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Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS
About a year ago, I wrecked my previous car (for which I paid cash). I made it until November before I had my money squared away to the point where I could afford to buy a decent car to replace it. The problem is, I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit after a bunch of irresponsibility in my early 20's. I'm in the lower mid 600's now, and I was in the upper 500's then. So I have a really decent car now, financed through my credit union, and I can afford the payments on it just fine.

Problem is, I'm getting hosed on interest.

I'm currently at a whopping 16.19% interest on a loan just over 10k. I set this loan up for a 73 month term that way the monthly payment would be manageable even when cashflow is an issue, as my current job is very seasonal in nature. Right now I'm moving into the busier part of the year, and have more money than usual to play with.

What kind of steps can I take to get this loan to a point where I'm not pissing so much money away on financing? I'm trying to make extra payments to bring the principal down, but it's an uphill battle when I'm getting $6 tacked on every loving day from my lovely interest rate.

What kind of options do I have here? If it's relevant, the car in question is a 2005 model with just north of 100k miles on it.

Crunk Abortion fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Apr 13, 2015

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adorai
Nov 2, 2002

10/27/04 Never forget
Grimey Drawer
Most automotive financing on vehicles older than 5 years is going to be underwritten like an unsecured personal loan, which is why you have such a high interest rate. If you had a score over 700 you could probably get 8% or so. I can't imagine financing a 10 year old car with 100k on it for 6 years. I have to say, it's not just interest that you are getting hosed on here. What kind of car is it, out of curiosity?

root of all eval
Dec 28, 2002

The make model and Blue Book would all be pretty pertinent here. Selling it at a loss and buying a POS may be in your future. There are a lot of reasonably reliable cars under $1500.

oRenj9
Aug 3, 2004

Who loves oRenj soda?!?
College Slice
You need to post actual information.

Make / Model
Mileage
Balance Owed
Payment
Income
Expenses

Is there anything laying around your place that you could sell? Can you pick up a second job?

BEHOLD: MY CAPE
Jan 11, 2004
Pay it down as fast as you possibly can; you can't refinance it or anything. Reselling a used car at a loss to get out of an expensive loan is almost certainly going to be a bad idea since the terms of your new used car loan aren't likely to be any better than what you're getting right now.

camgirl fangirl
Jan 17, 2008
EAT MORE
Since he went out of his way to not list the model, I can guarantee it is a BMW or Benz.

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

Pay it down as fast as you possibly can; you can't refinance it or anything. Reselling a used car at a loss to get out of an expensive loan is almost certainly going to be a bad idea since the terms of your new used car loan aren't likely to be any better than what you're getting right now.

This is what I was looking for. If I'm not gonna get a better rate elsewhere, then I'll just make extra payments until the thing goes away.

Since people asked, my expenses for the month come to $716.45 all in. Last month, I made $2,634.67, after taxes, not counting the 10% of my net paycheck that automatically gets diverted to a savings account. I posted this thread because I'm trying to make sure I pay this thing down in the most financially beneficial manner I have available to me. I made enough money last month to pay all my bills three times over. I don't need a second job to handle this loan, I just want the money I pay into it to do as much work for me as it can.

fineX posted:

Since he went out of his way to not list the model, I can guarantee it is a BMW or Benz.

I blame AI, I regret nothing. Wrecked an E36, bought an E46. I definitely paid over blue book for it, but them's the breaks when your credit isn't great. It's in fantastic shape, I have the skillset to do the maintenance myself, and I plan on driving this car for a very very long time.

Bloody Queef
Mar 23, 2012

by zen death robot

Crunk Abortion posted:

I regret nothing


This doesn't exactly jive with your thread title.

quote:

I definitely paid over blue book for it, but them's the breaks when your credit isn't great.

Did you buy from a "buy here pay here" lot? Because your credit score has nothing to do with purchase price, mostly just financing.

BEHOLD: MY CAPE
Jan 11, 2004

Bloody Queef posted:

This doesn't exactly jive with your thread title.


Did you buy from a "buy here pay here" lot? Because your credit score has nothing to do with purchase price, mostly just financing.

If you can't get a bank loan and therefore the flexibility to shop wherever you want with a blank check, then yeah you often end up paying a big markup on the purchase price in addition to the awful financing.

sativa dreams
Nov 28, 2006
i'm really an '03, i swear
I don't know how well you'd do with your credit score, but try an auto refinance loan from lightstream.com. They give rates for used cars I've never seen anywhere else.

One year ago I got a 72 month loan for 10,000 @ 4.3% to buy a 2000 Camaro SS with 42k miles. No one else would even think of giving a loan for a car that old but lightstream did! granted my credit score was in the low 700's, but it's worth a shot.

also, I regret nothing in buying my 'old' used car with a loan. KBB value is currently above my loan amount and the car is super awesome.

