Buy Car with Cash or Take up Payments?

2061 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by SwirlyThing, Oct 22, 2011

BamaClark

Discussion Starter · Oct 21, 2011

Hello everyone. I have posted here before and laid out my financial situation in another thread. I received awesome advice and now I’m looking for more. Since posting last, I’ve had a new twist to our debt situation. Here goes…

We (my wife and I) had two car payments that were basically sucking us dry every month. Three weeks ago, we were blessed. My wife was hit by another car and her car was totaled. Fortunately everyone was ok. The insurance is paying the vehicle off and we’ll have $3,200 leftover from the insurance payment. On top of that, I can bring another $1,500 in cash to the table to buy something else totaling $4,800 to get a used car. I currently own a Honda Accord, making payments, very reliable car. I drive 50 miles to work, one way. I’m giving my wife the Honda Accord because she totes the kids around to school, her work etc, and the car is safe. I’d rather put her and the children in it because it’s safe and reliable. So I have to buy something else. Remember, I drive 100 miles per day round trip – 4 days a week, so mileage adds up fast, and so does the gas bill. I DO NOT WANT NEW PAYMENTS. I’ve looked hard and all I can find are used Hondas, Toyotas, Nissan’s etc for roughly $10k . These are very reliable cars, with on avg 100-120k miles on them. I really really don’t want to have to finance anything. Should I go ahead and bite the bullet, finance something, OR there are other cars for ~$5000 that are less reliable but will be paid for. Of course, I’d have to do more maintenance on them. For instance there is a BMW with 120k miles for $4300. I don’t know if I should go ahead and buy it, or finance something else.

Thanks for any and all advice!

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mh3rdwheel

· #7 · Oct 21, 2011

BamaClark,

Here is a really good suggestion, if you get really friendly with a used car dealer, ask them if they could take you to the car auction and choose a car or truck you choose the vehicle then (first decide on a price that you are willing to pay for vehicle) give the dealer $200 to $300 for taking you, when you get back to the lot with a vehicle you pay for tax, title, etc and pay for the cost of the vehicle for a lot cheaper then going and buying one on a lot.

A lot of banks repossess vehicles and they are sold at auction cheap, or lease vehicle, you can get vehicles at auto auctions for less than half of what you would pay at the auction.

I used to be a used car person, I have been to a lot of auto auctions, I know what the charge and what you would pay at the lot.

You can spend $4,800 and get a decent vehicle. Worth checking into.

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mh3rdwheel

· #8 · Oct 22, 2011

mh3rdwheel said:
BamaClark,

Here is a really good suggestion, if you get really friendly with a used car dealer, ask them if they could take you to the car auction and choose a car or truck you choose the vehicle then (first decide on a price that you are willing to pay for vehicle) give the dealer $200 to $300 for taking you, when you get back to the lot with a vehicle you pay for tax, title, etc and pay for the cost of the vehicle for a lot cheaper then going and buying one on a lot.

A lot of banks repossess vehicles and they are sold at auction cheap, or lease vehicle, you can get vehicles at auto auctions for less than half of what you would pay at the auction.

I used to be a used car person, I have been to a lot of auto auctions, I know what the charge and what you would pay at the lot.

You can spend $4,800 and get a decent vehicle. Worth checking into.

I meant to say that you can get the car for less than what you would pay at a car lot. I was a used car dealer for 3 years.

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mh3rdwheel

· #12 · Oct 22, 2011

Sumacaroni said:
We had an older Mazda 626 that we bought for $3000, I drove it 50 miles round-trip on my work commute for 2 years plus I had an opposite direction 50-mile round-trip commute to school twice a week. Many miles, 29mpg, was a good reliable little runner and we were able to sell it for $1800 after I got through school.

But! I wish we could have gotten an Accord! Love them, love their reliability. Before we decided on our van, we were looking at used Accords but just needed more seating. If you're vigilant looking around, I hope you can find another Accord

If you can't find anything for your cash, I second the idea of working with a salesperson to find the kind you want at auction, smaller lots were willing to look every week for us. And at the very least, I hope you only have to take a small loan to supplement your great downpayment!

Sumacaroni I LOVE YOUR AVATAR, IT MADE ME AND DH LAUGH.

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