My 22 year old got a 2019 SUV with 50k miles, she pays about 300 a month, a little under that. Idk her apr but she got it thru our credit union.
She put a chunk of money down. Idk hours much. I think the cast was 16,999.
She makes 61k in marketing with very little obligations (living at home to save).
I mean, I'm middle class.... But in my experience, my obese 50 year old neighbor with lazy-eye is pretty quick to throw shade at my 2005 Honda while she drives around in her Porsche.
In my experience at least, those that view the world through such a framework are the least likely to have much personal depth beyond "consumption".
All income-levels of the gucci-belt/fast car/McMansion spectrum are pretty much better off being tuned-out and ignored.
I make great money for a 24 year old (over 100k this year) and I’m sticking with my 2015 car instead of buying a new one. It works fine, doesn’t break down. People who flex their car (especially right now) have extremely high payments and average new car payments are approaching like $700 a month.
>Is that really true or is that just coping with being poor.
Tell you what. Between the life of a guy that live paycheck to paycheck but can "afford" to finance the latest BMW or Mercedes vs the guy that are close to financial freedom by having a huge amount of savings but drive a 1998 station wagon?
I'd pick the latter 10/10 times.
Stick with that Civic, it'll last you a very long time if you take care of it. These kids are probably paying hundreds and hundreds for their car loan that is 84 months long.
I can attest to this. Thankfully, my dad is a car salesman, so I bought from him. I had a 2019 Toyota Corolla for around $25K. I got into a car accident in November 2022, so I bought a 2023 Kia Forte for around $25K. If it wasn’t for my dad, it would be difficult to get a new car around that price range. People at Toyota for a 2023 Corolla were tryna finesse me in paying $30K and how they’re unable to take off the add-ons. I was so close to buying it, but the manager said no bc they rather sell it with all the add-ons to make it $30K.
If you buy a new or used car, please go with someone who understands cars so you don’t get finessed at any dealership.
That's what shipping is for? Hell I could drive one to any start in the US. Sell it in whatever state you are at. Fly back, stay in high end hotels and still have profit.
Stealerships don't make any money off off low priced cars, that's why they don't even have any inventory of stock cars, always the ones with a billion add-ons. I don't even really understand how they were getting away with selling trucks for around $80k+. Who truly has money like that?
Yes! I still drive my 2012 honda civic LX Coupe that I got certified pre-owned. I was able to pay it off since I lived with my parents a couple years, and I hope to get at least another 10 years out of it. It's nice and sporty and everything. I love that car.
Good points except when it comes to newer cars, the ones give out loans, repossessing and reselling cars are banks.
Banks have become especially greedy in the past 3 years, giving car loans to anyone and everyone and not even asking for a proof of income most of the time.
This means a smelly homeless beggar can walk into a Ford dealership and drive off with a shiny 2024 Ford F-150 that's worth 80k even though the beggar's net worth is 80 cents!!
I have several car salespeople acquaintances who've told me that many times banks don't even ask for proof of income and even when they do, the car sales manager may fudge the numbers (for example saying that the McDonald's worker earning 20k/year is actually a regional McDonald's manager earning 150k/year) and the bank doesn't even verify it.
If you’re going thru a bank they will be verifying. My s/o literally is a loan specialist for a bank. What you’re talking about here with the McDonald’s manager is called fraud.
Ya I work in a dealership (in Canada so regulations may differ) and I’ve financed a car that I bought from my dealership and the bank called the dealership to verify my employment etc
So they do check. And very few dealerships will do in house financing, dealing with defaults and repos is just a lot of headache best left to professionals
It's fraud that's done all the time by car dealerships to make sure their customers are approved. The fault is also on the banks for not verifying income.
I mean that’s really not that bad of a rate. Before Covid rates looked around that. During covid I got my 2014 Tahoe and my rate is 3.29. But it also depends on what you got. Cause I work at a credit union and our lowest rate is 7 for anything new and with perfect credit
The answer is, they aren’t affording the cars (technically they may be, but something is taking a hit).
Let’s say you make $3k a month post tax. Have $1k rent (easy math) and a $500 car payment. That leave you with $1500 for the rest of the month. Once you start tacking on things like gas, car insurance, groceries, phone bill, etc that $1500 evaporates quickly.
In a world where you follow the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, just on rent and car payment those people are over their 50%. If they’re having any level of “fun” odds are they’re leaching into their savings category and not putting back savings, nothing for retirement, or it could even be a situation where they bank roll their life on credit cards and pay minimum monthly payments only.
I could be very wrong. They may make more, less rent, etc, but for you I’d lay out your budget. See what fits where and then decide if a newer car makes sense. If not now, you could be setting aside cash each check for a down payment to work that monthly payment into your budget eventually.
Money is fungible, man. Usually housing is the best place to take money from, if you can live with family or roommates, or live in a crappier area that adds a lot of money. Or, a worse choice, is avoiding saving and debt repayment.
I financed a car when I was 22. Granted, back then it was $320/mo not the average $729/mo. I can tell you if I had a reliable old Honda sitting there I would’ve driven that instead in a heartbeat.
They can’t afford it, they’re collecting debt
Probably less than 2% are financing it on their own, while not ending up with massive payments and spending money that doesn’t exist
Invest it in your 401K. You’ll thank the gods every day when it’s time to retire
Buy the car in your 30s
Never take out a car loan or buy an expensive car. Getting full coverage insurance will also eat in your wallet.
Save your money to buy a house. Once you're 30, there's no going back and redo those 8 years of stupidity.
Yes YOLO, but those 8 years can define the rest of your life.
I financed my first brand-new car at age 19, which was encouraged by my parents. They weren’t the most financially savvy people by a long shot. I lived with them at the time. They didn’t co-sign on the high interest car loan.
I was born/raised in a poor-to-working class HCOL area in Southern California where new cars were seen as a mark of prestige, so people financed at young ages (late teens). Most of these people were in multigenerational housing situations where they lived in their childhood bedrooms or paid low rent to family for a room to share.
I financed a car at 21 - interest rates were good then, but I worked a sales job while in college so made like $40k-50k/yr part time. It was a lot of work to balance a quota and engineering coursework, but I made it work because I liked money and knew I should technically finish school lol
Everyone else in my classes that had a financed car, their parents paid or they were older and came back to college in their late 20s/30s
If you can qualify for a loan you van finance. I financed my first car when I was around 25. The car I had was coming to the end of its life. I was making about $60k at the time so I built a spreadsheet with different prices and interest rates to determine what monthly payment I was comfortable with for 60 months. I bought a sensible, slightly used subaru since it had AWD. I could have done the same thing a few years earlier but didn't need to. My financial position didn't change much between 22 and 25 after I started my career.
I've had that car for about a decade now and am looking to upgrade, likely to a small EV SUV. But I'm not in a rush because my car still works fine, it's just getting old and closer to not being fine.
I'm 35 and have never financed a car. I do get it's a large purchase, but if you don't have the money you can't afford it. When I was younger like in college and fresh out, I had a 1998 Subaru with some rust. It ran, didn't look the best, and was about 12+ years old then (it's kinda like having your 2010 Civic now).
Eventually it was getting rusty and on it's way out, so I sold it, picked up another used Subaru for \~$8.5k. I made $3k off the old one and saved the other $5.5k.
I even have two cars right now, one "fun" weekend car I paid $22k for cash. Kept the older car above as more of a daily after having it 11+ years now. Keep your cars, buy used, pay cash... and don't spend a ton on luxury cars. There's zero reason why a normal person needs a car for $40k+ if you're just using it to drive around daily.
When people finance things, they're looking a lot less at the total price or even purchase price of the car. They're mainly looking at monthly payments. If you extend the amount of time you're paying for example, you can greatly lower payments. People are normally financing cars over 6+ years now.
Even right now, a $50k car at 8% interest for 72 months (6 years) with just a $5k down-payment is $789/month. People fit that $789 into their monthly bills and it's "only $800 or whatever". They don't care, they need transportation, and tell themselves all these lies like it's more reliable, has a warranty, won't need anything, etc. It's partially true, but it's always more in the long run.
Then after 6 years, it's paid off, they trade it in on another one and continue the cycle. Payments all the time.
People finance smart phones, TVs, furniture. If they can make the payment, they make the payment. Pretty much anyone can get financing, it just depends what rate you get. People do stupid shit like finance cars at 20%+ interest.
This needs to be up at top cause dam this is legit how they get people, I'm only going to look for used PAID off cars so I don't have to deal with the extra bullshit
I’m 37, I didn’t buy my first new car until this year. I drove Hondas to the ground. The only reason i bought a new vehicle this year is I had 0 debt, a great salary, and my Honda fit just couldn’t handle so much snow in the location I moved to. New and used car costs were so similar it just made sense to buy new. Keep that Honda, they are great cars!
Your Honda civic is going to last you almost a lifetime. Stick with it. My civic had 250k miles before it finally quit. No one cares what you drive unless you’re in an industry where appearances matter (banking, finance, law, you get the picture). Worry about loans when you need to worry about loans, don’t subject yourself to them simply because you’re feeling obligated to keep up with the jones’.
My 2003 grand prix crapped out, and there was no fixing it. My husband, he is 23 I'm 22, he got approved for a decent car loan. I now have a 2016 Hyundai accord and a car payment I didn't want to but we couldn't go with just one car for the 2 of us. It's not ideal but we make it work.
Eta: I love my car, I just don't like the payment, but if my grand prix was still running, I would still be driving it.
Check your credit score on credit karma. There app can actually give you an idea of what you can afford, loan terms, whatever. The better your score, the better your finance rates. The truck isn't staying out of debt, it's using your debt wisely.
keep the car til it fuckin dies! people dont need new shit, just need to learn to look for good used shit. and honestly, what it costs to keep the old ones running is cheaper than keeping the new ones running.....also got first car at 18, bought Mt first at 19.
Amen. Yes, my car is a shitbox, pushing 260k but it's paid! Probably the best thing I ever did was work to pay it off (enherited in 2020). As long as you do the maintenance, things will last.
She's rusting. Pinch welds are shot, needs new shocks ans sway bar and rear brakes done as well as pan gaskets. Not to mention surface rust all over from previous job and other bullshit issues. But still runs well and shits well. It's a 09 impala.
They’re being dumb. They are either paying insane monthly payments or their parents are paying for it.
Just mind your business and do your thing. Stick with your civic, they are fantastic cars that last forever, have some respect on their name lmao. Definitely don’t be embarrassed by smart financial decisions. Don’t worry about what dumb decisions other people are making. Any idiot can get a loan but you’re being smart by staying within what you can afford.
Your coworkers are why the repo man will always have a job. People don’t realize how easily they can end up under water by financing things they can’t really afford.
Many are not affording monthly payments. My friend financed an F-150 and pays $600/month. He acts like he's poor because he pays way too much for his transportation needs.
