I bought a new car today!

Congratulations. Negotiate hard. Pay cash. It just makes sense. No payment looming each month. That’s what I did when I bought my 2018 VW Beetle convertible. Love it. Hoping they start making them again before I need another.

[quote]So, mock me or advise me against paying with cash and tell me about your car purchases.

I would never mock someone for paying cash. If you can, knock yourself out. Paying interest when you don't have to (or there is some complicated tax reason beyond most mere mortals) is stupid.

I have two friends I've talked to who are very happy with their cars, but did not realize the long term ownership costs of an electric/hybrid.

The batteries are $10K minimum to replace. Now, does that $10K equal what a ECE car would cost? I have no idea.

Congrats, OP!

I haven't bought a new vehicle since 2007 (a Harley ElectraGlide -- I put almost 95K miles on it before I wrecked it); new vehicles aren't worth what you paid for them five minutes off the lot, and I really don't have that kind of money anyway.

But I will rejoice with you when you receive it.

I was just looking at the Prius Prime online after seeing it IRL the other day. It’s gorgeous, OP - please let us know how it drives (my son drives my 2011 Prius). Congratulations!

I took a shit today.

I bought my first panettone of the season today!

This reminds me of the cordless electric lawnmower I saw at Harbor Freight. I was excited that it was only $149, but then I found out the battery cost $300.

I fell down last winter…

I thought I wanted the new Prius but when I sat in one, I learned how much lower it is to the ground than my 2007 Prius. Little difficult getting in and out for this elder.

Now I wish there was a Corolla PHEV. ALAS ….

^^ And when I asked the salesperson if I could order a new Prius Prime to get the exact car I would want, I was told not really, Toyota's ordering system does not allow it. I would have to put down a $1000 NON-REFUNDABLE (!!) deposit and be prepared to wait up to a year for a car with my specs to be made and scheduled for shipment to the USA. It would then be flagged to be sent to the Toyota distributorship serving my local dealership.

Too much hassle!

Paying cash is nice to get it all out of the way. I suppose the only reason to not pay cash for me would be if I could make more money from the capital than what I would be paying in interest.

The new rules redesigned Prius is gorgeous

My personal belief is that you should never take on any debt if you have the ability to avoid it.

I see what you were saying R11 but markets are dynamic, and a debt will remain in case business conditions worsen. I say pay cash and be done with any worry.

[quote]So, mock me or advise me against paying with cash and tell me about your car purchases.

Sure. Humblebragger.

My 2015 Honda Fit has 80,000 miles. Most of my driving is less than 5 miles and there's nothing currently wrong with the vehicle so I'm stuck with it until it starts to cost too much to maintain. A hybrid would be ideal though.

Just looked up the Prius Prime. Didn’t know it was significantly different. Gorgeous! Which color did you get OP?

Congrats, buying a new car is so exciting for me, especially one that's paid for when you drive it out of the dealer 👍

The Prius is supposed to be one the longest-lasting cars on the road, and can easily go 250,000 miles or more.

I decided I would take on a small amount of debt when I purchased a '23 Honda Accord hybrid back in August. I haven't had a loan in years, figured it would be good to demonstrate to rating agencies that I can handle monthly payments.

The salesperson and sales manager... I don't think they were pleased with the amount I was depositing. Things got chilly when they realized that a) my loan was for just 3 years and b) that I'd be paying back around $250 per month. I do plan on ending the loan early.

But c'est la vie - I finally got the car and am really pleased with it. I love it's exterior and am very comfortable in it. Like many new cars it hoots and whistles at me a lot, but that's what a safety feature package gets you.

[quote]The batteries are $10K minimum to replace.

That's such lame Republican pro Big Oil Company speak. First of all, it's very rare that the batteries fail, never met a person that actually happened to. Secondly, the Prius battery is under warranty for 10 years!

[quote]when I asked the salesperson if I could order a new Prius Prime to get the exact car I would want, I was told not really

Yes, because you live in a bubble. What you are talking about is AMERICAN cars with a hundred different options like an order at Burger King...Have it Your Way. Most foreign car companies don't do that. If you are lucky they might have 3 different variants of a car. A base model, a luxury and sport version. That's it. You cant mix and match, that's how the world works outside the US.

