GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

As the topic states. To be honest I dont ever want to finance a vehicle again. When you look at your total price ( with interest ) you as a consumer LOSES. My example : I financed 14K for my Vibe back in 2007 at 38K....total amount paid on my truth-in-lending ( basically a loan statement ) is 23K after its paid off. Thats 9K of finance charges, interest & all that crap. Now my Vibe @ 158K is worth MAYBE 4K on a good day. What a waste of $$$. Knowing what I know now ( cause numbers dont lie ) I dont ever want to finance if I dont have to. I put in 23K & have a $3000 car. Yeah I did have a high interest rate & it was a 6 year term. It was unavoidable but wow...a $ 20,000 loss. Those are terrible numbers ! Next time I will be prepared to buy a used car in cash, if possible OR just buy a good higher mileage car & finanace as LITTLE as possible. Thankfully the Vibe is a great car & will last be many more years Something to think about when you finance. Lots of your hard earned $$$ goes to interest & finance changes. Think total cost NOT just your monthly payment I would much rather have 20K extra in the bank than drive in $3000 car right now

Now that the car is paid off it's a perfect time to start saving. Start setting aside the money you where paying to the loan every month in a separate savings account dedicated to your automotive needs. Then by the time you need a new car, or maybe a major repair, you'll have that money in the bank. Savings accounts typically do not have a high return, but every dollar you save, is a dollar that doesn't need to be financed next time.

Congratulations on paying off the car!

WOW.... those are truly horrible numbers!!! On a 6 year plan, that's about $150 biweekly.

Total cost is VERY important but your payment structure is equally so. Set up your payments much higher over a shorter term, 4 yrs max.

But if you think that's scary, try calculating the interest on your CC's and how much extra that eats out of your pay!

An interesting discussion.

My new philosophy is to never buy another car brand new. Cars are made so well now, and it's so easy to find "just what you want" on the internet, that there's no reason not to buy, say, a car that's about four years old or so, or even older if you find a good one. It'll still be in great shape (as long as the owners took care of it and you pick a car as reliable as the Vibe ), and you'll have let the original owners eat the bulk of the depreciation cost.

People tend to forget that depreciation isn't linear. It's a curve that becomes less and less a factor as the car ages. Which makes sense, if you think about it. A car that goes from 1 year old to 2 years old has just depreciated 50% (1 year out of 2). But a car that's gone from 10 years old to 11 years old has only depreciated around 10% (1 year out of 11). So the older a car you can "stomach", the better your financial gain will be, and you should still be driving a pretty decent car.

Yeah, the car won't last you as long if you hold it until it dies...but when it does die, you just buy another good used car, and you'll still be "up" money-wise. Hopefully you should be able to get at least 10 years out of any car you buy anyway, so you won't be buying ALL that many cars in your lifetime.

Hey I just paid mine off on 9/4. In general you are pretty safe financially buying used over buying new, and of course if you can swing it, paying cash is best. But YMMV, especially recently. In the last three years, the used car/new car debate has been really close. Used cars were commanding a premium (I guess tight budgets and income being down caused a rush to the used car market) and new cars were languishing on lots so dealers were dealing. Buying a new car, and getting the better financing that comes with, could turn out to be very close to a used car.

I financed $12,124 at 3.9% on a 5-year loan. Pmts were $223 a month and the total cost was going to end up at $13,380. I paid $250 a month instead, paid $559 extra about two months ago and paid it off in 50 months. I think my total pmts came to about $13,227. So, would have barely saved $1100 over 50 months. I don't regret it.

Yes - you gotta run the numbers. Seems to me that reliable used cars are pretty expensive these days. Unless you are buying from a private party that used car will lose a lot of value the moment you drive it off the lot. Dealers make maybe $500 on a new car sale, probably $2,000 on a used car sale. A new car will have minimal upkeep costs for at least the first 3 years. Buying a 3 year bumper to bumper warranty on a used car is probably at least $2,000. Tires are $500. Brakes $200. Again - you need to run the numbers.

canadave wrote:An interesting discussion.

My new philosophy is to never buy another car brand new. Cars are made so well now, and it's so easy to find "just what you want" on the internet, that there's no reason not to buy, say, a car that's about four years old or so, or even older if you find a good one. It'll still be in great shape (as long as the owners took care of it and you pick a car as reliable as the Vibe ), and you'll have let the original owners eat the bulk of the depreciation cost.

People tend to forget that depreciation isn't linear. It's a curve that becomes less and less a factor as the car ages. Which makes sense, if you think about it. A car that goes from 1 year old to 2 years old has just depreciated 50% (1 year out of 2). But a car that's gone from 10 years old to 11 years old has only depreciated around 10% (1 year out of 11). So the older a car you can "stomach", the better your financial gain will be, and you should still be driving a pretty decent car.