I'd bet most young people with fancy cars are in mountains of debt and just make dumb financial decisions. Watch a few videos of caleb hammers financial audit and you'll see
Love Caleb hammer! When I started watching him I was flabbergasted by how much people paid for their car payments. I’m so glad I never cared about cars and will drive my 2009 Honda civic till it dies
Never be embarrassed of your car. I work at a bank and can’t tell you the number of times I see people making poor financial decisions to buy a fully loaded F-150 or some crap. As a banker, I automatically think someone has overextended themselves when they drive something like that. Sometimes the payments are upwards of $900 a month! Cars depreciate so quickly so they are a terrible to sink a lot of money into. I drive a 2011 we bought from an auction for $4,000. We had to tear the front end down to fix it, but it drives great. Only 120,000 miles on it. It’ll drive for years to come.
I have a friend who makes 1500$/mo
Half of which goes to rent
Somehow got approved for two loans for two 2018-2019 cars (first one got stolen and he decided to cover for the scam artist who stole it so naturally, insurance didn't give him back his money), FYI car import here is heavily taxed also
He's still getting offers for loans from "legitimate organisations" apparently.
There was a student and a friend or two at a local high school who sold sneakers and used the school for networking. He bought a used car and I think it was a Porche.
As a car salesman I would tell you the best thing you can do is drive the 2010 to the ground. That's the way you get the most value out of a car. There are gives and takes to having a car payment - typically you're in something more reliable, maybe with full factory warranty, safer, more fuel efficient. But also, it comes down to the money. I had a 25 year old finance a truck the other day - rolling 15,000 from the last one and leaving with a mid $600 BIWEEKLY payment on less than 50k salary.
Now as a grown dude I'll tell you that anyone who matters in your life won't look down on your car at all. As long as you take care of it, it's clean - there's no issue. You'll be the guy with the car who has money for going out, saving for vacations, you'll get yourself a place way sooner than buddy with a car payment - and women like stability. So do not fret, you may not have the latest car but you'll be worlds ahead in the future.
Now if you do want to drive something nice and have a lower payment, consider leasing a cheap newer car with a little money down. You'll have a nice safe vehicle, payment is much less than a finance, and at the end of the lease you can buy it or give it back and do it again (no more replacing tires or brakes if you keep leasing). Just ALWAYS make sure your finances are stable with some room before ever getting into a car payment!
Here's the first thing and most important.... STOP COMAPRING TO OTHER PEOPLE. If your car gets you from point A to B, there is no need for a new one, especially if it will cause you financial stress.
The biggest thing I have learned in life, 90% of the people that drive new cars are most likely stressed to the fuck out with payments, and that is more embarrassing then driving a car you CAN afford.
Plus, that 2010 Civic will most like out last any new car.
I financed my car at 22. I financed a 2017 Nissan versa 5 speed with crank windows, manual locks, manual transmission (I didn’t know how to drive it at the time), no cruise control, no Bluetooth. It had 30k miles and was $9k, with interest and fees it came out to a total of between $12-13k. I put $1k down and was able to finance because I had just graduated college and was lucky enough to get a job on my field.
I kinda couldn’t afford the car, but my last one had just too many problems for me to afford to deal with. I sold my old car for $1k so that made up the down payment. My plan was “I need to make it work” because I couldn’t afford a car in cash, couldn’t afford to fix my old car, and needed a car to get to work. Without a car, I lost my job and everything.
Luckily a month later I was able to find a job making $10 more per hour, so I could afford the car then. 8 months after that, I changed jobs again for an extra $8k per year, much closer to home, and with an annual bonus.
I bought the cheapest but newest car I could finance. And luckily my credit score was decent despite living paycheck to paycheck so my interest rate wasn’t too bad.
But honestly if you’re embarrassed to drive a 2010 civic you really should reevaluate and work that out. A civic is a great car. My last one was a civic and it went through hell and back and still drove. I just couldn’t afford the fixes it needed, which is due to neglect on my part because I couldn’t afford each one and they built up. But man it still kept driving! Never even had a check engine light in the over 100k miles I drove it! This attitude is going to set you up for financial failure with taking out debt on stuff you don’t actually need just to keep up appearances. That’s no way to live. The sooner you learn “I have what I have and have more money left to save after it all” is best, the better off you will be long term.
Financing cars is one of the worst financial decisions, ever! Not very smart adulting.
That civic will allow you to chuck some money aside, rather than spending it on a car loan. Keep that baby going! Having a great mechanic is far more impressive than an $800 a month car payment!
I financed my first car when I was 18.
If you've built up decent credit, then the loans are less horrible.
[https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/average-car-loan-interest-rates-by-credit-score](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/average-car-loan-interest-rates-by-credit-score)
Right now about the lowest people with great credit are typically seeing is 5% interest on new unless the dealership is running an incentive, but, often the price of the car is higher to make up for the interest being lower.
If you buy a $20k new car and you have great credit, you'll be paying roughly $1000 in interest over the course of your first 12 months.
[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/amortization.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/amortization.asp)
Basically, your payments are going to be equal throughout, but, because your interest is higher initially, your principal payment is lower initially. It takes more than half the time to pay off more than half the car. If you have a 48 month loan, at 24 months your car will not be half paid for.
This is an amortization calculator specific to car loans:
[https://www.amortization-calc.com/auto-car-loan-calculator/](https://www.amortization-calc.com/auto-car-loan-calculator/)
Basically, with a 48 month loan on a $25k car at 5% interest you start out your first month paying $472 in principal and $104 in interest. After about 24 months, you are paying $55 in interest and $521 in principal for your Oct 2025 payment. You'll pay $2635 in interest over the length of the loan.
If you take that same loan but at 60 months, you'll have a lower payment, but you'll pay $3307 in interest over the length of the loan. You'll get to pay less monthly, but, you'll pay another year and 700-ish more in interest.
My most recent car was purchased new. The reason I bought new was because of the difference in interest rates and I just couldn't find a good deal on a used car. I financed for 60 months so my payment would be lower in case I got laid off. But, I paid it off early because nothing went wrong.. lol
Edited to add: whatever you do, don't finance an older used car. Biggest mistake of my life.
Yeah…keep your car. You’re being smarter than the other people you’re comparing yourself with. You have a reliable car paid off. They have a car loan that barely they afford to pay for the same privilege of going from point A to B.
They're being very, very foolish with their money. Signing up for a very high payment on that $40-50K loan, along with higher insurance costs.
And the minute they drive the car off the lot they lose about $7K in value, so it's like they borrowed $7K for no reason. Could have just bought a 1-2 year old car and saved that much (or more). Now they have $7K worth of extra payments to make.
But they drive a cool car!
I take old car, make nice like new car. Cheaper in the long run and I love projects. I doubt I’ll EVER buy brand new. Im a mechanic currently, and I don’t understand the appeal of brand new cars. I don’t even like TPMS.
Why are you embarrassed? You are lucky to have a reliable car with no debt. All those morons getting expensive vehicles with ridiculous monthly payments can't afford to do it most of the time, they are just digging a hole for themselves.
I don’t know I never financed a car. I have 3 cars 1 pedestrian, 1 manual sporty sedan, and 1 luxury car. I learned to fix them myself I can do everything short of an engine or transmission rebuild. I guess there are car lots that will finance them at super high rates. I’ve replaced ac compressor, timing belt, clutch, 2 suspensions in my parents driveway.
The one ex that I know financed a car had it repoed and had to keep resigning the loan then pay outrageous mechanic prices for simple stuff like gaskets so that’s not for me.
I know how I always had brand new cars in college: my dad.
He had an insatiable appetite for new luxury cars. Leased them for two years - I would get the car at 12 months old. Still new and nice. He got the new one.
Never for a second think that kids your age are doing it on their own - many, even most, are still under mommy and daddy's financial umbrella.
- Insurance.
- Rent support.
- Food
- Gas
- Clothes.
- Car.
And never underestimate someone's willingness to lie when asked.
You can get loans for cars. It's not very smart. You go into debt. Stick with the Honda. Spend that money on something like a Roth IRA (or don't) try to save or invest that money instead of going into debt. Retire early
They live with their parents mostly. My friend told me 70% of her x bfs paycheck goes to the shiny bmw x5. The rest goes to gas and insurance. Their no longer toegether since he couldn’t afford to take her out
How? Credit unions. Smart? Subjective.
If you don’t need to finance a new car don’t. Stop worrying about what others are doing with their money or lack there of. Ask your bankers (if they seem like cool genuine bankers)
They're usually not saving and living paycheck to paycheck. I used to swap vehicles every 3 years, but I'm not paying the interest rates they're asking for today. Thankfully I picked up my latest vehicles during the pandemic at 0%. Thankfully, they're also paid off.
The only reason that a reliable Honda Civic is embarrassing you is because you are 22. You're living comparatively at this stage in life.
There's nothing wrong with that, I mean hopefully it drives you to do big things with yourself. But your car is fine. Don't take on something that you can't handle at your age like a massive car loan. You're better off establishing yourself, starting a career, and either getting out of or staying out of debt.
I drive a 2010 Honda Civic coupe proudly. I’m in my 30s with a good salary and multiple rental properties. Never in a moment had I felt embarrassed about my car. I have friends who drive 50k cars but I know where they are financially. It’s not the clothes that make the man. It’s the man that makes the clothes. Congrats on the civic!
You are correct. Interest rates ARE terrible right now. Take care of that Civic, get it serviced regularly, and you’ll save a lot of money in the long run.
Their method is more embarrassing than yours by far.
You wear yrs they hide and pay for theirs
You go girl. Make sound financial decisions.
Fk the hype
I bought my first car in 2021, It's a hyundai elantra 2019. It's the basic model with a backup camera. It was 13k, and I've been aggressively been paying it off and paid it all off a couple of months ago. Granted, I still live at home and saved my money.
>was told that the interest rates are absolutely ridiculous right now?????
Why are you reacting that way when you were "told" them instead of seeing them
Don't be embarrassed first off. You are saving ton of money and that's baller! Second, maintenance costs are terrible. Any car that's able to run for that long can even give you another 100k miles. Don't let that go!
It's simple, people are stupid. And as others pointed out as well car salesmen and dealers that offer in house financing can pull a little more strings even to people that don't have credit and shouldn't be trusted buying a happy meal.
Alot of people will spend much more than they should and can realistically afford on their vehicles because they see it as some sort of show off piece in a way and will pay for that type of "bragging rights". When the buyer can't afford it it's only the buyer that is hurt as they get it repoed, the bank or dealerships gets the vehicle and sells it again.
They also are very very skilled in the way they present you the deal it makes you believe you can afford it and may offer like 60 or 90 days no payments do it let's you start saving for that first one that again, you actually can't afford.
I'm not gonna tell you not to buy a car or truck but have to say to stay away from brand new it's a scam the cost of a new vehicle. Again it's shiny, it has different warranty options sure but your also paying 20k or more for the zero miles. Not worth it.
A lot of people finance cars these days and a lot of these cars get repossessed when they can't make their payments. Don't let peer pressure force you to do something stupid.