^ Calm down, angry foreigner, it works that way pretty much in the US these days. You CAN special order a car, but it's strongly discouraged, you'll wait a long time and you'll pay top dollar for it. Most cars come pretty well equipped these days so there is little to special order

I have owned maybe a dozen cars in my lifetime, mostly brand new. I tried leasing, purchasing with a loan an straight cash. They all have different advantages.

-Leasing is the best financial deal if you have your own business and can write it off as an expense. Or if you want a really nice car for very low monthly. The catch is you never own the car. You can buy it at the end of the lease but you have no equity in it. Although the price is a lot lower since it's considered a used car.

-If you plan to keep it for a while, 3-5 years, purchase to own is a better deal. Most cars can last longer than that so you have a number of years payment free.

-paying cash if you can afford it is smarter since you don't spend years paying thousands of dollars in interest. The only catch there is the second you take it off the lot, you lost thousands of dollars in deprecation. So if you hated it, and tried to sell it a month later, you would be shit out of luck getting anything close to your money back.

Congratulations OP. I have had two Prius in the past, both worked great no problems. One was a hybrid, and the other is a Plug-In hybrid. There is a difference.

For those that don't know a hybrid uses both gas and electrify to power the engine. As you drive, the battery gets charged up but if you need extra power like going 80mpr on the freeway, the gas engine kicks in. The PLUG-IN version does all of that but has a second large battery. That second battery is so you can use the car exclusively as an electric vehicle. Like a Tesla you could live off just using charging stations or how power outlets.

To be honest, I rarely use the plug in charge feature. It's just so easy to fill the tank up once a month and let it charge itself as I drive. Plus, I live in an older high-rise so the garage has no charging or outlets near by.

I ordered my Audi in February 2000 and it took 3 months to build and ship to the USA.

I ordered my Toyota Cressida in early September of '82 and it came in the day before Thanksgiving. (However this one was already in transit and was diverted to my dealership.)

Both times to my exact specs.

I love new cars. One of my clients has a 10 year old Porsche her husband bought her before the divorce. Last time I checked it was worth about 70,000. I keep telling her to buy a new car, something more mid-tier maybe more luxury than sport but she's totally against that ideal. She's 60 years old, a sports car like that is not comfortable for someone that age. You sit really low to the ground, difficult to get out of. I laugh because every time she takes it into the dealer for a tuneup it's $10,000 by the time they do everything. But nope, she wont let go of that car no matter how much of a money pit it is.

I had a brandnew gold Cadillac delivered to the empty house we were squatting in. I swept out in my caftan and cubic zirconia- hair styled high by my Colombian house slave- and told them payment would be slightly delayed but I was good for it.

Then we left for Mexico in the middle of the night.

^ Probably pisses her ex-husband off that she has that Porsche which gives her life 😉

I have 2010 Acura with 100,000 miles and don’t intend to replace it anytime soon as it still drives well. Sometimes I feel like I’m supposed to get a new one, because people think it’s weird to drive a car that over 5 years old, but I only drive around town, don’t want the debt and I’m not trying to impress anyone. I figure the $400-500 a month I save is enough to save and take a good vacation every year.

Good Point R27. I never thought of that. Well they are a War of the Roses kind of couple. That divorce has been going on for years. More than 5, maybe closer to 10.

R28, there is nothing wrong with keep a a car 10 years if nothings wrong with it. Never buy a car for other people. That said, the money you are saving should be banked for a new car, not vacations. That car IS GOING TO DIE SOME DAY.

R12- Who cares about the styling.

Consumer Reports gives the redesigned Prius a much lower road test score than the 2016- 2022 Prius.

R30- I had my car for 14 years.

It was a 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit 🐰.

You know, OP, I actually did pay cash for my new-to-me Nissan truck last fall. It had 70K miles on it and I paid $14K.

I don't believe in debt at my age. I always tell people, "I don't have much, but everything I have, I own."

A Rabbit? that's such a cliche gay car. Was it white? Let me guess, do you have blond highlights too?

[quote]I always tell people, "I don't have much, but everything I have, I own."

I am sure that makes you feel better in that comfort zone, but is that really good idea? My financial advisor tells me the smartest thing to do is not pay everything off. His richest clients who make millions of dollars still take out loans on their houses and cars because the money they would have spent paying for them cash makes more money in the stock market.

