Author Topic: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?  (Read 5929 times)

cbr shadow

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Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« on: July 09, 2014, 12:35:23 PM »
Yikes.  I have a coworker who is in a very bad financial spot but doesn’t really realize it.  Wears $500+ shoes, expensive purses, etc..
She’s been through bankruptcy, has credit cards all maxed again, orders food to be delivered to the office for lunch “so she doesn’t waste her own gas picking it up”, and many more weird justifications.  Recently she’s been planning her wedding with her fiancé who “makes over $100k” but they both live with her parents in their basement.  She’s 34 and he’s 40.  They got in a fight recently because she was looking at a bartender.. he wouldn’t talk to her for 3 days so she bought a $700 pair of jeans for him and now they’re better.  He has tons of debt as well and spends the same way.

She started telling me about her wedding the other day and said “Well this is going to be a Hampton Affair”.. which I guess means it’ll be a high-end wedding.  She couldn’t afford the flowers so she asked several family members if she could put it on THEIR credit cards and pay them back “twice monthly, some out of each paycheck”.  Really, is it worth doing all of this to have your Hampton Affair Wedding?

That’s the worst of it, but there’s more..  She got a phone call from someone in Florida (we’re in Chicago) who said she’s preapproved for a $30,000 car.  She was surprised and excited by this call so she worked it out with them and was driving the car only 2 days later.  It’s a 2012 Chrysler 300 with every option.  She’s paying $30,000 @ 15%.  They said all she had to do was pay a down payment of $2000.  She didn’t have it so they said “ok we’ll just add $50 to each payment” which was obviously an acceptable solution for her.  She said “I felt like a celebrity – they drove it up from Florida and met me at Ohare Airport where we did the paperwork and I drove off with the car”.  She said it has every option except no sunroof, so she’s getting that put in aftermarket.

Arghh.. people like this make me think it’s too easy to get bankruptcy.  Her filing for bankruptcy didn’t scare her straight, it just relieved the debt temporarily.  It seems like stealing to me.

cbr shadow

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2014, 12:37:26 PM »
Forgot to mention: She told me about the 15% loan and I reacted with a "Whoa!".  She smiled and said "I know!....wait.. is that a lot?" I said "It's more than any car loan I've ever heard of".

LalsConstant

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2014, 01:07:09 PM »
Wow.  I am flagellating myself lately for having to finance a part of a car at 2 percent.

Thank you for this.  I needed a swift kick in the ass to remember there's still a huge difference between my making a faulty planning assumption about the life of a 12 year old vehicle and just being patently ridiculous.

greenmimama

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2014, 01:35:28 PM »
Oh man, so she really has no clue, that is sad and unacceptable, and I agree with you about it seems like stealing.
I have often thought that too.

NoraLenderbee

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2014, 01:59:14 PM »
orders food to be delivered to the office for lunch “so she doesn’t waste her own gas picking it up”,

This is almost a perfect example of "penny-wise and pound-foolish."



Quote
  She got a phone call from someone in Florida (we’re in Chicago) who said she’s preapproved for a $30,000 car.  She was surprised and excited by this call so she worked it out with them and was driving the car only 2 days later.  It’s a 2012 Chrysler 300 with every option.  She’s paying $30,000 @ 15%.  They said all she had to do was pay a down payment of $2000.  She didn’t have it so they said “ok we’ll just add $50 to each payment” which was obviously an acceptable solution for her.  She said “I felt like a celebrity – they drove it up from Florida and met me at Ohare Airport where we did the paperwork and I drove off with the car”.  She said it has every option except no sunroof, so she’s getting that put in aftermarket.

Oh, my. This sounds like a Nigerian bank scam--someone contacts you out of the blue with an offer that's too good to be true. Except in this case, she really did get the car. (And it's only "too good to be true" if you're too dumb to realize how much you're paying in interest.) They certainly picked the right victim gull customer--someone who doesn't understand money and wants to feel like a celebrity.

What's the over/under on how long until they repo the car?

Louisville

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2014, 02:03:42 PM »
There's something wrong with this person that goes way deeper than handling money. That's just one symptom.

okashira

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2014, 02:04:12 PM »
Yikes.  I have a coworker who is in a very bad financial spot but doesn’t really realize it.  Wears $500+ shoes, expensive purses, etc..
She’s been through bankruptcy, has credit cards all maxed again, orders food to be delivered to the office for lunch “so she doesn’t waste her own gas picking it up”, and many more weird justifications.  Recently she’s been planning her wedding with her fiancé who “makes over $100k” but they both live with her parents in their basement.  She’s 34 and he’s 40.  They got in a fight recently because she was looking at a bartender.. he wouldn’t talk to her for 3 days so she bought a $700 pair of jeans for him and now they’re better.  He has tons of debt as well and spends the same way.

She started telling me about her wedding the other day and said “Well this is going to be a Hampton Affair”.. which I guess means it’ll be a high-end wedding.  She couldn’t afford the flowers so she asked several family members if she could put it on THEIR credit cards and pay them back “twice monthly, some out of each paycheck”.  Really, is it worth doing all of this to have your Hampton Affair Wedding?

