thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 10:28:50 GMT -5
Yesterday, I very self-righteously declared I was buying a new, huge car. We've been talking about it for a while, but we are gaining some traction because we are doing a road trip this summer - and my husband's car just broke down even though we had it in the shop two weeks ago (to the tune of $750!!)
This morning I wake up and my husband said he did some research and he want the Sequoia. The model, top of the line, all the bells and whistles - $61k!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I was thinking more along the lines of a $40k something, something.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 10:30:03 GMT -5
Sounds nice. Enjoy!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 10:32:00 GMT -5
Have fun driving it ;D ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on Apr 14, 2011 10:34:52 GMT -5
Oh wow. /speechless
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 10:35:58 GMT -5
You guys are killing me.
(BTW - my husband will chicken out.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 10:37:21 GMT -5
They are NICE cars. You could look at Land Cruisers and convince yourselves you're being frugal, LOL.
Can you buy a used one?
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 10:43:09 GMT -5
Land Cruisers are ridiculous! They START at $60k.
I've briefly looked at used. I've seen a couple I would consider, but not many. Most people are upside down so they are asking for a ridiculous amount of money. I need a better discount than a few thousand dollars to get something with 40k miles on it. Because we really want this as a road trip car, I really want something newer, with fewer miles. If I want to do road trips in a car with 60k miles on it, I'll take the one that is already sitting in my driveway.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 10:45:11 GMT -5
How much are you guys looking to put down and how much the payment will be?
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Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Apr 14, 2011 10:47:24 GMT -5
$61,000? ![](http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/smileys/1.gif)
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azphx1972
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Post by azphx1972 on Apr 14, 2011 10:49:40 GMT -5
thyme, buy it so I won't feel so guilty about wanting to spend $35k on a used sports car! ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 10:52:06 GMT -5
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 10:53:57 GMT -5
Good question cawiau. I haven't even started investigating deals. I haven't seen any "Buy now - 1.9% financing" but that would help. If I have to do 5%, my payment would be damn near $1000. (I got a little light headed typing that.) My husband's car, if we get it fixed, is probably worth $7 or $8k - so that is the minimum we would use as a downpayment. I could throw another $10k in, if I had to.
I do have a HELOC (YM collective groan) where the interest rate is down closer to 3% (variable.) I would probably use that if the dealer and bank couldn't find me something better. That would lower the payment - but not by much because I would still pay it off in 5 years or less.
Technically, we could pay cash - but that ain't happening.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 10:55:05 GMT -5
I'm here for you man.
SF - that is EXACTLY how I feel.
(cawiau - I was typing while you were.)
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Apr 14, 2011 10:57:59 GMT -5
If I want to do road trips in a car with 60k miles on it, I'll take the one that is already sitting in my driveway. (LOL - you knew this was coming). What happened to your car that made it unreliable at only 60k miles? What kind of car is it - sounds like a Nash (Henry Fonda, 'On Golden Pond').
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Apr 14, 2011 10:59:04 GMT -5
You could buy a second home (retirement home or rental property) for that much money... I don't think I could drive a 61K vehicle without constantly thinking about how I'd rather have a second home/retirement home/rental property....
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Apr 14, 2011 11:01:04 GMT -5
How much mileage does your DH put on his vehicle annually? Plus your road trips? Would it make sense to rent your road trip vehicle and buy a commuting vehicle?
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 11:03:04 GMT -5
It isn't unreliable at all. It is a great car. But even great cars start a little whistling and thumping at 60k. Honestly, we could last another 5 years in that car. The other car is totally useless and I want to that thing. The kids hate it, it is small, it breaks down, it is uncomfortable. And, my husband takes the train to work, so it just sits around in our driveway. The only time it goes anywhere is when we need to be in two different places at the same time. So, I was seizing the moment to get a car big enough that my kids could bring friends places. We tried to go to the park the other day with another family, we needed 2 drivers and we had to borrow their van. (Granted, that family has an unreasonable amount of children.) So, as long as we are getting a big 'ol boat, it might as well be our road trip car.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Apr 14, 2011 11:11:22 GMT -5
I have to say that we recently bought a Ford Expedition that seats 8. ![](http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/images/emoticons/74_74.gif) It really is nice to have a car that seats my kids and their friends as well as a bag of groceries without a degree in spatial relations and lots of complaining. We did buy our used but DH comes from a long line of mechanics so I am fine with that level of uncertainty. And the kids friends who ride with us pretty often are pretty happy too. ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png)
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 11:13:47 GMT -5
qofcc - We've talked about that a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if we chicken out, buy nothing and rent a van for the trip this summer.
The upside for buying is (as I mentioned) we would have enough room every day for the soccer carpool, etc. Right now, we only have room for one additional kid. So, I have to pick my favorite child and tell them it is their day to have a friend. The other one is stuck in no-mans land. This isn't the end of the world - but it would be nice to be able to put 4 kids in the car and go do an activity. It would be nice to be able to give a kid a lift home from practice. We are very close with the families in our neighborhood and we do all play on the same teams. They take my kids places, but I don't payback at the same rate because we can't grab 2 or 3 kids.
Another upside is number of roadtrips we do. We are a "jump in the car" kind of family. So, we will grab our bikes and head north, or south for the day or weekend. Our set-up works okay for that now - a little tight, but workable. But, we can't ski or do certain off roads that we want to do because Honda Accords don't have 4 wheel drive.