Inept
Jul 8, 2003

Crunk Abortion posted:

Since people asked, my expenses for the month come to $716.45 all in. Last month, I made $2,634.67, after taxes, not counting the 10% of my net paycheck that automatically gets diverted to a savings account. I posted this thread because I'm trying to make sure I pay this thing down in the most financially beneficial manner I have available to me. I made enough money last month to pay all my bills three times over. I don't need a second job to handle this loan, I just want the money I pay into it to do as much work for me as it can.

Then just pay it down as quickly as you can. I hope that there isn't an early payoff penalty. Also in the future, if you can't afford to replace a car when you wreck it, get collision/comprehensive insurance to cover it so you don't have to take out a 6 year loan for a 10 year old car at 16%. Jesus Christ man.

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

Inept posted:

Then just pay it down as quickly as you can. I hope that there isn't an early payoff penalty. Also in the future, if you can't afford to replace a car when you wreck it, get collision/comprehensive insurance to cover it so you don't have to take out a 6 year loan for a 10 year old car at 16%. Jesus Christ man.

Yeah, definitely learned that lesson the hard way. Never again will I lack full coverage. I did make sure there was no early payoff penalty though, since I was never planning to make only the minimum payment. That was more of a fallback option in case I hit rough times.

sativa dreams posted:

I don't know how well you'd do with your credit score, but try an auto refinance loan from lightstream.com. They give rates for used cars I've never seen anywhere else.

One year ago I got a 72 month loan for 10,000 @ 4.3% to buy a 2000 Camaro SS with 42k miles. No one else would even think of giving a loan for a car that old but lightstream did! granted my credit score was in the low 700's, but it's worth a shot.

also, I regret nothing in buying my 'old' used car with a loan. KBB value is currently above my loan amount and the car is super awesome.
Thanks! That's great info.

Crunk Abortion fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Apr 14, 2015

cowofwar
Jul 30, 2002

by Athanatos

Crunk Abortion posted:

About a year ago, I wrecked my previous car (for which I paid cash). I made it until November before I had my money squared away to the point where I could afford to buy a decent car to replace it. The problem is, I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit after a bunch of irresponsibility in my early 20's. I'm in the lower mid 600's now, and I was in the upper 500's then. So I have a really decent car now, financed through my credit union, and I can afford the payments on it just fine.

Problem is, I'm getting hosed on interest.

I'm currently at a whopping 16.19% interest on a loan just over 10k. I set this loan up for a 73 month term that way the monthly payment would be manageable even when cashflow is an issue, as my current job is very seasonal in nature. Right now I'm moving into the busier part of the year, and have more money than usual to play with.

What kind of steps can I take to get this loan to a point where I'm not pissing so much money away on financing? I'm trying to make extra payments to bring the principal down, but it's an uphill battle when I'm getting $6 tacked on every loving day from my lovely interest rate.

What kind of options do I have here? If it's relevant, the car in question is a 2005 model with just north of 100k miles on it.
So when you say "bunch of irresponsibility in my early 20's" you mean last year when you bought your 2005 BMW with 100k miles on it for ~$15,000 @ 16% when you can finance a brand new 2015 honda fit for $15,000 @ 0%?

Total cost of borrowing $10,000@16% for 6 years is $5,624. Ouch.

Serious advice: sell your BMW to some dumbass kid, clear the loan and then buy a $2,000 domestic.

cowofwar fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Apr 14, 2015

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

cowofwar posted:

So when you say "bunch of irresponsibility in my early 20's" you mean last year when you bought your 2005 BMW with 100k miles on it for ~$15,000 @ 16% when you can finance a brand new 2015 honda fit for $15,000 @ 0%?

Total cost of borrowing $10,000@16% for 6 years is $5,624. Ouch.

Serious advice: sell your BMW to some dumbass kid, clear the loan and then buy a $2,000 domestic.

That's assuming I'd qualify for 0% (I wouldn't) and that's assuming I'd like to own a Fit (I wouldn't.) I got the exact car that I wanted, and I have absolutely no intention of taking 6 years to pay this loan off at 16%. I'm in no way hurting for money, my budget is handled to the point where I could go out tomorrow and (assuming I was approved somehow) go buy a Fit to park next to my E46 and have no issues making both payments.

If your best advice is "sell your car at a loss and buy a beater", I guess I fail to see the point. I asked for advice because I'm looking to get better terms on the car I already bought (which I bought because I was sick of $2,000 piece of poo poo domestics.)

Foma
Oct 1, 2004
Hello, My name is Lip Synch. Right now, I'm making a post that is anti-bush or something Micheal Moore would be proud of because I and the rest of my team lefty friends (koba1t included) need something to circle jerk to.

Crunk Abortion posted:

That's assuming I'd qualify for 0% (I wouldn't) and that's assuming I'd like to own a Fit (I wouldn't.) I got the exact car that I wanted, and I have absolutely no intention of taking 6 years to pay this loan off at 16%. I'm in no way hurting for money, my budget is handled to the point where I could go out tomorrow and (assuming I was approved somehow) go buy a Fit to park next to my E46 and have no issues making both payments.

