Carl Lassiter

+1

jrcart

I can't agree with this statement. Up until 6-8 months ago paying cash for big ticket items was not the smartest way to do it. Finance, finance, finace, put as little down as possible and invest the rest of the money. Why pay cash for a $100k car when you could invest that $100k and easily make 7-8% or more return on the investment when banks and car manufacturers where offering 36-60 month financing at 0-5.9%, not to mention any additional write offs financing or a lease would bring. Just to say you "own" something, you were leaving lots of money on the table, it was like free money.

Now times have changed, we can't count on 8% returns so paying cash makes a little more sense.

LZH

100% correct. If you can use the tax write offs and make money with good investments while capitalizing on better finance rates, why the hell not?? Giving up your hard earned after tax cash that could be used to make you money and pay for part of the vehicle is just not a wise financial decision.

IngenereAMG

I have just been offered a 2K mile BS for $90K, and I think there may be a bit more room. They started at $99, and quickly called back and offered the car at $90.

Frankster

Take it, that's a pretty fair deal for this economy. More importantly, you'll really forget what you paid for this car once you're in it.

Doctodd33

this really sucks.....i usually dont pay cash for anything, and if financing is out of the picture, it doesnt look good for me.

jrcart

I'm not saying that it wil be impossible to get financed, but it seems things went from one extreme to another. You better have all your ducks in a row, a high 700 plus credit score and some cash to put down if you are looking for a luxury car these days. I think it was too easy to obtain credit for the majority of people over the past 15 years. With the way cars depreciate I can't believe banks were giving 0 down payment 60 month loans. I think people should be required to put down 10%-15% on a car, it would weed a lot of the people buying cars they really can't afford. I always laugh when I drive by some of the apartment complexes in my area, these people are renting $1200.00 a month apartments and they all have Bimmers, Benz's, Jags and Hummers in the parking lot...most of these people should be investing in a home instead of driving a luxury name plate automobile, they are not fooling anybody IMO. I know for a fact some of these people are paying more for their car payment than their rent

SL2003driver

Guys if we were "smart" we wouldn't be driving cars that cost 6 figures

jrcart

It's all relative, person making $60k a year that buys a $30K Camry is really no different than a person making $400K buying a $200K car..they both just spent half their yearly income on a car, right? I would assume that most of the guys on here that bought a new Black Series make well over $250k a year. The reality is that most people spend more than half their yearly income on when purchasing a new car.

TMC M5

Very true...you can even make the point that the person making $400K has way more disposable income in relation to other expenses (depending on other lifestyle choices). So that person with $400K in income would have even less of a financial strain purchasing a $200K car than the person getting the Camry. Everything is relative.

Tom

SL2003driver

When I said "smart" I did not mean ability. But were all just a bunch of big kids and life is short. So to me this is a great time to get some great cars for great prices.

jrcart

...oh, sorry, I misunderstood your post. Hell ya, I'm the biggest kid on here, I do some dumb azz shizzle sometimes, but it's all in fun, you are right, life is short, so I am trying to make the most of it.

clkwork

How much you make is irrelevant. If you want the car bad enough and have the means then go for it. Life's short and you only live once. The only reason to be worried about how much other people make is if you bought the car as a status symbol, and honestly if you bought a CLK black as a status symbol you could have done a whole lot better.

/makes less than 250k

Doctodd33

Miami is all about bling so yes i see tons of people living beyond their means driving a BMW or MB or whatever......i also see people wearing LV and Coach handbags and tons of jewelry paying for food with foodstamps. But i dont think they are thinking life is short. I agree life is short, but the stress of making payments one possibly cant afford takes the fun out life, makes one lose sleep....isnt worth it.

jrcart

"How much you make is irrelevant" ??? WTF??? This is exactly this kind of thinking that has gotten this country into the mess it is in today. People having to buy stuff they really can't afford, the bigger house, the nicer car(s), the boat/yacht, the bigger diamond ring, etc. How much you make is the most relevant part! I'm sorry, but a person that does not have a household income that is at least close to $250k a year or have a 7 figure nest-egg or trust fund sitting around should not be buying a $140k automobile...call me crazy, but that is a prime example of living beyond your means IMO.

