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SuperCaptainJ
Jun 24, 2005

cmears posted:

Where's the catch?

How many miles do you drive a year?

Edit:10k, missed that.

SuperCaptainJ fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Feb 10, 2010

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kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

SuperCaptainJ posted:

How many miles do you drive a year?

He says <10k, which gives him a 2k buffer.

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
If there's not buyout, then it may not be worth it because you will have paid 8K and in the end not be able to keep it. On the flip side, if you spend 8K on a used car now, you can keep it forever.

Zhentar
Sep 28, 2003

Brilliant Master Genius

cmears posted:

If I go with the used car option I could probably get a couple thousand using it as a trade-in but I've heard the dealership will just jack the price up a couple of thousand on the new car so its a wash.

1. Trade-in isn't the only way to convert from used car to money.
2. If you're not a doormat who just trusts everything the dealer says they can't 'just jack the price up'.

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

cmears posted:

My money pit of a car is going to die any day now and I'm looking for advice.

What kind of car do you have right now? If I was in your situation I might start looking at high-mileage cars with high-level reliability that you could get for <$5k. Then you'd have to put more than $4k on repairs in the car for it to be a wash financially, and with that sort of high mileage car, only putting ~10k/year on it you can sell it private party for about the same price when you're ready to move up.

cmears
Feb 6, 2004

Engineer Lenk posted:

What kind of car do you have right now? If I was in your situation I might start looking at high-mileage cars with high-level reliability that you could get for <$5k. Then you'd have to put more than $4k on repairs in the car for it to be a wash financially, and with that sort of high mileage car, only putting ~10k/year on it you can sell it private party for about the same price when you're ready to move up.

Currently I'm driving a 97 buick park avenue with around 154k miles on it.

It is in poor condition after driving it for 8 years and doing several cross country trips as well as living in it for a while on a 9 month road trip. The car was great but started having problems last year where it would intermittently start making a ticking sound coming from the passenger dash and would refuse to start.

I'd call triple A, they'd send a tow guy who would try to start it up, it wouldn't and then they'd tow it to whichever repair shop was close and AAA approved and then as soon the car was off the truck it would start right back up. The shop would look at the car but there were no error codes and everything checked out so I went on my way after wasting several hours. This happened 3 times and it was close to costing me my job so I started having the repair shops throw parts (new ignition, crankshaft sensor, fuel pump, testing relays, etc) at it to see if anything would fix it. A couple of more trips to the repair shops and a couple of thousand dollars later the problem seemed to go away but now its back and once again I'm on the verge of losing my stable good paying job so I need reliable transportation.

I did come across a local listing for a 97 buick park avenue identical to mine with 107k miles and in great condition looking at the pictures. The price is $4,100 and I could probably get it for $4k and get the 30,000 miles I need before my income doubles and I can afford a good long-term vehicle.

Edit: Situation resolved, I got a 95 Jeep Cherokee with 150k for $1800 and it is running great. Now I can afford a major repair or two and still save up more for retirement/vacation.

cmears fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Feb 16, 2010

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
Why don't you go with some el cheapo super reliable Japanese econo cars instead of sticking to American cars of questionable quality?

flyboi
Oct 13, 2005

agg stop posting
College Slice
Since you guys are all insurance gurus I'd figure I'd post the question here. So I got a car 1 month ago paid in full (:smug:) 2007 accord exl

Great car but that's beside the point. See last weekend it was hit by a drunk driver. I was lucky enough to have gotten his license plate #, filed a report and they found the guy...


He has no insurance :(. So I called my insurance company and I have a $500 deductible. The cost of repairs is $424 and the guy said since it's under $500 the insurance company isn't going to help you go after the guy so there's no point in filing a claim. Is this true? Also what is my next course of action? The car is scheduled to be fixed March 8th. Once that is done I am thinking I am supposed to be going to obtain a copy of the police report and go to the court house and file a judgement against this guy. Once he loses and he doesn't pay then I garnish his wages. Total time for him to pay this back I'd imagine would be like a year.

