4 ms·
The last time I bought a car I wanted to pay cash, and the sales person gave me this wet puppy look. So I negotiated a 5 year finance rate where I calculated i
by xarope 2y ago
The last time I bought a car I wanted to pay cash, and the sales person gave me this wet puppy look. So I negotiated a 5 year finance rate where I calculated it would be net-zero in difference to me, literally; let's say it was 50K in cash, so I would pay $25K now, and finance $25K over the next 5 years, and they would get ~2% more, which in the grand scheme of inflation, meant a net-zero loss on my purchasing power.
I considered it a win-win situation, since it left me with more money in the bank, the sale person got their kick backs from the finance company (they proceeded to give me the free replacement car mats and other freebies associated with the finance deal), and I got positive credit ratings.
But yes, what a pain.
- etrautmann 2y agoIsn’t the pain of even thinking about the existence of a monthly payment a true cost? I’d so much rather just pay upfront and never think about it again.
- ghaff 2y agoWhen I bought my current car, the financing deal was probably at least neutral to me. But I just didn't want to deal with it.
- fragmede 2y agoWith today's technology, if you can afford to buy it outright, you can setup the right autopay so you don't have to think about it.
- etrautmann 2y agoI only sort of agree. Yes you can setup autopay but it's still there, and you still see charges on your account. Perhaps this is minor, but I still prefer to have no additional things out there floating around that require any thought.
- Volundr 2y agoI've never had an auto loan, is there a reason they couldn't just take the financing to get the incentives and then just pay it in full the next month?
- Kye 2y agoThey can come with early payoff penalties. It seems weird, but a loan is a thing that can be and often is packaged up and sold. If you pay it off, they have nothing to sell. Resale value of your loan is a factor in how much it costs. Asset-backed securities are a strange world of value based on value that can either lead to market collapse (because someone misvalued them, see 2007-2008) or market efficiency (because more people can afford debt for stuff).
- thunky 2y ago> I considered it a win-win situation > the sale person got their kick backs I don't understand why this is your concern, to the point where you were willing to take on debt to satisfy this stranger's arbitrary incentive. Please don't take this the wrong way but I think you might want to revaluate if it really was a win-win, or rather if you caved to their pressure tactics and now you're lying to yourself about it.