Highest your car payment should be?

[BTHOtu]

IF you go to a car lot with the intention of buying a car, new or used.
Never. Never-ever. No matter how nice the sales person is. No matter how many times they ask you.
DO NOT
talk about monthly payments.

Once they have this information they will use it to fuck you in every position possible.

Always be nice, considerate and take control of the conversation.
Douchebag: "How much you wanna pay per month."
Me: "Zero."
Douchebag(laughing): "How much can you afford?"
Me: "I can afford it. Does this particular car come with heated seats?"

 

[BTHOtu]

Been interested in leasing, but drive too many miles.

I have 51K on a car that is 18 months old...

 

[fknhippie]

I prefer to keep it under $350. I think I'm paying $500 a month (48 months)for the Mustang, but it's a toy so it doesn't count.

 

[BTHOtu]

I pay $1,000 a month. The majority of it goes to the back-principal. 60 month loan paid off in 36 that way. However If I had 36 month loan the payments would have been in the neighborhood of 1,200. I always overpay because at the astounding rate in which cars depreciate and by they way they finance them you normally spend the first two years paying off interest and barely touching the principal. I started looking at that more closely a few years back when I financed a truck for 25,000 grand and 4 years later I still owed 10,000 and the truck had a value of little over half that.

The tricky part with most banks is that they do not want you to pay it off early and some have penalties You have to read the fine print or better yet go to the dealer with a standing offer from a bank you trust. I use USAA. Most of them will not put the extra money on the principal unless you ask them to. Instead they will put it towards the next payment - they make more money that way.

 

[I_Shall_Return]

In your opinions? How high are you willing to pay for your car payment and for how long?

Live within your means or lower than your means and you'll never have to worry about the repo man! Trying to keep up with appearances and you'll be working your rear end off just to keep it. All the wages you earn will go out the other hand, you won't be able to afford any fun and your high payment vehicle will only sit in front of your residence when you're sleeping or in front of your employer when you're working!

 

[rjshull]

IF you go to a car lot with the intention of buying a car, new or used.
Never. Never-ever. No matter how nice the sales person is. No matter how many times they ask you.
DO NOT
talk about monthly payments.

Once they have this information they will use it to fuck you in every position possible.

Always be nice, considerate and take control of the conversation.
Douchebag: "How much you wanna pay per month."
Me: "Zero."
Douchebag(laughing): "How much can you afford?"
Me: "I can afford it. Does this particular car come with heated seats?"

And never ever tell them that you have a trade in. Get the deal you want on the new car first, then throw in the trade and negotiate on that. In fact, go piece by piece throughout the whole negotiation, never lump everything in together.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

I've told people one day's pay. So, that's like 1/20th or so of your monthly gross. If you make 25 bucks an hour, that's 200 per mo.

But, if you really wanna get into it, I don't look at the payment...only the depreciation. The payment is only a distraction.
If you buy a $50k car and sell it 4 years later for $20k, you that car cost you $30k or $7,250 per year...no matter how you look at it. The payment you made is irrelevant to your bottom line.
If you buy a year old car for $40k and sell it 3 years later for $20k, that car cost you $20k or $6,750 per year.

People need to think of cars as depreciating equipment instead of a payment.

 

[Nascar Addict]

I have never bought a new car. Don't plan on buying a new car. Used is fine with me.

I buy newer used car. Drive it into the ground. And buy another car.

Here's the catch.... When I'm not making payments... I'm doing my best to save for the next car.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

In your opinions? How high are you willing to pay for your car payment and for how long?

I think what you're asking is what should your DTI (debt to income ratio) be.

35% of gross mo income is a general rule of thumb for a mortgage...and backend (total DTI) around 45% of gross monthly.

Cars...idk the formulas but they also work off of, but I think it's a DTI ratio of some kind as well.

I'm not one that likes to put much cash down on a depreciating asset, so that dictates how much car I can buy...$400 to $500 max is what I have paid per vehicle...now $317/60 mo '09 Altima $0 down & $370/60mo. '09 Infiniti, $3k down

 

[Banned 10x]

That can be a wide range of numbers.
My work van is $389 for72 mos.
Wife's is $650 for 60 mos.
Mine is $549 for 60 mos.
Depending what you have to put down, you can make that number what you want.
My wife's car was also purchased with a $17000 down. Otherwise that payment would be hella high.

You put $17k down on a car?

 

[ATL96Steeler]

IF you go to a car lot with the intention of buying a car, new or used.
Never. Never-ever. No matter how nice the sales person is. No matter how many times they ask you.
DO NOT
talk about monthly payments.

Once they have this information they will use it to fuck you in every position possible.

