How do you justify this? I'm curious since I'm now in a job where I can conceivably afford a car payment but my mindset of never wanting a car payment is strong. I'm not really enjoying the MINI as much as I had thought I would and kind of want something else. I drive 32 miles each way to work so I really want to get a TDI, I've wanted one for as long as I have been into diesels.

I would it buy brand new, new car depreciation is for suckers. But would buy certified used from a dealership or even carmax and get a warranty through them. I'm just curious, I won't be buying any time soon since the wedding is coming up and etc.

You don't. I'm 60 yrs old and I've never done it. I feel no duty to make bankers richer.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

At least you're honest .

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Unless you can expense it.

Rich people justify it easily. By rich I mean folks who have enough income that they can afford a car payment and still have no financial worries. They then have the supposed peace of mind of not having to bother with maintenance as everything is covered under warranty.

If youse po like me you gotta scrimp and save to scrape together enough pennies to pay cash for an old Benz diesel, or something - so you don't have the financial burden of a car payment. I hope to be able to buy a few old cars in the next few years and never have to deal with a car payment again.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Just remember that without those new car-buying suckers, you would be a pedestrian!

When I was your age, I had no problems driving older, less expensive cars because I enjoyed being under the hood of a car, particularly since the cars in question were usually American V8's that were incredibly straightforward and stupid easy to work on. Today? I'm older, cars are far more mechanically complex, and I have less interest in working on them. I'm taking delivery of a 2014 Ford Taurus SHO this weekend. I opened the hood on one at the dealer, and a twin-turbo direct-injected V6 under a massive plastic shroud stared back at me. I closed the hood quickly before it had a chance to hurt me.

So, I make the choice to basically throw some money away by driving newer vehicles with warranty protection in order to avoid dealing with anything beyond maintenance requirements. Does this work for me? Yes. Your mileage may vary.

financing a car is like borrowing money for anything else. You have a down payment (or not), an interest rate (IIRC rates should be below 5% for a newer car..but this changes from year to year) and other qualities of a loan ("what will happen if you die during the payment perion ?" and "can I pay the loan off early without penalty?" among others.

How do you justify this ? often is a 'buisness/work' excuse - "I need a reliable car for work" + "I cant put money into making my existing car more reliable" = go to dealership and buy something.
If you only have one car, and it has stranded you a number of times, and have no one that can call 24x7 to help, then I can see this.
I know many young families that, due to child seat laws, are forced into a minivan or SUV becuase they have 3 children in child seats. (its the law...and you are a bad parent if you dont have the state-correct seat for your children based on age and weight Very few cars sold in the last 10 years will fit 3 child seats abreast - so you need a 3rd row.

financial hawks will say never to finance a car - the lifespan of the asset is too short. Good for them I dont know many people that have $13k-40k burning a hole in their pocket to buy a car outright but they are correct in that financing a car is not the best financial investment strategy. ALSO, if a car is financed, you MUST carry full coverage insurance - call your ins. co to quote that - it could be significant.

I love the TDI's also, but if you are looking for cheap transportation, they are not the way to go - unless you do foolish miles, the payback wont be there...at least not where I live where Diesel is $.50/gal more than RUG. You are welcome to buy a TDI becuase you want to, but dont delude yourself into thinking that you are saving a lot of money. You can do the math on this easily. I'm especially disenchanted by the fact that later model TDI's get worse mileage than the earleir ones...WTF VW (insert tea party arguement here)

The typical story is that people wander into a car dealership, agree to buy a car (insert car dealer sterotype here) and then talk to the 'financing person' - who gets a kickback from the local bank/credit union everytime he gives them a car loan. This doesnt mean that the local bank/credit union is doing a bad thing (CU loan rates and customer service are often very good or better than a large bank) but know that these are all games being played behind your back.
Ideally, you'd know what car you wanted (you do hang out on a car forum...), and know the price you want to pay for the vehicle you want (You've already looked this up online, cars.com and other dealer sites...). Stop by the dealer, find and drive the car, dictate your price (and maybe conditions like :"I need you guys to replace this broken plastic piece before delivery"), when the salesman balks, you walk out and leave him your real phone number.
If your offer was 'reasonable' He'll call you later that day or next day/next week/end of the month becuase he wants the sale. I went back and forth (over the phone) 3 times with a guy, and he eventaully gave into my price. Hey, he's a salesman, if my offer is in outer space, then he'll spend his time elsewhere (and wont call me back). If he doesnt, I'm welcome to look elsewhere for similar goods and try the process again...
Honda/Toyota dealers are less likely to deal (never bought one though), US automakers ALWAYS have wiggle room ("oh, we have a rebate for car buyers who are 24 years old and have blonde hair" lolz), as do used car dealerships.
Since many people think in terms of "monthly payments" - look for some online auto loan calculators, and the interest rate your bank would charge. My thumbrule is that $300/m for 3 years will get you $8k worth of car (approx.). Have either a total price or a monthly payment in mind before you go to the dealership - that way the salesman can do his wiggling to get you the payment you want.
Know that the bank/CU that the dealer is in bed with could get you a better interest rate than your regular bank. Dont be afraid of this unless you really dont like who they deal with.
Once you and the salesman agree on a price/payment, you need to sit through some "sign this, do you want floormats ? sign here to get temp plates, blah blah blah..." at the dealership. I havent found a way around this. For my new cars this was a 1-4 hour process (srsly?) not sure about a used car.

