Even though I can afford it, I have never bought a new car or a car from a dealership. And until I have a large amount of disposable income that is just burning a hole in my pocket, I won’t waste it on a new car. I currently own and maintain three vehicles with a combined mileage of somewhere close to 750,000. That’s getting close to a million miles. Car payment every month is $0 and has been for the last 10 or 15 years. Of course I like “savings the money” as the commercial says. And I don’t give one skinny crap about keeping up with the Joneses.
Dave Ramsey has some pretty flawless thoughts on this.
Narcosis
I’m with you. Currently maintain 3 cars totaling 500,000 miles. Every time I think I could use a new(er) car, and think about trading in 2 for 1, it breaks my heart to think about writing that big ole check when I have 3 perfectly functional cars in the driveway.
The owner of the Mercedes before me spent $48k on it in 2001, they drove it for 90,000 miles and got about $5k for it on trade. I bought it for $7500 cash, and have put over 90,000 miles on it virtually maintenance free. Granted I am sure the person who had this before was not loosing sleep over paying $50k for this car, and likely paid cash.
Also, I bought this car from a dealer in Charlotte, and handed them cash, and they handed me the keys. No doc fees, no dealer prep, just cash and go. Then it took them about 1.5 months to get me the title. Maybe they charge so much for documentation because they move at a snails pace and have to pay all those hours of doing nothing like a DOT road crew.
So, what is an acceptable fee to fill out documents… Smh. when I bought my Boss last year there was no mention of a doc fee and I wasn’t assessed one. Store manager clicked a few buttons on the computer and, Voila!!! Documents appeared for me to sign. I did more work signing them than he did as all the info was in the computer beforehand.
Grace gives us what we do not deserve… Mercy does not give us what we do deserve. -Charles Stanley
Maybe its your look. You shoulda borrowed my old dodge to drive up there and not one of your hotrods!!! Those boys can smell money coming from a mile a way!!
I bought the oil change package from them with my new used car b/c it was cheaper, but that’s the only thing I’ll do. While I was in there they told me my radiator was leaking and it was going to be $1000 to replace it. Took it to Richard’s on 61 and paid roughly a third of that.
I honestly don’t understand why anyone would do any service at a dealership unless it’s a warranty repair.
So, what is an acceptable fee to fill out documents… Smh. when I bought my Boss last year there was no mention of a doc fee and I wasn’t assessed one. Store manager clicked a few buttons on the computer and, Voila!!! Documents appeared for me to sign. I did more work signing them than he did as all the info was in the computer beforehand.
Grace gives us what we do not deserve… Mercy does not give us what we do deserve. -Charles Stanley
Maybe its your look. You shoulda borrowed my old dodge to drive up there and not one of your hotrods!!! Those boys can smell money coming from a mile a way!!
No way I am going to turn loose my wife and baby in a car that has 250,000 miles on it, no matter how well it’s maintained!!! Does Dave Ramsey take dependability into consideration?
I would rather lease something new or buy a used car with 20K miles on it…
Dave Ramsey doesn’t say to buy crap cars and be stranded all the time, he just says don’t buy a new car for a false sense of security or to impress people. Buy what you can afford, not the payment you can afford. If you “have” to borrow to buy something other than a house, then you can’t afford it. You may want it, you may even need it, but you can’t afford it. Life is all about choices.
With all the overpriced autos on the road, and sub prime loans out right now on cars, I will just wait and enjoy watching the bubble bust and pick up a nice low mileage car of my choosing in a few years for cash.
No way I am going to turn loose my wife and baby in a car that has 250,000 miles on it, no matter how well it’s maintained!!! Does Dave Ramsey take dependability into consideration?