Am I right in this? Am I doing something wrong? First time I've ever had an accident so I don't know what to do :ohdear:

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.
For $424, i would just forget about it. The hassle of going to court multiple times isn't worth it, not to mention he may not even have a job to get wages from. Then you will be out the $424 and the court fee.s

Don Lapre fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Feb 11, 2010

flyboi
Oct 13, 2005

agg stop posting
College Slice
no he has a job the cops gave me his name, birth date, address and place of work

necrobobsledder
Mar 21, 2005
Lay down your soul to the gods rock 'n roll
Nap Ghost
I would go after his rear end over even a matter of $500 on moral grounds. I want every rear end in a top hat that goes around without car insurance that has the nerve to get drunk, drive, and hit someone to know that he hosed up so bad that he tells everyone for the rest of his life "don't be stupid like me." Dragging his rear end to court and shaming him on public record is the closest thing I'm allowed to do without going vigilante justice on someone. If it costs him a job in the future because someone does a background check, that's what I'm looking for.

flyboi
Oct 13, 2005

agg stop posting
College Slice
That's how I feel but not in a gently caress YA GOON JUSTICE! deal. I'm more pissed off that I got the car and less than a month into owning it some dickwad hit me and I want him to realize you don't hit flyboi's car.

CellBlock
Oct 6, 2005

It just don't stop.



If there's a police report and there isn't really any dispute that it's his fault, you'll very easily get a judgement in small claims court for the damages, but I still don't think that's a guarantee you'll ever see the money.

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost
Take it to Judge Judy, she loves embarrassing drunk, no-insurance driving assholes.

Maggot Monster
Nov 27, 2003
I'm glad for this thread; my wife smashed the car to bits and I have a horrible feeling they will just write it off due to a hosed up frame, which means I have to borrow a poo poo-ton of money and buy a replacement. :(

Magic Underwear
May 14, 2003


Young Orc

Nocheez posted:

Take it to Judge Judy, she loves embarrassing drunk, no-insurance driving assholes.

The best part is that the show pays the judgement, and both parties get free airfare, hotel, and per diem.

big shtick energy
May 27, 2004


Magic Underwear posted:

The best part is that the show pays the judgement, and both parties get free airfare, hotel, and per diem.

So in other words the guy he's trying to teach a lesson to over won't have to pay anything, will get a free mini-vacation, and get an appearance on TV. Yeah, that'll show him.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

DuckConference posted:

So in other words the guy he's trying to teach a lesson to over won't have to pay anything, will get a free mini-vacation, and get an appearance on TV. Yeah, that'll show him.

But the other person gets his money, a free mini-vacation, and an appearance on tv also.

Grumpwagon
May 6, 2007
I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

I knew someone who lost on Judge Judy, she was pretty pissed.

T0MSERV0
Jul 24, 2007

You shouldn't expect to defeat him, he is designed to be a war machine.

Magic Underwear posted:

The best part is that the show pays the judgement, and both parties get free airfare, hotel, and per diem.

I seem to remember reading that the way the show worked was that there was a pool of money (Judy was $5000) that was going to be split between the two sides, but only after the judgment was paid out of it. So if both parties showed up and shrugged, they'd each get $2500, but if one got a $4000 dollar judgment, then he would get $4500 ($4000 and 1/2 of the remaining $1000) and the other would get $500 (the other half). Because of that you would still want to "win" the case in spite of the fact that no one actually had to pay anything. This also explains why the defendant always counter sued the plaintiff - can't win if you don't play.

notMordecai
Mar 4, 2007

Gay Boy Suicide Pact?
Sucking Dick For Satan??

I am a 22 year old junior college student from Texas. Last semester I scored a summer internship with one of the best companies in Texas and this in turn finally brought up a good reason to get my first car (I've been using the bus for the past 2-3 years for mainly everything).

Now the thing is, I have no idea how to go about this and was wondering if anyone in here specializes in this or went through this same situation.