Yeah, the car won't last you as long if you hold it until it dies...but when it does die, you just buy another good used car, and you'll still be "up" money-wise. Hopefully you should be able to get at least 10 years out of any car you buy anyway, so you won't be buying ALL that many cars in your lifetime.

Interesting view, except for those who live in snowbelt states, It is harder to find a "good one" especially an older one due to so many show the signs of rust, either underhood or undercarriage. Many new car dealers, in snow belt states, don't even stock older models say 2005 or earlier unless they are a popular rust free example. These cars of course cost more since they have no rust and have been shipped from states where rust is not a big issue. To be on the safe side, it does pay to buy new.

cptnsolo77 wrote:As the topic states. To be honest I dont ever want to finance a vehicle again. When you look at your total price ( with interest ) you as a consumer LOSES. My example : I financed 14K for my Vibe back in 2007 at 38K....total amount paid on my truth-in-lending ( basically a loan statement ) is 23K after its paid off. Thats 9K of finance charges, interest & all that (removed). Now my Vibe @ 158K is worth MAYBE 4K on a good day. What a waste of $$$. Knowing what I know now ( cause numbers dont lie ) I dont ever want to finance if I dont have to. I put in 23K & have a $3000 car. Yeah I did have a high interest rate & it was a 6 year term. It was unavoidable but wow...a $ 20,000 loss. Those are terrible numbers ! Next time I will be prepared to buy a used car in cash, if possible OR just buy a good higher mileage car & finanace as LITTLE as possible. Thankfully the Vibe is a great car & will last be many more years Something to think about when you finance. Lots of your hard earned $$$ goes to interest & finance changes. Think total cost NOT just your monthly payment I would much rather have 20K extra in the bank than drive in $3000 car right now

So to get this straight, you financed $14 for a 2003 back in 2007 and wound up paying total close to $9 K in financing? Finance company and the seller probably wishes there were more buyers like you. Now, you expect your 2003 to last how long? Lesson learned in your case.

Nasmfell wrote:

cptnsolo77 wrote:As the topic states. To be honest I dont ever want to finance a vehicle again. When you look at your total price ( with interest ) you as a consumer LOSES. My example : I financed 14K for my Vibe back in 2007 at 38K....total amount paid on my truth-in-lending ( basically a loan statement ) is 23K after its paid off. Thats 9K of finance charges, interest & all that (removed). Now my Vibe @ 158K is worth MAYBE 4K on a good day. What a waste of $$$. Knowing what I know now ( cause numbers dont lie ) I dont ever want to finance if I dont have to. I put in 23K & have a $3000 car. Yeah I did have a high interest rate & it was a 6 year term. It was unavoidable but wow...a $ 20,000 loss. Those are terrible numbers ! Next time I will be prepared to buy a used car in cash, if possible OR just buy a good higher mileage car & finanace as LITTLE as possible. Thankfully the Vibe is a great car & will last be many more years Something to think about when you finance. Lots of your hard earned $$$ goes to interest & finance changes. Think total cost NOT just your monthly payment I would much rather have 20K extra in the bank than drive in $3000 car right now

So to get this straight, you financed $14 for a 2003 back in 2007 and wound up paying total close to $9 K in financing? Finance company and the seller probably wishes there were more buyers like you. Now, you expect your 2003 to last how long? Lesson learned in your case.

Absolutely ! I had a very high interest rate. Its was unavoiadable due to my credit rating at the time. The interest rate you get is related to your credit score. Most people know that anyhow. How long do I expect it to last ??? 250K - 300K miles. It will take me another 5 years to reach 250K....7 years to 300K at the mileage I drive per year. I dont expect to drive the Vibe for another 5 years anyhow. By then I would be tired of it So im confident it will last long enough

Congratulations on paying the Vibe off!

SeattleJeremy wrote:Now that the car is paid off it's a perfect time to start saving. Start setting aside the money you where paying to the loan every month in a separate savings account dedicated to your automotive needs. Then by the time you need a new car, or maybe a major repair, you'll have that money in the bank.

I totally agree with this philosophy and have been doing this personally since I paid off our 2004 Trailblazer back in 2006. Payments at that time were just over $500/month and when the loan was paid off, that money went into a separate account and I didn't touch it until I bought my 2009 Vibe GT in May 2009. YEP ... was then able to pay CASH for it It wasn't easy and many times was tempted to spend it on other things. Since then I've still been able to put that same amount away and I am looking at replacing my 22 year old F-150 with a 2014 model and should be sitting very pretty when it comes to purchasing it. Good luck & hang onto your Vibe as long as possible

Six months out of college in 1986 I bought my first car at 14% APR!