I would rather lease something new or buy a used car with 20K miles on it…
The worst thing is a car dealer by a Military base. I had a young Marine who purchased a car from a dealer by Camp Lejeune and was having problem with the dealership. Come to find out the guy that was stiffing him was a retired GySgt who use to work for me. That looking out for your own.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
The worst thing is a car dealer by a Military base. I had a young Marine who purchased a car from a dealer by Camp Lejeune and was having problem with the dealership. Come to find out the guy that was stiffing him was a retired GySgt who use to work for me. That looking out for your own.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
When I was stationed at Shepherd AFB there were car dealerships up and down the street by the main gate advertising for military discounts and E1 and up approved. One guy in my squadron bought a brand new Mustang for X amount and signed the papers for 24.99%. I think the car was repoed in less than 6 months and he was in hot water with the 1st Sgt and the dealership had it back and was selling it again a week later.
Dealers near military bases are predatory at best.
If you “have” to borrow to buy something other than a house, then you can’t afford it. You may want it, you may even need it, but you can’t afford it. Life is all about choices.
I strongly disagree with this statement. I think it depends on the interest rate. If you can finance a car at 0% interest or close to that (even 1.9%, 2.9%), you are actually saving money by financing it over a long term. Remember that because of inflation the purchasing power of a dollar goes down over time. So, if I finance a car with 0% interest, I'm agreeing on today's price, but paying with tomorrow's weaker dollars... Additionally, that lump some of cash would be better off sitting in an investment earning 6+% each year...
That being said, I would never finance a car for more than 3%.
The worst thing is a car dealer by a Military base. I had a young Marine who purchased a car from a dealer by Camp Lejeune and was having problem with the dealership. Come to find out the guy that was stiffing him was a retired GySgt who use to work for me. That looking out for your own.
A wise man once said “Do as I say not as I do” Good advice when I tell you that.
When I was stationed at Shepherd AFB there were car dealerships up and down the street by the main gate advertising for military discounts and E1 and up approved. One guy in my squadron bought a brand new Mustang for X amount and signed the papers for 24.99%. I think the car was repoed in less than 6 months and he was in hot water with the 1st Sgt and the dealership had it back and was selling it again a week later.
Dealers near military bases are predatory at best.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
Did they hold a gun to his head and make him sign the papers??? The troop made a bad decision, not the dealer. If you are stupid enough to sign the papers at 24.99% you deserve what you get. All car dealers are deceptive, listen to the adds on TV or the radio.
As far as DOC fees, they are nothing more than profit makers for the dealership. SC law limits them to $699. Even if you raise a stink and tell them you will not pay the doc fees, they will still be on the contract and they will subtract the amount from somewhere else. If a dealership lets one person “not pay” the DOC fee, then everyone that has ever paid it can come back and su
Dave Ramsey doesn’t say to buy crap cars and be stranded all the time, he just says don’t buy a new car for a false sense of security or to impress people. Buy what you can afford, not the payment you can afford. If you “have” to borrow to buy something other than a house, then you can’t afford it. You may want it, you may even need it, but you can’t afford it. Life is all about choices.
With all the overpriced autos on the road, and sub prime loans out right now on cars, I will just wait and enjoy watching the bubble bust and pick up a nice low mileage car of my choosing in a few years for cash.
I listen to Dave Ramsey too, and I agree with a lot of what he says but I laugh at it too. He DOES in fact say “buy a 2-3k beater for cash” after you’ve built up your $1000 emergency fund. Now, if, I mean, WHEN that “beater” breaks down and you have to spend the better part if not all of your emergency fund fixing the car, where are you?
I pay cash for everything, except house and new cars. I don’t have credit much anywhere else so I use the 0-2.9% finance rates to help with my credit. Of course, I put a major portion down so that what I finance is usually a small amount but as skinneej elaborated to, there are some perks to financing.
What you finance and how you finance it is really the question. Financing a $599 TV os asinine to me, but some people do it and that is their deal. If they pay it off then kudos to them. however, th question at hand here was the justification of doc fees.
Grace gives us what we do not deserve… Mercy does not give us what we do deserve. -Charles Stanley
