Talk me out of doing something stupid

[MisterCreosote]

Those of you who know me in real life know that I'm not too bright.

I almost traded in my car yesterday to buy a brand-spanking-new Jeep. The stupid part is that I just bought my car less than a year ago and have at least four years left of payments. It doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it yet.

I've been upside-down in car loans before, and it was no fun. But still, the weather here has been really nice and I can't help wanting a Jeep, and can't help but think how much fun it would be to tool around town with no top and no doors.

Plus, I'm single. Does it make me an idiot to want to trade in the family truckster for something fun?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Your thread title is right. That would be pretty stupid.

If you keep rotating your cars like this and always maintain a loan, by the end of 10 years you will have spent at least $25,000 more than you should on cars. Hell, you'll get to that point just by buying this one, and then if you buy another car in five years that will get you to the "spent $50,000 more than you should have" threshold. Insurance also costs more on a new car and probably a lot more on a Jeep.

I'd see if there are quite a few people like you who wanted a Jeep on impulse one day and are now selling it because they're tired of it/having kids/just sick of it. Plus a used Jeep that has some dirt on it looks better.

Signed,
Haven't Had A Car Payment Since 2004 And Loving It!!!!!

 

[wicked]

Don't do it.

Haven't had a car payment for three years now. Know I'm running on borrowed time in that regard, but my beater does the job, getting me the 10 miles round trip to work.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Go ahead do it. You know you want it.

Do it. Don't be such a *****.

And when you are broke and homeless - come back for some more advice.

 

[outofplace]

So jealous of LTL and wicked right now.

We had no car payments for a while. Then my car caught fire while driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike in August of 2010. I wish I was kidding about that. Here is the thread about it. http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/79448/

(By the way, I'm just now re-reading that thread. First response was spnited. Still not used to him not being here.)

Then my wife's car gave out a few years before we thought it might last year, so we've got two payments again. Sure, it's different with a wife and kid, but no way I'd do anything to raise my payments right now.

 

[imjustagirl]

'Sote, if I had to talk you out of doing something stupid, I wouldn't have time to do anything else.

Don't do this.

 

[HC]

Let me just add that doing this would not only be stupid, it would be willfully stupid which is worse.

 

[Dirk Legume]

Haven't had a car payment for quite some time and yesterday turned 300,000 miles on my Honda minivan. The plan is to just keep chugging away with it and when it finally gives up, see if we have put enough money away by that point to stay payment free. Probably not as I know the van wont run forever, but we hope to get at least one more year out it.

 

[Gehrig]

You're The Fonz. Get a Motorcycle instead. :D

 

[Boom_70]

What's the math? How much will you still owe on trade in?
What is your monthly payment now?

 

[jr/shotglass]

tiy ibit kucw ibxw.

Which is a cryptogram for You only live once.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

As a dedicated Jeep owner, I think you should consider getting one. A used one.

I'm not sure what type of car you've got, but you should be able to do a straight up trade if not get some cash back.

 

[bigpern23]

Boom, my current payment is more than $400/month. I Blue-Booked the trade-in value and it looks to be about $21,000. A new Jeep at the dealership near my house would run between $23,000-$27,000.

I know it's willfully stupid, but when I bought my current car I was in a completely different situation. Now, I'm divorced and dogless. If my life is going to suck, I might as well at least drive something cool.

If you're going to do it, I'd suggest selling your current vehicle to a private party, rather than trading it in. Trade-ins are easier, but you usually get far less money than if you sell it.

I also wouldn't buy the Jeep brand new. Try to find one with 20,000-30,000 miles on it.

You really can have it both ways. Get the cool car you want to be driving without being willfully stupid about it. And don't feel bad that you want to ditch the car that may remind you of someone you don't want to be reminded of.

Lastly, Jeeps really suck to drive. They're not very comfortable and there's a lot of jostling over every little bump. But if you like them, don't let anyone stop you.

 

[playthrough]

Never buy brand-spanking-new. The expression about losing half the value when driving off the lot is true; why take that hit for new when you can take a far more manageable hit for a dealer demo or a very low-mileage used?

I love cars, but I also drive older sedans that have been paid off for years. I get enough of a "fix" by renting for work or, on rare occasion, for a weekend. Then again, I'm also married with kids and all that jazz. If I was in your shoes, Creosote, I could see feeling much different. But my first point still stands -- don't buy brand new.

 

[JackReacher]

Screw that. I love new cars. Traded my old car in last month after 2 years. The trade-in more than paid off my old car and my new car is costing me about the same each month. Win-win.

If you want a new car and it's within your budget after all's said and done, go for it.

 

[TigerVols]

Cars are one of the last joys in life, if you're wired that way. Sounds like you are. So don't look at cars as financial assets you invest in, look at them as rewards in life.

If you want the Jeep, and you can make the monthly payment without destroying your lifestyle, go for it.

 

[Boom_70]

Boom, my current payment is more than $400/month. I Blue-Booked the trade-in value and it looks to be about $21,000. A new Jeep at the dealership near my house would run between $23,000-$27,000.

I know it's willfully stupid, but when I bought my current car I was in a completely different situation. Now, I'm divorced and dogless. If my life is going to suck, I might as well at least drive something cool.

How much will you still owe on your existing car after the trade of around $21,000?

 

[TigerVols]

BTW, I can strongly recommend CarMax for selling your old car. At the very least, take your vehicle to them and 20 minutes later, you get a written offer right around Blue Book for your car.

I sold them a Mini a couple of years ago, got a great price, they handled all the paperwork, and it took about a half-hour.

This past weekend took them my wife's CR-V, and when we went to trade the old one in for the new model, the Honda dealer tried to low-ball me by $4,000. I whipped out the written offer from CarMax, told them I was going to take her old Honda across the street to them...and almost immediately, the Honda dealer was offering the exact same amount as CarMax. Winner, Winner!

 

[BTExpress]

The trade-in more than paid off my old car and my new car is costing me about the same each month. Win-win.

Costing the same each month . . . indefinitely.

Driving a car you like with no payments is win-win. Everything else is a notch (or several notches) below that.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

If your single and you don't have kids do what you want...

If you have the money to do it, do what you want....

If you have bigger responsibilities, take care of those before worrying about what kind of car you drive, assuming the one you have is still working...