Paid off my car

[HenryHill]

No credit card debt.

Car is a '95 Lumina with a 3100 V6 that someone gave me, because it needed an intake manifold gasket (they ALL need it) replaced-water in the oil. After a hundred in gaskets and a lot of work-motor had knock-water in oil too long.

Swapped in the motor from a '94 Regal that I had that had a bad trans., and have driving it everywhere. I don't wash it, change the oil myself at 3K, has 150K, and gets great mileage.

The Bonneville SSEI sits in the garage, the Siverado sits in the barn, the Camaro is on stands in the barn, and an '88 Merc Grand Marquis (paid a hunred bucks) is sitting in the barn if the Lumina takes a chit.

Some people need to try to impress people to make themselves feel better about themselves. I have no vanity, and like to have people think I'm less than them.

 

[The Pol]

I LOVE it when people pitty me because I drive a 1992 Celica and I dont own a pair of jeans without at least 2 holes in them... I dont dress very nice, I rarely shave (except at work) and I live on a strict budget... pitty me, pitty me all the way to the bank!

 

[PseudoChef]

I own both my cars and only have about $2K credit card debt. But now that I own my cars, I'm snowballing the debt that was $3500 4 months ago. I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[joejaz]

No offense Joe, but you are talking about a taurus. They are known for being pieces of crap, especially the transmissions.
The other thing is, after 3 years a honda accord is still worth close to 12 grand, therefore your still paying the same money if you were to trade it in, and you would be gaining equity on a car. The other thing is a honda accord from my experience if taken care of can be a nice car for at least 180k miles. Then the sad thing is it is still worth around $3-4k then.

Unless you have a transmission, a motor or something really major going out every single year you would still be saving money over car payments.



Oh, well. I'm one of those people who buy older cars for around a thousand in decent condition, or needing a repair that is mostly labor, then do it myself. I drove my last car for 2 years, I spent a grand total of $600 in 2 years including oil changes. The transmission did go out, but I just junked the car and got $150 back on that. The car looked nice, good interior, just needed a timing belt when I got it.
Went to a used car lot, found a decent car for $1500 yesterday, buy them before the car place repairs them, they will sell them for 100-200 over what they traded them in for. If it lasts 2 years I'm essentially paying $60 a month, and I save money not having to pay full coverage insurance. If it gets totaled I replace it with another reliable used car. Basically I'm paying 240 a month less in car payments, and 100 a month less in insurance, no to mention there is no interest.

Not directed at Joe or anyone in particular, just a soap box moment:
I'm not out to impress people. My cars have always been ok looking, but mechanically sound. It's a mode of transportation, not a compensatory mechanism for inadequacies with a boring life or inability to get women(if single or in midlife crisis) or to impress a neighbor who doesn't give a crap anyway, and if they do it is a sad sad thing. If you can afford to pay cash for a car that you like great, go for it, but if want to buy something that will keep you in debt well beyond when the car is worth anything, think twice about it.

It may not work for everyone, but in my situation it works. When I first started leasing it was out of necessity. My car went down and I had to take my wife's, the Taurus. I was able to lease with nothing down and since she didn't put that many miles on it , it was perfect for her and the family car on weekends. I too used to buy the $1000-$2000 cars for myself but put a lot of money out for maintenance. I'm very hard on a car, that's why she has the new car and I only drive it on weekends. As far as trying to impress people, to me it's only transportation. Why wife won't let me cruise for chicks anymore and besides, they arn't that impresed by a Honda Accord. It is nice though to have something that you can't hear a block away and I really don't want her driving arround in something that's going to break down.

 

[DeathBrewer]

i own my truck, but i only paid $1700 for it

i'll have my credit card paid off in a few months and i'll be debt free. can't wait! then i can start saving and buy the brewing equipment i've been needing!