^^ ALL wealth management peeps say that, r35! Less money in your account means less money for them.

^ This ^ The older you are the less debt you want and I don't care what any money guy says

Yeah, r36 but there is a lot of truth to it. My friend was not telling me that for his own gratification, he knows I dont have any money like that. He's also told me about how some people have 3 million sitting in the bank and live in the worst crime neighborhood with bars on the windows in a small 2 bedroom house. Then they just up and die never spending the money and it goes to some distant relative. But hey, their house was paid for.

R34- A Subaru is a LESBIAN cliche. I've never heard of a Volkswagen Rabbit being a GAY cliche.

I drive a Toyota Camry- what type of cliche is that car?

Actually R37, there are certain tax benefits to not having your house paid of when you are older. I know, it feels good to say everything is paid off but in reality it might not be the best financial decision depending on where you are financially.

R39, has never been to WeHo in the 90's. Tons of gay men in the Rabbits. Usually the queeny shop bottoms. The butch guys drove Jeeps.

"I drive a Toyota Camry- what type of cliche is that car? "

😴💤

This is my car-

JEALOUS BITCHES ?

I bought an unlimited Metrocard giving me access to over 5,000 square miles of hot mens from every country in the world. I'm having Greek for lunch and Colombian for dinner.

^ Except none of them have jobs and will probably roll you after dinner... Hide the good silver

Boy, some of you folks are really used to having $$! I live on $2000/month (and that includes a small pension) and have a little over 10K in the bank. And I am very glad to own everything I have (not much, believe me) outright.

And you think I should take out loans so I can put $ in investments? Hahahahahaha.

Come by my place and see how the other half lives.

One of my former friends who turned out to be a Trumpeter drove a Prius until one of his friends told him it was a Lesbian car. He sold it a month later. 😂

I bought my first new car with a loan, but it was 0% interest. I paid cash for the subsequent four. (I bought a new Toyota this summer, after I racked up 170,000 on my old one.) Not making payments is tremendously liberating.

What sort of situation, r40? I'm curious. I cannot think of one where debt is better than no debt.

[quote] I live on $2000/month (and that includes a small pension) and have a little over 10K in the bank...And you think I should take out loans so I can put $ in investments?

No it's too late for you Gramps. If you are retired, no one is going to give you a loan. You might die before it's paid off.

R48- Was it a Toyota Camry ?

[quote]What sort of situation, [R40]? I'm curious. I cannot think of one where debt is better than no debt.

Well, I am not a financial guy, but off the top of my head, if your house was worth say 500,000 and it's all paid off, you are open to losing all of it if for example you got sued or had a medical emergency that insurance didnt cover. If that same 500,000 was instead in some kind of trust, with conservative investments, even if you were forced to sell that house, you would still have all that money safe from creditors and lawsuits.

R50, if you're as smart as you think you are, why didn't you know I'm a lesbian?

Gramps indeed.

Thank god I've never had a car payment. My dad bought my cars for me and when he died, I used part of my inheritance to buy a new one. I can't imagine people having to fork over 500+ a month for that shit. I agree, if you have the cash to buy something, do it!

I've been using the same old jalopy for years.

R55- The Beverly Hillbillies- Swimming Pools and HOMOSEXUALS

r41, I seem to recall it was the topless Mazda Miata that was the car for WeHo gays.

Hunh? R52

Would you be indebted to your trust? Is this what you’re saying?

@r39, "I drive a Toyota Camry- what type of cliche is that car? "

Toyota said it best... 🙄

[quote]The batteries are $10K minimum to replace.

No, when mine failed (after 18 years and 250,000 miles) the dealer quoted me $3800 installed for a brand new battery. I went with used for $500 installed. It's a cottage industry reconditioning batteries salvaging them from accident vehicles (deer strikes are apparently a huge source of nice used Prius batteries).

I've never owned a car this long, but I see no reason to trade, especially since I got lifetime free satellite radio when I bought it. About 5 years ago I did buy a new interior and set of seats from a wreck, and it was like getting a brand new car.

^ You sound like a smart shopper 👍

r60, that is good to know, my Prius is from 2007, although my mileage is pretty low (135,000).