Always be nice, considerate and take control of the conversation.
Douchebag: "How much you wanna pay per month."
Me: "Zero."
Douchebag(laughing): "How much can you afford?"
Me: "I can afford it. Does this particular car come with heated seats?"

Very true.

Really for me, the best thing has always been to have my 3rd party financing already in place. I go in looking to reach an amount financed figure on the car I want...I do my homework and I'm reasonable...If I only have $2k to put down, and $18k is my financed budget...I'm not out looking at $30k cars.

If we can reach a deal (amount financed budget) I buy the car...if we don't, I don't buy the car. The minute the dealer is trying to "work a mo payment deal" to get you into the car financially...the dealer is going to make out every time.

 

[OregonDucks]

luckily I got an uncle who is a manager at a car place so as far as being screwed by the salesman im ok.

I could easily afford a hefty size car payment, the only thing is ive never had a car payment before and its never been apart of my monthly payments so im hesitant to suddenly have a few hundred gone. However, some medical bills that we have will soon be paid off and they have been around $200 or so.

 

[tometom]

You put $17k down on a car?

he put 17k down and still has payments of $650 a month for 5 years. if you assume a 0% interest rate, that's a $56,000 car. man, I wish I could do that.

as others have said, just figure out what you can afford. that one day's pay rule isn't too bad of a starting point.

 

[Banned 10x]

he put 17k down and still has payments of $650 a month for 5 years. if you assume a 0% interest rate, that's a $56,000 car. man, I wish I could do that.

as others have said, just figure out what you can afford. that one day's pay rule isn't too bad of a starting point.

I don't know, if you have $17k lying around for a down payment why not get a $17k car and have zero payments. I've had the expensive car before and with the monthly payments and maintenance it was a huge waste of money... imo.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I don't know, if you have $17k lying around for a down payment why not get a $17k car and have zero payments. I've had the expensive car before and with the monthly payments and maintenance it was a huge waste of money... imo.

Depends on how much the $17k in cash means to the person...if you won't miss it, it's not a big deal. If you saved for 3 yrs for it...yeah, you shouldn't be putting it all down on a car.

People like their rides...I will say most people driving these really nice cars don't own them, nor do they want to own a car...the luxury guys lease the majority of the new cars sold.

 

[redseat]

it all depends upon how much money you put down up front.

also how could of a negotiator you are, the better you are the lower your monthly payment will be. I got mine back in 2008 for a brand new 2008 Nissan Altima for $175/month... but I paid $250 to lessen how long I had to pay. Granted I did put down 9-10K

 

[ATL96Steeler]

it all depends upon how much money you put down up front.

also how could of a negotiator you are, the better you are the lower your monthly payment will be. I got mine back in 2008 for a brand new 2008 Nissan Altima for $175/month... but I paid $250 to lessen how long I had to pay. Granted I did put down 9-10K

You really don't even need to be a good negotiator these days...to get the best deal on a car, what you need is #1, don't be in a hurry, have some cash down, good credit, pre-shop your car loan independent of the dealer.

 

[potzer25]

I don't know, if you have $17k lying around for a down payment why not get a $17k car and have zero payments. I've had the expensive car before and with the monthly payments and maintenance it was a huge waste of money... imo.

$20k car vs. $60k is a pretty big difference...

 

[redseat]

You really don't even need to be a good negotiator these days...to get the best deal on a car, what you need is #1, don't be in a hurry, have some cash down, good credit, pre-shop your car loan independent of the dealer.

True. Though some dealerships you have to go back and forth (granted those are probably the ones you don't want to be buying your car from in the first place).

Threaten to walk out or even walk out.... I did that (wasn't going to get the car anyway as the dealership were a-holes and wouldn't budge) and as I am in my car pulling out of my spot 4 sales guy whom I never say before come running out to me to see what they could do to get my business. TOO FING LATE PEOPLE!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

True. Though some dealerships you have to go back and forth (granted those are probably the ones you don't want to be buying your car from in the first place).

Threaten to walk out or even walk out.... I did that (wasn't going to get the car anyway as the dealership were a-holes and wouldn't budge) and as I am in my car pulling out of my spot 4 sales guy whom I never say before come running out to me to see what they could do to get my business. TOO FING LATE PEOPLE!

I've walked out...just had to stop the dialog...the sales guy was trying way too hard...trying to get me into a payment when I told him 3 previous times don't worry about the payment...let's focus on the purchase price...they didn't have the car I wanted anyway.

I've learned to never get emotional...have a game plan as noted earlier and follow thru...a lot of times used cars (especially upscale certified pre-owned makes coming off lease from a bulk buyer) you can get the best deal on price.