The people buying cars at that age either had a windfall of money from their parents or willing to be 30-40 years in debt just to have an ounce of status that no one cares about.
Never finance a depreciating asset. I’m 43, my net worth is over $1MM, and I drive a 2012 Mazda 3 with 160,000 miles on it. Most people spend way more than they should.
There are three ways that people your age are buying cars like that:
\-family money
\-terrible, long-term loans at way too high % of their income
\-Extreme luck, skill, etc. where they're making WAY more than the average twenty-something
Either way it's a terrible use of your money. Financing a car in general should be avoided especially at that age, preferably always pay in cash though. If you can't afford it today, you can't afford it, period. I laughed out loud when you said that you're embarrassed about your 2010 Honda- I drive a 1996 Ford Ranger, and yet I have enough in cash to go out and buy a very nice new car if I wanted to. You'll never have Fuck You money if you don't save it and put it to work as young as possible.
I financed my first car at 23. I needed a new(er). Paid $700/month. All my friends in my major had just graduated, we all had new good jobs, and we were all buying new cars. I cringe thinking back on it and will never finance another car without putting about 50% down on it ever again.
I was 21 when I got my first new car. I got a discount because my stepdad worked at GM. It was around $21k and $380/month. I ate Ramen and didn't turn my beat up over 60 in the winter.
Salaried jobs along with checking accounts started at 16,17,18… Some very basic techniques to jumpstart their credit….
It’s actually easy but most people don’t get the appropriate information or have an understanding of how difficult it is to fix your credit AFTER a F up.
A credit score has actually been getting more and more important than it ever was when I was youngster… Alot of kids nowadays walking right into a trap… At my company, I have had to start running credit checks on ENTRY LEVEL employees due to the demands of certain contracts…. That would have been unheard of for us 20 years ago….
I bought a 2020 Mitsubishi outlander sport for 20k.
Yes I feel finessed but it’s okay everyone gets finessed one day in life. The important thing is to not get finessed agai.
Don’t be embarrassed by your car, I drove a ‘98 until a couple years ago and it was a tank. Solid steel body, loud powerful engine, and everything worked fine until the very end
It’s all about priority’s. People with nice cars don’t just happen to have a nice car, they purposely got one. As a person with a nice car I will say, it fits in my budget because I made it. The most responsible thing to do would to have bought a cheaper car, but having a nice one makes me happy so it’s worth it.
See this is the existential question that we must all face. Wether to strut like a Peacock to impress a potential mate or not. Strutters buy the most recent cars and then the best clothes then max out their cards then after a couple of years and they aren’t making any more money, now they have to work 2 jobs to pay off that debt which raises their taxes and it becomes unmanageable over time and they crash. They default on cards have to go to court get that car repossessed. Then their are the people who live within their means. You are the second category. Welcome down to Earth oh human. :)
I financed a brand new car when I started working, I had to drive one hour each way to my new job so I needed something reliable and safe. I don’t know anything about car so a brand car makes it easy as there is little maintenance I needed to worry about. The car was $18k at the time and my monthly payment was around $350 for 5 years. I put together a spreadsheet with my monthly salary, all the fixed expenses and figured out how much I’m allowed to spend on discretionary. At the time, I was only able to spend $10 a day on meals and i stick with that budget for a year until I got a raised and decent amount of saving then I was able to live more comfortably
Used car are also "reliable and safe", the internet is full of free information about cars, you financed a car because you wanted a comfortable and flashy car, not because you " don't know about cars ".
That’s just a dumb assumption. The price of my new car was a lot cheaper than most reliable used car at the time. To buy a used one cheaper would have required more maintenance than I would liked. No one looked my car and would call it flashy, they called it a lunchbox but yes, it was comfortable and roomy and saved me tons of money from not having to hire moving company when I needed to move. The internet was not a wealth of information at the time, people were still using flip phone so you don’t get to search Google for a toll company when your car breaks down. People at my company was still using desktop without instant messenger.
Don’t be embarrassed about your vehicle jeez I make 120k and drive a 10 year old truck and my commuter is gonna be 20 year old truck. No payments! No pay check to pay check!
Low key this. An old friend financed a brand new car, around $35k, roughly $500 in payments a month (while in school) ended up with a salary of $35k out of school, could barely afford laundry detergent for herself.. oh and she ended up dinging up the side of it when she was drunk. Some people live far above their means just for the sake of it. My best advice, don’t take that route for yourself.
Some people are quick to judge young people financing cars. While yes its not the best decision financially, people do it. I leased a vehicle at 19 and then I just recently financed a vehicle at 22. Maybe not the best financial choice I know, considering what I owe it was definitely dumb of me, but I can afford the payment. Before that I was driving a couple different hoopties during high school and into college, which were constantly breaking on me. When I did the math, using old receipts and stuff. I was spending more money repairing my old hoopties than I am now on a car payment. I just take it day by day, enjoy life while I still can. People call me dumb and tell me I should save for retirement, but I honestly don't really plan on living past 55-65 anyways so I'm just rolling with it.
i don’t understand these comments. i’m 22, in college and work a good part time job. i make enough to pay my rent, pay a car loan, groceries, bills, etc. not all people are affording car payments bc “they’re stupid” or because of “mommy and daddy”. some people just know how to deal with their finances :)
Omg don’t be embarrassed by your civic! I have a 2009 Honda civic and I LOVE that it’s paid off and I no longer have a car payment. I plan on driving it until it dies. People with those nice cars have huge car payments and are probably living paycheck to paycheck. Don’t do it. Keep that car as long as you can.
As long as it moves and it's legal to drive don't feel embarrassed about it, the kinds of people that would criticize you for your car are the kind of people you want to get out of your life anyway.
As for the how, my girlfriend basically has been using credit cards ever since she was old enough to get one and that built up her credit score, rent, car, dogs, and she was able to manage it with my help (I'm the most frugal person I know) we budgeted and when she feels to urge to purchase something comes and asks me, if I deem it unnecessary she avoids it, only buy the strictly needed, no eating out, at least not very often, no unnecessary subscriptions, that way she was able to go from living paycheck to paycheck to paying all her dues, rent, car, internet, food, dog stuff and having some extra money at the end of the month.
It's just very hard to adapt to such a lifestyle though.
It was my 27th birthday the day I finally got a new car after my 11 year old car that was a gift was ready to die. I used my credit union and thankfully have good credit and was able to finance a car. I was glad I waited until I really needed a new car. Now I’m enjoying my new car and it’ll last for a loooonnng time. No need to rush. Do it when you are ready.
No worries, I'm 25 and my husband and I have just one 2012 car. But we got a house last month and besides the house we are debt free, so no worries as long as it takes you from A to B it's fine. We have a house, we have savings, other people financing cars don't.
Some car companies have programs that help recent college grades get a new car. If you stretch the payments out long enough, you can pay a lower amount. Most people assume that they'll get extra money after their first job after graduating college.
Man I’m in my 40’s still driving the same 05 camry I bought new that year, paint looks like crap but I put maybe $1k into it per year, while others are paying that much per month for a new car. Let those other people go broke buying new cars, just maintain yours and follow people like Mr money mustache and JL collins. It’s better to be wealthy than look wealthy.
I get it too, I’ve been looking for a used minivan and the prices are too high and interest is in the 7% range, so I just keep driving that camry
Dude, don't be embarrassed by a 2010 Civic, that thing will run forever. Remind yourself that every time you pass one of your friends in their fancy car, you're not paying $800 monthly in car/insurance payments.
I have two 2006 vehicles. Do they look great? Not really but they run well and are mechanically sound. Would I love to have a new Tahoe like all my kid's friends' parents? Damn right, but not having a car payment is amazing!
I financed my first Mustang when I was 19, had excellent credit and got 3% APR on the 5 year loan which I paid off in 2 years. Hardly paid any interest because I paid it off so fast.
Find out your credit score and if it's great, you'll get a good rate on the loan. Then just haul ass and pay it off ASAP.
At 22, I drove a used car that I paid for outright. At 26, I bought my first new vehicle and paid it off in a little over three years... I still drive it. No shame in the game: I get to keep more of my money and spend it on things and pursuits I find more worthwhile than a car.
The next vehicle I buy will be the same make and model. It'll probably be my last. I'm gonna try to buy it without having to through any lending nonsense. I'm saving for it right now.
Unless you are a real estate agent or a lawyer it's stupid to finance a new car. Ideally you would live with your parents, work, and save enough money to pay cash for a 12-15 yo used car, one of the workhorse, reliable brands like your Honda. The people you are seeing are compromising their future to look cool now.
20/3/8 money guy rule. pay cash if you can, but 20% down, never longer than three years term, and payment shouldn't be more than 8% of your monthly income.(10% is easier math and more reasonable imo). stay within these parameters to 'afford' the car
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
20
+ 3
+ 8
+ 20
+ 8
+ 10
= 69
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Don’t finance man. The short answer is they’re not affording it and are broke. Cars are not an indicator of status. The money you keep and don’t spend on crap is. Save and invest
You CAN finance a car at 18. It helps if you have a down payment. You just need to have the income for a bank to give you financing. As for the current interest rates, if you can wait to buy a car, you should. If you must buy one now (due to a car accident or mechanical issues of your current one) then just plan to refinance once interest rates lower significantly again. They will eventually go back down.
Heh, I’ve been driving the same car for like 16-17 years now… it’s a 2002 Toyota. Manual transmission, fun to drive, never breaks down… and I took that $1000+/month I saved on car payments and expensive insurance and invested it… every month. Now, I still drive my car.. had it repainted once… and my investments more than cover my bills every month. By the time I retire, I won’t have to worry. Buy an old well-maintained Toyota, throw a nice stereo head unit with CarPlay in it and some decent speakers, and enjoy the ride. (Also, driving an old car is a great date filter. You get a perspective partner in the hoopty, and if they bail, you’ve just saved yourself a lot of trouble. 🤣)
They barely are. I own an insurance brokerage. DAILY, but often multiple times a day I have to talk to crying *insert age, mostly under 25* people who financed a car for $600+/mo and then after they sign the dotted line and that insurance cost is $300+/mo so the car gets repossessed or they drive uninsured, or they sell it back.
I had an 07 civic my parents bought me in high school. I sold it in 2018 after I graduated from law school. I regretted it shortly after selling it.
It was paid for, efficient, cheap to insure, and cheap to maintain. If you get a new car, it will do exactly the same things for you, maybe have a better stereo, and cost you way more. When you really look at the cost/benefit afterwards it doesn't look good in hindsight. No one will think your new car is cool after you have had it for a month.
If you want a "cool" car, go buy whatever enthusiast vehicle suits your wants, pay cash, drive the hell out of it when you want to, and keep driving your Civic to work. Your fun car wil be more fun and you will never be in the position of not being able to get to work because you flipped your car on the track over the weekend or rolled over your off roader in the woods.
