Had to pay19% just to borrow $2500.00 to buy a used '79 Datsun B210. My folks wouldn't lend me the $, crazy since they were millionaires...probably why they had so much, they wanted their kids to learn the value of a buck. Steep interest rates then & luckily we paid it off early after the honeymoon. But like I said earlier, would be more inclined to finance with a 0% rate if those ever came back.
Corvette, what year is your G6? We had rented an '08 model last year and it was a pretty nice ride actually, the mpg's weren't as great as the Accord or Camry that we rented the following month, but a good car overall. Never quite understood the 1/2 power drivers seat but a nice enough car. For the right price, a very compelling mid sizer. Do think the Sonata has it beat though but probably a moot point since the G6 is history for the 2010 model year. Nice car though.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
2008. Base model with the V6. No in-dash MP3 player (that came in 2009)... An inexpensive, basic car. Probably a rung lower than a Sonata as far as driving experience. It does have a relatively quiet, smooth ride. The power seat height adjustment is unusual, but since I'm the only one who drives it, I seldom use the seat controls anyway.
It's "adequate" and I'm not far from a dealer (for a while, anyway .
Do you find the V6 adequet for your needs? We rented the 4 cylinder version and was very impressed with the available power around town and on the highway. We took it up to Orlando, a 3 hour drive from our Ft. Lauderdale vicinity. Had a full trunk and the 5 of us inside and it handled great. Looked nice also and if in the market for a mid sizer, it'd be on the short list absolutely. A great effort from Pontiac but sadly it couldn't save them from the demise of the company.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
The V6 is probably enough for most people (and it's fine for me, most of the time), but I'd prefer something a little more powerful. Pontiac has offered four different V6 engines over the years in the G6, which is too many choices if you ask me.
I haven't driven the four-cylinder offering. They now offer the four cylinder with a six speed automatic, which would probably put it very close in performance to my lower-level V6 with its four-speed automatic.
You mentioned your back--I thought they gave you a desk job after your accident? Is your back still getting worse? There's a mediator we work with who had to go to five different back doctors before he found one who helped him. :sick:
I have the sister to the G6, a Chevy Malibu with the same 4 cylinder the Pontiac comes with. I think the 4 is more than adequate, never had a problem mergering or passing. I have been averaging 26 mpg in mixed driving.
I looked at the G6 before I got it and if Pontiac had optioned the 4 cylinder with the nicer interiors I would have bought it. I could have saved $2500 too.
My first car loan was in 1985 on a 1980 Prelude. Interest was a low low 12% for 3 years and still needed a co-signer. $77 a month is a phone bill now.
I don't remember the interest rate, but my first loan on a new car was in 1977.. 48 months at $109.33/mo..
My first auto loan was a bit unconventional ... for years, my parents deposited money into a savings account in my name at the local credit union.
When I was a senior in high school (1982), I bought a '79 Pontiac Sunbird for $3850 and "borrowed" the money from the account (sort of like a 401(k) loan). I don't remember the interest rate - if there was one - but the payments were around $120 a month.
Like ky, I was working a minimum wage job in a shoe store .. I think by that time it was up to $5.25/hr.
A year later, I moved to Phoenix to start college, so I "paid off" the loan by simply decreasing the savings amount balance.
What's effective minimum wage today in most areas, maybe $6-7/hr? So that translates to maybe $325/mo.....not unusual today. The cost of so many other things ballooning is what leaves the mark.
My Mom's first car loan wasn't until 1986, when she bought a new Monte Carlo. I forget how much she put down, but I remember the payment was $282 per month for 48 months. GM was offering special low-rate financing, something like 2.9%.
That $282 doesn't really sound much cheaper than the $347 I was paying for my Intrepid, 14 years later. But it took me 5 years to pay off the Intrepid, versus the 4 year loan for that Monte. If I'd done a 4 year loan, I'm sure my payment would've been more like $430-450.
Just to confirm that there is no relationship at all between payment and quality of the vehicle, the largest monthly payment I ever had was nearly $400 a month - for the Windstall.
Unlike the Rabbit is survived the loan but not by much.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
The highest payment I've ever had for myself (wife's was the aforementioned $525) was $425 for my preowned S70 T5. Interestingly enough (to me, at least), is that it is the only car I've ever made payments on that I kept beyond making payments. All others I've traded while still mid-loan/lease.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
to paying off only the second car that has ever made it through the loan with me. Way back around Christmas 2005 I bought the Echo because I had only my truck, with its horrible gas mileage, and post-Katrina gas prices had remained super-high.