First of, I am going to need a loan since I barely make anything (to get a car without help) at my job on campus and take 18 hours of classes. I tried getting a second job and it just didn't work for me. I don't have anymore tuition payments (thank god for scholarships) so I get about $200-$250 every two weeks. That's really the base of my income.

As for credit cards, I only have one with about $850 on it at a 20% (ew) APR. I make the payments every month after a brief stint of nearly being homeless and missing a couple payments. I have about $350 in my bank account at the moment. In the world of buying/renting a used car? What would be feasible to ask from my bank, Bank of America. What are also somethings to say/do to get the best offer. This is really something I have no experience and would rather not get dicked out of a deal because of my ignorance.

Considering I have a good source of income in the projected future, do I have a chance of getting something. I was thinking of asking for about $3k-$4k. Too much, too little? I was trying to go for a car from 2003-2005. My mother has lovely credit so I don't think she would be much of a help as a co-signer to the loan. Would it be better to just buy a used one right out rather than make payments at a dealership?

Projected income from internship:
$19 an hour at about 30 hours a week. Lasts about Two and half months, starting from May 31st, 2010 to mid-August.

Current income:
$200-$250 every two weeks

Credit cards:
Just one (with BoA) with $850 on it at ~20% APR. I make payments with no problem.

Update: Well I applied online to get some offers from BoA and they denied me a loan opportunity. Although with my current income it makes me seem like a scumbag but the internship will really boost things. Anyway of salvaging this? :(

notMordecai fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Feb 18, 2010

SplitDestiny
Sep 25, 2004
Keep taking the bus. You can't afford a car.

the_reading_rainbow
Dec 20, 2009

Friends to know, and ways to grow, a Reading Rainbow.

notMordecai posted:

I am a 22 year old junior college student from Texas. Last semester I scored a summer internship with one of the best companies in Texas and this in turn finally brought up a good reason to get my first car (I've been using the bus for the past 2-3 years for mainly everything).

Now the thing is, I have no idea how to go about this and was wondering if anyone in here specializes in this or went through this same situation.

First of, I am going to need a loan since I barely make anything (to get a car without help) at my job on campus and take 18 hours of classes. I tried getting a second job and it just didn't work for me. I don't have anymore tuition payments (thank god for scholarships) so I get about $200-$250 every two weeks. That's really the base of my income.

As for credit cards, I only have one with about $850 on it at a 20% (ew) APR. I make the payments every month after a brief stint of nearly being homeless and missing a couple payments. I have about $350 in my bank account at the moment. In the world of buying/renting a used car? What would be feasible to ask from my bank, Bank of America. What are also somethings to say/do to get the best offer. This is really something I have no experience and would rather not get dicked out of a deal because of my ignorance.

Considering I have a good source of income in the projected future, do I have a chance of getting something. I was thinking of asking for about $3k-$4k. Too much, too little? I was trying to go for a car from 2003-2005. My mother has lovely credit so I don't think she would be much of a help as a co-signer to the loan. Would it be better to just buy a used one right out rather than make payments at a dealership?

Projected income from internship:
$19 an hour at about 30 hours a week. Lasts about Two and half months, starting from May 31st, 2010 to mid-August.

Current income:
$200-$250 every two weeks

Credit cards:
Just one (with BoA) with $850 on it at ~20% APR. I make payments with no problem.

Update: Well I applied online to get some offers from BoA and they denied me a loan opportunity. Although with my current income it makes me seem like a scumbag but the internship will really boost things. Anyway of salvaging this? :(

Get on craigslist or autotrader and get yourself a $1000 beater.

notMordecai
Mar 4, 2007

Gay Boy Suicide Pact?
Sucking Dick For Satan??

the_reading_rainbow posted:

Get on craigslist or autotrader and get yourself a $1000 beater.

Figured! Wish me luck. :negative:

This is kind of important because if I can't get this car I will have to drop out of this internship. :smith:

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre

flyboi posted:

Since you guys are all insurance gurus I'd figure I'd post the question here. So I got a car 1 month ago paid in full (:smug:) 2007 accord exl

Great car but that's beside the point. See last weekend it was hit by a drunk driver. I was lucky enough to have gotten his license plate #, filed a report and they found the guy...