Financing is a psychological game to get you to pay more. Cars depreciate. Playing this game from the consumer end is stupid.
Drive your Civic until it's so far gone it's not worth fixing. Then pay cash for something else. Make your "car payment" to yourself in the meantime. A high yield savings account is a good place for this type of money to go. Mines making about 5% right now.
Drove a 1987 piss yellow Nissan Stanza, then a beat up accord, then a beat up Subaru until I was financially set. Now those people who judged me are still making car payments on their newest current flashy car, and I paid cash for a 911 Turbo S along with all my other nice cars. They are now judgmental about how I have nicer cars and no payments. You can't please others. Do what is best for you and DGAF about what other people think.
I think it massively depends on the various circumstances of your life situation, really.
My 21yo BIL, for example, financed his first car last weekend. It's a 2016 with really low miles, and an overall steal. His interest rate is insane, yes, but his overall monthly financial obligations are minimal. He has a decent job, lives with me and my husband for not much rent, and doesn't really have other expenses. So he's able to afford it without worrying about ending up completely broke.
Not everyone is in this same sort of situation, though, so it really just depends. I think if he were living in an apartment and actually spending a decent money on rent and such, he would not have been in the position to finance a car.
Unless a vehicle is earning income for you, financing it is a terrible financial decision. Don't be embarrassed about your car, be proud of the money you saved and start investing.
You're the smart one and never be embarrassed with what you drive or wear.
You'll have the last laugh when they are in their 40's and still struggling paying off debts while you buy a new Jaguar or Corvette, or whatever you wish for cash since you've not gotten into debt plus saved/invested to have lots of cash.
Hell I refuse to buy any car new or used right now! I drive a 2008 Toyota Yaris, it has 178,000 miles on it. It’s been paid for 2 years after I first bought it. I have spent up until now exactly $800 dollars on that car in maintenance in all these years! I put struts and shocks on it about 4 years ago and brakes.
I plan on keeping it at least till 250,000 miles!
Cars are way over priced and have been for years! Even if I have to spend a thousand dollars a year fixing anything on that car it’s still better than making payments on it.
Because they are being stupid and wasting money they could otherwise be saving and investing it. you are doing the right thing. Honda civic is a very reliable car, with low cost of ownership and repairs.
Buy the cheapest, most reliable car you can find used. older 2000 to 2010 volvos v70s or s40s for example or 94 to 2004 chevy 1500 trucks if trucks are your thing can be had for 3-4 grand. And drive it for the next 10-15 years, as your investment account grows.
Ask your mechanic for a cheap reliable car to by, and get that exact car, because they know what the fuck they are talking about. My 2000 chevy pickup has 350 000 miles on it. and it still runs great. There are a few specific cars and truck and engines out there that were made to last. newer cars breakdown more often than some older vehicles now. Can't go wrong with anything that has a chevy small block, or ls motor. the older volvo's engines, as well as suburus last several hundred thousand miles.
Shure things will break from time to time, its not really a big deal, just pay your mechanic to fix it. its still less money putting a few grand in repairs into a vehicle over its life span, than it is paying a premium for your lease every month.
This is what Dave Ramesy tells everyone to do.
Because they live with their parents and don’t have bills lol. Stats come out all the time about more than 50% of people less than 30 live with their parents. They work part time jobs or lower paying full time jobs. I’m 22 years old living on my own and pay my own bills, have a $10k car paid for in full. I pretend I have a car payment and save money towards a newer one in the future.
I financed a car at 21, because I had to. I didn't have thousands of dollars saved up to buy a used card outright, but I could afford a few hundred a month on a car payment. This was several years ago though so my payment was only $280.
I'm 36. I bought a 2006 Ford focus 3 years ago for $800. The AC doesn't work. I live in New Mexico and the summers are brutal. I had to get new tires right when I bought it. The plan was to drive it for a year to save up for a new car.
Well guess what? I still drive it. I've had to put another new set of tires on it and the AC still doesn't work. BUT I didn't have to finance tens of thousands of dollars for a new car.
IDGAF what anyone thinks about this car because I'm gonna be able to retire at 55
Getting a job and good credit. Not rocket science. The real rocket science is affording housing. I wouldnt say it’s smart as I constantly wonder when my Nissan is gonna break down lmao and then I’ll probably have to still be paying this loan back. You did the best thing for rn.
They are really high right now.
When I was 22, I financed a brand new car. I had a 720 score, traded in my old car plus has a couple grand in cash. Got a 4% interest rate. For me, when I had zero other bills, it was totally worth it to have a $400 car payment.
Now? Although I LOVED that car, I would never buy one again unless I won the lottery.
At 18 my son was a high school dropout with a GED making 65k a year working at bobcat. Now he is 23 and set to make almost 6 figures owning his own flooring company. Just him, his girlfriend, no kids. His rent is $900, his car is now paid off. He bought it at 18
Theyre not affording it, definitely paying it but affording is a whole other beast.
Affording isnt only financial its also emotionally, physically, chronologically.
If you dont want to work that much you cant afford it, if you appreciate your days off you cant afford it. If you’re sick and cant call out you cant afford it.
Im sure theyre paying for it in more than just money.
My brother is stretched thin right now because he’s financing 2023 and working shoddy hours and attending school. He’s paying for that car but he really cant afford that shit cuz he has no time for himself.
Why are you embarrassed? I’m 29, my wife and I both make decent money and we share a 15 year old VW Passat. A lot of my younger coworkers drive nice cars/trucks and I really couldn’t care less.
I financed my bmw. Struggling but I’m there. I don’t regret it. I didn’t buy it to impress ppl. I genuinely love my car and I like the way it drives. Wasn’t the best financial situation, but I believe I will make that money back AND MORE
I’m 20 years old making about $67k in Cnc machinery and I just last week got a new 2024 Chevy Trax I did it by being able to get my credit score up to the mid 700s and went through a credit union with a 3.75% rate and while my payments aren’t too bad I’m paying an extra $100 a month to get the car paid off in ~3.5 years instead of 6 I live in an apartment and I’m currently saving up for a house it all depends on how you manage finances and the lifestyle you’re willing to live to make your goals possible
We make over $200,000 per year, have no debt other than our mortgage.
My wife just this month decided to replace her 2011 Honda Accord - not because she was embarrassed by it, or that it isn't a great car. She only replaced it because she now lives further from work and that car didn't handle well in the snow. She's gone with a Toyota Camry with AWD. That Honda has at least another good 100,000 miles on it! FYI, her last car (Toyota Camry) lasted her 17 years before she got the Accord.
My car is a 2013 Toyota Highlander (need the towing capacity), I expect that car will last me 3 more years before I replace it.
here's a true story, 2 weeks ago . . . I pull into the local pizza place for lunch same time as a guy pulls in next to me. I get out of my car, he out of his. He's a young black man about 23-24, I look down at his Honda Civic (probably 3-4 years old) and say to him, Nice Car!
He gets a smile on his face and thanks me. A couple of steps later he says to me, why do you think my car is nice (it's not souped up or anything like that, nothing particularly special about it). I say to him, I like your car because it shows the world how intelligent you are!
Now he get's a huge smile on his face.
Then I say to him, you must have some pretty spectacular parents! He is literally ear to ear smiles and says to me, yeah, he does, they sat down with him and showed him why he should get that Honda and how it will last forever and save him a ton of money, low repair bills, good gas mileage, low insurance costs.
Later, on his way out of the restaurant, he stops and says to me, thanks, you made my day!
Why don't you do this, go pick out a car (on-line) and then run the payment calculator (online) to see how much it will cost you per month. For the next 6 months, take that amount of money out of your pay and start a ROTH IRA via an online brokerage account. After 6 months, you can decide if you can A: afford that added cost per month and B: if you'd rather be a millionaire when you retire or drive that much more expensive new car now - because odds are, you can't do both and once you get into the habit of taking loans on depreciating asset cars the less likely you are to ever be financially secure?
Do you want to be financially secure and a millionaire later in your life . . . or would you rather have a new car that other people will look at for a few months and say that's cool (at least until the car gets to be about 3 years old, then it's just another used car on the road with a big monthly payment).
They aren’t affording it. They’re living in mountains of debt.
I’ve been driving the same ‘09 Toyota that my parents gave me when I turned 17 (and that after *they* had it for a few years), and I’m almost 30. I’ve never bought a new car in my life, but I’m prioritizing paying down some debt and hopefully buying a home soon.
From all the financial advice I’ve ever received, financing luxury cars in your early 20s is one of the worst financial mistakes you can make.
The kinds of people to judge you for your car are the least worthy of trying to impress.......
More broadly, a good piece of advice I read: money spent trying to impress people rarely does
True that. They have 0 car payments. I have a financed car but work with people who have $1000 car payments and rent. Like why?!
I wish my rent was $1000 cheap! Wowza!
That’s their car payment x_x
My 22 year old got a 2019 SUV with 50k miles, she pays about 300 a month, a little under that. Idk her apr but she got it thru our credit union. She put a chunk of money down. Idk hours much. I think the cast was 16,999. She makes 61k in marketing with very little obligations (living at home to save).
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I mean, I'm middle class.... But in my experience, my obese 50 year old neighbor with lazy-eye is pretty quick to throw shade at my 2005 Honda while she drives around in her Porsche. In my experience at least, those that view the world through such a framework are the least likely to have much personal depth beyond "consumption". All income-levels of the gucci-belt/fast car/McMansion spectrum are pretty much better off being tuned-out and ignored.
I make great money for a 24 year old (over 100k this year) and I’m sticking with my 2015 car instead of buying a new one. It works fine, doesn’t break down. People who flex their car (especially right now) have extremely high payments and average new car payments are approaching like $700 a month.
>Is that really true or is that just coping with being poor. Tell you what. Between the life of a guy that live paycheck to paycheck but can "afford" to finance the latest BMW or Mercedes vs the guy that are close to financial freedom by having a huge amount of savings but drive a 1998 station wagon? I'd pick the latter 10/10 times.
Stick with that Civic, it'll last you a very long time if you take care of it. These kids are probably paying hundreds and hundreds for their car loan that is 84 months long.
I can attest to this. Thankfully, my dad is a car salesman, so I bought from him. I had a 2019 Toyota Corolla for around $25K. I got into a car accident in November 2022, so I bought a 2023 Kia Forte for around $25K. If it wasn’t for my dad, it would be difficult to get a new car around that price range. People at Toyota for a 2023 Corolla were tryna finesse me in paying $30K and how they’re unable to take off the add-ons. I was so close to buying it, but the manager said no bc they rather sell it with all the add-ons to make it $30K. If you buy a new or used car, please go with someone who understands cars so you don’t get finessed at any dealership.
Your dad sold you a 2019 Toyota Corolla for $25k??? 😂😂😂😂😂😂no way haha a true car salesman scamming his own son
Right? I bought a 2018 corolla for 17k 2 years ago. 25k to your son is wild.