I put it on a four-year loan, never expecting to keep it more than a year or two, and instead we all know how gas prices have been, and I decided to keep it. It is now only about five months until the thing is completely paid off. What with it being this close, I guess I will just keep it. It is a good hedge against high gas prices. Payment is only $180, last payment is January. The entire time I have had that loan, I have ALSO had a loan on a new car, 3 different ones during the period in fact! I am a car junkie.
Funny thing: the amount of money I saved on gas driving the Echo while I had the truck equalled that $180 car payment. Yes, I drive close to 2000 miles a month.....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Now that the wife's 04 Civic is paid off we don't really want to get rid of it since it's only has about 30k miles on it and to us it's like driving a free car. It's also fuel efficient so we're not complaining.
But I'm like you, most other cars I ever had were traded in before the loan was due. I'm impatient that way too.
Funny thing: the amount of money I saved on gas driving the Echo while I had the truck equalled that $180 car payment. Yes, I drive close to 2000 miles a month.....
I saw a similar situation when I bought my 2000 Intrepid. Now, the first part of my justification with buying that car was that I had just refinanced my mortgage, knocking about $230 a month off the payment. I was still delivering pizzas back then, and could easily put 3000 miles on a car in a month. Heck, in the 3 months I had my Mom's old Monte Carlo, I put 13,000 on it!
Well, I figured if the Intrepid would get 20 mpg, on regular gas, it would save me around $125-150 per month compared to the '89 Gran Fury I was driving, which got more like 12-13 mpg, and preferred hi-test. So between saving on the mortgage and fuel, but adding a car payment, it was roughly a wash, so I was able to rationalize it as the Intrepid basically being a free car.
Well, soon after I bought the car, gas prices went up. I had been paying around $1.10-1.25 per gallon, but I remember the first time I filled up the Intrepid, it was about $1.40 per gallon. So hi-test would've been around $1.70 per gallon. So using those prices, 3000 miles per month 20 mpg for the Trep and 12 for the Fury, it was saving me more like $215 per month!
FWIW, if I had still been delivering pizzas in 2008 at the height of gas prices, I figure the Trep would've crept up to around $600 per month ($4/gal) while the Fury would've been more like $1075 ($4.30/gal for hi test). At which point I think I would have found a different part time job!
But I'm like you, most other cars I ever had were traded in before the loan was due. I'm impatient that way too.
Um, guys .. isn't the title of this topic Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous?
How else would we keep our membership if we didn't trade in before the loan was paid off?
I'm worse ... for a time, I was trading in leased cars before the maturity date.
When I met my second wife, we leased her a '97 Ford Escort. $250/mo - nice little car.
3 months before the end of the lease, the wife wanted an SUV. Off to the Ford dealer we go, where she finds a white Expedition XLT. The Escort was traded in for it. I honestly don't remember what happened with the rest of the payments.
Then, when the redesigned Explorers came out in spring of '02, the Expedition got traded in. Dealer paid the last x lease payments on the Expedition.
2 1/2 years later, Ford sends out a "pull ahead" notice that they will make up to the last 6 lease payments if we buy or lease another FMC vehicle. At this point, we didn't need a large SUV as the kids were starting to drive themselves, so the Explorer got traded in on a Focus ZX5 and Ford covered the payments.
Only two leased vehicles made it to the end of the term .. the '93 Accord DX I leased right after moving to CO, and the '99 VW New Beetle .. the Accord was returned to the lease company, while we bought the VW and kept it for a couple more years.
it's like driving a free car.
That's how I'm feeling about my '03 L300, though it's got 86K on it and isn't quite a fuel efficient as your Civic. Still worth about $6K in trade value and, if I ever decided to sell it privately, could get around $7500 for it.
"Free cars" are always good. We could techanically get a 3rd car with same payments as we had on the Civic, but we don't need 3 cars, and we're in money saving mode.
I got used to the Jeep Patriot now too, with it's 1 year anniversary coming up this week. It proved to be very handy with our move, and with buying extra crap for our condo. Lots of room in it to haul all kinds of stuff. I think a hatchback, wagon, or a small SUV of some sorts will now always be part of our fleet. Very useful.
Sounds like your wife should be in here. We may have to ask you to leave.. :shades:
I'm the same as everyone else with trading early. My current Pilot is my first lease; I figured it would force me to keep a car for a few years, since flipping it is so hard. Honda had stupid low rates, I was using AWD every weekend to backcountry ski, and if gas went to $6/gallon, I could walk away at the end of term.