If your best advice is "sell your car at a loss and buy a beater", I guess I fail to see the point. I asked for advice because I'm looking to get better terms on the car I already bought (which I bought because I was sick of $2,000 piece of poo poo domestics.)

The lesson you should take away is that you weren't (and still aren't) at a point in your life where you can afford the car you want. You should drive a POS domestic until you fix your credit or save up enough to get a better deal. It is thinking about what you want not what you can afford that stuck you with a abusive loan.

It depends what you could get for your car to get out from under your loan if you should do it or not.

Also you are talking about payments in your budget, you should be talking about cost. You do not have room in your budget for another car because you should be budgeting to putting everything possible towards your debt.

SpelledBackwards
Jan 7, 2001

I found this image on the Internet, perhaps you've heard of it? It's been around for a while I hear.

Foma posted:

The lesson you should take away is that you weren't (and still aren't) at a point in your life where you can afford the car you want. You should drive a POS domestic until you fix your credit or save up enough to get a better deal. It is thinking about what you want not what you can afford that stuck you with a abusive loan.

It depends what you could get for your car to get out from under your loan if you should do it or not.

Also you are talking about payments in your budget, you should be talking about cost. You do not have room in your budget for another car because you should be budgeting to putting everything possible towards your debt.

But he can afford the payments. Obviously you don't get it, mister!

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

Foma posted:

The lesson you should take away is that you weren't (and still aren't) at a point in your life where you can afford the car you want. You should drive a POS domestic until you fix your credit or save up enough to get a better deal. It is thinking about what you want not what you can afford that stuck you with a abusive loan.

It depends what you could get for your car to get out from under your loan if you should do it or not.

Also you are talking about payments in your budget, you should be talking about cost. You do not have room in your budget for another car because you should be budgeting to putting everything possible towards your debt.

Right now my plan is to pay an extra $500 a month down on my car. I wouldn't have any problems doing this, financially. If I'm chipping away $750 a month at it, which I can absolutely do, I can have it paid off before too long.

Another factor I didn't bother putting into the OP is I'm going to be coming into $2,000 in a month from now on top of my regular paycheck, which I plan on throwing at my loan as soon as I get it.

I guess the disconnect for me is I feel like the loan is only so awful if it stretches out over a long period of time. If I can get most of it paid off in a year or two, which was the plan from day 1, I'm not looking at the same financing cost as if I just make that minimum payment.

I'll admit that I'm very new to personal finance, and there's a lot of things I don't know, but I don't feel like the approach I'm currently taking merits the degree of mockery I'm getting for it in this thread.

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.

Crunk Abortion posted:

I'll admit that I'm very new to personal finance, and there's a lot of things I don't know, but I don't feel like the approach I'm currently taking merits the degree of mockery I'm getting for it in this thread.

People aren't going to access the emotional value of your purchase. They're just going to evaluate it on the numbers, and it's a pretty bad deal. There's also a few things I feel are at play:

1 - Just because this won't end disastrously for you doesn't mean that it was a good decision.
2 - The minimum threshold for a financial transaction being bad isn't it causing you to eat beans with hobos in an alley.

On its face, having a 16% interest rate shows that you really couldn't afford this asset which is a used car with higher mileage that is expensive to maintain. Yes, you were able to maintain payments on it because you were able to maintain employment for some time and things worked out for you. At that moment that you bought the car, you couldn't afford it and it put you at pretty big financial risk. What, do you think of all the "I bought a car and it turned out terribly for me" stories, those people were just morons and you were savvy?

Hopefully you can refinance, but I think the non-car-oriented world has a very different evaluation of your car and decision than you do. At its core, the social influences and marketing that makes a person a "car person" aren't that much different than what would make someone a "purse woman" or "gadget guy." All of those purchases are irrational to some degree, and none would be considered "good with money" if it caused someone to service high interest debt.

Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 14, 2015

Barry
Aug 1, 2003

Hardened Criminal

Crunk Abortion posted:

Right now my plan is to pay an extra $500 a month down on my car. I wouldn't have any problems doing this, financially. If I'm chipping away $750 a month at it, which I can absolutely do, I can have it paid off before too long.

Another factor I didn't bother putting into the OP is I'm going to be coming into $2,000 in a month from now on top of my regular paycheck, which I plan on throwing at my loan as soon as I get it.

Do this and you'll be ok. If the loan is "only" $10k, you should have it paid off well within a year if you stick to that schedule. Back of the napkin math, you'll probably pay $1500 in interest over that year, but that's a lot better than the $6k or so you'd pay over the original term.

You're catching flak because buying 10 year old BMW's with 100k miles at extortionate loan rates on a 6 year term is pretty much textbook bad decision making. You are a used car salesman, loan officer and internet finance forum poster's wet dream. Which, hey, it happens, but hopefully you will now realize this and not make the same mistake again.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X
OP - does your e46 have all its maintenance caught up on? Cooling system, tranny, belt drive, etc?

