Author Topic: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan  (Read 5403 times)

MikeStache

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Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« on: January 07, 2014, 12:58:12 PM »
Wow, who knew that revolving 84 month car loans were a retirement inevitability? This is like The Onion version of an MMM post:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/retirement-rrsps/living-in-retirement-rather-than-lowering-expenses-my-car-keeps-them-up/article16089180/

lentilman

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2014, 01:18:53 PM »
Wow - first time I've even heard of paying to have off-season tires stored.

jdoolin

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2014, 03:46:35 PM »
Sorry dude, but you're going to pay a hefty price for your emotional attachment to a car.  That's how the process is designed.

The_Dude

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2014, 05:24:31 PM »
At least the comments weren't full of sympathy and folks were trying to give some polite face punches.

MikeStache

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2014, 05:42:24 PM »
At least the comments weren't full of sympathy and folks were trying to give some polite face punches.

I was happy, although a bit surprised, to see that too.

StetsTerhune

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2014, 07:00:19 PM »
From the comments, I thought this was really good:

"SHB50 1 day ago
A friend's father had a rule about cars. He always bought used and never paid more than $10 K for them. He retired early, due in part to his diligent control of expenses. From him I learned that it's not how much you make, it's how much you spend that counts. Wanting less means you need less. Words to live by."


I bought a 9 year old honda accord 4 years ago for $8k. I've probably put another $1500 in maintenance total in since then. But then, I don't have storage of seasonal tires to pay for. I can't imagine why I'd pay more than that for a car.

chicagomeg

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2014, 08:16:07 PM »
I see he didn't factor in the price of that Sirius XM radio. I looked into it the other day thinking I might spring for it for $7.99/month, or see if I could find a free trial offer. It's almost $20/month! FOR RADIO! And it's not even that good, I've had it before in rental cars & it's only mediocre. It was only a moment of weakness that I considered paying $8 for it, let alone $20!

Melody

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2014, 04:01:22 AM »
WTF? Why did she need a $32K car? My most pricey car is my current one - it cost $3,700. My previous one was $1,200 (sold for $800 5.5 years later). And I earn a lot more than the average Canadian (let alone retired Canadian). I don't commute to the suburbs, but once every two weeks I drive 300kms each way to visit my boyfriend so reliability is super important to me too!

Hunny156

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2014, 11:12:26 AM »
I see he didn't factor in the price of that Sirius XM radio. I looked into it the other day thinking I might spring for it for $7.99/month, or see if I could find a free trial offer. It's almost $20/month! FOR RADIO! And it's not even that good, I've had it before in rental cars & it's only mediocre. It was only a moment of weakness that I considered paying $8 for it, let alone $20!

Hubby has this, has had it for years.  He's a road warrior sales rep, so he often travels through remote locations with no access to clear radio.  He has an mp3 player, but he likes to have variety and hear new stuff, so Sirius radio it was.

Like anything else, you learn how to optimize.  Brand new, older model radios can be had on Ebay for a song, and as long as your are willing to call them up annually and threaten to cancel your service, the monthly rate can go as low as $5/mo.

We'll be cancelling the service for good the second we hit FIRE!

MrsPete

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Re: Living in retirement: The high cost of my never-ending car loan
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2014, 09:36:29 AM »
A $32,xxx car, financed, admits he knew the cost of financing up front
$175 in gas/month
$180 for insurance/month

Sympathy?
Not from me.