Sunday, May 03, 2009
Good Deals to be Had
Without going much into details, here’s a little story from my last week.
A bit ago, I decided that it would be nice if I had a newer car. Much as I love the old one, it seemed time for something different. Given my debt load--which is significantly higher than it should be--I wasn’t sure what kind of loan I was going to come away with. Would the limit be high enough for what I wanted? Would the rate be low enough to keep me feeling that happy, unscrewed feeling? I was pretty sure that the answer to one or the other was going to end up being “no.”
I was very wrong. In fact, I had pre-qualified myself with Capital One auto loans (they had carried my last car loan) and been given a rate of 5.76%, which sounded like a solid deal to me. The guy who helped us with our loan at Tynan’s VW here in Aurora looked over my credit report promised that he could do better. He did. I ended up with a JP Morgan/Chase loan at just 4.99%
Not bad.
I’m not writing this just to be writing, though, there’s an actual point. The point is that, if you were thinking about a new car but worried that the current credit climate might shut you out of a decent deal, you might want to take a look. The prices are low and there are good deals to be had (especially with the new cars, although I chose the 2008 to keep my payments down and get immediately past the massive depreciation that comes in the first few years of car ownership).
Comments & Trackbacks
Bad capital management. Unless you’re earning a living from that car, you should have paid cash. It’s crazy to pay interest on anything that doesn’t go directly to the bottom line, or a house.
And even the house is stretching it.
But enjoy your new car.
Sincerely,
grumpy old school kapitalist
What kind of car did you buy?
It was down to three cars that were in my self-imposed range: a 2007 Volvo XC70, a 2008 Mazda CX-7, and a Ford Taurus X.
The Volvo was great--gorgeous interior, drove and handled well--but the pedals were too small. I couldn’t put my foot on the gas pedal without the side of my foot tapping on the brake. It was also a few thousand more than the Ford.
The Mazda almost won. It was one year older, it had fewer miles, it cost two thousand more than the Ford, and it was an absolute blast to drive. Unfortunately, the interior was a little tatty and I know that my insurance would have gone up more. But, man, for a CUV with a little turbo-charged four-cylinder, that thing really moved with some authority. It was close. Really close.
The Ford, with one of the worst names of all time, looks kind of like what would happen if a Subaru Outback was biggie-sized and it won’t win any beauty contests. But it drives, rides, and handles well, was priced right where I was looking to end up, and the rate and insurance were both right, too.
Dude, you are SO getting older. Passing up a sporty Mazda for a Taurus? How refreshingly responsible of you! (So says the guy who drives a Camry...)
I meant to ask you if Ford turning down TARP money was a factor. So I guess I am asking you.
If I had been buying a new car, it would have made a difference. I like Fords, though, so that played some part in the decision--if price had been equal, though, I would have bought the Mazda.
But, yeah, next time I look for a new car, the car that didn’t receive billions of dollars of government money and then promptly head into a bankruptcy deal (with little intent to pay back the original government “loan") will get preferential treatment. The company (or companies) that aren’t part-owned by UAW will probably get preferential treatment, too. And the company (or companies) whose investors have all been treated as fairly as possible--without blatant government bullying--will be far more likely to get my money.
And that’s not even getting into how I feel about the administration asking the CEO of a major corporation to take a hike.
This administration and the last have completely bungled the car company crisis.
And here I thought you were a Volvo guy for sure ... heheh.
I think there’s money out there. And it doesn’t take a lot to qualify. Everybody is terrified of adopting debt. There is plenty of opportunity for those of us with little or no debt.
The best deal right now is in housing. Especially for the handyman. Get into something you can make a little better in your spare time and then, when the market starts back, turn it over. No taxes on the gains for the first 500,000 (if you’re married) after the first two years.
There’s a good chance that the housing market will come back, at least a little, in that time. I don’t feel that good about the rest of the economy. ... Or the future of taxes.