You should have bought another e36 ;) (I have an e36 coupe and e39 touring)

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

Crunk Abortion posted:

I'll admit that I'm very new to personal finance, and there's a lot of things I don't know, but I don't feel like the approach I'm currently taking merits the degree of mockery I'm getting for it in this thread.

I lend people money for 10% to 39.99%. Don't be one of those people. If the interest rate is in the double digits you shouldn't do it. Buying a 10 year old luxury car with a large number of parts with a design lifetime of 5 years is not good at all. That suggests a lot of maintenance costs.

You will get mockery in this thread for spending $6k in interest when you didn't need to. That's $6k you wouldn't have in the future. Don't reduce your future spending power no matter how much you make.

A GIANT PARSNIP
Apr 13, 2010

Too much fuckin' eggnog


Crunk Abortion posted:

That's assuming I'd qualify for 0% (I wouldn't) and that's assuming I'd like to own a Fit (I wouldn't.) I got the exact car that I wanted, and I have absolutely no intention of taking 6 years to pay this loan off at 16%. I'm in no way hurting for money, my budget is handled to the point where I could go out tomorrow and (assuming I was approved somehow) go buy a Fit to park next to my E46 and have no issues making both payments.

If your best advice is "sell your car at a loss and buy a beater", I guess I fail to see the point. I asked for advice because I'm looking to get better terms on the car I already bought (which I bought because I was sick of $2,000 piece of poo poo domestics.)

Crunk Abortion posted:

Right now my plan is to pay an extra $500 a month down on my car. I wouldn't have any problems doing this, financially. If I'm chipping away $750 a month at it, which I can absolutely do, I can have it paid off before too long.

Another factor I didn't bother putting into the OP is I'm going to be coming into $2,000 in a month from now on top of my regular paycheck, which I plan on throwing at my loan as soon as I get it.

I guess the disconnect for me is I feel like the loan is only so awful if it stretches out over a long period of time. If I can get most of it paid off in a year or two, which was the plan from day 1, I'm not looking at the same financing cost as if I just make that minimum payment.

I'll admit that I'm very new to personal finance, and there's a lot of things I don't know, but I don't feel like the approach I'm currently taking merits the degree of mockery I'm getting for it in this thread.

The only answer on how to stop getting hosed on your used car loan is to pay it off as fast as possible. Take all the extra money you have and throw 100% of it at the car loan until it's gone.

The reason people are jumping on you is because you open your thread by saying you used to be bad with money, and then you tell us about your current situation where you're still bad with money. How much money you make today and how much you can afford today means absolutely nothing. My wife was an assistant bank manager in a rich as gently caress area, and people were declaring bankruptcy and being foreclosed on all the drat time. No matter how much money you make there will always be things that cost more than you can afford, and there will always be the temptation to overstretch your finances to get those things today.

If you want to prove to yourself that you're actually good with money now, you'll use every extra cent you have to pay off that car loan in a matter of months, and then you'll set new financial goals for yourself. Maybe you have more debt you can pay down super fast. Maybe you want a down payment on a house, or a large emergency fund, or a well funded retirement that will allow you to retire or become financially independent a young age. You can make poo poo a whole lot easier for yourself in the future with a little bit of planning and some sound financial decision making.

Moneyball
Jul 11, 2005

It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.
I have been meaning to post something similar to this, but while I've made otherwise smart financial decisions in the past year (net worth has risen by 6k since new years), I've buried my head in the sand with my predatory car loan.
I got my car last year from a dealership that promised guaranteed financing- never a smart decision. But I have to live with it now.

I can afford to pay ahead, and I'm sure I could refinance, but I haven't done either yet, because I'm unsure of how additional payments are applied. So if anybody can clear some things up, I can look into fixing this mess.

1. I was under the impression that certain loans just build the total interest into the loan from the beginning, so instead of 10k over 36 periods, accruing interest, it's 12k over 36 periods, with the interest split evenly as part of each payment. In that case, is there any advantage in paying early? And if you refinanced at that point, would it not just be paying additional interest on interest?

2. If you do pay ahead on it, is there any penalty? (I guess that is something I'd have to find out from the lender) Whether just a prepayment penalty, weighing early payments more for interest purposes (rule of 78?) or anything like that?

3. A friend of mine told me her auto loan horror story- that she overpaid every month to get the balance down, but instead of applying it to the principal, they held it for future accrued interest, or something like that. How does that even work?

At this point, should I seek to refinance it, or just throw as much extra at it as I can, or both? I'm embarrassed about my ignorance of it all, but I guess we all have to learn one way or another- some just pay a lot less to find out.

I'm buying cars with cash from now on.

