Hindsight is always 20/20

[Nebraska_SHO]

It all started with a 92 SHO that I planned on supercharging. After seeing some of Toolmans videos on Shoforum I couldnt resist, but I did, and I sold it for 2600 because I found a 00 Buick Regal GSE(10,200 in 2007), I also bought a 92 GMC Jimmy for 800 for a DD.

The Jimmy spun a rod, and I needed a new 4x4, I picked up a 01 Ram that I paid way to much for(13,500 in 2008). I came accross a 04 GTO and traded the Regal in on it, 24k for the GTO. I owed 9000 on the Regal and they gave me 7500. Financed 26.5k

Literally two months later I found a 1997 Cobra for 9800, I sold the GTO for 21,000 and carried the remaining 5000ish over to the Cobra. You could say I paid 14k for a 11 year old car but that would just piss me off.I kept the Ram and the Cobra until July of 2010.....

I then found a 06 Trailblazer SS that I had to have. I traded the Cobra and the Ram in on it. They gave me 12k for both of them, which was a wash because that is basically what I owed on them as well, so I financed the Blazer for 34k (sticker was 23k) To date I owe 21k on the Blazer....I am almost right side up again, I know this because I was offered $19,800 to trade it in on a 2006 F-250....I held off and said NO!

This blows, my damn parents were right. They always said wait and pay with cash or borrow very little.....I am seeing clearly now!

Oh well, I cant be the only one that has gotten themselves upside down on a car.

 

[FX4 SAPPER]

You are an impulse buyer. I suggest you never get a credit card, a house or a job that requires you to have good finances.

 

[Nebraska_SHO]

I honestly only have this problem with cars, swear to it. Credit cards are limited to 1500, my choice. I have always been able to make the payments, so I dont see why my finances would have anything to do with it? It just sucks that I owe more than what it is worth.

 

[FX4 SAPPER]

That does suck. But lesson learned. Cash is king. The stones made a song about "getting what you want"

 

[SHOdown220]

I've been there, I always get bored of cars and trade them in and so on, rolling over negative equity and all that good stuff. Hell I even traded my first tiburon I bought new on a used one of the same year just because it was a base and I wanted the top of the line one. I realized it was time to change how my finances were in my life.. I have always wanted a mustang so I did one last trade last week and picked up my first mustang, played it smart and paid all negative equity in cash so nothing rolled over. To keep things interesting I started buying cheaper cars with cash and driving them until I got bored and sell them for something else. I have also flipped some cars that needed things fixed and you can make some money there. As of now I just rock the mustang and my 40 mpg beater civic but keep your head up and think smart as I've started to do recently, rolling over negative equity and trading cars all the time will get you nowhere and cost you a lot of money. Not to mention eventually you will get tired of always having a car payment!

Edit: I forgot to mention my 94 SHO is where it all began for me too! Lol nice to run into a fellow SHO lover over here on this forum too

 

[black 10th vert]

Honestly the only thing that puts you upside down on car loans is buying with little to no down payment, and then trading it in again within a couple of years. This is because you literally pay nothing on the actual principal, the car depreciates, and then the dealers always hose you on a trade. We just went through this on my wife's car. We have to trade in about every 2 years because she drives so much. We traded in a '09 CRV EX-L that we had bought new for around $31k. Problem is that even though the car was only 2 years old, and in mint condition, she had racked up 93k miles on it! The offers we got from various dealers ranged from $14K-$16K. Talk about losing money! As it was, we still owed about $13,800 on it, so we basically gave them a perfect vehicle for nothing, and threw away about $16k so I feel your pain!

 

[Never_Enough]

This blows, my damn parents were right. They always said wait and pay with cash or borrow very little.....I am seeing clearly now!

The problem with you is not waiting to pay cash or borrowing less, it is using god damn common sense.

I've had A LOT of cars so far & have NEVER rolled negative equity into the next loan.

Most of the cars I bought as toys were sold at a profit for me. the rest I at least broke even. Some daily drivers were sold at a "loss" but I had the liquid assets to cover it & I always made sure it was not a large amount.