I'm considering maybe buying a new Subaru Forrester Premium

What does the datalounge thing about that?

and NO - I'm not a Lesbian

Paying cash or the dumb way?

@r63, Doesn't matter, everyone will think you're a lesbian

R64- If I do buy a car or that car- I'm leaning HEAVILY on buying the Subaru Forester - Consumer Reports gives it a high road test score and I've sat in it- it has a lot of front leg room ( I'm 6ft2in) and drove it as a loaner car once when my Crosstrek was in for a repair.

Oh- I forgot to answer your question- I will be paying for the car in full- no car loan.

R63 / R66, sounds like you want to buy the Forrester, so go ahead and buy it. Who cares if a few posters on Datalounge think it's a "lesbian car." I would take the opinions of DLers with a huge grain of salt.

R67- Thank you.

I guess I've been a Lesbian since December 31, 2018 because that is when I took delivery of my Subaru Crosstrek

I ordered a car once – a Volvo S60R. They tried to talk me into flying to Sweden to pick it up in person and drive around for a month, then they would pay for shipping to the US. I passed on that option. It took about three months for the car to arrive at the dealership. By then there were huge incentives on that model but I was shit out of luck. I paid full MSRP. Never again. BTW, the car was junk, but I kept it for ten years.

My current car is nine years old and just turned 110K miles. Except for my first car in college, I keep mine for an average of ten years. I expect to keep the one I have now for much longer than that. I still enjoy driving it and looking at it when I'm approaching it in the parking lot at work. It's been in a couple minor accidents, but is free from damage. The only thing I worry about is missing out on new technological advances, but it has Bluetooth, satellite radio, lane change assistance, automatic braking, anti-skid, a zillion airbags, a good air filtration system. The emergency assistance feature went bye-bye last year, since it was on 3G instead of 4G, which was common at the time. I never used it anyway.

I'm 6'6" and about 300 lbs. My options are limited, unless I want a truck or SUV, which I don't.

@r68, We're just kidding you, no matter what car you buy there's a stereotype to go with it. Buy what you like, you're the one who has to drive it

One more thing about battery replacement--it's really simple. It takes about an hour, but that's mostly because you need to remove the back seat and some trim panels, and then unscrew about a thousand 14mm bolts that hold the battery to the car frame. The battery swap itself is nothing, and it's 99.9999% idiot proof (if there's a will theres a way, I guess). I gave my mechanic $100 to do it, but honestly if it needs replacement again I'll do it myself. YouTube has some really good videos on how to do it.

R69- For your height and girth you need to locate a time machine to take you back to 1975 so you can buy a brand new 1975 Oldsmobile 98 Regency with Pillow Velour Six Way Power Bench Seat- Those were extremely comfortable- lots of leg room, thigh support and seat width.

There are NO cars built today that offer such levels of comfort for US full figured gals.

R14, my 2015 Fit has 76K miles and I plan on keeping it forever. I love this thing!

Paying cash may not be the best decision, depending on where you're getting the cash.

If you have to liquidate investments, such as mutual funds, you need to compare your annual returns to the interest rate for the car loan. For example, the APR for a new car from BoA in California is around 6.5%. Returns on most Morningstar 5-star large cap funds is higher. Additionally, there is the realized capital gains you'd have to pay taxes on.

If you're pulling from cash reserves, that reduces your cash cushion. The Prius is probably about $35K. You run the risk of a cash crunch in case of emergency or liquidating investments at a bad time.

In general, for most people who can afford to spend $35K cash on a car, it's probably NOT the best financial decision because people who have that much cash lying around probably got it by saving and investing, so the risks and opportunity costs are probably pretty high.

People who pay cash for cars are probably living below their means. I'm guessing they are not liquidating assets or depleting their savings to pay for the car.

I was told the best investment I made last year was my used Rav4. I paid cash from an inheritance and got a good trade in amount.

So far all I’ve done is oil changes and a battery. Good car.

OP hope you get to test out the backseat soon, and have your knickers swinging over the rearview mirror!

I bought a 2002 Volvo wagon on Craigslist for $2,000 five years ago with 135,000 miles on it. It still starts and rolls.

But is it better than a blowjob?