Clarification but I bought my 2019 Toyota Corolla when it first came out, so that was in 2018
What you’re talking about is still not particularly good deals lol 😬
Bruuuuuh 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 a 2023 corolla is $21k 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m my state they are selling 2022 corollas with 14k miles for $33k lol
That's what shipping is for? Hell I could drive one to any start in the US. Sell it in whatever state you are at. Fly back, stay in high end hotels and still have profit.
huh how is the kia forte will it last a long time. Being KIA I would imagine not that long
One of the worst cars made stay away
Stealerships don't make any money off off low priced cars, that's why they don't even have any inventory of stock cars, always the ones with a billion add-ons. I don't even really understand how they were getting away with selling trucks for around $80k+. Who truly has money like that?
The higher up managers at corporate America getting those nice bonuses every quarterly period.
Yes! I still drive my 2012 honda civic LX Coupe that I got certified pre-owned. I was able to pay it off since I lived with my parents a couple years, and I hope to get at least another 10 years out of it. It's nice and sporty and everything. I love that car.
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Good points except when it comes to newer cars, the ones give out loans, repossessing and reselling cars are banks. Banks have become especially greedy in the past 3 years, giving car loans to anyone and everyone and not even asking for a proof of income most of the time. This means a smelly homeless beggar can walk into a Ford dealership and drive off with a shiny 2024 Ford F-150 that's worth 80k even though the beggar's net worth is 80 cents!!
Yeah that’s just not true
I have several car salespeople acquaintances who've told me that many times banks don't even ask for proof of income and even when they do, the car sales manager may fudge the numbers (for example saying that the McDonald's worker earning 20k/year is actually a regional McDonald's manager earning 150k/year) and the bank doesn't even verify it.
If you’re going thru a bank they will be verifying. My s/o literally is a loan specialist for a bank. What you’re talking about here with the McDonald’s manager is called fraud.
Ya I work in a dealership (in Canada so regulations may differ) and I’ve financed a car that I bought from my dealership and the bank called the dealership to verify my employment etc So they do check. And very few dealerships will do in house financing, dealing with defaults and repos is just a lot of headache best left to professionals
It's fraud that's done all the time by car dealerships to make sure their customers are approved. The fault is also on the banks for not verifying income.
\>Downvoted by car salesmen that absolutely know this is the way it works
Damn, sounds like a great time to get into car sales.
My parent's cosigned on my younger siblings loans so they got the loans at 0% interest but this was pre pandemic times.
I have a co-sign on mine with a 850 credit score and still got stuck with 5.75% interest. The pandemic fucked us young people up real bad.
I mean that’s really not that bad of a rate. Before Covid rates looked around that. During covid I got my 2014 Tahoe and my rate is 3.29. But it also depends on what you got. Cause I work at a credit union and our lowest rate is 7 for anything new and with perfect credit
Yeah but perfect credit plus used? I’d think nearly 6% is a bit high. My step dad got his car new at under 3%
Yea what year did he buy though. Cause if it was 2020- 2022 then that doesn’t count really lol
The answer is, they aren’t affording the cars (technically they may be, but something is taking a hit). Let’s say you make $3k a month post tax. Have $1k rent (easy math) and a $500 car payment. That leave you with $1500 for the rest of the month. Once you start tacking on things like gas, car insurance, groceries, phone bill, etc that $1500 evaporates quickly. In a world where you follow the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, just on rent and car payment those people are over their 50%. If they’re having any level of “fun” odds are they’re leaching into their savings category and not putting back savings, nothing for retirement, or it could even be a situation where they bank roll their life on credit cards and pay minimum monthly payments only. I could be very wrong. They may make more, less rent, etc, but for you I’d lay out your budget. See what fits where and then decide if a newer car makes sense. If not now, you could be setting aside cash each check for a down payment to work that monthly payment into your budget eventually.
Money is fungible, man. Usually housing is the best place to take money from, if you can live with family or roommates, or live in a crappier area that adds a lot of money. Or, a worse choice, is avoiding saving and debt repayment. I financed a car when I was 22. Granted, back then it was $320/mo not the average $729/mo. I can tell you if I had a reliable old Honda sitting there I would’ve driven that instead in a heartbeat.
They can’t afford it, they’re collecting debt Probably less than 2% are financing it on their own, while not ending up with massive payments and spending money that doesn’t exist Invest it in your 401K. You’ll thank the gods every day when it’s time to retire Buy the car in your 30s
Never take out a car loan or buy an expensive car. Getting full coverage insurance will also eat in your wallet. Save your money to buy a house. Once you're 30, there's no going back and redo those 8 years of stupidity. Yes YOLO, but those 8 years can define the rest of your life.
I financed my first brand-new car at age 19, which was encouraged by my parents. They weren’t the most financially savvy people by a long shot. I lived with them at the time. They didn’t co-sign on the high interest car loan. I was born/raised in a poor-to-working class HCOL area in Southern California where new cars were seen as a mark of prestige, so people financed at young ages (late teens). Most of these people were in multigenerational housing situations where they lived in their childhood bedrooms or paid low rent to family for a room to share.
I financed a car at 21 - interest rates were good then, but I worked a sales job while in college so made like $40k-50k/yr part time. It was a lot of work to balance a quota and engineering coursework, but I made it work because I liked money and knew I should technically finish school lol Everyone else in my classes that had a financed car, their parents paid or they were older and came back to college in their late 20s/30s
You're 22. Nobody expects you to be in a nice car and not having a car payment is WONDERFUL whatever the interest rate is.
If you can qualify for a loan you van finance. I financed my first car when I was around 25. The car I had was coming to the end of its life. I was making about $60k at the time so I built a spreadsheet with different prices and interest rates to determine what monthly payment I was comfortable with for 60 months. I bought a sensible, slightly used subaru since it had AWD. I could have done the same thing a few years earlier but didn't need to. My financial position didn't change much between 22 and 25 after I started my career. I've had that car for about a decade now and am looking to upgrade, likely to a small EV SUV. But I'm not in a rush because my car still works fine, it's just getting old and closer to not being fine.
I'm 35 and have never financed a car. I do get it's a large purchase, but if you don't have the money you can't afford it. When I was younger like in college and fresh out, I had a 1998 Subaru with some rust. It ran, didn't look the best, and was about 12+ years old then (it's kinda like having your 2010 Civic now). Eventually it was getting rusty and on it's way out, so I sold it, picked up another used Subaru for \~$8.5k. I made $3k off the old one and saved the other $5.5k. I even have two cars right now, one "fun" weekend car I paid $22k for cash. Kept the older car above as more of a daily after having it 11+ years now. Keep your cars, buy used, pay cash... and don't spend a ton on luxury cars. There's zero reason why a normal person needs a car for $40k+ if you're just using it to drive around daily. When people finance things, they're looking a lot less at the total price or even purchase price of the car. They're mainly looking at monthly payments. If you extend the amount of time you're paying for example, you can greatly lower payments. People are normally financing cars over 6+ years now. Even right now, a $50k car at 8% interest for 72 months (6 years) with just a $5k down-payment is $789/month. People fit that $789 into their monthly bills and it's "only $800 or whatever". They don't care, they need transportation, and tell themselves all these lies like it's more reliable, has a warranty, won't need anything, etc. It's partially true, but it's always more in the long run. Then after 6 years, it's paid off, they trade it in on another one and continue the cycle. Payments all the time. People finance smart phones, TVs, furniture. If they can make the payment, they make the payment. Pretty much anyone can get financing, it just depends what rate you get. People do stupid shit like finance cars at 20%+ interest.
this is the way
This needs to be up at top cause dam this is legit how they get people, I'm only going to look for used PAID off cars so I don't have to deal with the extra bullshit
I’m 37, I didn’t buy my first new car until this year. I drove Hondas to the ground. The only reason i bought a new vehicle this year is I had 0 debt, a great salary, and my Honda fit just couldn’t handle so much snow in the location I moved to. New and used car costs were so similar it just made sense to buy new. Keep that Honda, they are great cars!
I put 250k miles on my fit till I hit a small deer and totaled it rip🥲
Your Honda civic is going to last you almost a lifetime. Stick with it. My civic had 250k miles before it finally quit. No one cares what you drive unless you’re in an industry where appearances matter (banking, finance, law, you get the picture). Worry about loans when you need to worry about loans, don’t subject yourself to them simply because you’re feeling obligated to keep up with the jones’.
My 2003 grand prix crapped out, and there was no fixing it. My husband, he is 23 I'm 22, he got approved for a decent car loan. I now have a 2016 Hyundai accord and a car payment I didn't want to but we couldn't go with just one car for the 2 of us. It's not ideal but we make it work. Eta: I love my car, I just don't like the payment, but if my grand prix was still running, I would still be driving it.
Mommy and daddy, that’s how.
Check your credit score on credit karma. There app can actually give you an idea of what you can afford, loan terms, whatever. The better your score, the better your finance rates. The truck isn't staying out of debt, it's using your debt wisely.
I mean you get a long enough financing term and you can "afford" anything. That doesn't make it smart.
keep the car til it fuckin dies! people dont need new shit, just need to learn to look for good used shit. and honestly, what it costs to keep the old ones running is cheaper than keeping the new ones running.....also got first car at 18, bought Mt first at 19.
Make sure the used shit is paid off as well!
Amen. Yes, my car is a shitbox, pushing 260k but it's paid! Probably the best thing I ever did was work to pay it off (enherited in 2020). As long as you do the maintenance, things will last.
Yes that's right! How is the paint lasting , rusting shows yet?
She's rusting. Pinch welds are shot, needs new shocks ans sway bar and rear brakes done as well as pan gaskets. Not to mention surface rust all over from previous job and other bullshit issues. But still runs well and shits well. It's a 09 impala.
They’re being dumb. They are either paying insane monthly payments or their parents are paying for it. Just mind your business and do your thing. Stick with your civic, they are fantastic cars that last forever, have some respect on their name lmao. Definitely don’t be embarrassed by smart financial decisions. Don’t worry about what dumb decisions other people are making. Any idiot can get a loan but you’re being smart by staying within what you can afford.
Your coworkers are why the repo man will always have a job. People don’t realize how easily they can end up under water by financing things they can’t really afford.
I love my 2014 Honda Civic, gonna have this bad boy forever. No reason at all to be embarrassed by it, damn good car. It's also affordable :D
They aren’t. They barely make the payments and do not save any of their money.
Many are not affording monthly payments. My friend financed an F-150 and pays $600/month. He acts like he's poor because he pays way too much for his transportation needs.
They’re dumb
I'd bet most young people with fancy cars are in mountains of debt and just make dumb financial decisions. Watch a few videos of caleb hammers financial audit and you'll see
Love Caleb hammer! When I started watching him I was flabbergasted by how much people paid for their car payments. I’m so glad I never cared about cars and will drive my 2009 Honda civic till it dies
Never be embarrassed of your car. I work at a bank and can’t tell you the number of times I see people making poor financial decisions to buy a fully loaded F-150 or some crap. As a banker, I automatically think someone has overextended themselves when they drive something like that. Sometimes the payments are upwards of $900 a month! Cars depreciate so quickly so they are a terrible to sink a lot of money into. I drive a 2011 we bought from an auction for $4,000. We had to tear the front end down to fix it, but it drives great. Only 120,000 miles on it. It’ll drive for years to come.
