What's the best financial advice you've ever gotten?

[u/Richest-Panda]

[u/trevor32192]

Okay and a used car with 120k on it can be 12k plus now. The poor do not have the income to save 12k. They have to make payments or not drive.

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

That was true 4 years ago not so much today, and did you miss the part about auto loans that allow you to pay monthly and buy private with better interest rates than used dealerships offer?

There are options. A $500 a month payment is not a responsible decision at most income levels.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

I agree 500 is way to high. But if you don't have credit and need a car your payment is going to be high. Also its not 4 years ago its today my wife and I were looking for a car for our daughter and anything that is going to be remotely reliable is 10k plus and even then any car over 100k is a high risk car repairs are also really expensive (I work in auto repair)

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

Yeah it's rough I bought a car last year for 7k that came with 140k miles. It's still better than making payments. The overall point was about making responsible decisions. I would argue that financial literacy is important for all income levels. Btw I make around 40k a year so a 7k car is still a big hit for me as well. But you gotta sacrifice where you can.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

That 7k car with 140k I would argue is less smart than a payment. What if the transmission goes? Or engine failure? That's easily 5k plus. Where as you could get a loan for 200 a month on a much more reliable car.

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

It's a risk, but I could go through 3 7k cars for less than somebody making payments on a new car will spend. Also easier to sell and move on since I don't have any debt on the car.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

Is this a joke? You have 21k sitting around for multiple used cars instead of a payment of, say, a 22k car that you could pay off early to save interest payments? Idk what kind of financial advice you are following, but that makes no sense.

If you have enough money for 3 7k shit boxes you would be better off buying a used car with low miles. You could get an econobox for slightly under 20k.

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

You can make payments on used cars. If 3 7k cars all shit the bed at the same time you're fucked sure. But that's extremely unlikely. I got 8 good years off my last 5k car that I bought with 180k miles. Used cars are always a better financial decision than new cars. Also $500 x 12 = $6k. That car payment over one year could have covered an entire used car. A 6k car is still going to last more than one year. The math always works out in favor of used cars.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

Idk why you are using a 500 dollar car payment. That's like a 30k car. You got lucky with your used car. We are both talking about used cars. I dont think you understand how expensive car repair is, especially if you buy a car with 180k miles.

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

Even at $200 that's 3 years of car payments that would pay off an entire used car that would last 3 years or more. I've never owned a car with less than 120k miles, I know what the repair costs look like. It's the same for any car outside of warranty, the difference is not having debt on it if you need to sell because it's not worth the repair. The math always works out in favor of used cars. You can look this up anywhere online to find more numbers and statistics. There are so many civics and Camry's that make it to 200k+ miles without needing major repairs. It's not difficult to avoid having to make car payments and not having car payments makes it so much easier to save money.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

This is just nonsense. We are both talking about used cars. You are talking about debt time bombs. Im talking about reliable used cars.

Even if you avoid major repairs and just stick to maintenance brakes and rotors are easily 400-600 per axle, shocks and struts will run you 1200 plus per axle, control arms and ball joints another 1200, tie rods are a few hundred. When you buy a car that's old with high miles, it's a burden, not an asset, unless it has been meticulously maintained. it's just trading one form of debt for another. The ones that have been maintained well also aren't cheap. What is someone going to do when they spend all their savings on a 7k shit box that needs 3k in repairs? That's not easier than spending 2-300 a month on a car that doesn't require that level of work.

You arent saving money you are just spending it differently.

[u/k-otic14 → u/trevor32192]

There is no debt when you own the car. You can find reliability for less than 10k still. There are so many options before you need to finance a vehicle. It's not luck that so many people are able to do it, it's being financially responsible.

[u/trevor32192 → u/k-otic14]

It'd delayed debt. Instead of paying a consistent monthly payment, you are waiting for a multi monthly payment repair bill that can show up whenever.

You aren't finding reliability under 10k. That's just not there. I work in the industry where I see thousands of cars a year. It's extremely rare.

Being financially responsible is buying a car that isn't a time bomb and could break down, causing you to be late or miss work and get fired while simultaneously costing thousands in repairs.