R15 The new car is "Midnight Black", I had no choice wrt any of the options. I grabbed the car that was available. I've heard horror stories of peoples' wait times.

They added some extra options over and above the trim level, glass roof, the larger multimedia screen (12.3" vs 9") and digital key capability.

OP- I very curious about the new 2025 Toyota Camry. They are unveiling the new Camry on live streaming on Tuesday at 10pm Eastern Standard Time. It's been the same car now for seven model years. I mentioned earlier that I drive a 2017 Toyota Camry.

They didn’t add anything that you didn’t pay for, whether you wanted it or not, OP.

Do not tell the dealer you intend to pay cash. You may get a better deal with financing and then pay off the loan after purchase. Having said that, the Prius is very popular so it's unlikely you'll do any better.

Prius is consistanly rated among the best cars to live in, if you're planning on retiring any time soon.

R84 That's horrific.

I'm impressed with the restyled 2025 Toyota Camry but I need to see how it's rated on the road.

Consumer Reports won't be able to test one until next spring when the cars will be available.

I like the restyling Toyota has done on the 2025 Toyota Camry. It's not available for sale until the spring but it looks and sounds like a significant improvement over the current Camry. ALL 2025 Camrys will be hybrid. There will be no gasoline nor V-6 models anymore.

Update - 12/12/23: The car arrived at the dealer yesterday, with a crack in the front bumper. It's going to take at least several weeks to order a replacement bumper, so I'm trying to figure out what to do. Minor setback, but still a bummer.

Paying cash is the smart thing to do. It's great not to have monthly payments and interest accumulating.

On another note, the prices of cars these days are ridiculous.

.[quote] base model, a luxury and sport version. That's it. You cant mix and match, that's how the world works outside the US.

Tell it to foreign car company Lexus, which used to have base and premium. Now everything is an option. Including hybrid versions, electric versions, sports version of electric and hybrid and gas on most models. What kind of steering wheel do you want? Interior color? Nav? No nav? What kind of music system? Which safety features?

R88- Why didn't you just keep your Prius?

R62- You call 135,000 miles pretty low?

I own a 2017 Toyota Camry LE with 11,700 miles- what do you call that?

You know what sucks with newer cars too…many mechanics beg off maintenance because they don’t understand the systems. I just dropped my longtime guy because of that. All the car needed in the end was a new battery.

The only time not to pay with cash (if you can afford it) is if they offer an interest rate lower than what you can get on a 5 year CD. Say they say 0.9 % for 5 years and you can get a 5% 60 month CD - you are better off putting that chunk in a cd and financing the car (if you can afford to do it that way) as you will make more money on the interest than you would pay in interest on the car - so lowering the overalll cost of the car.

Most often, though, R94 in the past you wouldn't get that interest rate AND a good price for the car. One or the other but not both.

Not that it matters much these days: they don't discount the vehicles much and there are no 0.9% auto loans.

The 2025 Toyota Camry looks interesting but unfortunately it isn't available until the spring.

I haven't heard of anyone ordering one since I was a kid. Didn't they have one on the lot?

[quote]People who pay cash for cars are probably living below their means

I doubt that. I work for several people who are in the million dollar income bracket. NONE of them get loans, they all pay cash. Because it's easy, nothing to apply for, they can bargain with the price, it's theirs, no interest payments and a lot of them keep those cars much longer than normal because they tend to be higher end cars. There is no rush to sell it just because the warranty is up.

I know on paper it might be smarter to put that money into some other investments that yield a slightly better return, but in the real world a lot of them just like to know they own the damn thing straight out. That's what I have seen. People with high net worth seem to have status issues. Saying they own a Lamborghini is more important to their ego than their wallet.

r98 I pay cash for all my cars, I also never buy new. Late model CPO cars with extended factory warranties. Last car we got for my husband was a 2021 Honda Passport Elite (he gets the suv). 3 years warranty and 2 more from the CPO. He keeps cars for 10 years and drives very little so we get him a Honda every 10 years. We typically just budget a car payment and put it in a MMA or CD to make money then when we need to purchase a car we have the funds.

Good for you. The new Prius looks amazing.

100k is nothing.

I have 60 on my vw and plan on running it into the ground.

That VW will run YOU in the ground once it gets older.