You HAVE TO HAVE IT !!
Posted on 12/30/2007 9:21:09 AM PST by jeannineinsd
When Jennifer and Bobby Post traded in their 2001 Chevy Suburban last year for a shiny new Ford F-350 turbo diesel with an extended cab, it seemed like a great deal. Even though they still owed $9,500 on their SUV after the trade-in value, they didn't have to put a penny down.
The dealership, near the Posts' home in Victorville, made it easy; it just added the old debt to the price of the new truck and gave the couple a seven-year, $44,276 loan.
The Posts were a little worried about taking on such a long obligation, but they couldn't pass up a monthly payment under $700. Now they're having regrets.
"I didn't realize how much debt was in it," said Jennifer Post, who has since moved with her family to Iowa. Now, she'd like to get rid of the truck but can't, because there's so much debt that she'd literally have to pay someone to take it off her hands.
"We have no options," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It does not make sense to me to be "upside down" on a vehicle if that can possibly be avoided. I would rather drive a less expensive car that I could actually afford.
what about... save the money and pay cash for a fleet sales vehicle? We bought a brand new truck for $29,000.
Rolling the balance owed on a trade into the price of the new car is nothing new, really. I remember it happening when I worked at a car dealership in the mid-70’s. Not often, but it did happen on occasion. I just had to make some accounting adjustments.
Seven year loans, though? Gads. That’s way too long to pay on an automobile.
What am I missing here?
Of COURSE they are upside-down in their current vehicle - they borrowed $10K ADDITIONAL dollars to buy it.
Obviously, they bailed on their first SUV a lot sooner than they should have, and now they’re paying the price.
These folks need somebody to come in and show them how to stay afloat by making sound financial decisions.
You can find a pretty decent used, but late-model, truck for a third of that. That dealership sure saw the Posts coming down Debt Street.
Wow, they are happy to have a payment under $700? I bet they could buy a small house for that kind of monthy payment. And she didn’t realize “how much debt there was in it”? Didn’t she look at the numbers? Doh!
Contracts very clearly spell out the amount of the finance charge. What she's really saying here is that she didn't read what she signed.
They got a shiny new F-350 turbo diesel extended cab monster add on bling bling super duper ....
Couldn’t pass up a payment under $700 a month?! That’s a darn mortgage!
I’m sorry, I can’t find any sympathy for ignorant, greedy people. They want it all now. For years I drove Chevy Cavaliers because they were cheap disposable cars, and I drove a lot.
Screw these people, and all those like them. Take their darn truck, ruin their credit, and make them a warning to those that follow in their wake.
“Contracts very clearly spell out the amount of the finance charge. What she’s really saying here is that she didn’t read what she signed.”
The real truth is that shiny truck was sitting right outside where she could see it. She saw the numbers but they didn’t matter, because that truck made her feel so good. I wonder how she’s feeling now?
So the moral of the story, if you are upside down on your debt don’t buy another and put yourself even further upside down.
You HAVE TO HAVE IT !!
www.intellichoice.com
I bought my car following their advice and actually had the resale value of my car INCREASE for the two years after my purchase.
I’ll keep driving my old clunker... cannot imagine a $700/mo car payment as a ‘good deal.’
Holy cow! Maybe for two cars...You can get two pre-owned Lexus's at that payment level with minimal down.
At $700 per month, they’ll pay over $58,000 for that truck! Given their history they’ll be looking at trading it before it’s paid for. I wonder what’ll happen to fuel prices in the next 7 years?
Correct, every contract I’ve signed for financing has always spelled out the total cost of the loan over its lifespan.
I must say, I have been amazed by the amount of people I have heard of who have traded in their car while being upside down on it, rolling it into a new vehicle that they can’t afford.
Like any other debt, I always pay off more than my monthly payment on car loans, unless I am making more money off of a simple savings account (~5%) than the loan, in which case my money stays put in the bank.
But, public schools have failed most kids who lack a basic understanding of money — to the point where salesmen now ask, “How much do you want to pay a month?”
And people have no idea that their ‘low monthly payment’ equals 10 years in debt for a car.
Sad.
GeeWiz!!! Wonder how much gas that beast burns? Upside down in debt, and spending $100s per month in insurance and gas. Oh well....You signed, so you pay. Now stop whinning!
It only works if you are going to keep the vehicle until it is depreciated down to bottom value, and keep it in good condition. Ater the first couple of years the value declines below the remaining balance of payments. And if it is totaled in an accident, you’ll only recover the book value at that time from insurance. You’ll still owe the loan balance.
So, to take on that deal, you’ve got to feel lucky!
Geez, they went with the absolute top of the line, didn't they?
I was in car sales for a short while some 20 years ago. The folks I could never figure out where the ones who'd gotten themselves buried in a lease. They'd try to get out of their high-end lease by trying to lease a new vehicle, then they accused the dealership of trying to rip them off because they now had to finance the full cost of the lease they were trying to escape in order to trade in their current vehicle.
I'd wonder how people could be so stupid but then I think of all those people who voted for John Kerry.
These remind me of some friends of mine who upgraded once “for only $30 more a month.” I often wondered how many times they did that.
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