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$1000 vehicle payments at record high

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by farmecologist, Jan 8, 2023.

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  1. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I recall that (credit card) charge being applied, years back, at a computer store. To be fair, they were the best deal in town, custom built all their systems, whatever you needed. I'd assume tight margins. So yeah, all you had to do dodge it was use your debit card.
     
  2. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Your banking regulations are more sane to begin with down here. I've heard Canadians generally like their bankers.

    The discounts at gas stations to use cash are less than my card's reward for fuel was. I do recall some small stores having a minimum purchase to use a credit card.
    I had always wondered if debit counted as cash or credit; same major credit card company was on the debit card.
     
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  3. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Processed by a different back-end, the associated merchant fees are generally far lower than for credit processing so cash price usually passes to debit.

    How you use the card matters.
     
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  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The usually part may mean not knowing until the sale is wrung though.
     
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Fresh look: I'm having a rough time thinking about that kilobuck car payment, just by itself.

    I must be too much of a cheapskate; the last two vehicles we financed had payments in the $500s and that seemed like quite enough.
     
  6. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    Everyone should watch this PBS Frontline video to see how the credit card providers rigged the system to make those who do not pay off their balance and make only the minimum payment into voluntary financial slaves.

     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the people do it to themselves, cc co is just the catalyst. voluntary is right
     
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  8. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    Actually it was the so called "deadbeats," who saved the financial industry during the 2008 "Great Recession," when many individuals set up by the lenders under the "NINJA" (no income, no job, no assets) loans defaulted and never paid back.
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Different gas stations do it different.
    I (poorly) understand that debit cards also have very different processing fees, depending on how it is run, which has caused some friction between merchants and payment processors. PIN vs signature? But not normally being a debit card user, I haven't kept track of the issues.
     
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Being a smaller market, it is probably easier to the fight off the industry lobbyists and get some financial sanity up there than down here.
     
  11. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The sanity extends to before the Great Depression hit the rest.
     
  12. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    According to the article, >$1000/month payments are around 15%.
    So yes, the rate of those size payments is up, but it is still a minority.
     
  13. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    So, this is how the average American household with an income of $70,784 are buying an average new car costing $48,681 nowadays.

    According to a financial expert blog, I read recently, the current cost of an average new car is absurdly high. In order to "afford" that high cost, the average household needs to be making $200,000/yr or more. Since he knew that is not the case, his conclusion was that only rich people are buying new cars. But seems like poor people are also buying new cars which they can't afford.

    On the other hand, I have purchased five new cars since 2015. I just checked the average purchase price (including all costs, and also including incentives and tax credits). It is very reasonable $24,937, nowhere close to the $48K national average. And my average monthly payment ranges from a low of $0 to a high of $480, I think the average would be around $200/mo? It is still the second most expensive single item I purchased after the house we live in.

    But the beauty of my creative car financing is that all five new cars were purchased with an initial layout capital of ~$20K. I have not added any new money into the car purchasing fund. I know I can't keep doing this forever, but at least for now, new cars are still affordable for me.
     
    #33 Salamander_King, Jan 8, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2023
  14. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Remember that those numbers don't have the same denominator. A large portion of households don't buy new cars, only used. And a very significant portion, and growing, don't buy cars at all.
    Remember also that the majority of those "cars" are also known as trucks and SUVs and CUVs, typically more expensive than what were once known as cars.
     
  15. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Of course, I know they can not all "afford" to buy a new car even if they stretch their financing to the limit. I was just being sarcastic. The point is some people have very little financial discipline when it comes to buying a car (or maybe not only the car).
     
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  16. Isaac Zachary

    Isaac Zachary Senior Member

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    I hope I never have to pay more than $200 per month for a car (or all cars total) on my $600 per month total vehicle budget.

    But interestingly I've thrown the idea out there. We used to rent a 12 passenger van a couple or three weekends a year for a reasonable price in walking distance from my house. Now it looks like we'd be paying possibly $12,000 per year for those three weekends, plus would have to go nearly 900 miles total of just getting it, bringing it home, taking it back, and driving back home. At that rate we might as well as purchase one. But that would be $1,000 per month or more with a full size van of potentially $60,000 dollars or more.

    Can you timeshare a full size van?
     
    #36 Isaac Zachary, Jan 8, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2023
  17. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I don't believe those rental prices will be sustained long enough to make a purchase worthwhile.

    If they do sustain, then we'll have bigger troubles to address.
     
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  18. Pulse07

    Pulse07 Active Member

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    See Nissan dealerships... They hand out Altimas to people who have a credit score less than the Tire width and to people who should not be anywhere buying a new car. No credit, no problem. No money down, 26% APRs 84 months.
     
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  19. John321

    John321 Senior Member

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    Private transportation is quite expensive - with the initial purchase price of the vehicle only the first door you have to walk through. Then comes insurance, property taxes, fuel and maintenance. Also, the unexpected cost that can crop up. We are teaching a college age student now about just how expensive it is when you are out on your own to have a vehicle so they can be better prepared when shouldering this part of their financial life.

    Our small town has no public transportation options -walking and bike riding are popular but impractical at times of the year and times of the day. So you need to be prepared to have some means of private transportation - it is just a fact of life.

    Not complaining in the slightest that is just the way it is and need to get on with it and do it in the most economical safe way possible. Kids also need to be prepared for this so they know how to cope and handle it successfully.

    I was in my 40's before buying my first new car - my cars have become newer and nicer as I have progressed in life and accumulated some net worth, but I think my taste are much more modest than the average consumer. We keep our cars an average of 10 years or more before getting another one - the last two cars we traded in were a 12 year old Prius and a 16-year-old Sienna neither of them being financed but paid for when bought.
     
    #39 John321, Jan 9, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2023
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  20. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Most of my friends' kids are older than mine. A few have told me they feel like they're getting targets painted on their backs, being set up to spend on cars and all that goes with them. Lots of them have figured it out, none are captivated by the "freedom of jumping in and going wherever" and as a result there's a lot of hesitation towards licensing and ownership.

    I know I'm looking forward to going back to being a 1-car family, and I really doubt my daughter will ever need driving lessons.
     
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