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

Moneyball posted:

I have been meaning to post something similar to this, but while I've made otherwise smart financial decisions in the past year (net worth has risen by 6k since new years), I've buried my head in the sand with my predatory car loan.
I got my car last year from a dealership that promised guaranteed financing- never a smart decision. But I have to live with it now.

I can afford to pay ahead, and I'm sure I could refinance, but I haven't done either yet, because I'm unsure of how additional payments are applied. So if anybody can clear some things up, I can look into fixing this mess.

1. I was under the impression that certain loans just build the total interest into the loan from the beginning, so instead of 10k over 36 periods, accruing interest, it's 12k over 36 periods, with the interest split evenly as part of each payment. In that case, is there any advantage in paying early? And if you refinanced at that point, would it not just be paying additional interest on interest?

2. If you do pay ahead on it, is there any penalty? (I guess that is something I'd have to find out from the lender) Whether just a prepayment penalty, weighing early payments more for interest purposes (rule of 78?) or anything like that?

3. A friend of mine told me her auto loan horror story- that she overpaid every month to get the balance down, but instead of applying it to the principal, they held it for future accrued interest, or something like that. How does that even work?

At this point, should I seek to refinance it, or just throw as much extra at it as I can, or both? I'm embarrassed about my ignorance of it all, but I guess we all have to learn one way or another- some just pay a lot less to find out.

I'm buying cars with cash from now on.

A lot of US auto loans work like item 3. You'll need to check the fine print. Again same goes for answering 2. If you are lucky you might have a loan you can pay off early which would save interest. So you may or may not be able to refinance in a beneficial fashion.

Often selling the car is a way out but you need to check for penalties that may apply and if the car loan is underwater you'll need enough cash to pay the difference between sale price and the outstanding loan.

tl;dr if you can pay early/more than the minimum and have the total interest reduced then do so. Otherwise continue paying or sell the car.

Moneyball
Jul 11, 2005

It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.
So it's likely that not even refinancing can help... Excellent.

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

Moneyball posted:

So it's likely that not even refinancing can help... Excellent.

It's worth checking but it's not certain that you'd get a better interest rate.

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

A GIANT PARSNIP posted:

The only answer on how to stop getting hosed on your used car loan is to pay it off as fast as possible. Take all the extra money you have and throw 100% of it at the car loan until it's gone.

The reason people are jumping on you is because you open your thread by saying you used to be bad with money, and then you tell us about your current situation where you're still bad with money. How much money you make today and how much you can afford today means absolutely nothing. My wife was an assistant bank manager in a rich as gently caress area, and people were declaring bankruptcy and being foreclosed on all the drat time. No matter how much money you make there will always be things that cost more than you can afford, and there will always be the temptation to overstretch your finances to get those things today.

If you want to prove to yourself that you're actually good with money now, you'll use every extra cent you have to pay off that car loan in a matter of months, and then you'll set new financial goals for yourself. Maybe you have more debt you can pay down super fast. Maybe you want a down payment on a house, or a large emergency fund, or a well funded retirement that will allow you to retire or become financially independent a young age. You can make poo poo a whole lot easier for yourself in the future with a little bit of planning and some sound financial decision making.

Looking back on my decision making process leading up to signing for this loan, my mindset was 100% looking at "how can i get the thing that I want" rather than "is it responsible for me to do this, even though I have the ability to do it." That's definitely on me, and I'm trying to break myself of that habit. Consumerism is a bitch, and until I got called out in this thread, I honestly don't think it had dawned on me the degree to which I have been in the thrall of that mindset. The sad thing is, that whole behavior set is still "me being better with money than in the past". Ten years ago, I would have packed my poo poo up, moved two states away, and prayed that my creditors gave up looking for me.

As for where I'm at now, the whole reason why I'm so interested in fixing the car loan situation is because I'm trying to become financially independent. I hate the idea of having a loan that accumulates $5 a day in interest, when I could open a Roth IRA and put $5 a day into that instead. I also hate the idea of having a negative net worth.

I just got done paying off the balance of my credit card, so the only thing I have left to deal with is my car loan, my student loans, and about $1500 of old debt from way back in the day that I still have to resolve. I'm trying to work my way down the line going from high interest debt to low and paying them off one at a time. I figure the smart way to do it is tackle the car, pay off the old debt, establish a healthy emergency fund, then look at starting some retirement savings and begin paying off the student loans, more or less in that order. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether to open the IRA now and start contributing, or try to hold off until the student loans are dealt with. The return I get from my investment will still be less of a gain than the interest on my student loans is a loss, but 'm not certain how much of an advantage I'd be forfeiting by not giving those investments the extra couple years to compound. That might be a topic for another thread, though.

In the spirit of being less of a financial rube, I'll take this opportunity to :toxx: myself for good behavior. My next paycheck hits on the 27th. If I don't return to this thread within 3 days of then with evidence of at least a $500 extra payment on my car, I will let this thread choose a big red title for me, and buy it myself, since obviously I'm not doing anything more responsible with my money.

