Need Advice on my Car

[Jase]

I learned something new this time around buying a car.

To get the best interest rate from a credit union. A) buy a new car, and B- put down a minimum of 30%.

Got a loan for 1%. Now I can concentrate more on paying down my wife's @#$% unrefinanceable student loans at 6.9% instead.

All of this assuming you can't do better with a promotional rate at the dealer.

[Carolina Husker]

Refinance and keep it.

[Mrs Pantherfan]

I learned something new this time around buying a car.

To get the best interest rate from a credit union. A) buy a new car, and B- put down a minimum of 30%.

Got a loan for 1%. Now I can concentrate more on paying down my wife's @#$% unrefinanceable student loans at 6.9% instead.

All of this assuming you can't do better with a promotional rate at the dealer.

little bitter about something there, buddy? :)

[g5jamz]

The only time you consider a car as any sort of investment to recoup anything would be in as a business use. Even then I wouldn't if self employed because I'm cheap and don't need a new car. If you're looking at a car as a source of equity...don't. It's toilet tissue. Pay it off early.

If refinancing...look at home equity line/loan so you can get the tax benefit of the interest deduction.

[Doyle]

If you were driving the car for free up until now you've already gotten a good deal.

[thefuzz]

You are not upside down, it's probably worth about 11,000 depending on condition.

You do need to re fi however and keep the payment the same or up it a bit, and go with fewer months.

Pay as much as you can, and get it paid off and keep it.

[Jackofalltrades]

Well, if she is just now signing it over to you it would be a purchase, not a refi.

With that being the case I'd call and see what kind of numbers you could get.

I

[CarolinaAllDay]

Either buy new and finance or dont finance at all. Financing used cars is a recipe for trouble.

What would be worse than having a used car that your making payments on, and then having the transmission blow or some other freak accident? At least with a new car your getting a warrenty for 3 yrs/36k miles ( which would usually be 60% of the time your making payments) and you get the peace of mind that the maintenence was done correctly on the vehicle and Johnny dickstick changed the oil more than once.

[tarheelpride]

I'll probably end up trying to get the payment lowered, and as soon as I'm financially able to, trade it in and get something with some more room. I'm not necessarily a big guy but I want something with some room to it.

[Jackofalltrades]

I don't know what your credit looks like but if the numbers seen in this thread hold true you could probably go in and trade it now and use the difference for your down payment and probably not have to come out of pocket for anything. The closer you get to the end of the year the better the deals are going to get as they try to pump up their numbers.

Also, with a new car you are eligible for their special financing offers that rarely are extended to used cars.

Credit and trade value are going to be what "drive" a new deal.

[tarheelpride]

I don't know what your credit looks like but if the numbers seen in this thread hold true you could probably go in and trade it now and use the difference for your down payment and probably not have to come out of pocket for anything. The closer you get to the end of the year the better the deals are going to get as they try to pump up their numbers.

Also, with a new car you are eligible for their special financing offers that rarely are extended to used cars.

Credit and trade value are going to be what "drive" a new deal.

My credit is pretty decent and I bet I could cut that interest rate by a lot. As I said previously, I wouldn't be able to do anything until February at the earliest and I want to be more financially secure before I do a trade-in. However, I would love to do a trade-in and get another car.

[thefuzz]

Good lord.

Don't go get a new car. It's stupid to look at the interest rate only when thinking of this purchase. If you can get it refinanced for less months and keep the payment the same, do it. Otherwise just pay extra every month.

Just keep paying on the car, and you won't be upside down in it.

If you want to be upside down, go get a new car, 40% of the value will be lost within 18 months of signing.