I see this as the ultimate time because if we buy it now, and drive it for 11 years, the kids will go off to college - and then we are done. I'm afraid if we push it off, we will just revisit it over and over and end up buying it anyway, but at a time when we won't get as much utility out of it. Plus, my parents always had a system. The bought a new(er) car every 5 years - so they had one less than 5 years old, and one more than 5 years old. I'm stuck thinking that right now our cars are 7 years old, and 12 years old - and one of them is a piece of crap.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 11:15:42 GMT -5
DAMN!!!!!! ![](http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/smileys/1.gif)
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wodehouse
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Post by wodehouse on Apr 14, 2011 11:17:47 GMT -5
thyme, renting special vehicles for special occasions makes a lot of sense, IMHO. I did that recently when we had a long weekend trip to a resort about 250 miles away.
I am also vacillating big time about spending around $40K (or more) on a car.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Apr 14, 2011 11:19:31 GMT -5
DAMN!!!!!! ![](http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/smileys/1.gif) Just imagine when you guys get an idea of just how many gallons it gets to the mile. ![](http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/smileys/1-1.gif)
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kimber45
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Post by kimber45 on Apr 14, 2011 11:23:13 GMT -5
What happened to your car that made it unreliable at only 60k miles?
We don't have a vehicle on our place newer than a 1997 or fewer than 75K. I would not be afraid to drive any of them, anywhere as they have been well maintained.
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Apr 14, 2011 11:24:22 GMT -5
It isn't unreliable at all. It is a great car. But even great cars start a little whistling and thumping at 60k. Honestly, we could last another 5 years in that car. A human condition seems to be that we refuse to spend $1000 to get that 'little whistling & thumping' fixed, we hate spending $1000 for new brakes & tires, and we won't spend $150 to get it 'detailed' - but we will spend $25,000 to replace it. But you left out the answer - is it a Nash? The Sequoia is great if you have a need for 'big' but the 'real' mileage is in the 15 mpg range - the minivans have at least as much interior room and get 22 mpg. The math for $4 gas, 20,000 mile is $5333 vs $3636. BTW, going from 22 to 30 mpg has a much smaller payback - $3636 vs $2667, ie, the quest for 50 mpg cars has a diminishing return.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Apr 14, 2011 11:33:30 GMT -5
Do you tow anything? I know you live in the land of sunshine and hot weather so snow isn't a reason. We live in cold climes and we do both tow things and drive in inclemant weather half the year. And the 15 mpg that Phil is talking about is actually pretty generous. Unless you are carpooling long distance without much extra weight, ie passangers or towing, lotsa luck getting that MPG. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 11:40:35 GMT -5
I don't know what is whistling. I replaced the weather stripping around the doors (hundreds!) but it still whistles.
The car is a Honda Accord. It has many years left on it.
I don't think minivans have 4 wheel drive. If I'm doing all of this - I will at least be able to go skiing without chains! Plus - minivans are so uncool. Sorry, I'm just not a swagger-wagon type of gal. I might consider it if I didn't "have" the money.
We put less than 10k miles on our cars, so I'm not terribly worried about gas prices. Yes, gas will cost more - heck maybe even twice as much - but that will likely be less than a grand per year.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Apr 14, 2011 11:41:51 GMT -5
We don't tow much - but we use do the hitch for the bike rack. We have a top rack for the car, but I prefer the hitch rack.
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wewillsee
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Post by wewillsee on Apr 14, 2011 11:53:55 GMT -5
I know your feeling. Back in 2007 when kid number three was on the way, it was time for something bigger. At the time we had just been one year into a lease on a 2006 Honda Accord and had an old Jeep Cherokee (not the Grand Cherokee - the smaller old school version). We were debating between buying a used big SUV such as a Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon Denali XL (The Ford Expedition EL wasn't available used yet) and a new minivan. The price range was in the low to mid 30s. The SUVs new were in the upper $40Ks to low $50KsAfter much discussion, and the fact that for years prior I swore I would never own or drive a minivan, we purchased a brand new 2007 Honda Odyssey with leather and DVD. We financed the whole thing, including the sales tax and the upside down amount on the lease for 5 years at 3.9% (about $39,000). Fast forward 4 years to now and it still is one of the best decisions we made. Yes, the payment has been approximately $716 per month and we still have 13 payments left but it has been well worth it. I think we should easiliy get another 6 to 8 years of use out of it. We just took it on a 3000 mile road trip back and forth to Mickey Mouse and it returned about 24 MPG. It is really nice having your own car when on a trip like that. We also got it detailed before the trip to get rid of the old kid food and dog smell that accumulates when you have a family. The vehicle has been fantastic reliability wise and I'm glad we bought new. Buying used would have only saved a few grand, been at a higher interest rate, and would have been several years old with at least 40,000 plus miles on it. Remember, trying to find a big SUV that was sold new in 2008 and 2009 is going to be tough because automakers weren't selling many than because gas prices were really high (just like now) and some of the automakers were either in or about to go bankrupt so there are very few on the market. I think you would get a much better deal now negotiating hard on a new one you really like.
I've always been into cars but my wife has not. I will warn you to make sure you get it loaded with the bells and whistles you want. The reality is we could have skipped the leather and the DVD and saved $50 or so per month but then we would be still paying a lot of money for something that didn't have what we wanted. Also, make sure you get a big enough one. The Sequioa, Tahoe, regular Yukon, Armada, etc. all have very little room behind the third row. Only the current minivans and the Suburban, Yukon XL, and Expedition EL have generous room behind the that third row which is very important.
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Post by Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ on Apr 14, 2011 11:59:25 GMT -5
The upside for buying is (as I mentioned) we would have enough room every day for the soccer carpool, etc.
You need a $61,000 auto to have enough room for a few kids?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 11:59:35 GMT -5
If you're not towing than the prudent thing to do is buy the mini van and rent a 4WD when you go skiing. $30k extra is a lot of money to spend to look cool...
Otherwise I'd be shopping for a used car via the REPO man...
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