SiGmA_X posted:

OP - does your e46 have all its maintenance caught up on? Cooling system, tranny, belt drive, etc?

You should have bought another e36 ;) (I have an e36 coupe and e39 touring)

That was a big factor in my purchasing decision. The coolant system was all new, the sub-frame was rock solid, the strut towers are in fantastic shape, the transmission is butter smooth. I had to switch every last one of those out on my E36, and while it was a great crash course on german auto maintenance, I'm not at all eager to go through all that again. That's why I didn't blink at the mileage on the car, because all the stuff that tends to poo poo the bed at around 100k had been proactively dealt with by the last owner. I may have bought a dumb expensive car, but I did my damndest to make sure I didn't buy a cash-destroying maintenance abyss. why do maintenance, when I can just fork all my money directly over to the bank right :doh:

Moneyball
Jul 11, 2005

It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.

:( :hf: :(

re: IRA- the thing about contributing to an IRA/vs student loans is that the amount you can contribute in a certain year and it's tax free growth (assuming a Roth) is lost forever, but there is always the opportunity to pay extra on your student loans. That and you can deduct the student loan interest.

For me, while I could save some money in interest, I think 30 years from now I would regret not contributing more than paying some additional interest.

Moneyball fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Apr 15, 2015

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

Crunk Abortion posted:

Looking back on my decision making process leading up to signing for this loan, my mindset was 100% looking at "how can i get the thing that I want" rather than "is it responsible for me to do this, even though I have the ability to do it." That's definitely on me, and I'm trying to break myself of that habit. Consumerism is a bitch, and until I got called out in this thread, I honestly don't think it had dawned on me the degree to which I have been in the thrall of that mindset. The sad thing is, that whole behavior set is still "me being better with money than in the past". Ten years ago, I would have packed my poo poo up, moved two states away, and prayed that my creditors gave up looking for me.

As for where I'm at now, the whole reason why I'm so interested in fixing the car loan situation is because I'm trying to become financially independent. I hate the idea of having a loan that accumulates $5 a day in interest, when I could open a Roth IRA and put $5 a day into that instead. I also hate the idea of having a negative net worth.

I just got done paying off the balance of my credit card, so the only thing I have left to deal with is my car loan, my student loans, and about $1500 of old debt from way back in the day that I still have to resolve. I'm trying to work my way down the line going from high interest debt to low and paying them off one at a time. I figure the smart way to do it is tackle the car, pay off the old debt, establish a healthy emergency fund, then look at starting some retirement savings and begin paying off the student loans, more or less in that order. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether to open the IRA now and start contributing, or try to hold off until the student loans are dealt with. The return I get from my investment will still be less of a gain than the interest on my student loans is a loss, but 'm not certain how much of an advantage I'd be forfeiting by not giving those investments the extra couple years to compound. That might be a topic for another thread, though.

In the spirit of being less of a financial rube, I'll take this opportunity to :toxx: myself for good behavior. My next paycheck hits on the 27th. If I don't return to this thread within 3 days of then with evidence of at least a $500 extra payment on my car, I will let this thread choose a big red title for me, and buy it myself, since obviously I'm not doing anything more responsible with my money.

Quoting in part to note the toxx.

You are allowed a little bit of consumerism but you shouldn't be spending all of your pay. The accumulated debts indicate you've been spending more than you earn. If you want to head towards FI it is a different mindset.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Moneyball posted:

So it's likely that not even refinancing can help... Excellent.
You must be American! Too lazy to read a contract before you sign, and a very defeated attitude there after. (I'm American too)

Read your loan contract. If you aren't in a subprime loan, it likely doesn't have a payoff penalty...

Crunk Abortion posted:

Looking back on my decision making process leading up to signing for this loan, my mindset was 100% looking at "how can i get the thing that I want" rather than "is it responsible for me to do this, even though I have the ability to do it." That's definitely on me, and I'm trying to break myself of that habit. Consumerism is a bitch, and until I got called out in this thread, I honestly don't think it had dawned on me the degree to which I have been in the thrall of that mindset. The sad thing is, that whole behavior set is still "me being better with money than in the past". Ten years ago, I would have packed my poo poo up, moved two states away, and prayed that my creditors gave up looking for me.

As for where I'm at now, the whole reason why I'm so interested in fixing the car loan situation is because I'm trying to become financially independent. I hate the idea of having a loan that accumulates $5 a day in interest, when I could open a Roth IRA and put $5 a day into that instead. I also hate the idea of having a negative net worth.

I just got done paying off the balance of my credit card, so the only thing I have left to deal with is my car loan, my student loans, and about $1500 of old debt from way back in the day that I still have to resolve. I'm trying to work my way down the line going from high interest debt to low and paying them off one at a time. I figure the smart way to do it is tackle the car, pay off the old debt, establish a healthy emergency fund, then look at starting some retirement savings and begin paying off the student loans, more or less in that order. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether to open the IRA now and start contributing, or try to hold off until the student loans are dealt with. The return I get from my investment will still be less of a gain than the interest on my student loans is a loss, but 'm not certain how much of an advantage I'd be forfeiting by not giving those investments the extra couple years to compound. That might be a topic for another thread, though.

