Do you have a car loan or own outright?

[Floweryfields]

I don't know many people who can purchase a car outright....but I do know alot who seem to change their cars almost as frequently as their hairstyle! One girl I know who is about 28 has had around 6 brand new cars and 2 second hand ones in her driving lifetime.

[Tinks]

We own both of our cars. They're nothing flash but they do the job. I"m considering getting a loan for newer car but don't know if I want the commitment right now.

[Liviam]

We own one and have a loan on the other. We don't have the luxury to pay cash but we pay the loan off as quickly as we can.

[Heaven]

We just payed ours off. We got a loan for it because we needed a bigger car than a 2 door after DD1 was born, LOL. The loan was for 5 or 7 yrs or something but we payed it off in 2 yrs.

[Miss.September]

Loan. We've borrowed for all our cars over the years except DH's work van which we bought outright. We've only ever had one brand new car - a Hyundai Excel. We've never borrowed more than $17k for a car though and always paid the loans off.

[peanutter]

we're more who wouldn't take a loan to get a car ...

DH and I couldn't afford a car for the first 4 years we were living together!! We were pretty nifty with our train tickets and rollerblades, and could still get most places we needed to go ...

But when we started fostering teenagers, we really needed a car (for 3am calls to attend the police station, hospital, to collect kids from gatherings which had gone awry, etc...) so we bought a noisy but reliable old mazda. It was kind of ugly, pretty ancient, but it drove well, and we could afford it ...

When we got some more savings behind us (another 4 years later!) we traded it in for a pittance (after lengthy negotiations by yours truly) and managed to score a much more reasonable (but still second hand) 2001 Ford Falcon - the best part being that it takes gas, which saves us about $30 a week in fuel.

But we're not "car" people, and we basically only use cars as a means to an end - so I can't imagine spending $20K or $30K - let alone $60K or $100K on a car! Even without all that interest.

I completely understand why some people do - in the same way that I understand why some people spend $180 every six weeks to get their hair coloured etc - but I'm pretty happy with my natural colour, so I'll keep my $180 in my pocket ... and spend it on books or something ...

(whereas my friends think I'm nuts for buying lots of books, when you can borrow most of them from the library for free ... driving there in your shiny red 2010 MX 5 or whatever ...)



strokes for folks, says I.

[SammyRo]

We now own our car outright, but we did have a loan to begin with, which we paid off within 3years, instead of the 7 the loan was for. I get the impression that some pp's think that people only take out loans to buy 40k+ cars. I wish lol! We did buy a brand new Holden Astra wagon back in 2007, but we bought it brand new with the thinking that it would have to last us 10+ years (and it was much less than 40k). We are now probably going to trade it in within 2 years, as it just won't fit a third car seat. We're hoping that we can pretty much do a straight swap because while I'm not at work, we can't afford a loan, so will have to go an older magna or commodore. But if we can't do a stright swap, then we probably end up getting a small loan to cover the difference. I'm also not ruling out getting a loan once I go back to work full time to buy a newer car.
For us, a car is a necessity. And other than having to fit 3 carseats in, we do alot of camping so the next car will have to be a decent size.

We also own DH's motorbike outright.

[Glamourcide]

Regarding gong into debt for a liability... I think sometimes it's the best way to go. DH and I don't have a huge amount of money, and for the first few years we were together, DH's credit rating meant all we could get, was what we could buy with cash - and we didn't have much of that at all after paying dead rent and all the other bills. Our first two cars were absolute pieces of crud, but we couldn't do any better - private sales are great if you manage to find a good one, but around here people seem to think it's reasonable to ask $10k for a 20-year-old car that needs another $5k (minimum!) spent on it to get it on the road. We couldn't afford the costs of travel to chase up better deals down south. We paid cash for our first two cars, but had to spend even more money on keeping them running and in roadworthy condition, and they were on their last legs and had to be resuscitated quite a few times - sure, a car's a car's a car, but when you're relying on it to get to and from work (public transport in this town consists of expensive and unreliable taxis and a bus or two during school hours - DH works much longer hours than 8-4!), and dependent upon it in cases of emergency or need that car to safely handle a 1600km round trip to visit family at Christmas... well a privately-purchased bomb isn't good enough.
I had absolutely no qualms about going into $17k of debt to buy our VZ - it was two years old (compared to our first two, which were 20 and 15 years old respectively), had a full history provided, came with a fantastic warranty, and was (and still is) in brilliant condition. It's never so much as hiccupped on us, drives beautifully and will last us another 10 years if we treat it well (which we certainly do). We own it outright now, but even if we didn't, we would be eternally grateful for the chance to buy a reliable family car through a reputable dealer who is happy to help us out if we have any issues, rather than having to take our chances with a private seller who could lie to us about the car's history or condition, and risk paying out big $$ for something that turns out to be an absolute lemon. I'd go into debt over and over again in order to have the peace of mind of knowing that, while not flashy or fancy, the car I'm driving is in good condition and is going to get me where I need to be, when I need to be there.