 

[Never_Enough]

Honestly the only thing that puts you upside down on car loans is buying with little to no down payment, and then trading it in again within a couple of years. This is because you literally pay nothing on the actual principal, the car depreciates, and then the dealers always hose you on a trade. We just went through this on my wife's car. We have to trade in about every 2 years because she drives so much. We traded in a '09 CRV EX-L that we had bought new for around $31k. Problem is that even though the car was only 2 years old, and in mint condition, she had racked up 93k miles on it! The offers we got from various dealers ranged from $14K-$16K. Talk about losing money! As it was, we still owed about $13,800 on it, so we basically gave them a perfect vehicle for nothing, and threw away about $16k so I feel your pain!

Why not just have your wife buy something cheaper & keep it long term then? :shrug:

 

[thomas91169]

you wont get anywhere rolling over negative equity, especially onto vehicles you overpay for.

sell it all off that you owe on, buy a beater for a while, and build up a good chunk of down money, like $5k. then slam that down on something that way youre ahead of the depreciation scale, so when you do decide to offload it a year or so down the line, youll still be $5k ahead if not making more when you sell it off.

 

[PureStang]

I bought my 03 mustang gt on october 5th, 2005 paid in full. My 2012 will be the same when i am in the market for one next year. Best thing to do.

 

[Nebraska_SHO]

Yeah I plan to (the wife plans to:burn pay off the Blazer when I get my profit sharing bonus in March. Then in July when my manager bonus comes, I will be buying a 03-04 Cobra/GT-500 cash. Or is that stupid, the wife is all for it if it will make me happy.

 

[Snake Pliskin]

I try to stay ahead of the debt curve on my vehicles. I am seriously considering letting my Cobra go though. Im not confident that the market is right yet though.

 

[CobraBob]

Reading your OP, it sounds like you now see the light and hopefully won't get caught upside down again. If you can pay off your Blazer in March (and at the end of the winter season) that would be a good thing. Then 4 months later you apparently can buy a Terminator or used GT-500 for cash. If you can do that without increasing your debt in other housing related areas that is also great. At least you'll have 4 months to shop around for the best deal. I wish you the best.

 

[Satyr]

I've had a lien against a few cars I have had and don't regret that. I could have paid for them, but why do it when local financiers were offering 3-5% APR for 5 year loans? I would rather have the cash now than have a product. That being said, I have ALWAYS put at least 30% down at time of purchase, which alleviates the possibility of being upside down. I also wouldn't pay 11k over sticker for a car (WTF did you do that for on the TBSS?).

 

[Ryan]

This is exactly what is wrong with our society. Instant gratification, I too am guilty of instant gratification, but haven't put myself in that kind of financial bind.

 

[Fuerza]

Honestly the only thing that puts you upside down on car loans is buying with little to no down payment, and then trading it in again within a couple of years. This is because you literally pay nothing on the actual principal, the car depreciates, and then the dealers always hose you on a trade. We just went through this on my wife's car. We have to trade in about every 2 years because she drives so much. We traded in a '09 CRV EX-L that we had bought new for around $31k. Problem is that even though the car was only 2 years old, and in mint condition, she had racked up 93k miles on it! The offers we got from various dealers ranged from $14K-$16K. Talk about losing money! As it was, we still owed about $13,800 on it, so we basically gave them a perfect vehicle for nothing, and threw away about $16k so I feel your pain!

I disagree, putting cash into a depreciating asset is a bigger waste. I honestly think you should not finance a car for more than 3 years. If you do finance it longer than that you should sell it outright so that you aren't upside down on a trade in. Buying brand new cars is also a big money loss. Plus with the amount of miles your wife drove, you put that new car into the ground quick! 100k miles is about the shelf life on cars these days, If I'm looking at used cars I personally wont look at one beyond 60k miles.

 

[canibus]

life throws you oranges but expects lemonade in return, you're bound to **** it up until you get it right. No big, sometimes it takes screwing up to learn valuable lessons.