Gettin' ready to buy a car... but I'm a bum.

[RaptorQuiz]

Hey all. I know this is an unlikely place to look for assistance with this kind of thing, but I was just wondering if anybody might have some insights for me.

I'm about ready to buy a new car, and I would prefer NOT to finance thru the car dealership. Obviously, since I don't have that much cash just laying around, I would need to acquire a bank auto-loan first, THEN purchase the vehicle with that.

I'm looking in the $25,000 range for the loan, and hopefully not any longer than 48 to 60 months.

Just wondering if anybody had done anything similar lately, or if they had any "favorite" lending institutions.

Thanks for any help from anyone.

[RaptorQuiz]

I guess we could add some discussion here as well.

Has anybody gotten a new vehicle any time recently?

For the adults out there: purchased.

For the younger ones: recieved from parental units.

[sully04]

No, but my parents got rid of the car I drove through High School today, a somewhat sad day to see my first car go, but it was time. A 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis if anybody is curious :wink:

[RaptorQuiz]

Yow. My first ever car was a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. "Poop brown" was the official name of the color, I believe.

What a boat. Yuck.

[JP_Frost]

I'm 22 and I don't even have a driver's license. Granted the legal age to drive a car here is 18, but still ... I kinda feel like the 40 year old virgin riding my bike. Though I have lost my virginity despite that fact.

[oxbay]

I'm 22 and I don't even have a driver's license. Granted the legal age to drive a car here is 18, but still ... I kinda feel like the 40 year old virgin riding my bike. Though I have lost my virginity despite that fact.

You lost your virginity on a bike? :lol:

[kgbaseball]

You lost your virginity on a bike?

Oh my God, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. I just had cranberry juice come out my nose.

Well I got my laugh for the day.

[JP_Frost]

You lost your virginity on a bike?

I wish I was that creative ... or knew where to find girls that would be down for that. Maybe I should get a waterbed seat .........

[RaptorQuiz]

Oh my God, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. I just had cranberry juice come out my nose.

Well I got my laugh for the day.

Cranberry juice? What? Are you on your period?

(This is a reference to the movie "The Departed")

[fred13]

I wish I was that creative ... or knew where to find girls that would be down for that. Maybe I should get a waterbed seat .........

Well you do live in Amsterdam :tongue:

:lol:

[JP_Frost]

Cranberry juice? What? Are you on your period?

(This is a reference to the movie "The Departed")

Nice one!

That's true Fred, but I'll bet they charge more than 50 bucks if I wanna get laid on my bike.

Anyway, let's shift the focus back to cars :oops:

[ChicagoCubs720]

Yow. My first ever car was a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. "Poop brown" was the official name of the color, I believe.

What a boat. Yuck.

lol, when I finally get my license (trust me, it has been quite a saga completely out of my control, btw I turned 16 in October), I will get my Dad's '91 Olds Cutlass Supreme. Surprisingly, it's in very good shape, but the rust is starting to eat away at it a little bit.

Luckily, it's not "poop brown", but maroonish-red :smile:

[ronmexico]

I am to be getting some cheap used car when I turn 18 in a couple months, cause I'll need it to commute to school a bit away. I think I will chip in all the money I have for it, to maybe finance it up to 3000 or w/e.

My bro just got a new car, he's 21 and he got a Hyundai, and he was able to score that for 2500, only has 70000 miles. :p

[Mav3rek]

I just bought a brand spanking new Hyundai Accent about 2 and a half years ago. I have had absolutely ZERO trouble out of it. It was about 12,000 brand new, and my payments are about 200 a month.

I would highly recommend a Hyundai. They have a great 10yr 100,000 mile warranty, and I'm extremely hard on my cars...

For whatever reason, probably lazyness, I never get my oil changed. I have put 55,000 miles on this car, and have had the oil changed once (I think it had 12,000 on it or so before it's first oil change)

but either way, I've had no troubles out of it. It works just as good as the first day I drove it off the lot.

[seanzarelli]

I wish I could help you out, but I had to finance through CarMax because my bank at the time were acting retarded about giving me a loan because I wasn't 21 yet and because I had ONE over-draft charge, which was actually their fault...

But anyways, my first car, was an 88 Ford Bronco II that got an amazing 100 miles to a tank of gas...Then it went to a 90 Ford Festiva where I had subwoofers the same size as my tires (12"...talk about embarrassing) but now I have a 2000 Mazda 626 which I really like, and got a good deal on it, $10,900 (and I put $2000) down, and it only had about 17,000 miles

[UncleMo]

My favorite subject.

RQ, With amazing credit, at 25k, the bank rate was 8.9 for a loan back in the fall of 2006. That would bring your car payments through the roof when you factor your monthly payment with insurance. And that is for someone with great credit. So, not wanting to put a crunch on my cashflow, I decided to go ultra conservative like those Dave Ramsey types. I bought what they call a "beater". I bought a Toyota Corolla that is very used, runs very well, saves me tons of money, and I got it for $5,200 bucks. I have 3k left to pay on it and bought it in October of 06. My car payments are $33 bucks a month and insurance on it was miniscule. I have had no problems with it. I bought the car using credit cards, with 0% interest. I say all that to say this: Do you really want to buy a brand new car and tie up your cashflow everymonth? If your answer is still yes, see about reducing your payments by using credit cards at as low of an interest rate you can. Worst case scenario, see about going to a credit union so you can get a better rate than a regular bank. Hope that helps. If you can resist the urge, walk away from the deal like I did. Everyone will call you crazy because they have a better looking car or whatever, but in the end, who always wins in the game of finance? The turtle, not the hare.

