I use credit as a tool. I usually save up and pay cash for a car, I don’t tell the sales person about a cash deal and let them present credit terms and extended coverage. They try to muddle everything together and I try to tease a lower price out of them. Sometimes they figure it out sometimes not. The last 3 cars we bought were all from a decent dealer and we were upfront and they were also, very easy to deal with them and no games. Once I get a good price I then go for the cash deal. We did buy on credit once when the interest (special promo) was lower than the bank was paying on savings interest. That was a no brainer.
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Also an accountant, CPA with 2 Graduate degrees, and credit is simply a tool that can be good or bad depending on how you use it but it’s also important to build a good credit history.
On the Good side, if you ever want to make a major purchase (house, emergency) and have a bad or no credit history you’ll pay through the nose and without a credit card, renting a car or checking into a hotel can be a major ordeal…
On the Bad side, if you’re using credit to buy everything you can beg, borrow or steal you’re courting financial ruin.
Very simple, build up your credit but assuming the worst, buy only what you can afford.
That $90,000, 0% interest vehicle may be a Sex Machine on Wheels but if your job moves to China or you get sick will you have the money to keep making payments until you get another job?
And on the other, if you now have the opportunity to buy said Sex Machine from the now unemployed owner for a knock down, once in a lifetime, distressed discount price, it would be nice to have the credit to take advantage of the opportunity without digging into your cash reserves. “That is one lovely Jaguar and I’m sorry that your wife caught you with your assistant and all I can afford is $ XXX but I can write you a check on my credit line/card for it today. Deal?”
The reality is that problems and opportunities come in equal shares so it’s not cash or credit, it’s both!
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And if you bought that $90k car, and you’re judgment proof like I am, if things go south, you just give the keys to the finance company, turn your back, and walk away.
And if you bought a $2k used economy car, and “things go south” you don’t have to worry about being judgment-proof, and you don’t have to give up your car. Consumer creditors aren’t going after an old car which is worth less than $5k, and in some states, even government creditors could not touch a car worth so little.
A 2000.00 used economy car is almost guaranteed to go 'South '.
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Yeah but a $90,000 default is guaranteed to be a lifetime of credit “dings” and credito calls.
Doesn’t bother me in the least.
And BTW, that $2,000 default, with the highest interest rate (16% to 20%) may in a couple of years with attorneys and collection fees, may begin to look like something like a loan from a guy named Gino.
There are companies that actively buy up Bad Dept for pennies on the dollar and have no qualms about garnishing your future earnings, including your Social Security.
There’s this illusion that Creditors and the Government will somehow “forget” about your obligations as immaterial but there’s nothing further from the truth.
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I think the point was that creditors and the IRS won’t place a lien on a $2000 vehicle that was a cash purchase.
Exactly. Most states have a judgment exemption which protects at least $2k of equity in a motor vehicle. Obviously, a car which is old enough/has enough miles to sell for such a low price is going to be a cash purchase, not financed. And even with the cost of repairs and upkeep, such a car is often far cheaper in the long run than the endless stream of monthly loan/lease payments on a new(er) car.
One should live the life style that works for them and other people in the household .
I have had financing on several vehicles - A Corvette convertible that we enjoyed for a few years - A motorcycle that I used to make trips across several states - A brand new 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS that Marywanted just because she wanted it.
All of which we enjoyed and will not be setting on the front porch of a Old Persons Home saying ( I wish we would have done that ).
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In case anyone is curious about the different Wagoneers, soon there will be four of them, from $60,000 to $100,000+++.
Customers Confuse the Jeep Wagoneer With the Jeep Grand Wagoneer (jalopnik.com)
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Very true. I lived my life (because of my upbringing) totally debt free except for a shortened mortgage. In 30 years I’ve never been late on a single bill, never borrowed money Except for a $100 loan from a neighbor. In my mind why wouldn’t someone be willing to loan me money because I showed proof that I was reliable. Turns out I couldn’t even qualify for a Home Depot card because of lack of credit. So we decided to build our credit. Had to borrow our own money with a secured loan and pay the bank interest. I could only stand that for 2 months. So we got a secured credit card until we got a real one. Pay off in 30 days with 3 percent cash back. What a crazy system.
Jeep’s are Chinese owned and made in India. One of the original Obama Motor’s POS. They’re over priced and way to heavy (7000 lbs) to go off road. They may be okay for driving in snow on a pave road but not off road. I’ve pulled Rubicons out of the sand in dry river beds here in Arizona with my old 3000 pound first generation Escape V6 using a kinetic snatch rope. My $2500 Escape just floats through sand.
Chinese owned? Not hardly.
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Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50-50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group.[9][10][11] The company is headquartered in Amsterdam.
Stellantis did have a deal with GAC to build Jeeps in China to sell in China, that ended last year.
Jeep Renegade: 3,056 to 3,532 lbs, slightly less from your 7000 pounds.
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Where did you find that gem of misinformation?
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They do manufacture Jeeps in India, but none of those Jeeps are sold in The US, despite the implications from the previous post that I quoted.
A single UCC2806 PWM controller is $13.36 from Texas instruments from a reseller! This is crazy! Their price is around $6 is bulk direct. The increase is even more than lumber! This is an American company doing this! My eBay order for knock offs from China was just cancelled because of inventory problem.
edit: I looked up the price and in 2011 it cost $9 from TI. So the price increase is normal inflation.