truck with no balance owed on it. I can afford it. I'll have it paid for in 2 or 3 years time. I'll take the 60 month loan but it'll be paid for in full in 24-36. You? You have an 84 month term loan... for 200 per month. On 52k because they rolled your debt over to the new jeep.
that's not fair! Why would they do that to me?!
Because you're dumb and never asked me for advice... not that you'd listen anyways. You're too much like your mother...
It's simple really... folks get sucked into loans... and wind up literally paying for it. All because of that low monthly payment. They never look at the long term. Just gotta have it right here right now. To hell with 5 minutes 5 hours 5 days 5 weeks 5 months 5 years from now.... I gotta have it right now.
Presidents? Nah. Economy. Plays a role. Predatory lenders? No. Stupidity/ignorance? Yup. Absolutely.
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More mortgages are current today than at any time during the Obama years!
