lmao I guess you really don't know what you are talking about. Go configure a car that you want on edmunds or any car site and look at the invoice price. that is the price the dealer had to pay and right now dealers are willing to sell at under invoice to get sales going. Plus, like other people said you must not pay attention to the market right now because there are some very good deals you can get on any item right now. Hell there even selling big *** houses in the north for $1,000.

 

No I recieved my degree in Space Systems Techonlogies. I spent 15 years in the Air Force and lived (not visited) in 9 different countries, visited countless more, and have learned more about other cultures in this world than you can ever get from a Universitiy. I am also a 37 year old small business owner who was married once, went through a nasty divorce, and lost a lot of because of it. Again... more life experience than you cant get through a University. Throughout my life I have owned well over 30 different vehicles and financed just about every one except for what I have now... a deployment to the Gulf helped me save enough money up to pay cash. So a 23 year old who makes a comment like "some people buy a 50 dollar couch at a garage sale. I pay 500 for the same couch minus baby batter stains at a furniture store. Why? I like new and am willing to pay for it." tells me he is a typical American who does not have a good grasp on his financial future. Why you might ask... becase he is a "spender". So dont try and tell me about economics when you are fresh out of college because you really do not have any experience to back it up. And debt free???? No student loans, no car payment, no house payment, no credit cards??? Thats all debt... and the point of all of this is coming back around so stay with me here...

I paid cash for a fully loaded 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8 about a year ago. The vehicle cost me $46,000 new. I got it for $41,000 because I paid cash for it. I thought at the time "this is a great deal" just like you are now. Well my vehicles are meticulous and perfect because I take excellent care of them. I started to get bored with it (and we all will at some point in time no matter what we drive) so I took it down to get it appraised. The dealer offered me $17k. I thought they were crazy. So I took it to two other dealers and the same answer. Well here I have a vehicle that I have been driving just over a year that went from a good deal at 41 and now its value is 17. Remember my Jeep is low milage and practically new inside and out. So I lost $24,000 of value on that vehicle in just over a year. If I was crazy enough to trade it in right now it would be sitting on the lot and the dealer paid 17 for it. (There are a lot of people doing this right now because they are out of a job or they way to much debt to control). So someone could go buy this Jeep today for $20,000 and have a year and a half old vehicle that is practically brand new. No baby batter stains, no scratches, and in fact any glitches from the factory have already been taken care of. Thats a saving of $26,000 over a new 08 thats exactly like the one I have on. (and this is happening with any mid to high level vehicle right now, even BMWs, Mercedes, Bentleys, and so on)

So with that scenario (and its a common one) lets say tomorrow your company folds because people arent spending enough (too simplified of a reason but its the one you like). You loose your job and now you have all of this debt because you financed that new vehicle... and we will even say at 0%... because at 23 your credit is perfect and you have been around long enough to be proven stable. LOL!!! Now you cant afford it and you have to go sell it to be able to live (food, rent, utilites) until you can go find another job in this wonderful job market we have right now. You remember the one with all the layoffs. What would be easier to unload. A 2007 with low miles that you paid 20 for or a new 08/09 that you paid 46 for??? I would bet the easy one to sell would be the one at 20 because there are enough suckers out their with your mentality to say (I only buy new because dammit, I am too good to have a used car and I will have a stable job forever, so why would I buy 6 monoth old car when I could get a brand new one for 5k more???). The 20 thousand dollar vehicle will sell faster (because another buyer can afford it in tight lending times like these) and is the better deal because it has already taken the beating. You would more than likely sell it for over 18 if you have taken care of it. or maybe it would sell for more than you paid for it because you got a great deal on it the first time.

Look like I said before I am a small business owner... in fact its a clear bra/vinyl graphics business. (So you would think I WOULD want everyone to go buy a new car so that you would pay me for a clear bra). But thats not the case. I am offering this advice to maybe help someone not make the same mistakes I have made in the past. There are a lot of great books on learning how to save money and prepare for your future. (did you know the average American will make $4 million in their lifetime... and the average American pay pay close to a million dollars in car payments!!! )I know I know, its a long way off so why worry about it now. But it will be here before you know it. And no job is stable... I dont care who you are. I have friends who have been laid off after 25 years with a company for no reason.. even guys with security clearances well over Top Secret who have worked on very sensitive weapons systems. I have friends here that their business has folded (without any notice) and now they are out fo a job with no way to pay their bills. In the blink of any eye you can go from the god life to nothing. Unfortuantely they never saved anything because they were always trying to keep up with the "Jones's.

So take my advice or dont... its up to you. I was just volunteering it to maybe help someone. In my time living overseas I have learned that Americans are raised to be a consumer society that are pressured every day to spend spend spend money that they do not even have (thats part of the resaon why a lot of countries dont like us... we are shallow and materailistic and try to force our values on them). Big business and the government are the ones making the money. And dont think the government will be there to save you. They cant even balance a budget right. And If I were you, the 23 year old, I would be very worried about this "stimlus package". It is being borrowed against "your future". Its money they do not have and money you and your kids will have to pay back. And I am not so sure this country will be around long enough to pay it.

So start taking care fo yourselves because you never know... tomorrow may be the day when you are laid off... I am hoping that that's not the case.

*sorry about the typos... I was on my soap box and wrote a lot... and I have to go to work so no time to correct them.

 

Sorry "kid" but you are a little out of your league on this one. So before making smart *** comments or posting garbage you really do not know anything about, get educated on it first.