BTW you totaly contradicted yourself in your post, in one sentence you state "How much you make is irrelevant" and then you say "if you have the means then go for it"

Frankster

yep, it's all relevent to what you make. Some people take on more risk than they should - asset / debt ratio. The more you make the more you spend.

DFW01E55

No it's not.

The banks (investment and commercial) and brokers were falsifying applications long ago and then discovered how easy it was with NINJA loans (No Income No Job or Assets) to create cash flow and pad their accounts. This explosion of credit drove housing prices straight up (in many markets) and created demand for new houses. Houses that the market didn't need.

They (houses) then became a revolving credit card which could be tapped every 12 months for 30k to 40k in home equity cash. Real estate always goes up, right?

Credit became so easy that peer pressure dominated people to the point where they had to have 2 newer, bigger better SUV's and home than the folks next door.

The manufacturers and media participated by telling you, "You deserve it now", "why wait, you can have it today" and the whole culture of instant gratification became a religion.

Then you're receiving 3 and 4 credit card offers PER DAY in the mail and how could people not fall for it .... unless they had some personal discipline?

I'm blaming Greenspan, Bernanke and Paulson, they put the mechanisms in place for this lunacy and then stood by and watched it explode.

They cooked the dope, our politicians injected it and "we the people" got addicted. Clinton and Bush were just tools for them ... and both elitist groups view the rest of us as collateral damage.

/rant

TMC M5

I think Jim is still right....excusing their actions as a reult of "peer pressure" lets people off the hook for irresponsible behavior. You have valid points across the board too...but I wouldn't limit the blame to the people in charge of the Fed or Treasury and just the mortgage brokers/banks.

Tom

SL2003driver

I think you hit the nail on the head

Carl Lassiter

All good points, this post hits the nail squarely on the head.

AMG Dictator

I know that you were just making a point but to me this is as much about personal accountability.

If you make 100K you shouldn't be buying a 100K car no matter how many people enable and encourage you.

You still know that it won't work.

This must all be based on this "new math" I keep hearing about.

Doctodd33

actually i can go further into why this all happened, and i dont blame Bush a whole lot. Who should you blame about our current financial mess with banks who loaned money to people who couldnt afford the homes?.....we are all responsible for that. But also banks were forced to make sub-prime loans and this was proudly announced by the Clinton administration's Andrew Cuomo on April 6, 1998. During the press conference Cuomo admitted that there would be a higher default rate on these loans. They did it anyway. Did u know that Obama was an attorney who won a large case that forced banks into making these loans to people who couldnt afford them?

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.js...81474977473892

Doctodd33

also, i blame the head of the Finance committee, Barney Frank, a democrat from New Jersey. He said ON TELEVISION a few months before the failure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that everything was fine and they were strong. How did that end up? The head of the finance committee is in charge of overseeing our nation's financial district. He is partially responsible for the billions of retirement dollars lost by the people of this country.

jrcart

...and with these "NINJA" loans and the practices that came along with it people refied the hell out of their homes and in some cases pulled out 110% of the equity to spend on the luxury cars, boats and other lavish items THEY COULD NOT AFFORD OTHERWISE. the bottom line is that there are a lot of people in way over there heads due to people living well beyond there means.

jrcart

It is clearly evident that you know what you are talking about and brought facts to back it up. I am not a financial wizzard, but I learned the value of a dollar at a young age and I also learned not to spend more than you can afford, I thought that was common sense, but I guess not.

What I do know is we have a mess on our hands that is the result of the government, the banks and greedy and irresponsible people and now the rest of us are going to be handed a broom by Mr Obama and asked to clean up the mess.