Warning About Dealers And Their Pricing

[Jstpssng]

Decades ago a friend of mine said he expected to always have a car payment. He said it was built into his mental budget. Nothing too fancy or rarely new. Intelligent well educated fellow making a very good income . Maybe it was how he was raised. I still don’t get it.

When the monthly repair bill exceeds a monthly payment it's time to change. To some degree that goes back to buying more than what you need; or in my case for too long, buying them a bit more used than I should have been running them. I once bought a used Dakota for $7500 cash; spent that much in repairs in just over a year; then was glad to dump it for $1000 in trade. At the time a new 4x4 Ranger extended cab was going for $15000. I got blinded by the "90 day warranty" offered by the dealer... more worthless than the paper it was printed on.

 

[IndyJay]

Decades ago a friend of mine said he expected to always have a car payment. He said it was built into his mental budget. Nothing too fancy or rarely new. Intelligent well educated fellow making a very good income . Maybe it was how he was raised. I still don’t get it.

Smart way to do that and not-so-smart way to do that. (always having a car payment)
Smart way... pay off your car loan, continue to make that payment into a dedicated savings account.
Instead of getting a new car every few years, wait until you have saved up for one. Repeat as necessary.
Unless you are even smarter and get a low interest loan and invest the previously saved "car payment" like @Hay Dude suggests.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Auto makers and dealers want this kind of repeat business. It wouldn't surprise me if the push towards hybrid vehicles may also be geared towards generating repeat business. Specifically, those hybrid battery packs are going to wear out in 5-7 years. They are either going to be unavailable or priced to push people into new vehicles.

Yep that's a great point. What you're saying is they would go to the cell phone business model.

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

Good friend of mine is a car salesman. He says one in ten customers asks the price of the vehicle. None ask the total financed cost of the vehicle. Nine ask the monthly payment amount.

What kind of car dealership?

 

[RSR]

Yep that's a great point. What you're saying is they would go to the cell phone business model.

I'm not sure that is what is really happening. Tesla batteries are warrantied to 150k miles and usually last 300-400k miles.

Toyota hybrid batteries are warrantied to 150k Mike's and regularly last 200k+.

 

[JethroB]

Smart way to do that and not-so-smart way to do that. (always having a car payment)
Smart way... pay off your car loan, continue to make that payment into a dedicated savings account.
Instead of getting a new car every few years, wait until you have saved up for one. Repeat as necessary.
Unless you are even smarter and get a low interest loan and invest the previously saved "car payment" like @Hay Dude suggests.

That’s what I did early on. The second car after 8 years was almost all cash. The following ones were.

 

[ovrszd]

What kind of car dealership?

New/used, Ford, GM, Chrysler (or whatever they call themselves now).

 

[ovrszd]

I'm not sure that is what is really happening. Tesla batteries are warrantied to 150k miles and usually last 300-400k miles.

Toyota hybrid batteries are warrantied to 150k Mike's and regularly last 200k+.

What is that data based on? Who gathered the data?

 

[RSR]

What is that data based on? Who gathered the data?

Independent tests, self-reported data from actual owners, and historical repairs.

Electric Vehicle News and Analysis | InsideEVs

Read the latest EV news from the U.S. and around the globe including new model reveals, business news, industry insights, latest technology, and more.

insideevs.com

How Long Do Hybrid Batteries Last?

Hybrid batteries last a long time, often the life of the car, and the cost to replace them has fallen.

www.carfax.com

 

[ovrszd]

Independent tests, self-reported data from actual owners, and historical repairs.

Electric Vehicle News and Analysis | InsideEVs

Read the latest EV news from the U.S. and around the globe including new model reveals, business news, industry insights, latest technology, and more.

insideevs.com

How Long Do Hybrid Batteries Last?

Hybrid batteries last a long time, often the life of the car, and the cost to replace them has fallen.

www.carfax.com

That's amusing data.

Hybrid batteries last the life of the car. Yep. I totally believe that. The car is totaled when the battery quits.

Show me a private owned Tesla with 300-400K miles? Thanks.