If you think dealers pay MSRP for a car and then turn around and sell it to you your crazy. Dealers buy their vehicles well below MSRP and mark it up to Manufacturers SUGGESTED Retail Price. So even if you are paying below MSRP they are still making money on you. Case in point. I saw a new Dodge SRT-10 NightRunner for sale locally. They wanted 67 for it and would not come down off of that price. Well Wood House Dodge had bought the last 150 SRT-10 trucks out of the plant and sold them for 30 for single cabd and 35 for quad cabs (including the NightRunner) now they did buy a 150 trucks and sell them for half of what they paid for them. Not they bought them probably for a few thousand less than what they sold them for. So buyers thought they were getting a great deal because it was almost half of MSRP. It goes to show you how much the dealer marks the car up when they get it. Another example is a dealership down in Florida is selling FordF150 trucks buy one at MSRP get the second one for $1... sound crazy right??? Wrong. if you average the price of those two trucks out it is still more than what they paid for them. So they are turning inventory buy taking a huge loss in regards to what they would sell for in a good market but tey are still making money and turning inventory.

Read my previous post before you come back shooting another half as reply.

 

Oh take a look at those houses for $1000 and tell me those are considered big. To me those are shacks and the economy and neighborhoods those houses are in are terrible.

 

Guys relax! This is just a forum to share opinions/ideas not a place to fight over whatever..At the end each of us will do things our way, regardless.

In my opinion both parties are right here...Why? Well we do have good deals now, that is no secret and for one I to like to take advantage of that...The time when dealers sold cars at MSRP is all gone.
Now on the other hand, I agree with some of HTP's statements...Being always in debt is not good and US has a lot of debt these days. However you need to also consider the major contributors to this debt: goverment/corporation/bank greed and WARS AFTER WARS. Billions and billions went down the drain because of that..Funny thing is that now those who stole the most get bailed out and we the people are continuing to suffer. That is not right! US seems more and more to look like a comunist country where nobody is responsible for anything and all are responsible for nothing.

We should all respect each other.

Regards,
A

 

Agreed... and yes we are starting to look more and more like a socialist country. With Obama's new tax the rich and give to the people who are not even working... well thats socialism folks.

So how is your clear bra coming along? Any pics of the final results???

 

Just got it yesterday, posting it today sometimes...

 

HTP I think you are misunderstanding.

Vehicles are not an investment. I wouldn't buy an overpriced new vehicle because I plan to make money on it later. I don't disagree that buying used can be a much smarter move. But, if someone wants new, they are going to get new.

You kind of overlooked my whole essay of a post, but I hope you understood what I was saying to be correct.

As for being 23 and in debt, that again is a bold assumption. An incorrect one as well. I paid for college in cash. I pay my insurance in full for the year, in cash. My monthly payments are a small fraction of my income, and the one loan I do have, my car, is small enough to be paid off with the money in my high-yield savings account. If I lose my job I could sustain over 3 years of living, without curbing my spending, and without going on unemployment.

Don't assume because of my age I'm an inexperienced fool.

Let's all play nice now.

 

Ok so you are the one in one hundred here for your age. The overwhelming majority are not in your position and have not made the same smart moves that you have. So my post is directed more towards them than you. I tell you though, if I could go back and make changes in my life knowing what I know now... I would have never bought a brand new car, I would have never gotten married and I would be very well off now. Unfortunately wisdom comes with age... and by the time you realize what you should have done... well its to late.

And I always play nice... LOL

 

hindsight is 20-20.

 

If you want buy a new car, you have to be willing to accept the depreciation. Simple as that.

 

LOL I know they are not buying the cars are MSRP. DO YOU NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INVOICE AND MSRP. I think you should research that first. MSRP is price they are selling for AKA STICKER PRICE and invoice price is what cost them to build the car and also I said I paid below invoice not below MSRP.

P.S you can talk about all owning a business etc. Well I'm only 23 and I own serveral different business to be exact 3 business and they are all different and for your info they are (dry cleaners over 100k per yr, Sandwhich shop over 80k per yr, and a small web design company that does only local work here in dallas over 50k per yr) and guess what I'm not exactly debt free because I wanted to build up my credit thats why I financed my car and I am going to pay it off next year to build my credit. I already paid off my house with in 3 years after building it in 2005. Also, I paid all my stuff in college up front now in grad school to get my MBA and my Masters in Accounting at the same time. So don't give me that crap about experience because I'm way younger than you and I can bet that I experienced more up's and down's in my life than you have.

Hope this wasn't insulting but I didn't like the fact that you made a bold assumption because your 37 that no one experience what you been through. Expect for the part about traveling yeah you have an edge there but in finance and how the economy works I believe I have the edge here. If you want me to prove it come fly down to Dallas, TX and I'll pay for your flight back and I'll prove to you how much I have and been through.

 

Given that you're time is so valuable, you spend 20+ hours doing research to save maybe a grand? That works out to $50/hr.

Just a rough estimate, because the high rollers that come in to buy cars don't bother with miner stuff like a car...

 

Slow your roll partner. Im not a young impressionable kid on the forum you usually talk smack too and will believe anything YOU say because I dont know my *** from a hole in the ground. I pay cash for everything except cars and houses and then I ALWAYS negotiate a good price and get the absolute best rates possible due to my credit score. Just because YOU cant pay cash doesnt mean everyone on this forum is in the same boat as you. I can tell your a know it all, but I guarentee if you read my technical replies your walk away and shut your mouth while you still have some pride. I come on here to educate those that desire to get good info and not bunk info from some jerk who wants to know it all, but doesnt. How in the **** do you know what I can afford? Your just plain ignorant dude. I should charge you for consuming some of my valuable time.

 

Geez.. If you spent as much time working as you did typing on this forum you could retire by age 50.