Paying Cash for a car. You CAN do it!

Paying Cash for a car. You CAN do it!

Jill, Tawra and Mike – your guidance has helped us again!

My husband and I just bought a car and paid cash for it and let me tell you it was the most pleasant car buying experience I have ever had in my life. The people at the dealership were great, no pressure at all. I’d prefer not to say which one we got, but it puts one in a great bargaining position price wise and you don’t have to haggle back and forth and worry about a financial albatross around your neck for the next 8 to 10 years.

As you often point out, so many people say they can’t pay cash for a car and they have to use credit. I say you don’t have to get caught up in that mess. You pick out what you want and hand over the money and off you go. My grandparents always did this -They saved and bought their homes and cars (which were always nice ones) for cash.

 

Be frugal like your website says, save the money and pay cash! I have said this before and it’s the truth – It’s the best feeling in the world to walk out of the dealership knowing that you own it free and clear!

We commuted to work together for almost two years to save money on gas, and still do because we work in offices five minutes apart. We have no debt at all thanks to hard work and your great advice.

Kind regards,

Kathy E.
California

 

Jill’s Reply:

I always like hearing our readers’ testimonies because it helps to show we are not wackos when we make statements like. "You can pay cash for a car." The things we suggest are not impossible.

 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when it comes to buying a car:

Start saving now for a car even if yours is running fine. I don’t have a lot of different savings accounts but I do consider things like the fact that my car is getting nearer to the end of it’s useful life. I know it may not be long before I lose it so I am saving little by little now so I will be prepared if it dies.

If you have a child who is 13, it would be good for you and the child to start saving a little now for the car they will need to drive to work when they turn 16. We get so stressed about saving for big things like college education that we sometimes forget about the more practical things.

Don’t buy an expensive car that is more than you can afford. Most people go car shopping and just pick out the one they want, whether they can afford it or not.

It hasn’t even entered their minds that if they borrow $36,000 for a car, that means they will have car payments of about $360 a month. They could have saved that same amount for five months and bought a car for $2000 for cash.

Stop justifying why it is okay to buy an expensive new car. I have known one woman for many years who loves fancy new cars. Every time she starts thinking about getting a new one she starts listing all the reasons she should get new one rather than a used one, all of which aren’t true.

She likes to say things like, "They get better gas mileage." My 20 year old car gets better gas mileage than most of the new cars my friends own, except my dad’s new Prius. We just sold our VW Bug which was 50 years old and got as good, if not better, mileage than the Prius.

Often, people like to say that a new car won’t break down as much as a used car. That’s just not true and even with major breakdowns like Tawra and Mike had with one car, they still came out thousands of dollars ahead buying a used car. When you buy a used car, try to buy the car with the least miles on it and, if possible, have a mechanic check it out before you buy. Even if you pay the mechanic to look it over, you’ll still be way ahead!

Some people look over a new shirt when buying it more carefully than they do when buying a car. Then they wonder why the car has so many problems. That doesn’t mean you still can’t have something go wrong but you can reduce the likelihood of experiencing lots of major problems. Use common sense!

Take your emotions and your wants out of the picture and buy only what you can afford. If you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it!

 

Photo by: jason_burmeister