[sfgiantsflgators]

First car: 1990 Chevy Lumina

Graduation present: 1998 Dodge Avenger ES

In August of '05, I bought my first car - 2005 Dodge Stratus R/T. I love the fact that's it's 100% mine...don't love signing the checks. But thems the breaks I guess.

Good luck - and make sure you're ready to throw money around if you're set on buying new like I am.

[RaptorQuiz]

Update: I doubt anybody is truly concerned with my quest for a new vehicle - but just in case anybody was losing sleep over it:

I'm trying to get a new job. The job I just had my second interview for would actually pay me close to triple what I am currently making. Assuming I could perform the job well enough to KEEP it, this would make the car I am looking at MUUUUUCH more affordable.

So, basically, a nice, new job is the key to a better life and a nice, new car.

lol.

Anybody around here bought a brand new car lately?

This is a little bit different question, but I'm just wondering what cars people are buying, and how they like them?

[lautrec]

Raptor,

Here's a suggestion: Get a Certified Program car, something that will have around 6000-8000 miles on it, but will give you a MSO title (basically, you'll be considered first owner, and you'll get all warranties). GM has great program vehicles (these are cars that GM employees used for a short period of time) and they tend to be just like new. I bought a 2006 Tahoe XLT with 6,000 miles on it, with all the bells and whistles. Sticker price for that thing was 51,000, but with the program car, I ended up getting it for 34,000. I had to do some negotiating,but it can be done easily enough. What you save in buying a Certified Program car, is that spanking you get when you buy a brand new car. Essentially, when you buy a brand new car, you can't possibly sell it for what you paid for the second you drive it off the lot!

Remember, you get all applicable warranties and rebates, anything you'd noramally get with a brand new car, AND you will be first owner on the title.

AND, you can shop around for a bank loan. If you have decent credit, make it work for you. There are a TON of lenders out there, keep searching until you find one who will meet your needs. You can also get much accomplished throught the dealer. DO NOT settle for the first loan they may want you to sign up for if you don't like it.

The dealer will ask you "What do you want your payments to be?"

DON'T TELL THEM.

Tell the dealer, the type of vehicle you want(whichever one you have decided on), and the price you believe is fair, and what you want for a loan. Discuss the loan in terms of interest rates and years. You will have already arrived at how much the approx. payment will be. If they are close, then they probably know what they are doing, and are interested in selling you a car. It's OK for a dealership and/or its salesmen to be aggressive in selling to you...That's what they do. It's not OK for them to manipulate every aspect of the deal. Keep some of the control. The main thing is, you can compromise a little, but they have to be willing to do the same. Make sure, IN A NICE WAY, that you are willing to walk away at any time. If you can do this without being a jerk, they tend to believe that you know what you're doing, and will treat you accordingly.

YOU WILL NEED TO DO A BIT OF RESEARCH.

You need to decide the YOU are the one who knows what you can afford monthly for a car, then crunch some numbers, and be realistic.

Arm yourself before you go into a dealer, and STICK to your guns. Trust me, you can get what you want, if you are reasonable, and you know your stuff.

Good luck

[santadevil]

I bought my first car when I was 23. Just out of school, zero credit history.

I was financed through my bank, mainly because I had been a long time client of theirs. I ended up by a 2003 Toyota Matrix (needed a family car, because a little one was on the way).

Anyway, if you've been a long time client of the bank, try and get something that way.

However, if you do get financed by the dealership, you're likely to get a lot better interest rate and save more money in the long run.

[UncleMo]

"This is a little bit different question, but I'm just wondering what cars people are buying, and how they like them?"

If Krawhitham were here he would sum it up with "BUY AMERICAN!".

I switched from being a Honda guy to a Toyota guy because of the history of bad transmissions with Hondas.

Toyotas are superb, especially if you get the ones with Corolla engines. So far my short list of cars are the Corollas and the Scion xb. Both have the Corolla engines, both give you great gas mileage and the engines last forever, and you don't have to worry about a crappy transmission.

After talking to 3 professionals, the quality cars are Toyota, Honda, and then Nissan. Nissan's have better transmissions than Hondas.

If I have to buy another guy later this year, it will probably be yet another "beater", a used Toyota corolla or Scion xb.

[RaptorQuiz]

Mo, the Scion tC uses the Corolla motor as well.

And, since I work in the automotive repair industry (for the moment, I hope)... I see the cars that last and the ones that don't, and with varying levels of maintenance done by their owners.

Toyotas and Hondas DEFINATELY last the longest. In all honesty, it's the Nissans that have the most transmission problems in my experience. Either way, Nissan and Toyota want transmissions to be flushed every 15K to 30K miles. Honda can go more like 30K to 60K - but no matter what you buy - flushing the transmission fluid somewhat close to on-schedule is a good way to ensure the life of the vehicle.

[UncleMo]

Thanks for the tip.

I believe the Tc uses the camry engine.