If you have good credit do it. Of course it's best to pay cash but when you can get a 1.99 rate or lower, why not. Also, C5Z's have depreciated as much as they are going to anyways. It's not like the car will be worth half what you paid for it 5 years from now. Unless you're looking at 13k buckets of **** vettes at a 12% rate... Don't do it, obviously.

 

Life is short and it's not that much $$$ in the big picture. Take out a loan and go buy your Z06 now....then enjoy w a huge smile on your face! You can have it for a long time and get it paid for....but live now.

 

Where do you find a auto loan for 1.99? My local federal credit union is 4.75.

 

Here's a good rule. If you want something and can afford it, then do it! Life is too short.
By afford it I mean pay cash OR have a comfortable payment. If you stretch yourself and it becomes an issue then don't do it. It takes away from the enjoyment of the vette.
I once invested $500 and eventually I was able to buy a nice 3 year old vette with it.
Drive by or visit the old folks (retirement) home. You'll realize needless waiting ain't worth it. Live each day!
regards,
Ken

 

Mine is at 1.99 through these guys, although now they've increased their rate to 3.49:
https://www.american1cu.org/Loan_Rates_76.html

 

You can join Pentagon Federal Credit union for $20-$25 and have access to very competive financing.

https://www.penfed.org/used-auto-loan/

 

I like to say, with regard to life and the decisions we make "There's responsible and there's ridiculous".

Responsibility would dictate that you see to the priorities first (house over your head, food on the table, savings, etc.), then if there's room in the budget for the things you want (like a smokin' hot Z) then go for it.

It's ridiculous (IMO) to make an emotional purchase with no planning or budget strategizing and then struggle to make payments, or withdraw huge amounts of money from essential savings to make a cash purchase and secure bragging rights.

To those of you who are making payments (me included, double payments) the day will come when you make the last one. Throw a party!

If you were able to save and pay cash, I salute you Wish I had the discipline to do that.

 

Speaking for myself--it warn't discipline. I'm cheeeep. Capital 'C', Capital 'H', Capital "eeeeep". I hate paying for something I view as an unnecessary expense (like 'interest'). And I don't like "debt".

 

Thanks for the info on the loans and all your opinion.

 

Penfed. Best thing about them is they loan money based off NADA clean retail and do NOT care how old the car is. Banks and local credit unions normally don't go past 7 years. Also, the terms are shorter and the rates are higher.

 

I simply do not understand why someone would plunk down 40k cash on a car. Any car. New car rates are less then 1.5 percent through my bank (USAA). Even used car rates are as low as 2.4% through them. It makes TOTAL sense to finance. Just my Vanguard and Janus mutual funds have made on average 10 percent return the last 10 years. In the last 5 years, they have made about a 20% return. That's not cosmic stock investing and constant trading either.

I own two rental houses as well with a large amount financed at under 4%, I think right now is a great time to borrow money. The value of the dollar is slowly declining, with low rates across the board, and assuming YOU have good credit, I would finance!

 

My former Mustang Cobra was paid for but only worth $9-10k. I was tired of waiting and didn't feel I could spend our emergency fund cash on a toy. Talked to my wife and after I got my annual raise she said to buy one. My raise covered the low payment for the difference of what my Cobra sold for. $250 per month for four years on an $11k loan. I am 1.5 years into it but with a coming by a little cash, I should have her paid off by December. I don't think I would do it again. I think I would have saved the cash and kept the Cobra until I had enough. I just hate car payments.

 

That's 75% of the battle to own one! I bought my first Corvette one year out of m school and in our second year of marriage. The wife said,just buy it and enjoy it and stop analyzing it. Except for two years in the 80s, I've owned a Corvette ever since.

 

Think I'm just going to take the money that would go toward the car and pay on the house. I just can't stand the thought of another payment.

 

Payments do suck

 

Current interest rates being what they are...and assuming you have an excellent credit rating...it's almost free money.

Sure, it's a (or perhaps another) monthly payment...but it's practically free. And you're going to be setting aside money anyway for your Vette if you decide to wait and make a cash purchase.

If it makes you feel better...make big payments and clear the debt in 12-18 months.

IMO it's a great time to borrow money with rates this low.

 

Here's my 2 cents .

If you cannot afford to buy the car outright with cash , you probably should not borrow to get it. On the other hand, if you have money in the bank but choose to finance at a low rate , why not. That's money management.

 

For what its worth...

I purchased my first Vette in college. I knew I wanted more, but I wanted a Vette, so I settled on a low priced 85 that I ended up having for 10 years. I paid for that car out of savings, free and clear. Granted, I had a lot of help from my parents with college but I still had debt. The point was...I HAD A VETTE.

Now, I have upgraded that to a 2002 Z. I waited 10 years from the first purchase, and 7 years in industry (Engineer, PE to be exact) and I paid cash. Right now, my house and wife's student loan are the only debt I have.

My advice? Get a Vette, but look for one in your price range and work up from there.

 

To buy mine I took out a loan against my 401k at the time.
(ended up owing nothing when I was laid off a few months later...)

My take is reflective of what happened to my Dad.

He had been wanting a Porsche 911 for years.
In 1968 he had saved up enough to purchase one and was
going to buy one when the new ones came out in Sept.
He suffered a fatal heart attack that summer.
Never got to enjoy having his dream car.

You never know what's going to happen.

 

That's a good way to look at it, but here is another.

Sure, if you have a a hundred thousand or more sitting in an account, paying cash makes perfect sense. However, even here there are exceptions.

For instance, if you can finance a car for 3% interest or less, you will actually be SPENDING MORE MONEY, if you take your cash out and pay for the car yourself. With $100,000.00 even if you invest conservatively, you should average around 5% interest per year. By paying cash, you are actually costing yourself 2% or 400.00 a year by paying cash (assuming you are buying a 20K car). In this respect, you are paying MORE by paying cash. This of course, assumes you are paying around 20K for the car.

However, if you have say 50K in your account, and you are making 70K plus a year, better to finance in any case. You need an emergency account that will last you up to six months in case of loss of income. Being solvent for six months gives you plenty of time to liquidate other assets if the need arises. You can always accelerate you pay off date once you have more disposable income.

Don't be stupid in your purchase, like buying a 50K plus priced vehicle period if you only have 50K in the bank. Don't buy vehicles with a rapid depreciation rate. A lot of the luxury vehicles lose over 25% of their value in the first year. Stay away from those vehicles, period. Of course if you have 200K sitting around and you are earning six figures or better, buy that 50K plus car if that is what you want.

The general rule is to never obligate yourself to over 50-60% of your total income. That includes all bills, mortgage/rent, insurance (all), utilities, car payments, etc. If you do not have the discipline to pay off credit cards every month, do yourself a favor BURN THEM. The only exception is a dire emergency and make a generated effort to get rid of the debt ASAP!

If you follow these general rules, you will be OK. Wished I had listened to my dad when he had this talk with me back in my twenties. I could semi-retire if I had listened.


Nothing wrong with using credit if you do not allow credit to control you. If you are an impulsive buyer, avoid credit like the plague.

Use your nogging for something other than a hat rack and you will be fine.