Note that my process wasnt completed in an afternoon. It could be though if the price negotiation worked smoothly. For your used machine, it could.

Thats a good start IIRC - I'm sure there will be lots more responses when I hit send.

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

From what I've seen, it's better to buy a tdi new. You can negotiate about 4 grand off msrp, and 2-3 year old ones aren't that much less.

I got an Acura lease to keep the baby mama happy. Bought a gti new for cash, hated and sold it for very close to what I paid for it after 6 months. Sales tax was tough to swallow

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Buy a TDI in Mexico. Its not a big deal. You can get a new Classico or Bora for 275,000 -300,000 P$ That's $5K under US dealer prices and get more than the typical Fisher Price plastic interior.

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

You forgot to mention an old Benz diesel that never breaks down thus saving further....repair costs....an important point if you are po'

Can't help but think some people see us in our old Benz's and think we have all kinds of money cause we drive a 30 year old Benz that we paid 700 bucks for, when the reality is that it was purchased cause it is cheaper to operate. Got tired of parts bills for the domestic crap, cause they are designed to fail and can't figure out the electrical Asian stuff without an electrical engineering degree. So went with German...fairly basic, designed to last (yes mankind did this once upon a time) Mercedes parts, at least the older stuff lends itself often to a "Macguyver" to get it working again. Many parts are able to be taken apart... fixed and reused. Try that when you need to purchase a $2000 sensor or computer in that brand new machine...while you are still making a monthly payment cause it's not part of the warranty.

Imagine having a 4 year old car/truck rotting in your backyard cause it's too expensive to fix...all while still making a payment on it.

I have bought new and used cars. You drive off the lot in your new car and you lose a few $K off the bat. TDI keeps their value well so they are sought after. New car also comes with high insurance premium. My take is to buy lease return cars, 3 - 5 years lease return. The depreciation is sucked up by the leasee and the car is reasonably new.

If you read any financial books and they will tell you that you should not spend more than 5% of your 'NET WORTH' on cars. Auto industry will die if everyone does this.

Good luck.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

My MINI is pretty reliable now that if I fixed the big items that were causing issues. I'm just bored with it, my sister is driving my 87 300D and I can't sell it out from under her because I'd feel bad. So I'm stuck with no play money for a car.
I was just curious, I'm probably not going to go buy a new car. I just want a car to play with. My room mate bought a 2012 gecko green wrangler and has a motorcycle he can ride when he tears into his jeep. I only have the MINI . I just want my beetle, I've wanted once since I was 5 and every time I save up and get close I have a big expense or the prices on the cars jump.

I financed a car initially because I was tired of fixing the old benz. The whole "driving an old benz that never breaks down" is unrealistic, I needed something reliable. My 300E has been good but that was tied up with the DMV for some time and still, its 24 years old now so stuff wears out and needs wrenching. If you do not have the time and space to do your own wrenching (like Philly), owning an old Merc is not the best choice. Also owning a turbocharged 300-400hp sports car with a dual clutch trans is fun to say the least!!

key points:
* know your credit
* know your spending limit, both monthly and overall
* if you were to lose your job, in your current situation, how long until you ran out of money? Add in that extra payment?
* Finance as little as you can with the above criteria

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

If a person is worried about breakdowns, 2 old cars are the solution. Odds are good one will be driveable and two old cars are far cheaper than one new car.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

*And contact your insurance agent with the VIN of the proposed new car for an insurance quote before you buy. Not only do you have to maintain collision insurance on a financed vehicle, but some new vehicles are less insurance friendly than you might think, particularly if you live in a metro area and are under 30.

When I was 29, I had my eye on a late model Ford Mustang 5.0. I had a clean insurance record, but decided to price coverage before I bought the car. My insurance company said that they would cancel my policy if I bought the car, and after shopping around several companies, I found one that would provide me coverage through an assigned risk pool for just 4 times the cost of my then-current premium. No thanks - I bought a Buick Le Sabre instead.