Comments on: How Cars Affect your Financial Freedom – GS17

By: White Coat Investor

White Coat Investor — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:10:34 +0000

Amen brotha….

Car payments keep the poor and lower middle class in the poorhouse, and prevent the rest of us from getting rich.

By: Takeshi Yashima

Takeshi Yashima — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:42:08 +0000

thats a good psot…a simple car purchase can might affect your life seriously if not planned properly… every time you take new decision about your existing car- it would cost you to a certain extent… so it would be wise to plan it carefully, select the appropriate one and to maintain things carefully…

By: Jeff Crews

Jeff Crews — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:01:50 +0000

I recently bought a used Honda. I had family members who bought 2 new Hondas. Hondas have a pretty high resale value and are usually really reliable, so I don’t necessarily consider them a bad investment. One place you can save on your car is by actually going out and comparing car insurance companies. Maybe you have been with one company for years. Who says they have the best price? There are many companies looking for your business, and you should make sure you get the best deal.

By: Michael Morejon

Michael Morejon — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:17:57 +0000

Awesome stuff. I definitely agree, I wouldn’t buy a new car (agreeing with Dave Ramsay and your stuff

What’s the point? The car is going to be “old” in a year anyways. If I were to buy a 2010 car (today) it might be a “used car” but in 2010 it was “amazing!, new!, top of the line!” blah blah blah.

If you REALLY want a NICE new/used car, just get one that’s a few years old, not too many miles and it’s the practically the same thing.

By: Barry Myers

Barry Myers — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:58:46 +0000

Sounds like you read my book! I did what any self-respecting 22-year old who got his first big job would do – I bought a MERCEDES!!! STUPID! I now drive a ’97 Ford Ranger and have enough in the bank to replace it three or four times if it happens to die. I realized that having a DEPENDABLE car and cash in hand is always better than having a NICE car and impressing people who don’t know me.

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:58:31 +0000

We buy a new car every 25 years whether we need it or not. We buy Honda’s.

By: aemi

aemi — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:34:24 +0000

I am not for buying new cars. There are so many used available.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:42:39 +0000

Dave Ramsey would actually say it is OK, just depending on your financial status. He states he WANTS people to have nice things and enjoy them, even new cars.

By: Rebecca K

Rebecca K — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:16:31 +0000

We have one car that’s paid off (it’s my first car, never had a loan, and it’s still going strong!), and one that’s new-ish. However, I don’t feel badly about it, because when we got married ~2 years ago, my husband was LEASING….. (I’m the Dave Ramsey termed “nerd” in this house). We got a call from his dealership that his leased car model – used – was in high demand, so they wanted to pay off his lease 2 years early for him and let us get something else. So we traded in a lease for a newer car. At least now the payments are going towards something we’ll keep for a long time instead of the irresponsible lease. And when the rest of the debt is paid off in July, we’ll then pay the car off faster too.

By: J

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:45:25 +0000

I am a car nut, so for me a car is more than just transportation. Still, while starting early in my career, I suffered through owning a beat-up Toyota to save money (admittedly, it helped that I had an old Triumph TR6 project car to mess with). When I was twenty-eight years old in mid-2001, and with the Toyota virtually worthless but facing some huge repair costs, I finally bought my first “real” car . . . a 2000 Mustang GT with only 9,700 miles on it. While not cheap, I bought it for almost 20% less than a new one would have cost. I was getting married at the time and I didn’t want to deplete my entire bank account, so I financed about 75% of the purchase price. While some might think this somewhat of a frivolous purchase at the time, I paid the loan off several years early, and have since put an additional 150,000 miles on the car. Nearly eleven years after I bought it, the car is still running strong and I don’t regret my purchase one bit. Buying used and keeping the car forever has been key in meeting my other financial goals; the key as a car enthusiast is I bought something I knew I could be very happy with for a very long time.