Quote:I always assumed paying interest on a loan was better than paying cash. Guess I need to start paying with cash.

 

Sarcasm aside, I do agree with the credit union thought. Got a 2% loan on current car. Hard to beat that.

 

The idea is planning and saving.  Think you might want to buy a large ticket item such as a vehicle, home, etc.?  The best thing to do is save up money for it.  If you don't quite have enough to cover the purchase, at least have enough to cover the depreciation of it (in this case of a vehicle).  Then if you do need to finance the balance, a credit union will typically offer better rates and/or payment options.

 

One thing that I did that floored a dealership one time.  They offered a discount on a vehicle ONLY if you used their financing.  Let's just say that the vehicle cost after the discount was $35,000.00.  I wrote them a check for $28,000.00 as a down payment and told them that I wanted to finance the remaining $12,000.00.  Of course, I paid the "loan" off when the first payment came due.  The figures are just an example and not the actual figures that we dealt with.

 

One other thing that I advise against.  NEVER pay for credit life and/or gap insurance on a vehicle and NEVER pay for the "special coating" or extended warranties that they offer.

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