Johnhav430

I'm on the road and of course was browsing through old GM wagons....came across this one. The invoice says paid in full (they have pics of the original one, hand written).....that's like $36k today! People rocked the finances back then. Who knows I was talking to people about Toronto real estate. People who bought in the 90's have a ton of equity (one guy is retiring this year, and I think can we have that much equity when we retire, and would it even be enough?), yet they seem to live simply and just go to work. I didn't buy in the 90's and our real estate didn't boom like that (maybe it's happening a little late in Phila)....nice car though, not perfect but a throwback...

edit p.s. isn't the article a '68? The grille is older than the '72, which I think is the same as a '69

https://classiccars.com/listings/vie...carolina-29680

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...rchived-review

DaveGS4

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Johnhav430

I do remember growing up, my parents resisted credit cards, and then "caved in." With my dad, he had to travel extensively for work, and he let his boss know he couldn't travel unless he was given a corp card, simply because he would have to deal with cash only. But then it seemed to open the floodgates for more cc's (he's human I guess). Credit cards, Citi got me as a sophomore in college, and then amex got me as a senior. I financed all 3 of the cars I purchased new--at least car# 2 and #3 I paid off in 36 mos. (the BMW more like 32). And the 4th car, used Lexus, cash (the amount was not that much and the rate would have been over 3% cuz it was a 2006).

But I can only imagine grandpa and his older cars, felt like he would keep driving even if rusted or broken, until he could buy another paying cash. Meaning general tendency not to leave anything on the table...

dunno why but I like those mid sized GMs of that era, with a large block. Even by the vents, you know the car in the link had a/c, and not all did...

mmarshall

wasjr

It is a business decision for me. The last couple of new cars I have purchased, I have financed as the rate was .9%. I can get an investment return much higher than that. In September my son beat me as he got 0% financing on his new Forester.

Now a much more common example. The daughter of a lady in my office had significant engine issues with a 10 year old vehicle, on which she still owed $7k. She ended up with a new vehicle. I don't know the price of the new vehicle, but the dealer gave her $2,500 for her car, which means she rolled $4,500 of the old note on the new car. Her financing is payments north of $400 over 72 months.

Another example...I went with a buddy to pick up his new truck from the dealer. While waiting, I hear folks trading a 2 year old car for a new car. Pricing of new vehicle, nor trade value were never mentioned, just payment amounts. That's all these folks cared about. Not even the term, just the amount.

Propulsion

EZZ

Its such a waste of money to pay off a $50k car. If I finance it at less than 1%, I could almost double that $50k in 7 years if I invested wisely. The way the market has behaved in the last 5 years, its like my car is free if i took the Lexus financing deal

riredale

1% money? Really? Google says 4+% is more like it, but hey, if I could get 1% money I'd have to think seriously about it.

And if you were hoping to double your purchase cash in 7 years, that implies 10+% return every year (Rule of 72). I'd have a very hard time doing that year in and year out. But perhaps there are ways of doing this with modest risk.

EXE46

Everybody has their preferences. I have bought my cars cash in the past but that is not always financially sensible all the time. This time, I leased a car for practically zero down except MSD's. Kept my capital. Just last week, I lost some money in my investment portfolio; even worse, I had just deposited some funds into the account a week prior. Having a degree in Accounting gives a different perspective with regards to money for me. I just hate parting ways with too much capital. Before, I bought cash, now I am wiser with my money.

mmarshall

What's wiser than being out of debt? You won't be out of debt as long as someone else (or a bank) still has a lien on the car. Once the title is clear and it is legally yours, no one can take it away from you or repo it if you lose your job or otherwise can't pay the note each month.

EXE46

Look like I said before, I have a degree in accounting since 2015, I certainly don't need financial advice from you. I have investments, who says I don't have capital? When I was in college I bought all cars cash. I even managed to graduate without any debts which is unheard of these days. College tuition funded myself, working full-time and attending classes at night while living on my own. I am an immigrant, no handouts received, no government loans; my family resides in another country.

What you choose to do with your money is your prerogative but like i said before, financing, and or buying cash all have advantages and disadvantages. Just because a person finances or leases their car doesn't mean that you are financially smarter than they are.

mmarshall

First, with all due respect, I wasn't giving you advice......simply stating a fact. Second, no offense, but what kind of sheepskin you have, in relation to this discussion and thread, is probably irrelevant....almost everyone buys cars, degree or not. Third, congratulations on being a success in college without getting in over your head ....many kids graduate these days well into five figures in college-loan debt.

EXE46

You misunderstood my point. Let me reiterate, before acquiring my degree, I bought all my cars in cash. Having graduated college and learned money management skills I will never make that mistake again. As mentioned before, my current car is leased, terms was zero down and max MSD's. I didn't have to finance and put 20/30% down. This means, i get to invest the capital saved and get real returns on my money.
Buying expensive cars in cash to me is not financially smart. Just because you can do it doesn't mean it is the wisest choice. That money could be invested and rewards you heavily in the long term. I do long term investments and will never again consider buying luxury cars cash regardless of my net worth unless I am wealthy. Wealthy meaning having liquid capital in excess of five million dollars.

Now buying a used camry and or civic you're better off buying cash, so maybe we need to be more clear as to what the cost thresholds are.

Aron9000

Marshall, you need to realize that a lot of the people on this board are so damn wealthy(and old) that losing their job tomorrow wouldn't be that big of a deal, they have so much damn money invested they could pay off all their debts without it really affecting their overall net worth. Now if they have 3 kids, $20,000 a year for private school tuition, planning to send them to Yale with MBA's for a cool half million each, yeah maybe that's a different story for those folks.

With interest rates being so damn low, it makes more sense to have a mortgage and/or a car payment and invest that money for the long term. You need to think about having $500,000 or $1,000,000 cash tied up into buying your house outright or if its better to have a stupid cheap APR on your mortgage and then invest that $1,000,000 at a higher rate of return.


Marshall, what you are saying makes perfect sense when interest rates are sky high, if you have the cash, buy your car or house if a loan is something stupid like 8% or 10%

msgs350

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