Can I afford this car?

[wu_dot_com]

nope, maybe in 5 years.

[SpeedR]

No

[DRACHENV6]

Originally Posted by dookie11

The back and forth on this topic is starting to frustrate me lol. Of course, taking on debt is a bad idea. But, "financing" was invented for a reason, right?>>>It's for those of us who can't afford to pay it fully on the first day...

Now, to figure out if they'll finance to a full-time student who has a co-signer (or no co-signer). I don't really care what the percent is as long as it doesn't exceed 6% because that's what my student loans are at. Also, I have an "excellent" 756 credit score, according to creditkarma, so that should have some clout, right?

Loans exist so that lending institutions can make money through lending money. How are they going to make money if you have no income to pay them back?

[Xdragonxb0i]

Originally Posted by MRZ415

6% is kinda high, you should seek out a credit union.
About creditkarma.com I used their credit simulator,
and I was able to do some # crunch because for some ODD
reason I open my new American Express card and my credit score
nose dived from 770 ->739 with $6000 limit , but if the credit limit drop
from $6000 to $5000 my credit score jumps to 750 yet faulters to 746 @ $4000( I called AMEX and reduced my credit limit to $5000).

Any finance majors here to explain why ?

i believe creditkarma uses a FICO score. not the same standard as unions use. But people claim credit Karma to be accurate within a 25-50 point range.


I am in the same boat, i cant afford it either, i go to school full time, and will need to work a lot more. Loans are good for when you need it. Borrowing money for a car is not a great idea, because its not an priorty, especially if you already have a car.

[iDerek]

Originally Posted by SuqMadiq

Not going to knock your plan but, financing a car isn't a bad route to go even if you end up paying a little more for it in the end. For someone young, inexperienced, and doesn't have any credit, financing a car can be good thing. It's important to build good credit so that when you do need financing it's available (buying a car, buying a house, starting a business).

Anyways, just my 2 cents...

-Accounting/finance major

what do u think of leasing and buying back after?

[SuqMadiq]

Originally Posted by iDerek

what do u think of leasing and buying back after?

It's all dependent on the terms in the lease. Sometimes you can negotiate prior to leasing the car, what the buyout terms would be. Other times, they are already stated in the lease agreement.

I've never actually done it myself, though I would imagine it would be cheaper if you knew what you wanted to do prior to making the lease or just buying the car. Chances are, the negotiable price of the car after or during the lease period is not going to be as good as when you initially had the option to just purchase it. From their perspective, they've already won.

Anyways, back to financing...

Even though your agreeing to pay more over the entire course of the loan, by the time the loan is paid off, there is a chance you'll have saved more money than have lost, assuming you're wise with your money. The time value of money says that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow, and it's true! If you were to throw down $25k cash and buy the car, you're out $25k instantly, as opposed to maybe just $3000-4000 for a down payment. The rest of the money can be invested in different ways to yield other returns. Plus, you're building credit.

Just another way to look at it...