That’s the worst of it, but there’s more..  She got a phone call from someone in Florida (we’re in Chicago) who said she’s preapproved for a $30,000 car.  She was surprised and excited by this call so she worked it out with them and was driving the car only 2 days later.  It’s a 2012 Chrysler 300 with every option.  She’s paying $30,000 @ 15%.  They said all she had to do was pay a down payment of $2000.  She didn’t have it so they said “ok we’ll just add $50 to each payment” which was obviously an acceptable solution for her.  She said “I felt like a celebrity – they drove it up from Florida and met me at Ohare Airport where we did the paperwork and I drove off with the car”.  She said it has every option except no sunroof, so she’s getting that put in aftermarket.

Arghh.. people like this make me think it’s too easy to get bankruptcy.  Her filing for bankruptcy didn’t scare her straight, it just relieved the debt temporarily.  It seems like stealing to me.

Sweet mother of god.

I bet her fiance doesn't even make the 100k he says he does.

Is she hot?

ketchup

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2014, 02:33:09 PM »
Forgot to mention: She told me about the 15% loan and I reacted with a "Whoa!".  She smiled and said "I know!....wait.. is that a lot?" I said "It's more than any car loan I've ever heard of".
GF's grandma had a 27% loan on her car.  I've never heard of anyone besides her having a car loan over ~7%.  I even have a credit card that has a rate less than 15%.

That is truly obscene.  Bankruptcy worked for Mark Twain, not so much for her...

And I didn't even know you could get an aftermarket sunroof.

Is she hot?
I guess there's that too.  Hot people can sometimes get through life without learning basic skills (myself excluded of course).
« Last Edit: July 09, 2014, 02:34:57 PM by ketchup »

shotgunwilly

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2014, 02:43:50 PM »
GF's grandma had a 27% loan on her car.  I've never heard of anyone besides her having a car loan over ~7%.  I even have a credit card that has a rate less than 15%.

That is truly obscene.  Bankruptcy worked for Mark Twain, not so much for her...

And I didn't even know you could get an aftermarket sunroof.

Is she hot?
I guess there's that too.  Hot people can sometimes get through life without learning basic skills (myself excluded of course).

No kidding, I have a credit card under 10%!

The hot thing is definitely absolutely true.

eostache

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2014, 03:03:53 PM »
Terrifying!!   *wince*

socaso

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #10 on: July 09, 2014, 04:44:06 PM »
Geez (said quietly and fearfully) They saw her coming didn't they? How does this company find people to buy their cars? By combing through bankruptcy court records?

Tempe

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #11 on: July 09, 2014, 04:55:50 PM »
Forgot to mention: She told me about the 15% loan and I reacted with a "Whoa!".  She smiled and said "I know!....wait.. is that a lot?" I said "It's more than any car loan I've ever heard of".
I cringed at it all, but her asking if it was a lot, omg.  She is on the road to bankruptcy again. Does your coworker seem not too bright at work too?
I wonder at the odds of her getting divorced right after the wedding when their combined debt and spending takes them under.

GrayGhost

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #12 on: July 09, 2014, 05:24:15 PM »
This is not going to last. And it's not going to end well.

Honestly it's probably going to be a bit like watching a slow motion car crash, or a forest fire, or an earthquake or something. There's not very much you can do to help, so you just step back to where it's safe and look on in a mixture of awe and horror.

darkadams00

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #13 on: July 09, 2014, 10:18:07 PM »
I can't watch movies where the lead actor makes a fool out of himself, e.g. most modern comedies. It just gets to be too much, and I quit watching. I'm embarrassed for them even though I know it's an act.

This is that--over weeks instead of hours and without the advantages of Mute, Fast Forward, or Off. Too painful for me to ruin even one lunch hour discussing.


gooki

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2014, 03:43:59 AM »
Oh man, so she really has no clue, that is sad and unacceptable, and I agree with you about it seems like stealing.

I'm sure her previous bankruptcy is accessible information to all her creditors. In which case it's their own fault for lending to a high risk customer.

Khao

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2014, 07:57:07 AM »
Geez (said quietly and fearfully) They saw her coming didn't they? How does this company find people to buy their cars? By combing through bankruptcy court records?

The people who run this 15% car loan company/scam are geniuses. I don't know if they pick up a lot of customers per week to make a killing doing it, but the profit margin on this must be humongous. Maybe it's time for me to rethink my career choice... not!

Honestly it's probably going to be a bit like watching a slow motion car crash, or a forest fire, or an earthquake or something. There's not very much you can do to help, so you just step back to where it's safe and look on in a mixture of awe and horror.

Be sure to grab a popcorn!

Also, do you know how long the loan is for? I bet it's something like 7-8 years, if not more. Heck, maybe she doesn't even know that herself!

steadierfooting

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Re: Coworker Wedding & Car - 15% APR car loan?
« Reply #16 on: July 10, 2014, 09:29:06 AM »
I was chatting with the owner of a local diner I frequent, I can't remember what the APR was, but she said in order for the financing company to give her a loan, they had to pay for a shutoff switch, and have the payment autodraft from their bank, if they didn't get the payment, they'd shutoff the car.  She said that has happened twice.  It was a big 'ol truck.

Quote
I bet her fiance doesn't even make the 100k he says he does.
haha that's my favorite thing to read about.  I remember back in my late 20s friends flashing money at bars and bragging about how they make over 100K when I knew they made no where near as much.  It makes me chuckle when I'm on this forum, I'm thinking about early retirement in my 30s, they are still renting apartments, single, trying to get their life together.