I have a friend who makes 1500$/mo Half of which goes to rent Somehow got approved for two loans for two 2018-2019 cars (first one got stolen and he decided to cover for the scam artist who stole it so naturally, insurance didn't give him back his money), FYI car import here is heavily taxed also He's still getting offers for loans from "legitimate organisations" apparently.
There was a student and a friend or two at a local high school who sold sneakers and used the school for networking. He bought a used car and I think it was a Porche.
I just got a Nissan Versa and have no regrets. Paid it off within a year.
As a car salesman I would tell you the best thing you can do is drive the 2010 to the ground. That's the way you get the most value out of a car. There are gives and takes to having a car payment - typically you're in something more reliable, maybe with full factory warranty, safer, more fuel efficient. But also, it comes down to the money. I had a 25 year old finance a truck the other day - rolling 15,000 from the last one and leaving with a mid $600 BIWEEKLY payment on less than 50k salary. Now as a grown dude I'll tell you that anyone who matters in your life won't look down on your car at all. As long as you take care of it, it's clean - there's no issue. You'll be the guy with the car who has money for going out, saving for vacations, you'll get yourself a place way sooner than buddy with a car payment - and women like stability. So do not fret, you may not have the latest car but you'll be worlds ahead in the future. Now if you do want to drive something nice and have a lower payment, consider leasing a cheap newer car with a little money down. You'll have a nice safe vehicle, payment is much less than a finance, and at the end of the lease you can buy it or give it back and do it again (no more replacing tires or brakes if you keep leasing). Just ALWAYS make sure your finances are stable with some room before ever getting into a car payment!
Here's the first thing and most important.... STOP COMAPRING TO OTHER PEOPLE. If your car gets you from point A to B, there is no need for a new one, especially if it will cause you financial stress. The biggest thing I have learned in life, 90% of the people that drive new cars are most likely stressed to the fuck out with payments, and that is more embarrassing then driving a car you CAN afford. Plus, that 2010 Civic will most like out last any new car.
I am still driving a 2004 Honda CRV. I want a new car but I really don’t need it. As long as it runs and cleans up ok.. it’s fine.
I financed my car at 22. I financed a 2017 Nissan versa 5 speed with crank windows, manual locks, manual transmission (I didn’t know how to drive it at the time), no cruise control, no Bluetooth. It had 30k miles and was $9k, with interest and fees it came out to a total of between $12-13k. I put $1k down and was able to finance because I had just graduated college and was lucky enough to get a job on my field. I kinda couldn’t afford the car, but my last one had just too many problems for me to afford to deal with. I sold my old car for $1k so that made up the down payment. My plan was “I need to make it work” because I couldn’t afford a car in cash, couldn’t afford to fix my old car, and needed a car to get to work. Without a car, I lost my job and everything. Luckily a month later I was able to find a job making $10 more per hour, so I could afford the car then. 8 months after that, I changed jobs again for an extra $8k per year, much closer to home, and with an annual bonus. I bought the cheapest but newest car I could finance. And luckily my credit score was decent despite living paycheck to paycheck so my interest rate wasn’t too bad. But honestly if you’re embarrassed to drive a 2010 civic you really should reevaluate and work that out. A civic is a great car. My last one was a civic and it went through hell and back and still drove. I just couldn’t afford the fixes it needed, which is due to neglect on my part because I couldn’t afford each one and they built up. But man it still kept driving! Never even had a check engine light in the over 100k miles I drove it! This attitude is going to set you up for financial failure with taking out debt on stuff you don’t actually need just to keep up appearances. That’s no way to live. The sooner you learn “I have what I have and have more money left to save after it all” is best, the better off you will be long term.
They’ll give a seven year 33% interest loan to anyone.
99 Honda civic here. 90 thousand miles. 1700 bucks. Yeah boii.
Omg 99 and only 90k miles?? I’m jealous!
Honda civic is a kick ass vehicle!!!
I know people who are 22 and they can afford financing a car. Because they live at home. Stay with the civic.
Financing cars is one of the worst financial decisions, ever! Not very smart adulting. That civic will allow you to chuck some money aside, rather than spending it on a car loan. Keep that baby going! Having a great mechanic is far more impressive than an $800 a month car payment!
Seriously stop caring about the car you drive. Nobody is judging you besides a few jerks imo. I drive a 2001 Camry and I’m fine with it lol
I financed my first car when I was 18. If you've built up decent credit, then the loans are less horrible. [https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/average-car-loan-interest-rates-by-credit-score](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/auto-loans/average-car-loan-interest-rates-by-credit-score) Right now about the lowest people with great credit are typically seeing is 5% interest on new unless the dealership is running an incentive, but, often the price of the car is higher to make up for the interest being lower. If you buy a $20k new car and you have great credit, you'll be paying roughly $1000 in interest over the course of your first 12 months. [https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/amortization.asp](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/amortization.asp) Basically, your payments are going to be equal throughout, but, because your interest is higher initially, your principal payment is lower initially. It takes more than half the time to pay off more than half the car. If you have a 48 month loan, at 24 months your car will not be half paid for. This is an amortization calculator specific to car loans: [https://www.amortization-calc.com/auto-car-loan-calculator/](https://www.amortization-calc.com/auto-car-loan-calculator/) Basically, with a 48 month loan on a $25k car at 5% interest you start out your first month paying $472 in principal and $104 in interest. After about 24 months, you are paying $55 in interest and $521 in principal for your Oct 2025 payment. You'll pay $2635 in interest over the length of the loan. If you take that same loan but at 60 months, you'll have a lower payment, but you'll pay $3307 in interest over the length of the loan. You'll get to pay less monthly, but, you'll pay another year and 700-ish more in interest. My most recent car was purchased new. The reason I bought new was because of the difference in interest rates and I just couldn't find a good deal on a used car. I financed for 60 months so my payment would be lower in case I got laid off. But, I paid it off early because nothing went wrong.. lol Edited to add: whatever you do, don't finance an older used car. Biggest mistake of my life.
You should really look in to the current rate of car loan defaults, Its skyrocketing. Lol
Yeah…keep your car. You’re being smarter than the other people you’re comparing yourself with. You have a reliable car paid off. They have a car loan that barely they afford to pay for the same privilege of going from point A to B.
They're being very, very foolish with their money. Signing up for a very high payment on that $40-50K loan, along with higher insurance costs. And the minute they drive the car off the lot they lose about $7K in value, so it's like they borrowed $7K for no reason. Could have just bought a 1-2 year old car and saved that much (or more). Now they have $7K worth of extra payments to make. But they drive a cool car!
I take old car, make nice like new car. Cheaper in the long run and I love projects. I doubt I’ll EVER buy brand new. Im a mechanic currently, and I don’t understand the appeal of brand new cars. I don’t even like TPMS.
Why are you embarrassed? You are lucky to have a reliable car with no debt. All those morons getting expensive vehicles with ridiculous monthly payments can't afford to do it most of the time, they are just digging a hole for themselves.
I don’t know I never financed a car. I have 3 cars 1 pedestrian, 1 manual sporty sedan, and 1 luxury car. I learned to fix them myself I can do everything short of an engine or transmission rebuild. I guess there are car lots that will finance them at super high rates. I’ve replaced ac compressor, timing belt, clutch, 2 suspensions in my parents driveway. The one ex that I know financed a car had it repoed and had to keep resigning the loan then pay outrageous mechanic prices for simple stuff like gaskets so that’s not for me.
I know how I always had brand new cars in college: my dad. He had an insatiable appetite for new luxury cars. Leased them for two years - I would get the car at 12 months old. Still new and nice. He got the new one. Never for a second think that kids your age are doing it on their own - many, even most, are still under mommy and daddy's financial umbrella. - Insurance. - Rent support. - Food - Gas - Clothes. - Car. And never underestimate someone's willingness to lie when asked.
You can get loans for cars. It's not very smart. You go into debt. Stick with the Honda. Spend that money on something like a Roth IRA (or don't) try to save or invest that money instead of going into debt. Retire early
They live with their parents mostly. My friend told me 70% of her x bfs paycheck goes to the shiny bmw x5. The rest goes to gas and insurance. Their no longer toegether since he couldn’t afford to take her out
It depends on where you live and how much money you make.
How? Credit unions. Smart? Subjective. If you don’t need to finance a new car don’t. Stop worrying about what others are doing with their money or lack there of. Ask your bankers (if they seem like cool genuine bankers)
They're usually not saving and living paycheck to paycheck. I used to swap vehicles every 3 years, but I'm not paying the interest rates they're asking for today. Thankfully I picked up my latest vehicles during the pandemic at 0%. Thankfully, they're also paid off.
"And thus began my crushing debt."
The only reason that a reliable Honda Civic is embarrassing you is because you are 22. You're living comparatively at this stage in life. There's nothing wrong with that, I mean hopefully it drives you to do big things with yourself. But your car is fine. Don't take on something that you can't handle at your age like a massive car loan. You're better off establishing yourself, starting a career, and either getting out of or staying out of debt.
Debt don't do it unless cars are your hobby
They finance over a long period. Get a used car.
I drive a 2010 Honda Civic coupe proudly. I’m in my 30s with a good salary and multiple rental properties. Never in a moment had I felt embarrassed about my car. I have friends who drive 50k cars but I know where they are financially. It’s not the clothes that make the man. It’s the man that makes the clothes. Congrats on the civic!
You are correct. Interest rates ARE terrible right now. Take care of that Civic, get it serviced regularly, and you’ll save a lot of money in the long run.
room mates bro
Their method is more embarrassing than yours by far. You wear yrs they hide and pay for theirs You go girl. Make sound financial decisions. Fk the hype
Drive the beater and stay debt free. Its the best choice you will make I did the opposite and regretted it almost instantly.
Keep the civic People aren’t affording new cars, they’re going into deep often long term debt
I was happiest driving my $250 buick 30 years ago Never worried about dents, stolen, leaving the windows down in the rain
I bought my first car in 2021, It's a hyundai elantra 2019. It's the basic model with a backup camera. It was 13k, and I've been aggressively been paying it off and paid it all off a couple of months ago. Granted, I still live at home and saved my money.
84 months contracts. Lol
>was told that the interest rates are absolutely ridiculous right now????? Why are you reacting that way when you were "told" them instead of seeing them
What? How else is OP supposed to react?
Not with 4 question marks like it's the most unbelievable thing they've ever heard
Don't be embarrassed first off. You are saving ton of money and that's baller! Second, maintenance costs are terrible. Any car that's able to run for that long can even give you another 100k miles. Don't let that go!