Like a true CCB, I justified a lease as an economical thing to do :P ...but I guess I HAVE had the car over a year and a half now. Hmmm...anyone else feeling itchy??
Haven't had a car payment since a little while after we bought the house in 2006.
Guess my CCBA credential are shot all to hell. I just don't feel the need to buy a car when I can drive all kinds of stuff at work all the time. I do change my demo up from time to time to.
I did buy a non-running 1979 Honda CB750F Super Sport over the winter though. I gotta replace the engine and do alot of other work but it will be a good bike when I am done. I only paid a 100 bucks for the bike.
In the 13 years that I've known my wife (12 of them married), she's only initiated the decision to get cars twice:
* The first time was with the Expedition; she woke up one Saturday morning in November and said "I want an SUV".
* The second time was when the New Beetle was released. Both she and I owned a VW as kids so she wanted to indulge her nostalgic side and get one. That, and some friends of ours got a red one and we were able to test drive it. Sold!
Ironically, both vehicles were leased about 6 weeks apart in November and December 1998.
Before I met her, she had owned her '86 Ford Tempo - bought new - for 10 years. Her current daily ride, the '08 VUE, will keep her happy for many years, I suspect. She feels the VUE is the perfect size for her, plus loaded with enough features and sporting enough power to keep her placated. Would not surprise me that she keeps it for 7-10 years. We've had it for 2 years and 27K already.
And, like boom, I agree that an SUV of any size is almost a must have when you own a house, though I suspect that his Patriot has a bit more utility than the VUE, given the box shape vs. the curves of the VUE.
In 1979, a lot of auto loans were written so that the bank still got all of the interest due on the loan even if the loan were paid off early (as would happen if you traded it in). Couple that with high interest rates, and I'm not surprised it was impossible to trade in.
Yeah, I left that little detail out. I'm surprised anyone remembers that. Buying a GM vehicle with the infamous Old's exploding diesel engine was the real problem, or at least the worst.
I have 2 good car payment buying stories: my ex's '78 corolla, & '85 CRX. Payments were around $200/mo., for 3 or 4 years. Kept both of them way past the payments ending, & then sold them for good $$, cash.
No need for an SUV. A minivan does great. If I didn't have the kids a neighbor with a truck would do the trick...
OK, we'll boot your wife out. Just sounded different in the previous post. That and it's hard to believe a CCB could hold on to a Saturn that long. But I have the Accord that I bought with 46 miles on it that now has another 170K+ beyond that so you have to take into account the messenger...
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
I don't, I wasn't born then , but I've read about it. Apparently, some subprime auto loans are still written that way.
I have 2 good car payment buying stories: my ex's '78 corolla, & '85 CRX. Payments were around $200/mo...
My Dad had one of the original CRX-es, same generation as that one, before they offered air conditioning in them. He still speaks fondly of it--I think it got something like 55 MPG at 55 MPH and 50 MPG at 65 MPH. Funny how it takes a hybrid with an electric motor and battery pack to do that now, although I'm sure the CRX would've crumpled like a tin can in anything more than a fender-bender.
I hate car payments, I'll be glad to have the Pilot paid off and hope to keep driving it for a long time. Its current mileage is 41k and its under warranty for 120k, so should last me a while, I'm currently only driving about 10k-12k miles/year.
Finally had a repair on the Pilot, I managed to blow a speaker in the pass side front door. Took it to the stereo shop that had put my stereo in a few months ago and had new speakers put in all the doors, the sound is sooo much better!
The next one will be well used though, just have to find the right old car. One of the VTEC Integras or Civics from the 90s, most likely. Saw a really nice '98 Civic EX yesterday, 100K miles exactly, dealer was asking $5K. New t-belt and tires. Something like that will be in my driveway before too much longer, I think.....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I think it got something like 55 MPG at 55 MPH and 50 MPG at 65 MPH. Funny how it takes a hybrid with an electric motor and battery pack to do that now, although I'm sure the CRX would've crumpled like a tin can in anything more than a fender-bender.
It was probably also manual and may even have had an over-achieving odometer.
I'm obviously feeling itchy, hence my posting. But, I feel like I've made a solid decision to hold off till Spring and keep paying the G down so I can break even on it. I may try to sell it privately before then, but we all know how tough it is to sell a $16k car with a lien on it. Then its a cash car. Saw a decent Protege5 with 78k miles, manual trans, for $5500.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
sorry. That was poorly written. The cash car comment was in reference to what I will buy NEXT.
