4 ms·

He goes to the Ford dealership and says he wants a truck. The salesman says, "How much are you looking to spend a month?" He says 800 dollars because that's t

He goes to the Ford dealership and says he wants a truck. The salesman says, "How much are you looking to spend a month?" He says 800 dollars because that's the amount he has left over after his bills. He then owns an 800/month truck. Repeat every three years throughout life.

paxys 4y ago
I have seen so many people fall victim to these tactics. It's never "what can you afford?" but "tell me what you want and we'll work something out". And next thing you know a 22 year old with zero financial or life knowledge is stuck with a 8 year 33% APR loan for shitty used truck that will need thousands in repairs every year.
- jshzglr 4y ago
  As shitty as this is I don't think it's fair to label the individual a victim. A contract is a contract, and personal responsibility is a requirement in a free-ish society.
  - badpun 4y ago
    I guess he can be viewed as a victim of his parents, and society in general (schooling system etc.), who never taught him about handling finances. How can a person know something if they were never taught it?
    - phpthrowaway99 4y ago
      It really doesn't take a lesson in finances to understand "money is important to have. I get money from work, which is not a sure thing. I should keep some money in reserves for when I don't have an income since jobs come and go". Immigrants from 3rd world countries with zero formal education, zero real family experience with building wealth, save money like crazy in the US.
      - badpun 4y ago
        > Immigrants from 3rd world countries with zero formal education, zero real family experience with building wealth, save money like crazy in the US. There's "building wealth" and there's just responsible money handling. Normal families handle money in responsible manner (have savings, avoid debt etc.) and such behaviors are passed to children. Pathological families can be doing all kinds of crazy things with their money - take up expensive debt for frivolous reasons, spend the whole salary up front and go hungry until the next one arrives, lose houses over small things (e.g. a guy in my family traded a large apartment for a much smaller one, a bottle of vodka and a dog) etc. Their lives is chaos, and that includes the financial aspect of it. A child in such conditions really can have no idea that it's not a normal way to handle money, and that it can be done much better.
      - mavhc 4y ago
        People are way more stupid than you imagine, half of them are paying for addictive drugs that slowly kill them.
    - Gareth321 4y ago
      I feel like we've been infantilising people too much lately. There has never been better, easier, and more accessible access to knowledge than today. If this person wanted to learn about how loans work, they could have. They don't want to. That's on them. Or maybe they know exactly how loans work and just really want an expensive truck. That happens plenty. They're not victims. They just have different values and preferences.
    - MrPatan 4y ago
      Because literally all the knowledge in the world is in your pocket.
    - jshzglr 4y ago
      So everyone is a victim, I don't subscribe to that loose definition.
- phpthrowaway99 4y ago
  I recently posted here that I sold cars for 10 years. I can not even imagine asking someone "what can you afford?" It sounds half condescending and half way too personal/inappropriate. People come to the dealership and ask for certain cars. Sometimes they do ask about payment ranges, and so you tell them. If they say "oh that's more than I thought, I was trying to keep it under $500 a month. Is that possible?" I tell them if it's possible via lease with $4k down or maybe on a 72 month loan. They decide. What else am I supposed to do? Go full Dave Ramsey on them and figure out if they can really afford $500 a month? The FEW times I tried to save someone from buying an expensive used car I just KNEW would eat them alive in repairs, it was always taken very poorly, and that's with me doing it pretty tactfully in my opinion. People that are the type to make bad financial decisions (in our opinions let's say) don't exactly take kindly to lowly 'car salesmen' implying they can't really afford something.

paxys 4y ago

I have seen so many people fall victim to these tactics. It's never "what can you afford?" but "tell me what you want and we'll work something out". And next thing you know a 22 year old with zero financial or life knowledge is stuck with a 8 year 33% APR loan for shitty used truck that will need thousands in repairs every year.

jshzglr 4y ago
As shitty as this is I don't think it's fair to label the individual a victim. A contract is a contract, and personal responsibility is a requirement in a free-ish society.
- badpun 4y ago
  I guess he can be viewed as a victim of his parents, and society in general (schooling system etc.), who never taught him about handling finances. How can a person know something if they were never taught it?
  - phpthrowaway99 4y ago
    It really doesn't take a lesson in finances to understand "money is important to have. I get money from work, which is not a sure thing. I should keep some money in reserves for when I don't have an income since jobs come and go". Immigrants from 3rd world countries with zero formal education, zero real family experience with building wealth, save money like crazy in the US.
    - badpun 4y ago
      > Immigrants from 3rd world countries with zero formal education, zero real family experience with building wealth, save money like crazy in the US. There's "building wealth" and there's just responsible money handling. Normal families handle money in responsible manner (have savings, avoid debt etc.) and such behaviors are passed to children. Pathological families can be doing all kinds of crazy things with their money - take up expensive debt for frivolous reasons, spend the whole salary up front and go hungry until the next one arrives, lose houses over small things (e.g. a guy in my family traded a large apartment for a much smaller one, a bottle of vodka and a dog) etc. Their lives is chaos, and that includes the financial aspect of it. A child in such conditions really can have no idea that it's not a normal way to handle money, and that it can be done much better.
    - mavhc 4y ago
      People are way more stupid than you imagine, half of them are paying for addictive drugs that slowly kill them.
  - Gareth321 4y ago
    I feel like we've been infantilising people too much lately. There has never been better, easier, and more accessible access to knowledge than today. If this person wanted to learn about how loans work, they could have. They don't want to. That's on them. Or maybe they know exactly how loans work and just really want an expensive truck. That happens plenty. They're not victims. They just have different values and preferences.
  - MrPatan 4y ago
    Because literally all the knowledge in the world is in your pocket.
  - jshzglr 4y ago
    So everyone is a victim, I don't subscribe to that loose definition.
phpthrowaway99 4y ago
I recently posted here that I sold cars for 10 years. I can not even imagine asking someone "what can you afford?" It sounds half condescending and half way too personal/inappropriate. People come to the dealership and ask for certain cars. Sometimes they do ask about payment ranges, and so you tell them. If they say "oh that's more than I thought, I was trying to keep it under $500 a month. Is that possible?" I tell them if it's possible via lease with $4k down or maybe on a 72 month loan. They decide. What else am I supposed to do? Go full Dave Ramsey on them and figure out if they can really afford $500 a month? The FEW times I tried to save someone from buying an expensive used car I just KNEW would eat them alive in repairs, it was always taken very poorly, and that's with me doing it pretty tactfully in my opinion. People that are the type to make bad financial decisions (in our opinions let's say) don't exactly take kindly to lowly 'car salesmen' implying they can't really afford something.