In the spirit of being less of a financial rube, I'll take this opportunity to :toxx: myself for good behavior. My next paycheck hits on the 27th. If I don't return to this thread within 3 days of then with evidence of at least a $500 extra payment on my car, I will let this thread choose a big red title for me, and buy it myself, since obviously I'm not doing anything more responsible with my money.


That was a big factor in my purchasing decision. The coolant system was all new, the sub-frame was rock solid, the strut towers are in fantastic shape, the transmission is butter smooth. I had to switch every last one of those out on my E36, and while it was a great crash course on german auto maintenance, I'm not at all eager to go through all that again. That's why I didn't blink at the mileage on the car, because all the stuff that tends to poo poo the bed at around 100k had been proactively dealt with by the last owner. I may have bought a dumb expensive car, but I did my damndest to make sure I didn't buy a cash-destroying maintenance abyss. why do maintenance, when I can just fork all my money directly over to the bank right :doh:
My buddies 01 330's subframe was in mint condition at 100k too. Until it wasn't!! HPF (lol what a pathetic excuse for a shop, I'm glad those hacks went bankrupt - they couldn't even do his subframe right, let alone all the customer motors they blew... /Rant) did the repair for a bargain price of $1200ish, in 2008. They also misinstalled all the bushings so he had to re replace them after 50-60k, and they most likely hung his subframe on an ebrake cable seeing as how neither they nor I could adjust it correctly, and it was massively stretched when we replaced it last fall.

What I'm saying is if your subframe hasn't been removed for reinforcement plates to be installed, that's a looming $1500-2000 repair, period.

How's the DVANOS, CCV, DISA, shocks and bushings/balljoints? Those are also all around 100k items.

You bought yourself an overpriced project! Get her paid off ASAP.

Devian666 posted:

Quoting in part to note the toxx.

You are allowed a little bit of consumerism but you shouldn't be spending all of your pay. The accumulated debts indicate you've been spending more than you earn. If you want to head towards FI it is a different mindset.
Agreed. We all (hopefully) know this, but it can be hard to implement. I'm finally catching up (graduated a year ago at 28), and it feels great to contribute 20~25% of gross to retirement vehicles, plus 10~20% to cash savings. I wish I started when I was 18! Savings > spending.

SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Apr 15, 2015

BEHOLD: MY CAPE
Jan 11, 2004

Devian666 posted:

A lot of US auto loans work like item 3. You'll need to check the fine print. Again same goes for answering 2. If you are lucky you might have a loan you can pay off early which would save interest. So you may or may not be able to refinance in a beneficial fashion.

Often selling the car is a way out but you need to check for penalties that may apply and if the car loan is underwater you'll need enough cash to pay the difference between sale price and the outstanding loan.

tl;dr if you can pay early/more than the minimum and have the total interest reduced then do so. Otherwise continue paying or sell the car.

If you have a precomputed interest loan ("rule of 78s") selling the car is like the worst thing you can do; you're virtually guaranteed to be underwater and it won't save you any of the interest charges.

BEHOLD: MY CAPE
Jan 11, 2004

SiGmA_X posted:

You must be American! Too lazy to read a contract before you sign, and a very defeated attitude there after. (I'm American too)

Read your loan contract. If you aren't in a subprime loan, it likely doesn't have a payoff penalty...

It may not literally have a extra penalty triggered by payoff, but it very possibly has the penalty built directly into the loan with precomputed interest. In that case it makes no sense whatsoever to pay the loan off in advance.

BloodBag
Sep 20, 2008

WITNESS ME!



SiGmA_X posted:

You must be American! Too lazy to read a contract before you sign, and a very defeated attitude there after. (I'm American too)

Read your loan contract. If you aren't in a subprime loan, it likely doesn't have a payoff penalty...
My buddies 01 330's subframe was in mint condition at 100k too. Until it wasn't!! HPF (lol what a pathetic excuse for a shop, I'm glad those hacks went bankrupt - they couldn't even do his subframe right, let alone all the customer motors they blew... /Rant) did the repair for a bargain price of $1200ish, in 2008. They also misinstalled all the bushings so he had to re replace them after 50-60k, and they most likely hung his subframe on an ebrake cable seeing as how neither they nor I could adjust it correctly, and it was massively stretched when we replaced it last fall.

What I'm saying is if your subframe hasn't been removed for reinforcement plates to be installed, that's a looming $1500-2000 repair, period.

How's the DVANOS, CCV, DISA, shocks and bushings/balljoints? Those are also all around 100k items.