Could I remove the lien? Well, I thought about that. I'd have to take out a personal loan to buy it out and then pay the personal loan after selling. Not sure I want to go through that trouble.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
My best friend in CA owned a CRX for quite a number of years. I know he bought it used with close to 100K on the clock and had to change the t-belt and replace the clutch not long after buying it. After that, it ran like a dream for quite a few years.
He finally got rid of it and bought a used Infiniti J30. Strangely, it's almost smaller in the front seats of that than in the Honda!
My brother had been looking for an unusual fun cheap car or small pickup, and he finally found it.
He bought a 1983 Toyota pickup from the middle aged people who live across the street from my mother. It is a 22R with 150K on it, and looks like it has some kind of period sport package - silver painted steel wheels, period rectangular fog lights on the bumper, and it is red with very radical 80s style black and white sport stripes on the hood and sides. From the photo he sent me (I can't get it off my phone), it looks to be in very nice condition, shiny paint and no visible damage, the only rust being some surface interest on the front bumper. He says the previous owner recently gave it a new water pump, belts, and 2 new tires. He got it for $750...seems like a great deal.
People May be bored with me saying I had an '86 Toyota pickup, stick, stripped except for A/C. Rubber seats, no carpet. Very primative, tinny, vehicle, even in the late '80's, but it ran & ran. Hauled some giant furniture home in it on several occasions, & commuted into boston 6 nights a week with it for years (good to have a beater for that). Sold it for $2250 when it was about 6 yrs old with maybe 65K.
Heck, if it's in good condition, what else could you get for $750? The new Michelins I wanted for my bmw cost $600.....
I'm sure the CRX would've crumpled like a tin can in anything more than a fender-bender.
A few years after we drove to Chicago to buy a brand new CRX (almost worth the whole deal, to find an excuse to go to Chicago, let alone to drive home in a brand new car), I read an article that the CRX was on the bottom ten worst cars for crash safety. It didn't feel "tinny" at all, like some of the toyotas we owned back then, but I guess the tiny size & weight & lack of airbags, etc........
It didn't feel "tinny" at all, like some of the toyotas we owned back then, but I guess the tiny size & weight & lack of airbags, etc.
Yeah, go back and look at one now, though, and you'll be pretty surprised. We had an 2nd-gen 88 CRX DX for a few years, and when I see the thin doors on one nowadays, I feel like a bit of a lottery winner.
My neighbor across the street has one. When they moved in earlier this year, they only had one car - an '03 Accord LX. After a few months, they brought home an '80's Toyota P/U. 4x4, no extended cab, biggish wheels and tires, a bit of tin worm. Ran fine for a while, then I noticed it was parked in the garage with the hood off of it for the past month or so.
No idea what was wrong with it, but he finally got it running again last week.
Another neighbor has an '80's S-10. When I last asked him about it, he told me it had 375K on it (this was a year or two ago), but he still drives it every day. He also has a newish Xterra as well as a motorcycle, but I guess he feels that the Chevy is worth so little he might as well invest the minimum $$$'s to keep it running.
I'm still half-heartedly searching for a winter car, but I've upped the dollar limit to $15K -- this would leave me with a small payment after the trade in.
Some choices within 50 miles - all of these have AWD or 4WD capacity:
Of those cars I would probably go with the Impreza, Tribute, Magnum and Vibe in that order.
The AWD Vibe/Matrix I have driven were way under powered. Maybe they are better with the 2.4. The Nitro is not a good car and neither is the Commander. The XL7 will be worth ZERO dollars in two years if Suzuki pulls out of the US car market.
Guess it comes down to if you need ground clearance or just awd. If you just need awd then the Impreza is good and I always liked the Magnum cause I love big wagons.
I am beginning to think about a car for my wife. Here's the thought process: we recently moved to the Bay Area, and while we have been fine with one car so far, her job is making a second car make more sense. We'll keep the Pilot, but she has never been too comfortable with the size of it, so something more compact/city car-ish would be good. Used. Wagon or hatch would be a plus, but not mandatory. Thinking something $10k-ish, plus or minus $2k, automatic, reliable (no VW's), etc. Must have side air bags and ABS. Will be parked outside on the street, so no Ferraris... :shades:
Thoughts so far: Found a 08 Pontiac Vibe ex-rental with 30K at $9999. Mazda3 in this range seem to have a lot of miles unless you go base sedan. Mazda6 looks like an option, but the hatch versions definitely cost more. Imprezas are hard to find and too expensive/too many miles when they appear. Of course, have seen all the wacky HHR's, Malibu Maxx's, etc. Shoot, could probably get a new Yaris in this range,
Tangent: Have you seen how cheap a late 4-cyl Sonata is? I saw an 08 GLS with 25k miles @ $9999. Tons under $11k. Hard to beat the value and the base model has everything, but I think it's probably too big for my wife to be comfortable with...not much smaller than the Pilot. Bet its cheap to insure. Also see that new body Malibus are dropping under $13k now too.
