Just refinanced my car. Lower payment, lower interest rate, lower total paid on the loan. Yay low interest rates!


Nothing has made me feel more like an adult than being in the last 10% of my first car loan and refinancing my second car loan. I'M DOING AN ADULT!

This post was edited by Thor123422 on Jun 5 2020 11:57am

About to close on a 10 acre range cabin thing The bank ran my Credit and it had all these dings, but the itemized detailed report was all GREEN and showed closed accounts years ago, literally nothing ever paid late, huge credit/debt ratio on 7 year AMEX. I rofl'd at the Bank. These credit agencies are comical.



Kudos

This post was edited by RedFromWinter on Jun 5 2020 12:01pm

Lol bulk of my portfolio is in index funds, you get too excited about my gambling. Can’t blame you cuz I get pretty excited about it myself

I do the same mate, I am just pulling your leg.

Car loans are weird to me.

I'd never consider financing a car that way, I'll only pay for one with cash. It'd feel way too icky. I feel guilty enough for having some student debt left over(10-20k), let alone other debts.

The only debt that isn't considered sinful here is a mortgage.

Car loans are a tool just like any other.

If you are investing, and you can get a car loan at 3.5%, it would actually be less financially sound to pay in cash since your investments would be expected to, on average, do about 7% on the stock market. So you could avoid a 3.5% interest rate at a cost of 7% returns, or you could do a 3.5% interest rate with a return of 7% - 3.5%.

These are averages mind you, using this strategy over the course of your life you will tend to net a 3.5% return compared to avoiding the car loan.

Having the car loan on your profile increases the interest rate payable on other loans, like a mortgage, which incurs far higher nominal interest.

It's better to pay for your car upfront.

This post was edited by dro94 on Jun 5 2020 12:57pm

I think it's an American thing. As a European living in the US i never financed a car, and i'm pretty against it. I rather buy outright and know it's my property versus having such a long term liability.

If you're looking to buy a house and will have issues with your debt to income ratio that might increase your mortgage interest rate then you need to factor that in. But I'm not in a situation for the foreseeable future where that will be an issue.

Like I said, car loans are a tool. Not all tools are appropriate in all situations, but in some situations car loans are a good tool to use.

I buy my cars cash and a year old but leasing and getting loans are viable options, depends on your situation.