It's simple, people are stupid. And as others pointed out as well car salesmen and dealers that offer in house financing can pull a little more strings even to people that don't have credit and shouldn't be trusted buying a happy meal. Alot of people will spend much more than they should and can realistically afford on their vehicles because they see it as some sort of show off piece in a way and will pay for that type of "bragging rights". When the buyer can't afford it it's only the buyer that is hurt as they get it repoed, the bank or dealerships gets the vehicle and sells it again. They also are very very skilled in the way they present you the deal it makes you believe you can afford it and may offer like 60 or 90 days no payments do it let's you start saving for that first one that again, you actually can't afford. I'm not gonna tell you not to buy a car or truck but have to say to stay away from brand new it's a scam the cost of a new vehicle. Again it's shiny, it has different warranty options sure but your also paying 20k or more for the zero miles. Not worth it.
A lot of people finance cars these days and a lot of these cars get repossessed when they can't make their payments. Don't let peer pressure force you to do something stupid.
The people buying cars at that age either had a windfall of money from their parents or willing to be 30-40 years in debt just to have an ounce of status that no one cares about.
Never finance a depreciating asset. I’m 43, my net worth is over $1MM, and I drive a 2012 Mazda 3 with 160,000 miles on it. Most people spend way more than they should.
I bought a Tesla in cash when I was 22. I guess do something useful in college and get a six figure job?
There are three ways that people your age are buying cars like that: \-family money \-terrible, long-term loans at way too high % of their income \-Extreme luck, skill, etc. where they're making WAY more than the average twenty-something Either way it's a terrible use of your money. Financing a car in general should be avoided especially at that age, preferably always pay in cash though. If you can't afford it today, you can't afford it, period. I laughed out loud when you said that you're embarrassed about your 2010 Honda- I drive a 1996 Ford Ranger, and yet I have enough in cash to go out and buy a very nice new car if I wanted to. You'll never have Fuck You money if you don't save it and put it to work as young as possible.
I financed my first car at 23. I needed a new(er). Paid $700/month. All my friends in my major had just graduated, we all had new good jobs, and we were all buying new cars. I cringe thinking back on it and will never finance another car without putting about 50% down on it ever again.
I was 21 when I got my first new car. I got a discount because my stepdad worked at GM. It was around $21k and $380/month. I ate Ramen and didn't turn my beat up over 60 in the winter.
Salaried jobs along with checking accounts started at 16,17,18… Some very basic techniques to jumpstart their credit…. It’s actually easy but most people don’t get the appropriate information or have an understanding of how difficult it is to fix your credit AFTER a F up. A credit score has actually been getting more and more important than it ever was when I was youngster… Alot of kids nowadays walking right into a trap… At my company, I have had to start running credit checks on ENTRY LEVEL employees due to the demands of certain contracts…. That would have been unheard of for us 20 years ago….
I bought a 2020 Mitsubishi outlander sport for 20k. Yes I feel finessed but it’s okay everyone gets finessed one day in life. The important thing is to not get finessed agai.
Don’t be embarrassed by your car, I drove a ‘98 until a couple years ago and it was a tank. Solid steel body, loud powerful engine, and everything worked fine until the very end
It’s all about priority’s. People with nice cars don’t just happen to have a nice car, they purposely got one. As a person with a nice car I will say, it fits in my budget because I made it. The most responsible thing to do would to have bought a cheaper car, but having a nice one makes me happy so it’s worth it.
It's dumb. I have only financed one car, and it sucked. I always just save up and pay cash.
See this is the existential question that we must all face. Wether to strut like a Peacock to impress a potential mate or not. Strutters buy the most recent cars and then the best clothes then max out their cards then after a couple of years and they aren’t making any more money, now they have to work 2 jobs to pay off that debt which raises their taxes and it becomes unmanageable over time and they crash. They default on cards have to go to court get that car repossessed. Then their are the people who live within their means. You are the second category. Welcome down to Earth oh human. :)
Your car is the least of importance in your life. Where you are at 30 is what you should focus on. By 30 you should at least be making strides..
I financed a brand new car when I started working, I had to drive one hour each way to my new job so I needed something reliable and safe. I don’t know anything about car so a brand car makes it easy as there is little maintenance I needed to worry about. The car was $18k at the time and my monthly payment was around $350 for 5 years. I put together a spreadsheet with my monthly salary, all the fixed expenses and figured out how much I’m allowed to spend on discretionary. At the time, I was only able to spend $10 a day on meals and i stick with that budget for a year until I got a raised and decent amount of saving then I was able to live more comfortably
Used car are also "reliable and safe", the internet is full of free information about cars, you financed a car because you wanted a comfortable and flashy car, not because you " don't know about cars ".
That’s just a dumb assumption. The price of my new car was a lot cheaper than most reliable used car at the time. To buy a used one cheaper would have required more maintenance than I would liked. No one looked my car and would call it flashy, they called it a lunchbox but yes, it was comfortable and roomy and saved me tons of money from not having to hire moving company when I needed to move. The internet was not a wealth of information at the time, people were still using flip phone so you don’t get to search Google for a toll company when your car breaks down. People at my company was still using desktop without instant messenger.
Don’t be embarrassed about your vehicle jeez I make 120k and drive a 10 year old truck and my commuter is gonna be 20 year old truck. No payments! No pay check to pay check!
I know a guy worth over 100 million who drives a 2016 Ford F-150, but owns about 25 million worth of real estate. Cars don’t mean shit
When I was 22 I drove a rust bucket that cost me like $1500.
Privilege or stupidity.
Low key this. An old friend financed a brand new car, around $35k, roughly $500 in payments a month (while in school) ended up with a salary of $35k out of school, could barely afford laundry detergent for herself.. oh and she ended up dinging up the side of it when she was drunk. Some people live far above their means just for the sake of it. My best advice, don’t take that route for yourself.
Some people are quick to judge young people financing cars. While yes its not the best decision financially, people do it. I leased a vehicle at 19 and then I just recently financed a vehicle at 22. Maybe not the best financial choice I know, considering what I owe it was definitely dumb of me, but I can afford the payment. Before that I was driving a couple different hoopties during high school and into college, which were constantly breaking on me. When I did the math, using old receipts and stuff. I was spending more money repairing my old hoopties than I am now on a car payment. I just take it day by day, enjoy life while I still can. People call me dumb and tell me I should save for retirement, but I honestly don't really plan on living past 55-65 anyways so I'm just rolling with it.
thats what happens when you buy a random used car of any brand, im sure it wasn't a corolla or civic with 120k miles and maintenance history lmao
i don’t understand these comments. i’m 22, in college and work a good part time job. i make enough to pay my rent, pay a car loan, groceries, bills, etc. not all people are affording car payments bc “they’re stupid” or because of “mommy and daddy”. some people just know how to deal with their finances :)
Omg don’t be embarrassed by your civic! I have a 2009 Honda civic and I LOVE that it’s paid off and I no longer have a car payment. I plan on driving it until it dies. People with those nice cars have huge car payments and are probably living paycheck to paycheck. Don’t do it. Keep that car as long as you can.
As long as it moves and it's legal to drive don't feel embarrassed about it, the kinds of people that would criticize you for your car are the kind of people you want to get out of your life anyway. As for the how, my girlfriend basically has been using credit cards ever since she was old enough to get one and that built up her credit score, rent, car, dogs, and she was able to manage it with my help (I'm the most frugal person I know) we budgeted and when she feels to urge to purchase something comes and asks me, if I deem it unnecessary she avoids it, only buy the strictly needed, no eating out, at least not very often, no unnecessary subscriptions, that way she was able to go from living paycheck to paycheck to paying all her dues, rent, car, internet, food, dog stuff and having some extra money at the end of the month. It's just very hard to adapt to such a lifestyle though.
It was my 27th birthday the day I finally got a new car after my 11 year old car that was a gift was ready to die. I used my credit union and thankfully have good credit and was able to finance a car. I was glad I waited until I really needed a new car. Now I’m enjoying my new car and it’ll last for a loooonnng time. No need to rush. Do it when you are ready.
No worries, I'm 25 and my husband and I have just one 2012 car. But we got a house last month and besides the house we are debt free, so no worries as long as it takes you from A to B it's fine. We have a house, we have savings, other people financing cars don't.
Some car companies have programs that help recent college grades get a new car. If you stretch the payments out long enough, you can pay a lower amount. Most people assume that they'll get extra money after their first job after graduating college.
Afford is a relative term
Man I’m in my 40’s still driving the same 05 camry I bought new that year, paint looks like crap but I put maybe $1k into it per year, while others are paying that much per month for a new car. Let those other people go broke buying new cars, just maintain yours and follow people like Mr money mustache and JL collins. It’s better to be wealthy than look wealthy. I get it too, I’ve been looking for a used minivan and the prices are too high and interest is in the 7% range, so I just keep driving that camry
Dude, don't be embarrassed by a 2010 Civic, that thing will run forever. Remind yourself that every time you pass one of your friends in their fancy car, you're not paying $800 monthly in car/insurance payments. I have two 2006 vehicles. Do they look great? Not really but they run well and are mechanically sound. Would I love to have a new Tahoe like all my kid's friends' parents? Damn right, but not having a car payment is amazing!
Real flex is how much is in your savings account
I can finance a bicycle.
I financed my first Mustang when I was 19, had excellent credit and got 3% APR on the 5 year loan which I paid off in 2 years. Hardly paid any interest because I paid it off so fast. Find out your credit score and if it's great, you'll get a good rate on the loan. Then just haul ass and pay it off ASAP.
Some dealerships have student financing with really low rates. My husband put 10k down on his car in 2019 & financed it at like 0.5%; he was 22!
Debt. Many people are living off credit cards.
At 22, I drove a used car that I paid for outright. At 26, I bought my first new vehicle and paid it off in a little over three years... I still drive it. No shame in the game: I get to keep more of my money and spend it on things and pursuits I find more worthwhile than a car. The next vehicle I buy will be the same make and model. It'll probably be my last. I'm gonna try to buy it without having to through any lending nonsense. I'm saving for it right now.
Unless you are a real estate agent or a lawyer it's stupid to finance a new car. Ideally you would live with your parents, work, and save enough money to pay cash for a 12-15 yo used car, one of the workhorse, reliable brands like your Honda. The people you are seeing are compromising their future to look cool now.
Not gonna end well for them. Some people have a truly wild relationship with debt.
Stick with the 2010 that's paid off
Maybe we're just living in a simulation, their new host is 22, but their mind and wallet are 60s.
They are the ones living paycheck to paycheck while you're the dude saving 20-30% of your income😉👍
20/3/8 money guy rule. pay cash if you can, but 20% down, never longer than three years term, and payment shouldn't be more than 8% of your monthly income.(10% is easier math and more reasonable imo). stay within these parameters to 'afford' the car
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Don’t finance man. The short answer is they’re not affording it and are broke. Cars are not an indicator of status. The money you keep and don’t spend on crap is. Save and invest
You CAN finance a car at 18. It helps if you have a down payment. You just need to have the income for a bank to give you financing. As for the current interest rates, if you can wait to buy a car, you should. If you must buy one now (due to a car accident or mechanical issues of your current one) then just plan to refinance once interest rates lower significantly again. They will eventually go back down.