You bought yourself an overpriced project! Get her paid off ASAP.
Agreed. We all (hopefully) know this, but it can be hard to implement. I'm finally catching up (graduated a year ago at 28), and it feels great to contribute 20~25% of gross to retirement vehicles, plus 10~20% to cash savings. I wish I started when I was 18! Savings > spending.

Christ, I remember all that poo poo on my E46. I'm so glad I sold that car. Not one 24 hour stretch in the two years I owned it where something wasn't broken. My miata is downright boring to own by comparison. I wonder if OP's car is an automatic, because those have a nice tendency to poo poo out reverse with no warning too. I wonder, since I've never driven a manual E46 with what I would describe as a 'buttery smooth' transmission. 2nd gear syncrho is always a bastard on that car since it's up-rated for the punishment 2nd usually gets. I've only ever driven the 5sp manuals though...

Devian666
Aug 20, 2008

Take some advice Chris.

Fun Shoe

SiGmA_X posted:

Agreed. We all (hopefully) know this, but it can be hard to implement. I'm finally catching up (graduated a year ago at 28), and it feels great to contribute 20~25% of gross to retirement vehicles, plus 10~20% to cash savings. I wish I started when I was 18! Savings > spending.

A lot of us wish we'd started earlier. I remember hearing about the 10% of income savings things when I was a kid. I had to have a look back at what I'd been doing with my money all these years. About 10-15% of my income went to debt serving due to student loan and debt consolidation after gradating. I stuck to the 10-15% but mostly it went to debts, then starting a business and then saving for a house. At least I built up my house deposit on interest rates 7-9% unfortunately the rates dropped, inflation stayed high and house prices took off. Technically I was doing the right thing except for the lack of retirement savings (but where I live we didn't have any retirement savings benefits or accounts until about 7 years ago). The reason why I'm not better off now is down to the expensive computer parts I'd buy, full price games and drinking at bars. All great fun but I could have been a bit more economic about it all and saved 20%+.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Taco Box posted:

Christ, I remember all that poo poo on my E46. I'm so glad I sold that car. Not one 24 hour stretch in the two years I owned it where something wasn't broken. My miata is downright boring to own by comparison. I wonder if OP's car is an automatic, because those have a nice tendency to poo poo out reverse with no warning too. I wonder, since I've never driven a manual E46 with what I would describe as a 'buttery smooth' transmission. 2nd gear syncrho is always a bastard on that car since it's up-rated for the punishment 2nd usually gets. I've only ever driven the 5sp manuals though...
The ZF 5MT box also has reverse issues, which can become all gears or rather no fears issues - shift pins! It's about $50 in parts, $75(what I paid)-200 in tools, and 4-6hr labor depending on how fast you can drop the trans. 6MT is a Getrag and should be different reliability wise. Feel wise, I think they feel identically to a 5MT ZF, but maybe I'm dense when it comes to that.

That said, they're awesome cars and pretty reliable but do have a host of nasty issues. Catch-22 to having a nice car that is sporty. Pick 2: cheap, reliable, or fast! (I don't think an e46 qualifies as fast, I picked up that quote from my 400wtq+ e36 turbo days, but an e46 qualifies as fast compared to a Toyota or Honduh)

Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

SiGmA_X posted:

Pick 2: cheap, reliable, or fast!

Well we all know I didn't wind up with cheap :rimshot:

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost

Crunk Abortion posted:

Well we all know I didn't wind up with cheap :rimshot:

Sometimes (like with a rotary engine) you only get to pick one.

SiGmA_X
May 3, 2004
SiGmA_X

Nocheez posted:

Sometimes (like with a rotary engine) you only get to pick one.
Lol SO TRUE! Unless you're Spyder. He has the rotary magic. Though my best friend and I have each blown up one of his TC's back in ~04-05. Heh.

oxsnard
Oct 8, 2003
Hahaha this further proves my theory that at least 50% of BMW and Audi owners are just poor people who are desperate not to look poor

Crunk Abortion posted:

That's assuming I'd qualify for 0% (I wouldn't) and that's assuming I'd like to own a Fit (I wouldn't.) I got the exact car that I wanted, and I have absolutely no intention of taking 6 years to pay this loan off at 16%. I'm in no way hurting for money, my budget is handled to the point where I could go out tomorrow and (assuming I was approved somehow) go buy a Fit to park next to my E46 and have no issues making both payments.

If your best advice is "sell your car at a loss and buy a beater", I guess I fail to see the point. I asked for advice because I'm looking to get better terms on the car I already bought (which I bought because I was sick of $2,000 piece of poo poo domestics.)

oxsnard fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Apr 16, 2015

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Crunk Abortion
Mar 5, 2009

Young based lord and I look like JESUS

oxsnard posted:

Hahaha this further proves my theory that at least 50% of BMW and Audi owners are just poor people who are desperate not to look poor

Please tell me more of your hard-earned and completely valid insights, you clever, edgy goon :allears:

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