 

[knarfks]

HAHA, Henry Hill
I just bought a 95 lumina for little to nothing to replace the $200 car that lasted me 2 years. Clean interior and only a few dings. Runs great.


I have never put out that much for maintanance, although I have only taken a car to a shop once. If you know what to look for in a used car it isn't that bad. Pay attention to the car if it starts making weird noises, fix them promptly before it gets worst. The biggest money saver is to do it yourself when fixing cars. Most things are easy to do and only require a few tools. If the repair was more than the car was worth, the car goes to the scrap heap. (Steel is $160 a ton right now, so a typical car is worth about $300)

 

[MarcusKillion]

good deal . Now you can go get something else and make payments on it . round and round and round we go . what we will buy nobody knows . But we will be making payments on it

 

[MarcusKillion]

HAHA, Henry Hill
I just bought a 95 lumina for little to nothing to replace the $200 car that lasted me 2 years. Clean interior and only a few dings. Runs great.


I have never put out that much for maintanance, although I have only taken a car to a shop once. If you know what to look for in a used car it isn't that bad. Pay attention to the car if it starts making weird noises, fix them promptly before it gets worst. The biggest money saver is to do it yourself when fixing cars. Most things are easy to do and only require a few tools. If the repair was more than the car was worth, the car goes to the scrap heap. (Steel is $160 a ton right now, so a typical car is worth about $300)

so sad to hear you have bought the car that is going to make you miserable . If you are very lucky you got one that will not . the engines have a major flaw . the head gaskets suck . I went through several before figuring out it is a waste of time and also two engines .
they were bad from factory . defective . If your care starts bubbling in the recovery tank after rolling a while , you will hear it when you shut it off , this is the gasket . It will run great . how ever it will blow sooner or later if this happens . What happens is the head warps a little when it gets hot and allows gases to escape into the coolant system but does not do enough to affect the good running of the engine . After a while it will start running hot . When this first happened I went to several mechanics whop all said the same thing . they could not figure out why the bubbles since it ran perfectly . took me a long time to figure it out. Now I have a 96 lumina sitting in my yard with new tires , new intake and gaskets on the second engine with that problem that is now basically junk .

 

[EHV]

Kevin Dean, congratulations man. Regardless its a good day to get rid of a payment.
I'm in your boat as well, will pay off my F150 Supercrew next month way ahead of schedule and very happy about it. Aside from the early termination fee which I was lied to about (regardless what you are told, read that fine print, and cunningly vague wording), I'll pay the 150 bucks and tell them to piss into the wind. Now onto putting a dent in that house payment.

 

[littletommy]

I drove my 1995 F150 for the last 19 years. I took care of it, so it's still a nice truck, but it was becoming less and less dependable, small things going bad, nothing major, but I didn't want to wind up stranded on the highway somewhere, so last month, I bought a sweet, low mileage, 2008 Ford escape to use as my daily driver. Guess what no car payments for the last 17 years gets you? Yep, the ability to go and pay cash for whatever you want! I'm lucky in that my wife feels the same way I do about financing things, and her 2009 vehicle was paid for in full when we got it in 2010.

I never buy new anymore, let somebody else take the beating for driving the thing out of the showroom.

I've tried hard to instill this line of thought in my kids, too, because had I known then (when I was in my early 20s) what I know now, I wouldn't still be working.

 

[iaefebs]

This is a six year old thread. I'm thinking the OP has moved on, and has not only replaced the car but had a few more since then.

 

[littletommy]

This is a six year old thread. I'm thinking the OP has moved on, and has not only replaced the car but had a few more since then.

LOL! Yep, didn't notice that.

 

[MarcusKillion]

oh well it is alive now . no problem with that . Zombie thread .

 

[Yooper]

This is a six year old thread. I'm thinking the OP has moved on, and has not only replaced the car but had a few more since then.

It was an unneeded and argumentative "bump", so I'm closing it.

Let's not search around for old threads so we can start a thread bump and debate. Thanks.