[LionsandBears]

That's a good point Glamourcide. I often say a car is an expensive toy, but I wouldnt be without one, so it's more than that. It is not an asset though. I went into debt for my first car - just $12k. I wouldnt have been able to buy without taking out a loan. Paying it off taught me about saving etc. That and getting hypnosis to help me sort out my spending problem. My goal is to not take a loan out for another car, but having a decent car that runs reliabley is important too. If I needed to get a loan, I'd want the option of paying it down faster. I just hate how much I've wasted in interest for things over the years.

[feeb]

Loan for ours.

My 1st car was a loan. Sold it when we decided we only needed 1 car and DH had loan on car he had then

This is our 2nd car loan on a family car in time we have been together.

Could not afford to pay outright. All above cars are and were 2nd hand never new.

We have a 2010 Captiva LX

[Rach75]

currently we own a 04 ford falcon bought in 05 paid cash
a 2009 triton bought brand new on lease ...

since we have been together we have owned a

89 Patrol 2nd hand owned outright traded it in on a 2002 Nissan patrol bought brand new paid off in 3 yrs ... we then traded it in (sort of the cardealer bought it) 07 on Holden crewman on lease, then due to the fact the crewman back seat is so small when we were pregnant with Luke we decided to upgrade we paid out the lease the traded same as patrol to crewman cardealer buys the first car )the crewman in on the triton, our lease on triton is up in 14mths still un-decided whether we will pay it out or re-lease, or start a fresh with another triton if we start a fresh we will pay out this one and trade it in on new one

[Cassius2]

we bought ours outright. we were lucky in that we lived for a few years in Fiji and as there was nothing to spend our income on we were able to save loads. so when we came back we bought a brand new honda civic

it's a grandma car but we love it

[Erin_25]

We own both our cars, something we are darn proud of LOL!!

We have a 2007 Nissan Patrol and an Astra (not sure of the year 2008 I think). We were able to purchase each car after each home we've sold. Saving or investing the bulk of the money but using x amount of $$$ to pay outright for our cars. We always joke if we ever get kicked out of our house at least we can live in our cars

[purplepixie1978]

We own our Toyota Corolla and Vespa Fly outright (bahahahaha, hot wheels, right?) We rent, so don't have a mortgage to worry about, and are pretty good savers. We're planning on selling the corolla, which has a good resale value, and upgrading to a Ford Focus wagon. Second hand for preference.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

FWIW my first car i bought with cash for $500 but i crashed it, so i swapped my dodgey bung car for a car from my uncle (complete piece of cr@p) and drove that around until it kept dying.
I was 18, i was booted out of home and was living with a friend, working full time but with no savings and no-one to lend me money so i got a loan, then we traded that car and got a loan for my subaru as the cycle kept going.
We have just paid cash for this new car (my most expensive yet) but only because we got 'family money' - i don't see an issue with getting a loan, i worked full time but needed a car for travel as i did shift work and it was my only option back then.
I have a great credit rating now though

[nickle730]

We own both our cars. DH drives a 2008 Navara and I drive a 2006 BMW X5. We put any extra money on the mortgage and redraw to upgrade the car when necessary. I was fortunate to be given a car for my 18th birthday by my parents and each upgrade has been trade-in value plus the difference in cash.

I love my car. My last name is not Jones and I don't care what anyone else thinks of my car, just as I don't care what anyone else drives. BMW is well known for safety and that is my primary consideration in choosing a vehicle. I also enjoy driving the car, it is a very smooth and responsive ride!

I did apply for a loan for a car in my early 20's, I think I wanted to borrow about $6K to buy a new Hyundai Excel. My dad didn't wanted me encumbered by a loan and he gave me the money to buy the car. I certainly wouldn't borrow a large amount to buy a status symbol, but I would borrow money without hesitation (assuming I could pay it back!) to ensure my car was safe and reliable.

[volcomkitty]

I don't know many people who can purchase a car outright....but I do know alot who seem to change their cars almost as frequently as their hairstyle! One girl I know who is about 28 has had around 6 brand new cars and 2 second hand ones in her driving lifetime.

umm....I'm 28 and have had 6 brand new cars and 1 second hand one...

2 of them were DH's through work, my current car is a loan and we own the usedy outright.

[~Hestia~]

We own DH's car and mine is leased through his work for tax purposes. The lease ends either next year or the year after at which point we will own it outright.