What woman refers to themselves as FEMALE? I've only ever heard men say that, and neanderthals at that. I'm betting this person isn't actually a woman, and it just trying to make a stupid point, ie even a "girl" could do it. Yuck. (My point, PP, is that don't let this "female" give women a bad name)

OP here -- yeah, I caught that. That post seemed to be some kind of shill for "EDMUNDS.COM," as if that's the only place you can get that kind of information. Most folks I know are recommending Truecar.

Anyway.

Through my bank, I get 0% auto financing and take advantage of it so I can keep my money working for me. No way on earth would I have handed over $130k for my new car when I could finance it at 0%.

Hey, if you feel like buying another new car, I know someone who can use one!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

This is ridiculous. Some people just aren't good with bills or figuring out what is affordable for them, and so it makes sense to save and pay cash. Otherwise they would over spend on a car.

Through my bank, I get 0% auto financing and take advantage of it so I can keep my money working for me. No way on earth would I have handed over $130k for my new car when I could finance it at 0%.

Great financial advice from someone who spent $130k on a car. I'm sure you can relate to the OP who doesn't have $200/month for car payments.

There was a time when I couldn't even afford to pay my utilities. I also remember when I couldn't afford to fix a tooth that had broken off for 3 years. I've been poor. So yeah, I can relate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy a new car NOT a used one. You don't know what kind of problems you will get with a used car.

Go to EDMUNDS.COM and read about how to buy a new car.

I would recommend you write up a list of what you NEED, not want. (Color is a want, excellent safety ratings is a NEED). Edmunds has the links to IIHS and the other one.

Then contact dealers via EMAIL and tell them what you want. Have them do the work and contact you.

I would also get a loan with someone other than the dealership so you don't have to deal with their financing (they can pull all kinds of crap with you there.)

I had dealerships competing against each other for three days before I made a purchase. You can also verify the price is a good one by using Edmunds.com and put in all the bells and whistles. Get their FINAL, out the door price (tax tag title etc all included) via email. Then do the test drive. IF you love the car, then it's a done deal for you.

Don't tell them you're going to trade until you decide to purchase it after the test drive. Look up the kelly blue book of your vehicle and expect a much lower offer. You can negotiate a little with this, but not too much. Be fair and reasonable.

I did this and it was a breeze. Most sales people don't know the vehicles the way a mechanic would, so don't expect them to know much. Some of them don't even know the safety features.

I'm a female and did it all by myself. Got a much better deal than my DH who purchased a brand new vehicle a year before mine. (He went with their financing and they were playing games with him-not wanting to give him the rate but wanting him to sign the paperwork accepting the loan. WTF? I would have walked out, but he yelled at them and eventually got the rate he would have gotten with a competing bank (we already had the loan preapproved.)

Do you also open your own doors, pull out your own chairs, and work outside the home? You renegade.

What woman refers to themselves as FEMALE? I've only ever heard men say that, and neanderthals at that. I'm betting this person isn't actually a woman, and it just trying to make a stupid point, ie even a "girl" could do it. Yuck. (My point, PP, is that don't let this "female" give women a bad name)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

This is ridiculous. Some people just aren't good with bills or figuring out what is affordable for them, and so it makes sense to save and pay cash. Otherwise they would over spend on a car.

Through my bank, I get 0% auto financing and take advantage of it so I can keep my money working for me. No way on earth would I have handed over $130k for my new car when I could finance it at 0%.

Great financial advice from someone who spent $130k on a car. I'm sure you can relate to the OP who doesn't have $200/month for car payments.

Anonymous wrote:Buy a new car NOT a used one. You don't know what kind of problems you will get with a used car.

Go to EDMUNDS.COM and read about how to buy a new car.

I would recommend you write up a list of what you NEED, not want. (Color is a want, excellent safety ratings is a NEED). Edmunds has the links to IIHS and the other one.

Then contact dealers via EMAIL and tell them what you want. Have them do the work and contact you.

I would also get a loan with someone other than the dealership so you don't have to deal with their financing (they can pull all kinds of crap with you there.)

I had dealerships competing against each other for three days before I made a purchase. You can also verify the price is a good one by using Edmunds.com and put in all the bells and whistles. Get their FINAL, out the door price (tax tag title etc all included) via email. Then do the test drive. IF you love the car, then it's a done deal for you.

Don't tell them you're going to trade until you decide to purchase it after the test drive. Look up the kelly blue book of your vehicle and expect a much lower offer. You can negotiate a little with this, but not too much. Be fair and reasonable.