As the wife drives an AWD VUE, I don't really need the ground clearance .. just AWD.
I've driven the new Vibe with the 2.4 and stick and it was not too bad. Not sure what an automatic and AWD hardware would do to the performance. I did drive a gen 1 Vibe with AWD and agree with you that it was a dog.
There were also a bunch of Impreza sedans available under the $15K price point, but I really don't want another 4-door. I like having the utility of a hatch or SUV.
The Magnum is certainly the odd man out in the list, that's for sure. I suppose I could buy some chrome dubs for the summer, eh? I'm not even sure it would fit in my garage -- my L300, at 190" overall, just barely fits given all the other c**p that I have stored in there (no basement for me).
I guess it depends on where in the Bay area you are ... if you're in SF proper or Marin Co, the smaller the car, the better. If in the San Jose area, I suppose a mid-sized sedan might work.
If you're thinking of a Malibu, you might also check out the Saturn Aura .. same mechanicals as the Malibu, but Saturns have lost more of their value lately, so there might be some good bargains to be had.
Sonatas are also good values, and stack up nicely against the Camcords in terms of features. My folks own an '03 Sonata GLS V6 .. and they were a Toyota family through and through for many years.
There were a few SX4's available for around $14K, but after reading about them, they seem a bit underpowered and don't get many miles to a tank of gas.
A few Foresters popped up onto the list as well, but they had higher miles (40K, give or take) - not that they are a bad value, and, I like the boxy styling.
Good point on location...she works in downtown Oakland, and throw in some Berkeley and occasional SF use. Thing is, she has to park in a pretty tight parking garage at work, so that's a factor. Overall, I'd say only 25-30% freeway use. Sonatas/Malibus really aren't the answer...I was just surprised by how good of a deal they were, especially the Hyundai. Elantras of the same year are the same price or more.
I really like that Elantra Touring, actually; it reminds a little of my old Protege5. But they are too new and expensive right now...
My permanent demo for years now has been an older forrester. I drive other stuff from time to time but always end up back in the forrester.
Not a bad driving car but mine is underpowered. The newer manual ones are better. Swap some better wheels and tires on them and they are good trucklets.
Can tow a fair bit in a pinch too.
If you are on the big side though you won't fit in one. I barely fit at five foot 11 and 220 lbs. My feet are too big and so I run out of foot well room.
Comments
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
Corvette, what year is your G6? We had rented an '08 model last year and it was a pretty nice ride actually, the mpg's weren't as great as the Accord or Camry that we rented the following month, but a good car overall. Never quite understood the 1/2 power drivers seat but a nice enough car. For the right price, a very compelling mid sizer. Do think the Sonata has it beat though but probably a moot point since the G6 is history for the 2010 model year. Nice car though.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
It's "adequate" and I'm not far from a dealer (for a while, anyway
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
I haven't driven the four-cylinder offering. They now offer the four cylinder with a six speed automatic, which would probably put it very close in performance to my lower-level V6 with its four-speed automatic.
You mentioned your back--I thought they gave you a desk job after your accident? Is your back still getting worse? There's a mediator we work with who had to go to five different back doctors before he found one who helped him. :sick:
I looked at the G6 before I got it and if Pontiac had optioned the 4 cylinder with the nicer interiors I would have bought it. I could have saved $2500 too.
My first car loan was in 1985 on a 1980 Prelude. Interest was a low low 12% for 3 years and still needed a co-signer. $77 a month is a phone bill now.
Doesn't sound like a lot.. but, I was making minimum wage at the time..
$2.30/hr
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My first auto loan was a bit unconventional ... for years, my parents deposited money into a savings account in my name at the local credit union.
When I was a senior in high school (1982), I bought a '79 Pontiac Sunbird for $3850 and "borrowed" the money from the account (sort of like a 401(k) loan). I don't remember the interest rate - if there was one - but the payments were around $120 a month.
Like ky, I was working a minimum wage job in a shoe store .. I think by that time it was up to $5.25/hr.