He has no insurance :(. So I called my insurance company and I have a $500 deductible. The cost of repairs is $424 and the guy said since it's under $500 the insurance company isn't going to help you go after the guy so there's no point in filing a claim. Is this true? Also what is my next course of action? The car is scheduled to be fixed March 8th. Once that is done I am thinking I am supposed to be going to obtain a copy of the police report and go to the court house and file a judgement against this guy. Once he loses and he doesn't pay then I garnish his wages. Total time for him to pay this back I'd imagine would be like a year.

Am I right in this? Am I doing something wrong? First time I've ever had an accident so I don't know what to do :ohdear:

I just want to add that some insurance companies, and some states have waiver of deductibles in limited circumstances. In MA, drunk driver or hit from behind are two of the most commonly used reasons. The may just waive it and pay the damage.

flyboi
Oct 13, 2005

agg stop posting
College Slice

LorneReams posted:

I just want to add that some insurance companies, and some states have waiver of deductibles in limited circumstances. In MA, drunk driver or hit from behind are two of the most commonly used reasons. The may just waive it and pay the damage.

Unfortunately insurance won't pay a dime of it :( I've tried everything with them

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

notMordecai posted:

Figured! Wish me luck. :negative:

This is kind of important because if I can't get this car I will have to drop out of this internship. :smith:

If you can borrow $1000 from your folks and put in about $1500 of your own money, you can definitely get a car that will last you the internship with no problems, that you can sell at the end to recoup some of the cost. Scrounge Craigslist and ask in the AI regular question thread which has the best chance.

Jagershot
Jun 7, 2004

RIP Mike V, 1989-2007. Have fun mounting Bear Bryant up in heaven.

flyboi posted:

Unfortunately insurance won't pay a dime of it :( I've tried everything with them

Let's say that the damage was $524, $24 more than your deductible. Your insurance would pay you the $24, and then you'd be paying $100-$400 extra a year in insurance premiums because now you've been involved in an accident that required a claim, even though it wasn't your fault.

Consider yourself very lucky and just drop it. You're going to come out ahead on this one in the long run.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

Jagershot posted:

Let's say that the damage was $524, $24 more than your deductible. Your insurance would pay you the $24, and then you'd be paying $100-$400 extra a year in insurance premiums because now you've been involved in an accident that required a claim, even though it wasn't your fault.

Consider yourself very lucky and just drop it. You're going to come out ahead on this one in the long run.

if you are paying for uninsured motorists insurance i dont believe it counts against you, though for him saving $24 isn't worth making a claim.

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre

Don Lapre posted:

if you are paying for uninsured motorists insurance i dont believe it counts against you, though for him saving $24 isn't worth making a claim.

I was about to say this. I've totalled three cars in 8 years and one time the car just caught on fire and my insurance never increased. My father just had his rear bumper torn off his car by an uninsured person andhe got it fixed for free as well because of the waiver of deductible.

Maggot Monster
Nov 27, 2003
This has nothing to do with owning a car but today my wife paid $700 to rent a loving subaru outback for one week. Since crashing the car it's like she's single handedly trying to destroy our finances.

She accepted the first insurance offer without even speaking to me (it was $400 less than the clean retail which I imagine is pretty good) and now this. She managed to get them to drop it to $225 if she returns it sunday. Nothing like a two day rental for $225 to really help me enjoy the weekend. She's killing me.

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
So she rented an Outback because she crashed her previous car?

Should have gone with an imprezza!

kimbo305
Jun 9, 2007

actually, yeah, I am a little mad

Maggot Monster posted:

This has nothing to do with owning a car but today my wife paid $700 to rent a loving subaru outback for one week. Since crashing the car it's like she's single handedly trying to destroy our finances.

She accepted the first insurance offer without even speaking to me (it was $400 less than the clean retail which I imagine is pretty good) and now this. She managed to get them to drop it to $225 if she returns it sunday. Nothing like a two day rental for $225 to really help me enjoy the weekend. She's killing me.