I did this and it was a breeze. Most sales people don't know the vehicles the way a mechanic would, so don't expect them to know much. Some of them don't even know the safety features.

I'm a female and did it all by myself. Got a much better deal than my DH who purchased a brand new vehicle a year before mine. (He went with their financing and they were playing games with him-not wanting to give him the rate but wanting him to sign the paperwork accepting the loan. WTF? I would have walked out, but he yelled at them and eventually got the rate he would have gotten with a competing bank (we already had the loan preapproved.)

Do you also open your own doors, pull out your own chairs, and work outside the home? You renegade.

If you don't have the extra cash for a car payment, I would suggest holding off on buying a new car at least until you need one. You should also look into putting the money or part of it into something that can grow for you. Just a thought.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

This is ridiculous. Some people just aren't good with bills or figuring out what is affordable for them, and so it makes sense to save and pay cash. Otherwise they would over spend on a car.

Through my bank, I get 0% auto financing and take advantage of it so I can keep my money working for me. No way on earth would I have handed over $130k for my new car when I could finance it at 0%.

Thanks! I think I'm pretty set on how to get a car…what I was looking more for was thoughts on how to pay for it. If you have any opinion on that, I'd be happy to hear it.

Buy a new car NOT a used one. You don't know what kind of problems you will get with a used car.

Go to EDMUNDS.COM and read about how to buy a new car.

I would recommend you write up a list of what you NEED, not want. (Color is a want, excellent safety ratings is a NEED). Edmunds has the links to IIHS and the other one.

Then contact dealers via EMAIL and tell them what you want. Have them do the work and contact you.

I would also get a loan with someone other than the dealership so you don't have to deal with their financing (they can pull all kinds of crap with you there.)

I had dealerships competing against each other for three days before I made a purchase. You can also verify the price is a good one by using Edmunds.com and put in all the bells and whistles. Get their FINAL, out the door price (tax tag title etc all included) via email. Then do the test drive. IF you love the car, then it's a done deal for you.

Don't tell them you're going to trade until you decide to purchase it after the test drive. Look up the kelly blue book of your vehicle and expect a much lower offer. You can negotiate a little with this, but not too much. Be fair and reasonable.

I did this and it was a breeze. Most sales people don't know the vehicles the way a mechanic would, so don't expect them to know much. Some of them don't even know the safety features.

I'm a female and did it all by myself. Got a much better deal than my DH who purchased a brand new vehicle a year before mine. (He went with their financing and they were playing games with him-not wanting to give him the rate but wanting him to sign the paperwork accepting the loan. WTF? I would have walked out, but he yelled at them and eventually got the rate he would have gotten with a competing bank (we already had the loan preapproved.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

Stupid or smart investment? Let's say you have 20k in cash. If the dealership is offering 0% financing, or your local credit union is offering car loans at 1-3% interest AND you have invest options with a 6+% return, then you're just throwing away 3-6%*20k by putting all the cash down now on a car, rather than investing it. It's not chump change. Now OP doesn't have the liquidity for an extra $200-300/month for car payments, so not an option really, but if you do have the wiggle room, why not give up the short term wiggle room in your budget for the long term return on investment? I mean, all you have to do is give up the equivalent of a weekly take out for the family to come up with the difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

why is it stupid? i can buy a car for cash many times over but i don't want to, i prefer to have the liquidity. i barely register car payments and the minor interest i am paying is well worth it.

Op - check out internet pricing on new cars before buying a used car. I had a lot of problems with my used car (almost 3 years old when i bought it).

Anonymous wrote:Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.

Having car payments is crazy from my perspective. I have never, ever paid anything but cash for any of my cars. And I never will. Stupid to pay monthly on anything but a home and utilities.

Anonymous wrote:If you don't buy in the two years since you sold your condo, you may be liable for capital gains tax, depending on how much money you made from the sale. This is probably not the case for you as you are considering buying a car with the proceeds, not a house.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Publication-523,-Selling-Your-Home-1

If you can't afford a monthly payment, can you really afford a new car? Invest some money and do what a PP recommended. Buy a two year old car with a warranty, so you don't take the hit on depreciation when you buy a new car.

I made far, far less than $250K in profit from the sale of this condo. With that said, buying a car would not wipe out the entire profit.

In my original post, I noted that I meant new or "new to me" car. I just mean a car that is less than 13 years old.

"Nothing hurts car negotiations more than showing up in a cab."

True! I'll try not to let it get to that point.

Buying car with cash is crazy unless you have milions. Take a loan, when in need of money dip into savings.