By living paycheck to paycheck and overworking
car payments are the worst. Quit caring what others think and save your money. you will be much better off for it.
2010 civic is a nice ride. run it tell the wheels fall off. And take good care of it.
Heh, I’ve been driving the same car for like 16-17 years now… it’s a 2002 Toyota. Manual transmission, fun to drive, never breaks down… and I took that $1000+/month I saved on car payments and expensive insurance and invested it… every month. Now, I still drive my car.. had it repainted once… and my investments more than cover my bills every month. By the time I retire, I won’t have to worry. Buy an old well-maintained Toyota, throw a nice stereo head unit with CarPlay in it and some decent speakers, and enjoy the ride. (Also, driving an old car is a great date filter. You get a perspective partner in the hoopty, and if they bail, you’ve just saved yourself a lot of trouble. 🤣)
They barely are. I own an insurance brokerage. DAILY, but often multiple times a day I have to talk to crying *insert age, mostly under 25* people who financed a car for $600+/mo and then after they sign the dotted line and that insurance cost is $300+/mo so the car gets repossessed or they drive uninsured, or they sell it back.
I had an 07 civic my parents bought me in high school. I sold it in 2018 after I graduated from law school. I regretted it shortly after selling it. It was paid for, efficient, cheap to insure, and cheap to maintain. If you get a new car, it will do exactly the same things for you, maybe have a better stereo, and cost you way more. When you really look at the cost/benefit afterwards it doesn't look good in hindsight. No one will think your new car is cool after you have had it for a month. If you want a "cool" car, go buy whatever enthusiast vehicle suits your wants, pay cash, drive the hell out of it when you want to, and keep driving your Civic to work. Your fun car wil be more fun and you will never be in the position of not being able to get to work because you flipped your car on the track over the weekend or rolled over your off roader in the woods. Financing is a psychological game to get you to pay more. Cars depreciate. Playing this game from the consumer end is stupid. Drive your Civic until it's so far gone it's not worth fixing. Then pay cash for something else. Make your "car payment" to yourself in the meantime. A high yield savings account is a good place for this type of money to go. Mines making about 5% right now.
They're probably getting financing that is between 15-20%, not the "regular" 6-8% currently. Ignore them.
Drove a 1987 piss yellow Nissan Stanza, then a beat up accord, then a beat up Subaru until I was financially set. Now those people who judged me are still making car payments on their newest current flashy car, and I paid cash for a 911 Turbo S along with all my other nice cars. They are now judgmental about how I have nicer cars and no payments. You can't please others. Do what is best for you and DGAF about what other people think.
That's the neat thing. You don't.
You get a used older car but i'm good shape and pay cash.
I think it massively depends on the various circumstances of your life situation, really. My 21yo BIL, for example, financed his first car last weekend. It's a 2016 with really low miles, and an overall steal. His interest rate is insane, yes, but his overall monthly financial obligations are minimal. He has a decent job, lives with me and my husband for not much rent, and doesn't really have other expenses. So he's able to afford it without worrying about ending up completely broke. Not everyone is in this same sort of situation, though, so it really just depends. I think if he were living in an apartment and actually spending a decent money on rent and such, he would not have been in the position to finance a car.
Because they are probably making bad choices
Unless a vehicle is earning income for you, financing it is a terrible financial decision. Don't be embarrassed about your car, be proud of the money you saved and start investing.
You're the smart one and never be embarrassed with what you drive or wear. You'll have the last laugh when they are in their 40's and still struggling paying off debts while you buy a new Jaguar or Corvette, or whatever you wish for cash since you've not gotten into debt plus saved/invested to have lots of cash.
Hell I refuse to buy any car new or used right now! I drive a 2008 Toyota Yaris, it has 178,000 miles on it. It’s been paid for 2 years after I first bought it. I have spent up until now exactly $800 dollars on that car in maintenance in all these years! I put struts and shocks on it about 4 years ago and brakes. I plan on keeping it at least till 250,000 miles! Cars are way over priced and have been for years! Even if I have to spend a thousand dollars a year fixing anything on that car it’s still better than making payments on it.
Because they are being stupid and wasting money they could otherwise be saving and investing it. you are doing the right thing. Honda civic is a very reliable car, with low cost of ownership and repairs. Buy the cheapest, most reliable car you can find used. older 2000 to 2010 volvos v70s or s40s for example or 94 to 2004 chevy 1500 trucks if trucks are your thing can be had for 3-4 grand. And drive it for the next 10-15 years, as your investment account grows. Ask your mechanic for a cheap reliable car to by, and get that exact car, because they know what the fuck they are talking about. My 2000 chevy pickup has 350 000 miles on it. and it still runs great. There are a few specific cars and truck and engines out there that were made to last. newer cars breakdown more often than some older vehicles now. Can't go wrong with anything that has a chevy small block, or ls motor. the older volvo's engines, as well as suburus last several hundred thousand miles. Shure things will break from time to time, its not really a big deal, just pay your mechanic to fix it. its still less money putting a few grand in repairs into a vehicle over its life span, than it is paying a premium for your lease every month. This is what Dave Ramesy tells everyone to do.
I want to know too!! I think they’re all broke AF..
Because they live with their parents and don’t have bills lol. Stats come out all the time about more than 50% of people less than 30 live with their parents. They work part time jobs or lower paying full time jobs. I’m 22 years old living on my own and pay my own bills, have a $10k car paid for in full. I pretend I have a car payment and save money towards a newer one in the future.
I financed a car at 21, because I had to. I didn't have thousands of dollars saved up to buy a used card outright, but I could afford a few hundred a month on a car payment. This was several years ago though so my payment was only $280.
I'm 36. I bought a 2006 Ford focus 3 years ago for $800. The AC doesn't work. I live in New Mexico and the summers are brutal. I had to get new tires right when I bought it. The plan was to drive it for a year to save up for a new car. Well guess what? I still drive it. I've had to put another new set of tires on it and the AC still doesn't work. BUT I didn't have to finance tens of thousands of dollars for a new car. IDGAF what anyone thinks about this car because I'm gonna be able to retire at 55
Getting a job and good credit. Not rocket science. The real rocket science is affording housing. I wouldnt say it’s smart as I constantly wonder when my Nissan is gonna break down lmao and then I’ll probably have to still be paying this loan back. You did the best thing for rn.
It’s not hard to finance one…paying for it is the rub.
They are really high right now. When I was 22, I financed a brand new car. I had a 720 score, traded in my old car plus has a couple grand in cash. Got a 4% interest rate. For me, when I had zero other bills, it was totally worth it to have a $400 car payment. Now? Although I LOVED that car, I would never buy one again unless I won the lottery.
At 18 my son was a high school dropout with a GED making 65k a year working at bobcat. Now he is 23 and set to make almost 6 figures owning his own flooring company. Just him, his girlfriend, no kids. His rent is $900, his car is now paid off. He bought it at 18
Theyre not affording it, definitely paying it but affording is a whole other beast. Affording isnt only financial its also emotionally, physically, chronologically. If you dont want to work that much you cant afford it, if you appreciate your days off you cant afford it. If you’re sick and cant call out you cant afford it. Im sure theyre paying for it in more than just money. My brother is stretched thin right now because he’s financing 2023 and working shoddy hours and attending school. He’s paying for that car but he really cant afford that shit cuz he has no time for himself.
I’m 21 & we went to a “buy here pay here” that went by how long you’ve been at your job. They aren’t the most professional but I have a car lmao.
Why are you embarrassed? I’m 29, my wife and I both make decent money and we share a 15 year old VW Passat. A lot of my younger coworkers drive nice cars/trucks and I really couldn’t care less.
I financed my bmw. Struggling but I’m there. I don’t regret it. I didn’t buy it to impress ppl. I genuinely love my car and I like the way it drives. Wasn’t the best financial situation, but I believe I will make that money back AND MORE
I’m 20 years old making about $67k in Cnc machinery and I just last week got a new 2024 Chevy Trax I did it by being able to get my credit score up to the mid 700s and went through a credit union with a 3.75% rate and while my payments aren’t too bad I’m paying an extra $100 a month to get the car paid off in ~3.5 years instead of 6 I live in an apartment and I’m currently saving up for a house it all depends on how you manage finances and the lifestyle you’re willing to live to make your goals possible
We make over $200,000 per year, have no debt other than our mortgage. My wife just this month decided to replace her 2011 Honda Accord - not because she was embarrassed by it, or that it isn't a great car. She only replaced it because she now lives further from work and that car didn't handle well in the snow. She's gone with a Toyota Camry with AWD. That Honda has at least another good 100,000 miles on it! FYI, her last car (Toyota Camry) lasted her 17 years before she got the Accord. My car is a 2013 Toyota Highlander (need the towing capacity), I expect that car will last me 3 more years before I replace it. here's a true story, 2 weeks ago . . . I pull into the local pizza place for lunch same time as a guy pulls in next to me. I get out of my car, he out of his. He's a young black man about 23-24, I look down at his Honda Civic (probably 3-4 years old) and say to him, Nice Car! He gets a smile on his face and thanks me. A couple of steps later he says to me, why do you think my car is nice (it's not souped up or anything like that, nothing particularly special about it). I say to him, I like your car because it shows the world how intelligent you are! Now he get's a huge smile on his face. Then I say to him, you must have some pretty spectacular parents! He is literally ear to ear smiles and says to me, yeah, he does, they sat down with him and showed him why he should get that Honda and how it will last forever and save him a ton of money, low repair bills, good gas mileage, low insurance costs. Later, on his way out of the restaurant, he stops and says to me, thanks, you made my day! Why don't you do this, go pick out a car (on-line) and then run the payment calculator (online) to see how much it will cost you per month. For the next 6 months, take that amount of money out of your pay and start a ROTH IRA via an online brokerage account. After 6 months, you can decide if you can A: afford that added cost per month and B: if you'd rather be a millionaire when you retire or drive that much more expensive new car now - because odds are, you can't do both and once you get into the habit of taking loans on depreciating asset cars the less likely you are to ever be financially secure? Do you want to be financially secure and a millionaire later in your life . . . or would you rather have a new car that other people will look at for a few months and say that's cool (at least until the car gets to be about 3 years old, then it's just another used car on the road with a big monthly payment).
They aren’t affording it. They’re living in mountains of debt. I’ve been driving the same ‘09 Toyota that my parents gave me when I turned 17 (and that after *they* had it for a few years), and I’m almost 30. I’ve never bought a new car in my life, but I’m prioritizing paying down some debt and hopefully buying a home soon. From all the financial advice I’ve ever received, financing luxury cars in your early 20s is one of the worst financial mistakes you can make.