For those of you in that boat, just get a 0% interest loan. That way you don't lose money to inflation while you save--the bank loses it while you pay.

Also, I love using credit. I have made $120 in the last 8 months or so just buying gas/groceries on my credit-card. It's a crappy reward setup, but meh. It's still $120 for free.

That too. Invest that money while the bank carries the balance on your car. It's like you having 200% the money you really do.

Financed every penny at only a moderately good rate. Put 7000 miles on in two years. Could've paid off half my student loans in that time with that money. Guess what? I couldn't care less, I work for a living and my wife and are are D.I.N.K's with no one to be responsible for but ourselves. I could get hit by a car tomorrow, I do what makes me happy. When I get 35k to throw down on a car, the car is gonna cost 3x's that.

Financing a car will not protect you from inflation. Inflation is not limited to the value of a single item; inflation occurs when the value of the dollar goes down as a result of too many dollars in circulation (like when the Fed prints money to pay off its debts or "stimulate" the economy). This affects the cost of everything...not just a car...because it takes more of those dollars to buy the same item.

A car is a depreciating asset. Its value will always go down. It will not yield a profitable return regardless of its status being paid-in-full or financed. You will always lose money on it.

If you don't want to tie your money up in an asset like this, or if you just want it now, the more sensible option would be to lease the car. You only pay for the current value of the asset plus interest over the course of the contract. You simply pay for what you use and move on. Leases are more appealing to some because the rates are considerably lower than the traditional auto-loan.

I chose to pay in full because I actually wanted to own this car and I did not want two other things to happen: 1) money thrown away on interest which literally saves me $4,500 over the course of 60 months (nobody was offering 0% financing on Z's at the time and I doubt they are today), and 2) a car payment lingering over my head every month.

well i am 21 financed my nismo cause i need to build a credit history! :) lol

I'm 22 and I took out my own Z the total
Came out to be 34k - 7K down the rest is finance and I pay gay monthly and also go to school and work, if I didn't go to school I would of payed the car off already

^in the same boat buddy :)

Nope, your financed amount of $35K will never go up. You will just pay it off with worthless money at the same rate as before. Complete protection from inflation on that purchase, and the bank eats it.

I don't mind a car payment lingering, it's just pulled out of my check every 2 weeks. It's like making $1K less per month and I don't mind. It's a good trade for me. I never see it as it's all automated, and don't miss it. I bought my car for me to enjoy, not to sell again, although resale value is always in mind, as EVERYTHING is a liquid asset after it's paid off. Who knows? I might want a C7Z when they come out. Keeping this one in good condition with low miles for the year matters in that regard.

my Z ended up being just under 40k after tax and everything. had put 19k down, and was making payments, after a year just decided to pay it off in pull. age:24.

It does not protect you from inflation. The bank "eating" it does not make much sense at all because it begs the question "why are they even in the business of loaning money?" if all they do is take losses. If you mean the principle of which you financed is locked-in and will never go up, that is true only on a 0% interest loan. Good luck finding one of them for a Z!

If you can finance even at 1-2% on principal on a 370Z (lots of CU's will do 1.9 from what I hear), then you will still save money at the current inflation rate. Auto loans are fixed, interest on principal.

in canada they want 4.9% and when you pay cash they will give you a good discount! better to pay if all off if you can. if they said 0% over 4 or 5 years i would of done it.

By next month I will officially own my Z, :hello:

Must be nice for all of you that have your cars paid off! I'm not hating OK.

I think if mine would be paid off I get the urge to get something else like a GTR.

But I have a comfortable payment and it should be paid in the next few years, so I feel fine with mine. ;)

just be happy you have one...lots of people cant even get into a car of this class! some of us payed it off and some make payments...it all about what your first priority is and how you look at it.

You took the words right out of my mouth Papo! My story is the same! I'm not hating either but maybe just a little envious. However, I wonder how many of those who have paid off their Zs use them as their only car. Not wanting to put junk miles on my Z driving 2 hours each day to and from work, not to mention living in the northeast, I have an '03 Toyota Matrix for my daily drive and I do own that car. Maybe I don't own my Z (yet), but it's an 07 with only 13,000 miles on it and in mint condition. So there is another side to "REALLY owning your Z." :tiphat:

Perfectly said Jazz, perfectly said! :tiphat:

Got it in July 2010 and paid it off yesterday. No, it's not my DD yet (1900 miles) but I'll be retired soon and then it will be my everyday car.

my daily driver is an 2002 tt 225...was my good car for years

LOL. The rest of the balance on my Z which I financed after the down payment went to tile, glue down wood flooring, and nice carpeting // installed.