A year later, I moved to Phoenix to start college, so I "paid off" the loan by simply decreasing the savings amount balance.
The first new one was in 79 for a VW Rabbit that for me didn't live through the loan. $134.
That $282 doesn't really sound much cheaper than the $347 I was paying for my Intrepid, 14 years later. But it took me 5 years to pay off the Intrepid, versus the 4 year loan for that Monte. If I'd done a 4 year loan, I'm sure my payment would've been more like $430-450.
Unlike the Rabbit is survived the loan but not by much.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I'm the opposite. That Rabbit was the only time I bailed before the loan was out.
I put it on a four-year loan, never expecting to keep it more than a year or two, and instead we all know how gas prices have been, and I decided to keep it. It is now only about five months until the thing is completely paid off. What with it being this close, I guess I will just keep it. It is a good hedge against high gas prices. Payment is only $180, last payment is January. The entire time I have had that loan, I have ALSO had a loan on a new car, 3 different ones during the period in fact! I am a car junkie.
Funny thing: the amount of money I saved on gas driving the Echo while I had the truck equalled that $180 car payment. Yes, I drive close to 2000 miles a month.....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
But I'm like you, most other cars I ever had were traded in before the loan was due. I'm impatient that way too.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I saw a similar situation when I bought my 2000 Intrepid. Now, the first part of my justification with buying that car was that I had just refinanced my mortgage, knocking about $230 a month off the payment. I was still delivering pizzas back then, and could easily put 3000 miles on a car in a month. Heck, in the 3 months I had my Mom's old Monte Carlo, I put 13,000 on it!
Well, I figured if the Intrepid would get 20 mpg, on regular gas, it would save me around $125-150 per month compared to the '89 Gran Fury I was driving, which got more like 12-13 mpg, and preferred hi-test. So between saving on the mortgage and fuel, but adding a car payment, it was roughly a wash, so I was able to rationalize it as the Intrepid basically being a free car.
Well, soon after I bought the car, gas prices went up. I had been paying around $1.10-1.25 per gallon, but I remember the first time I filled up the Intrepid, it was about $1.40 per gallon. So hi-test would've been around $1.70 per gallon. So using those prices, 3000 miles per month 20 mpg for the Trep and 12 for the Fury, it was saving me more like $215 per month!
FWIW, if I had still been delivering pizzas in 2008 at the height of gas prices, I figure the Trep would've crept up to around $600 per month ($4/gal) while the Fury would've been more like $1075 ($4.30/gal for hi test). At which point I think I would have found a different part time job!
Um, guys .. isn't the title of this topic Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous?
How else would we keep our membership if we didn't trade in before the loan was paid off?
I'm worse ... for a time, I was trading in leased cars before the maturity date.
When I met my second wife, we leased her a '97 Ford Escort. $250/mo - nice little car.
3 months before the end of the lease, the wife wanted an SUV. Off to the Ford dealer we go, where she finds a white Expedition XLT. The Escort was traded in for it. I honestly don't remember what happened with the rest of the payments.
Then, when the redesigned Explorers came out in spring of '02, the Expedition got traded in. Dealer paid the last x lease payments on the Expedition.
2 1/2 years later, Ford sends out a "pull ahead" notice that they will make up to the last 6 lease payments if we buy or lease another FMC vehicle. At this point, we didn't need a large SUV as the kids were starting to drive themselves, so the Explorer got traded in on a Focus ZX5 and Ford covered the payments.
Only two leased vehicles made it to the end of the term .. the '93 Accord DX I leased right after moving to CO, and the '99 VW New Beetle .. the Accord was returned to the lease company, while we bought the VW and kept it for a couple more years.
it's like driving a free car.
That's how I'm feeling about my '03 L300, though it's got 86K on it and isn't quite a fuel efficient as your Civic. Still worth about $6K in trade value and, if I ever decided to sell it privately, could get around $7500 for it.
I got used to the Jeep Patriot now too, with it's 1 year anniversary coming up this week. It proved to be very handy with our move, and with buying extra crap for our condo. Lots of room in it to haul all kinds of stuff. I think a hatchback, wagon, or a small SUV of some sorts will now always be part of our fleet. Very useful.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I'm the same as everyone else with trading early. My current Pilot is my first lease; I figured it would force me to keep a car for a few years, since flipping it is so hard. Honda had stupid low rates, I was using AWD every weekend to backcountry ski, and if gas went to $6/gallon, I could walk away at the end of term.
