Length of Car loans

It depends on the deal. The APR certainly makes a difference. If I were planning to keep the car for 10 years I would have no problem going 72 months. It's just a math problem. How much interest will I pay over the term of the loan?

You can bet that interest rates would rise in the next 6 years so having a loan at 1.9% would be sweet.

On the other hand, the way cars continue to get better, loaded with the latest technology, it would be silly to keep a car for 10 years.

 

Many car loans are at a very low interest rate.

What's silly is that cars cost as much as a small house...

... but there are fewer bathrooms...

...but there's the bonus that there are no problems with water in the basement.

I'm working on 16 years with my Honda Civic - hoping to give it to my grandson in 6 years when he comes of age.

Rob

 

WWDRD??

What Would Dave Ramsey Do?

He'd probably say, "Thou shalt only pay cash for a used car---which beeth the ONLY kind of careth thou shouldest buy!! :smilewinkgrin:

I guess that's fine for DR, but if you're both retired and handicapped, that doesn't always work.

Comments?

 

In 2014, I purchased a vehicle whose brand isn't even being manufactured any more from a dealership primarily sells cars not even made by the "mother company" of the vehicle.

I did this primarily because the sales person is also a member of the same church I am.

Was this a wise decision or not?

 

Perhaps silly was a bad choice of words. Explained it in my previous post. Cars are rapidly improving almost every year - - better gas mileage, more safety features, better technology, etc. They're just flat out better vehicles. I'm all for wringing the last bit of life out of a product and stretching a dollar but if you have a 10 year old (or older) vehicle you have a vehicle that's missing higher MPG, hands free phone operation, smoother transmissions, reverse sensors and/or cameras, side air bags, flex fuel, heated seats, heads up display, bluetooth and USB inputs for streaming content (podcasts, music) from your phone, GPS, traction control, tire air pressure monitors, accident avoidance systems, etc. There are cars now that can parallel park themselves! The list goes on and on.

 

Depends if you will still be able to get repair parts in the future. Many times a canceled car model lives on through "cousin" models. For example, Plymouth no longer exists but the mechanical components are the same as a Dodge so parts should be available. Same thing with Oldsmobile and Buick.

 

I would do a Honda for a longer loan but not much else. Honda's last.

 

Honda was the car for reliability starting in the mid 80's. Toyota caught up to them in the mid 90's and Ford and Nissan have caught up to them recently.

The problem I have with Honda and Toyota is that their cars are no more than appliances, reliable but boring. That suits a lot of people just fine but I grew up driving muscle cars so they don't work for me.

 

Have you seen 10 year old cars recently? They're pretty dumb looking and get horrible gas mileage compared to what is out there now. Plus, most start breaking down all the time before this point. Sometimes you can come out ahead by getting something new due to less maintenance, less gas, more safety, etc. Trucks and jeeps are a different story. A 10 year old truck is just a good truck.

 

A 10 year old truck is a vehicle that gets about 30% fewer MPG than a new truck.

 

I hate debt so I would pay it off as soon as I possibly could and then drive it until it was no longer safe or reliable. Of course the smart thing to do would be to lay back enough money during that long period with no car payments that you could pay cash the next time. I drove my last car 12 years and my wife drove her last car 15 years.

 

Not at all. There are a few exceptions such as the recent Dodges that have the Hemi engines where half of it can shut down as well as advances in aluminum on trucks that aren't available yet, but in general, 10 years doesn't get you much on a truck.

Case in point, I have a 2004 F-150 with a 4.6 V8 and 4wd that gets 13 mpg city and 17 highway.

Add 10 years to that and the closest engine is the 5.0, you're looking at 14 city and 19 highway, even with the newer 6 speed transmission.

Basically add 2 gears to the transmission as well as variable timing on the engine, and on a truck, you only get 1 mpg difference driving in the city, and 2 on the highway. Like 8% difference in the city and 12% on the highway.

When gas is $2 something a gallon and the average price of a new F-150 is $45,000 plus parts last longer... that's a little hard to justify.


Now with a car though, parts are much more expensive than a truck, they usually don't last as long, the price of a standard car is much lower, and advances in gas mileage is much higher. Often times it makes more sense to get a new car than to keep messing with an old one.

 

I've been in sales for years, but I would never sell cars for a living. The dishonesty I've encountered from car salespeople has been palpable. There are honest car salespeople but they are hard to find. So, when a car salesperson opens their mouth, I have a good hunch that they're lying.