Was it that she had no idea what typical rental rates are?

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
She accepted an insurance payout of ~400 less than you wanted. What percentage is that of the total payment though? If she totally trashed the car and received a payout of 10K, I'm less inclined to quibble over 5%.

Maggot Monster
Nov 27, 2003

Vladimir Putin posted:

She accepted an insurance payout of ~400 less than you wanted. What percentage is that of the total payment though? If she totally trashed the car and received a payout of 10K, I'm less inclined to quibble over 5%.

We got $7600 (minus $500 deductable so $7100 in reality) for a 2006 lancer with 58k miles and no real damage on it. From everything I researched that was about what you'd get (considering we're at fault too).

I wasn't upset about the amount but SHE had no idea what a fair price was. She just got lucky.

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
Well give her a break. It wasn't too bad. So what if she got lucky, just tell her how much it was really worth and tell her she got lucky. Then forget about it. It's really not worth it to fight over this stuff if the damage is relatively small ($400). Your marriage is not worth these little fights that you are going to remember and hold against her.

$700 is too much for a rental though.

Backno
Dec 1, 2007

Goff Boyz iz da rudest Boyz

SKA SUCKS

notMordecai posted:

Figured! Wish me luck. :negative:

This is kind of important because if I can't get this car I will have to drop out of this internship. :smith:

Find a buddy, grand parent, parent, whatever and borrow 1000 bucks and get something that runs. You can not afford a loan right now + no bank will give you one anyway because you just do not make enough. They MIGHT give you a personal loan, but those are alot harder to get right now.


And while on the subject of car loans, I paid my car off yesterday :woop: :dance: :hellyeah:.

Zhentar
Sep 28, 2003

Brilliant Master Genius

Vladimir Putin posted:

It's really not worth it to fight over this stuff if the damage is relatively small ($400). Your marriage is not worth these little fights that you are going to remember and hold against her.

The point isn't a lost $400, it's that she made a major financial decision without any sort of input from the person who she shares her finances with, and that is important.

Maggot Monster
Nov 27, 2003

Zhentar posted:

The point isn't a lost $400, it's that she made a major financial decision without any sort of input from the person who she shares her finances with, and that is important.

That's why I was upset! Still, we ended up buying something horribly expensive and it's all so awful that I don't even want to think about finances any more. I need to hit up my boss for a payrise as my car payment went from $200 to $425. That's not going to leave me in trouble but it sucks as I had been enjoying ensuring we had the money to move and no debts.

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Coasterphreak
May 29, 2007
I like cookies.

notMordecai posted:

Figured! Wish me luck. :negative:

This is kind of important because if I can't get this car I will have to drop out of this internship. :smith:

I don't know what other bills you have, but as other people have pointed out, if you can save up 1000 to 2000 dollars, you can probably get a fairly reliable beater on craigslist. Early 90s Honda Accords are always a good bet: they are incredibly common, run forever with almost no maintenance, and tend to be pretty cheap because they're not particularly powerful and the paintjobs tend to fade.

I spent $2000 on mine in December of 2007; it had 189k miles on it, a newish timing belt, and decent tires. It now has 220k on it, and the only significant money I've had to spend on it was replacing the exhaust to pass state inspection, as well as new tires last week.

Other than that, I've driven the hell out of it with daily short commutes to and from work and school, and so far it hasn't taken a crap on me. I've done the brakes and oil and so forth, and it shakes and rattles, but it still rolls and probably will for another 40k miles. If you can find one for about $1500 that has decent tires, an owner that can tell you when the oil was last changed, and goes around the block without smoking or grinding, you can probably count on it getting you through at least your internship.

The one caveat is the timing belt. The F22 engine that comes standard in early 90s Accords IS an interference engine, so if the timing belt snaps it will cost more than the car is worth to fix the massive engine damage. Timing belts are supposed to be done every 90k, so if the seller can't tell you when it was last done, stay away.

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