Like a true CCB, I justified a lease as an economical thing to do :P ...but I guess I HAVE had the car over a year and a half now. Hmmm...anyone else feeling itchy??
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
Guess my CCBA credential are shot all to hell. I just don't feel the need to buy a car when I can drive all kinds of stuff at work all the time. I do change my demo up from time to time to.
I did buy a non-running 1979 Honda CB750F Super Sport over the winter though. I gotta replace the engine and do alot of other work but it will be a good bike when I am done. I only paid a 100 bucks for the bike.
Uh, no.
In the 13 years that I've known my wife (12 of them married), she's only initiated the decision to get cars twice:
* The first time was with the Expedition; she woke up one Saturday morning in November and said "I want an SUV".
* The second time was when the New Beetle was released. Both she and I owned a VW as kids so she wanted to indulge her nostalgic side and get one. That, and some friends of ours got a red one and we were able to test drive it. Sold!
Ironically, both vehicles were leased about 6 weeks apart in November and December 1998.
Before I met her, she had owned her '86 Ford Tempo - bought new - for 10 years. Her current daily ride, the '08 VUE, will keep her happy for many years, I suspect. She feels the VUE is the perfect size for her, plus loaded with enough features and sporting enough power to keep her placated. Would not surprise me that she keeps it for 7-10 years. We've had it for 2 years and 27K already.
And, like boom, I agree that an SUV of any size is almost a must have when you own a house, though I suspect that his Patriot has a bit more utility than the VUE, given the box shape vs. the curves of the VUE.
Yeah, I left that little detail out. I'm surprised anyone remembers that. Buying a GM vehicle with the infamous Old's exploding diesel engine was the real problem, or at least the worst.
I have 2 good car payment buying stories: my ex's '78 corolla, & '85 CRX. Payments were around $200/mo., for 3 or 4 years. Kept both of them way past the payments ending, & then sold them for good $$, cash.
OK, we'll boot your wife out. Just sounded different in the previous post. That and it's hard to believe a CCB could hold on to a Saturn that long. But I have the Accord that I bought with 46 miles on it that now has another 170K+ beyond that so you have to take into account the messenger...
I don't, I wasn't born then
I have 2 good car payment buying stories: my ex's '78 corolla, & '85 CRX. Payments were around $200/mo...
My Dad had one of the original CRX-es, same generation as that one, before they offered air conditioning in them. He still speaks fondly of it--I think it got something like 55 MPG at 55 MPH and 50 MPG at 65 MPH. Funny how it takes a hybrid with an electric motor and battery pack to do that now, although I'm sure the CRX would've crumpled like a tin can in anything more than a fender-bender.
Finally had a repair on the Pilot, I managed to blow a speaker in the pass side front door. Took it to the stereo shop that had put my stereo in a few months ago and had new speakers put in all the doors, the sound is sooo much better!
I am, and the new Subaru is only 4 months old!!
The next one will be well used though, just have to find the right old car. One of the VTEC Integras or Civics from the 90s, most likely. Saw a really nice '98 Civic EX yesterday, 100K miles exactly, dealer was asking $5K. New t-belt and tires. Something like that will be in my driveway before too much longer, I think.....
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It was probably also manual and may even have had an over-achieving odometer.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Can't you remove the lien before you sell it? Is it a cash car because of the lien?
Plus, probably no a/c and no power brakes or power steering...although with a car that small and light, ps/pb might not be that much of an essential.
Could I remove the lien? Well, I thought about that. I'd have to take out a personal loan to buy it out and then pay the personal loan after selling. Not sure I want to go through that trouble.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
He finally got rid of it and bought a used Infiniti J30. Strangely, it's almost smaller in the front seats of that than in the Honda!
He bought a 1983 Toyota pickup from the middle aged people who live across the street from my mother. It is a 22R with 150K on it, and looks like it has some kind of period sport package - silver painted steel wheels, period rectangular fog lights on the bumper, and it is red with very radical 80s style black and white sport stripes on the hood and sides. From the photo he sent me (I can't get it off my phone), it looks to be in very nice condition, shiny paint and no visible damage, the only rust being some surface interest on the front bumper. He says the previous owner recently gave it a new water pump, belts, and 2 new tires. He got it for $750...seems like a great deal.
Heck, if it's in good condition, what else could you get for $750? The new Michelins I wanted for my bmw cost $600.....
