Alternatively, there are individuals who live month to month and having tired of beaters and decide this looks affordable. While clearly a false economy, some individuals may have other motives, like status seeking.
This doesn't mean they are rock-headed. Like all of us, they could have a blind-spot where a decisions made may not be in our long term economic interests.
I think if you are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have disposable income, it may make more sense to buy a cheap new car with a warranty than a cheaper used car.
It’s much easier to get a car with a $350/month car note where you won’t have unexpected repair expenses than getting a $200/month car note on a car without a warranty and then have an unexpected expense.
Now we have a credit card with the car shop we used that has a six months/no interest program. I use that even if I do have the money. But if we had bad credit, we could get a car loan much easier than an unsecured credit card.
I am at a point in life now where I can afford an expensive car repair bill and it just stings a little bit. When I was first starting out decades ago working at night as a computer operator while I was in graduate school during the day, any unexpected expense meant a call to my parents. Many people don’t have that luxury.
Yea, except for the part where you’re paying 12,000 more over the course of a 7 year loan and the new car warranty ended at 4 years leaving you with a higher payment and you still can’t afford repairs.
It can be rationalized with emotions, but not financial sense.
If you don’t have access to cash or credit to take care of car repairs, the last thing you want is to be paying a car note on a car that you can’t afford to have fixed.
As far as four vs seven years. You’re hoping that you can figure something out in four years.
This doesn't mean they are rock-headed. Like all of us, they could have a blind-spot where a decisions made may not be in our long term economic interests.