Tried a search to of the Forum no avail, so I'll ask my question here. I am looking at a 1999 convertible and the dealership does not provide any financing because the car is 24+ years old. Did a google search and they all lead me to "Classic Car" financing, none of which indicated that a 1999 Corvette is a "Classic". Will pay cash if I must, but I prefer to keep my money invested in the market and not is cars.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Chances are if you finance, the interest rate will be higher than your rate of return on investments. For this reason, if you can pay cash, I would.

 

I get all my car financing through them. They don't ask the age of the car, they don't put a lien on it or anything.

 

+1 for LightStream

 

The FED just raised interest rates again, pay cash if you can, or wait for rates to stabilize.

 

as others have said -- at current rates , you'll lose money by financing
You may actually do better if you have a good relationship with a local bank or credit union and get a line of credit, but even there I think the rates will be super high

 

Pay the cash - financing is pretty expensive right now and going higher.

 

Woodside Credit just financed a 2002 Corvette for a customer of mine. The rate and term were insane - like 8.9% at 96 months. Way lower than anybody else out there.


Rates are junk right now, but at least it's an option.

 

96 months on a 2002? Holy hell

 

Yup! I was blown away by that.

They also helped a friend of mine get into a Honda S2000 this month. They're very competitive for sure.

 

no kidding. must be a $250 month payment on principle and $100 a month interest. he will end up paying $10K on a 25K loan.

 

This, of course, assuming one takes the loan to term.

I had a guy do this on a new Tahoe. He took the financing offer from GM to get a $2500 rebate (in 2019, much different time from today) at like 8% but then paid it off in 90 days after he got paid for a construction job. Everybody's situation is different.

 

I totally agree that you should pay cash if you can. With that said pretty much any car that is over 20 years old is considered a classic or antique. That is the age in many states where the car is eligible for antique plates. Regardless of if you finance or not, you might also want to look for an agreed value classic car insurance policy. The NCM offers some good options. Hagerty does as well. You do have to be careful of use restrictions when picking a policy. However, in general you will pay less, and the policy will pay out more if the car is totaled, as compared to a standard auto insurance policy.

 

Thanks. My financial guy said to pay cash too. Guess that's the way I'll go.

 

Yeah definitely the way to go on something like a C5. It's pretty much already at the bottom of its depreciation curve, so you're not going to lose money selling it, and if you do, it should be negligible.

 

IDK if this helps, but there is a big difference between a classic and an antique!!! An antique, in my area, is anything older than 25 years old. Some cars could be 50 years old and not be a classic, but they're definitely an antique. May I present the 1973 Chevrolet Vega, the 50 year old example I'm thinking about??! I digress.....

 

When the rates come back down, Lightstream would be a great option. I used it last September and got 4.99% where its now double. What I like, as someone else mentioned, they don't have their name on the title so it's free and clear. I also second NCM for an agreed value policy.

 

If the dollar is tanking then hold debt.

Is the rate higher than inflation?

 

IMHO,, you should never burrow cash for your hobbies. 👉 NEVER.!
.

 

Wow, yeah, I think I need to get some investment advice from OP if he can make more than what it cost to finance a 25 year old hobby car