Not too many flooring/contracting places that'll give you 2.99% financing over 5 years. :p

When i do pay it off, I'll be dropping a TT into it, and then (wife permitting), handing it over to the son when he's old enough to drive (and wins my trust). It's GT-R time (or comparable) then. :eekdance:

On an auto loan of $35,000.00, with an interest rate of 2.5% for 60 months, your monthly payment is $621.16. At the end of your term, you will have paid $35,000.00 in principal and $2,269.46 in interest for a total payment of $37,269.46.

A 2.5% CD with $35,000 in it will become $39.655.04 after 5yrs.

That's at the same exact rate, because the interest you pay on a loan is based on what you owe at the time, where your interest in investement compounds on itself. Compounding interest is your friend.

Personally, even taking that $35k and putting it towards my mortgage would be better for me (and probably almost everyone else as well). My mortgage is 30yr fixed at 3.75%...which is pretty damn low for a house that's not an ARM, but still higher than my car.

But over five years you had to spend $621.16 a month to make $2385.58, or about $40/month.

I'd rather have the $621.16 a month.

If you put the $35000 in a savings account at 2.5% (where can I get one?) and withdrew the $621.16 a month to pay the loan, I don't think you'd be making as much - would you even be ahead?

Added:
While I haven't use the 12C in a while (or ever, I was a TVM on the 41CX person), it looks to me like you'd have made 0.15 in your savings account at the end of five years.

If I save the $621.16 over the next five years, I end up with the same net worth, but with the flexibility of spending on something else some month's if necessary (tires?). Along the way, I bet my net worth is simlar as well.

I feel the flames coming already!

My heart exists in my right foot. 0 down, rolled in 10k of my audi... $800 a month payment. 30k base price +10k from my audi, 40k loan... Purchased the car at 29 years old. Good thing I'm an aerospace engineer, i pay around $2000 per payment per month. I always have cash for a down, but i was more interested in getting mods going :roflpuke2:

:eek:

Bought it sooner than I expected so didn't have all the funds available in checking. I do plan to pay it off in the first 3 months though. Financed 18k, going to do 6k each payment to get it don't and not waste money on interest.

borrow 29k with 3.25 for 5 year in march, interestingly I have 800+ credit score with 7 years of credit history(25 years old), could not get any loan from the big bank due to not enough credit history, got a loan from credit union. plan to pay it off in 3 year.

Financed mine at 3.9%. Put something like $10k down. My S2000 is paid off and have been thinking to sell it for the extra cash. Personally, with this economy (and a mortgage) I would rather have the safety net. I have the $ in the bank to pay off the z now easily but it takes a while to build up a savings. I would probably blow that extra cash each month on alcohol and loose women anyway :tup:

I decided instead of tying up more money in the car I would put half ($18K) down and financed the other half at 0.9% the dealer was offering. Payments are under $300/mo and I can earn more than 1% on the cash I have. Sometimes it doesn't pay to pay cash.

Final purchase price was 32K. I put 15K down and financed the rest at 3.75% for 48 months with my credit union. I will be paying off the loan in hopefully no more than two years and most likely less than that. I calculated it and it will cost me about 1.5K or a little more extra by financing in this time, but it's worth it for me to buy the car and enjoy now while I'm young (23) and without kids.

I am right out of college and I've only been working about a year. I don't have any debt and no student loans. My only credit really has been my credit card with a 1K limit, so while my credit score is very good, I really don't have any breadth or credit history to speak of. I decided it would be good to have this payment on my credit history for when I'm interested in houses. All in all I'm happy with the way things went down.

I put nothing down and I pay 620 a month. I have the money but who knows what happens with this economy. If I see all going well I'll just pay the car off considering the payments are no problem for me and they are taken out auto every bi weekly (it's a payment option they take half the car payment every 2 weeks. Save some money and pays car off almost 6 months faster)

I paid cash. No payments for me.

almost literally same story here.

Same for me, don't owe a cent. It was my retirement gift to myself, dang wife wouldn't buy it for me geeez. :happydance:

FTFY :icon18:

That's absolutely ridiculous that you guys can't get a loan with several years history and a great 800+ credit score. Unbelievable.

After the market crash getting a loan was very difficult from big banks. Credit unions were the best bet for a quick low interest loan, but you must be a member and some require you be a member for X months before any loan can be filed.

Did you give her the standard three options and let HER choose?

1. A sports car
2. A motorcycle
3. A mistress

:D

I might be the only one who fully financed my car, came out to 36k plus dealer taxes and fees, put around 500 down (only because I had too, dealer said) and the rest is financed for 72 months, @ 2.99 which was the lowest rate they could find any bank offering. Guess ill really "own" my Z when im around 27 :icon17:

I put $1,500 down, and got ~15% APR on a ~$33,000 loan, so the total loan amount would've been close to $50,000. Thankfully, CarMax gives you that 3 day shopping window and I was able to get 6% for 60 months :D

I'm 25 put $12k down, financed around $24k @ 3.7%. However i pay 500-700$ month to pay it off early :P

I'm 40 and have no payments on my Z.