Current Events > What's the most you're willing to have as a car payment?

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Just the payment on financing, not including your insurance

0, i always just buy my car outright. It's hard to beat car loan interest rates, better to pay it fast or not have one.

Mentally I can't go past $500/mo.

I always pay cash for vehicles

$550

Anything more than that I'd have to actually start a budget and follow it.

I wouldn't want anything over $500/mo. That's basically because I don't have any major bills anymore.

Lol taking out a loan on a rapidly depreciating asset.

$0 always buy my stuff and stash savings for next ______.

Currently I pay $500 a month. I think that's the most I can see myself paying for.

Well Id just buy the vehicle outright but for debate sake I dont know. Tough to say. On one hand my house is paid off and my bills are stupidly low so I could comfortably spend a few thousand a month but mentally that would mess with my head because Im older and I remember a time when most standard payments were around $300 a month range and something in the $500 range was considered expensive,

Now though with the price of most vehicles in the U.S. I realize those days are long gone and its going to be more. Arbitrarily Id say $1,000 a month. That would still be a very easy payment for me and would probably be the right range on say a 5 year loan. Its not super high but I realize it cant be low like the old days. This seems the right sweet spot if I was making a payment.

But Id just buy it. Fuck payments unless it was a no interest 0% loan. In that case Id take the loan.

500

0, unless the rate was super low and it makes sense to take it since you can make money off of low risk investments. I'm not your average car buyer though, my car turns 20 years old this year.

Im paying $300 a month right now, dont think Id wanna ever go higher than that.

TheSuperSilver posted...

Mentally I can't go past $500/mo.

That, give or take. If I found something I liked and it came out to 529 I wouldn't walk if I couldn't get it lower.

No more than 8% of my take home would be ideal cap.
That's somewhat adjusted to some of the realities going on right now, and of course assuming it's not a stupid interest rate.

I financed a new car in 2018 and I remember the dealer acting as if I was being overly concerned about a 300usd monthly car payment.

Now I get it. What I thought was a serious monthly payment is sadly pretty low compared to what most people are paying now. I financed because it was less than 2% interest, but it seems a lot of people now are going waaaay underwater on car loans to get the wheels they want.

I'm a car guy, but my financial senses will always win out over unnecessary wants.

Never made a monthly car payment. Only ever bought them outright.

The closest Ive ever come was renting a motorbike for about $40 per month for about 3 months.

I bought it outright.

When I shut everything with the business down I sold everything. I had a Older F150, A chevy flat bed and a Ford Edge. I couldnt afford it with no income and covidgoing on . My friend asked for my help and she had a car so I didnt need one. She passed away and most here know what happened. It wasnt till June '23 I found what I wanted. A new model edge. I drove it home. The next week was going to start rebuild.......and my fathers sells his car then trades his truck for a car that needed some work. Took him 4 months to track what was causing yhe issue. Another health issue pops up and now prevents me from driving. At this point I might as well sell it. Someone clearly doesn't want me to enjoy it.

Fuck that altogether tbh. If I cant afford to buy a nice car, Ill buy an old one.

If I had to buy a new one right now I could afford a nice one but probably wouldnt.

Heineken14 posted...

That, give or take. If I found something I liked and it came out to 529 I wouldn't walk if I couldn't get it lower.

I think my last car was $485 or so.
It was a Dodge Charger V6, which is probably the most indestructible car a person can buy that doesn't use bulletproof materials.
I literally hit a brick wall and didn't get a fucking scratch.
Also spun out 2-3 times in one night driving faster than I should have been in the snow and was fine.