A few years after we drove to Chicago to buy a brand new CRX (almost worth the whole deal, to find an excuse to go to Chicago, let alone to drive home in a brand new car), I read an article that the CRX was on the bottom ten worst cars for crash safety. It didn't feel "tinny" at all, like some of the toyotas we owned back then, but I guess the tiny size & weight & lack of airbags, etc........
Yeah, go back and look at one now, though, and you'll be pretty surprised. We had an 2nd-gen 88 CRX DX for a few years, and when I see the thin doors on one nowadays, I feel like a bit of a lottery winner.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
No idea what was wrong with it, but he finally got it running again last week.
Another neighbor has an '80's S-10. When I last asked him about it, he told me it had 375K on it (this was a year or two ago), but he still drives it every day. He also has a newish Xterra as well as a motorcycle, but I guess he feels that the Chevy is worth so little he might as well invest the minimum $$$'s to keep it running.
I'm still half-heartedly searching for a winter car, but I've upped the dollar limit to $15K -- this would leave me with a small payment after the trade in.
Some choices within 50 miles - all of these have AWD or 4WD capacity:
'09 Pontiac Vibe 2.4 Auto; 13K miles; $14,999
'08 Dodge Nitro SXT 3.7 Auto; 22K; $14,994
'06 Jeep Commander 3.7; 21K; $14,993
'08 Suzuki XL7 Premium 3.6 Auto; 24K; $14,981
'06 Mazda Tribute x 3.0 Auto; 20K; $14,885
'07 Subaru Impreza Wagon Auto; 17K; $14,412
'05 Dodge Magnum SXT 3.5 Auto; 47K; $12,788
The AWD Vibe/Matrix I have driven were way under powered. Maybe they are better with the 2.4. The Nitro is not a good car and neither is the Commander. The XL7 will be worth ZERO dollars in two years if Suzuki pulls out of the US car market.
Guess it comes down to if you need ground clearance or just awd. If you just need awd then the Impreza is good and I always liked the Magnum cause I love big wagons.
Thoughts so far: Found a 08 Pontiac Vibe ex-rental with 30K at $9999. Mazda3 in this range seem to have a lot of miles unless you go base sedan. Mazda6 looks like an option, but the hatch versions definitely cost more. Imprezas are hard to find and too expensive/too many miles when they appear. Of course, have seen all the wacky HHR's, Malibu Maxx's, etc. Shoot, could probably get a new Yaris in this range,
Tangent: Have you seen how cheap a late 4-cyl Sonata is? I saw an 08 GLS with 25k miles @ $9999. Tons under $11k. Hard to beat the value and the base model has everything, but I think it's probably too big for my wife to be comfortable with...not much smaller than the Pilot. Bet its cheap to insure. Also see that new body Malibus are dropping under $13k now too.
Give me some suggestions, people...
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
As the wife drives an AWD VUE, I don't really need the ground clearance .. just AWD.
I've driven the new Vibe with the 2.4 and stick and it was not too bad. Not sure what an automatic and AWD hardware would do to the performance. I did drive a gen 1 Vibe with AWD and agree with you that it was a dog.
There were also a bunch of Impreza sedans available under the $15K price point, but I really don't want another 4-door. I like having the utility of a hatch or SUV.
The Magnum is certainly the odd man out in the list, that's for sure. I suppose I could buy some chrome dubs for the summer, eh? I'm not even sure it would fit in my garage -- my L300, at 190" overall, just barely fits given all the other c**p that I have stored in there (no basement for me).
What about a Suzuki SX4? Seems just like the Vibe...Also, the same year Forester has much better space in it then the Impreza.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
If you're thinking of a Malibu, you might also check out the Saturn Aura .. same mechanicals as the Malibu, but Saturns have lost more of their value lately, so there might be some good bargains to be had.
Sonatas are also good values, and stack up nicely against the Camcords in terms of features. My folks own an '03 Sonata GLS V6 .. and they were a Toyota family through and through for many years.
A few Foresters popped up onto the list as well, but they had higher miles (40K, give or take) - not that they are a bad value, and, I like the boxy styling.
I really like that Elantra Touring, actually; it reminds a little of my old Protege5. But they are too new and expensive right now...
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0
Not a bad driving car but mine is underpowered. The newer manual ones are better. Swap some better wheels and tires on them and they are good trucklets.
Can tow a fair bit in a pinch too.
If you are on the big side though you won't fit in one. I barely fit at five foot 11 and 220 lbs. My feet are too big and so I run out of foot well room.
25 NX 450h+ / 24 Sienna Plat AWD / 23 Civic Type-R / 21 Boxster GTS 4.0