patrick.net

Ironman says

errc says

The dealership lost $4 on the sale,

Sounds like they will go bankrupt on that loss.

errc says

The CU will finance up to %130 of the cars value, so I tapped some equity as well. At 2.0%, why not?

Now there's some amazingly smart financial management, borrow 130% on a instantly depreciating asset.... What could possibly go wrong... (where have we seen that before??)

It's the Credit Unions business model, seems to work alright for them.

For a kick ass Capitalist like myself, it can be very lucrative. I did it with a rx-8 a couple years ago. Sold the car for a 33% gain, and more than tripled the CU's extra money they financed me on FNMA stock.

@Pat - you've heard of the car subprime loan crisis just around the corner. No? I'm looking for a new or slightly used car as well but am considering waiting to see what happens. Since 2008 it seems all car companies have reduced the selection of models they have available though. Not just versions of the same vehicle but selection of vehicles. Lots of what are available seem sort of boring. Even the sport utilities are looking like mini vans to me. Even the BMW X5. I just went to sit in a mustang GT 'premium' and didn't even take it for a test drive. The finish was crap. You could literally see beneath the hood from the cab. The newer ones look great from the outside starting in 2015 though.

I have an uncle who wanted to pay cash for a Subaru but they insisted on a 1% financing deal. So he took out a CD paying 5% with his cash. This is maybe 2006? Definitely before the housing crash.

Silly me. There is a Dave Ramsey video in this thread discussing the crisis.

zzyzzx says

Not if it has a timing belt!

I'm thinking you've never heard the term scheduled maintenance. Breaking one before it's due to be changed is really rare. Having it inspected takes about 30 seconds if you are worried about it. OMG you have to change the belt twice in 300,000 miles. The horror.

BayArea says

I've been involved in both and both can be a massive pain in the ass.

I explained above how I do it. No pain at all when buying new.