Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I saved another $500 on my new car!

Okay here it is.. I'm laying it out there. Everyone from Dave Ramsey to Suzie Orman would be screaming their head off at me for buying a brand new car. I agree with their reasoning on WHY to buy used cars, I know it's true that the minute you drive a new car off the lot it's value decreases immediately. My personal reasons for buying a new car are mainly the fact that I hate buying other people's problems. I know that other people do not maintain their cars as I would and in fact without www.carfax.com most people would have no clue how many times their pre-owned vehicles had been bought/sold/auctioned, in accidents, in floods, had major work done to them etc.

When my husband started badgering me YEARS ago that as soon as his car was paid off that I was buying a new car. I just didn't see the reasoning in going back into debt to buy another car when we just got out of debt. So I started scrimping and saving as much as I could to buy a new car. Unfortunately, my car didn't make the cut and I bought a car a few months shy of having the full payment which is fine because I have a home equity loan that I've kept open. I figured I would just borrow the remaining balance and pay it back in the next couple months as fast as possible. This is a win/win situation because borrowing against this home equity line helps my credit because we've closed all of our credit cards except one, and the one we kept we lowered our balance on. Many people do not know that closing accounts HURTS your credit. Also, creditors want to see that you have between 3-5 active revolving accounts. Other than my mortgage we have used nothing for months. I finally broke down and started using our one credit card for small purchases that could be paid off each month.

Okay so as soon as my husband started searching Carmax over and over and over looking for a car that I would like, was reasonably new with low miles I knew that if I didn't take some control he would wind up trying to persuade me just to buy a car so the deed was over with. (sorry but he thinks his truck is going to die any day now and me being in line for the next car was hindering his dreams of buying a Dodge Challenger in the next few years HA). Friday during the day and then Friday night I realized my key issue had gone from bad to worse. It was now taking between 4-8 hours to get that darn key out of the ignition.

My son and I started surfing a few more sites and as soon as I realized that the Avenger was going for only a couple thousand dollars more BRAND NEW versus the used cars that my husband was looking at.. I started actually warming up to the idea. Then I saw that Dodge had a new LIFETIME power train warranty and I started reading and realized UNLESS you are the first owner of the vehicle this warranty is null and void. I buy my cars to drive them into the ground. I buy new so I can get every mile I paid for and drive them into the ground so I can get penny I spent. This is just my personal thinking. Then, I saw that Dodge had employee pricing plus a local dealer added on a few other rebates.

We went in, got the car on Saturday and came home and then I realized I never got a rebate I had seen advertised on my Credit Unions website. I had mentioned it to my sales guy and he said he would look into it for me because I couldn't remember the exact details. After spending 6 hours there, driving multiple cars, deciding on what to do that $500 actually left my brain. I called dealership on Monday and talked to the Sales Manager and he told me I had to get a loan through my credit union. He said he would still allow the deal and not put my paperwork through if I could get this done in the next couple days.

I called my credit union early this morning and actually was able to get it done before noon today. I asked to leave work at 4pm, drove home got my husband and drove out to the credit union to sign docs and get our check. Then we drove out to the dealership, signed new docs, got a free car wash (yes my car was already dirty, stupid Chicago winters), and got home within 2 hours. Not bad.

So.. this is how I got the $500 (and you can get) or even $1,000 on a brand new Chysler or GM car http://www.lovemycreditunion.org/ has joined up with credit unions around the country and this deal lasts until June 30th 2009. If you happen to be in the market for a new car, check it out.. or pass it on. Okay Okay.. and before you get too jumpy YES I did have to get a loan for my car through my credit union to get this $500 bonus rebate, HOWEVER, I fully intend on paying it off as quickly as possible. If I can continue to keep our spending down we'll have it paid off in 4 months so I'm not too concerned.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Im glad you were able to get a good deal on a new car. My husband and I have been looking at a charger or a caravan so im excited to hear about the rebate bc we would probably go through our credit union. Thank you for posting this. I also drive my cars into the ground and well mine is almost to the ground lol.

Dr. Mom said...

Thanks for the info. My husband has been wanting a new truck as well. I forwarded your post to him to see about checking with our credit union. I am all for saving $500!

Michelle said...

congrats on the new car. We drive ours to the ground as well. have one car close to paid off, and the other car probably in the next year. then no car payments and just nice cars.

and I agree on the previous owners and maintenance.

Lisa B. said...

Great job on your new car.

Angie said...

Wow! Paid off in 4 months. . . .Maybe someday I will get a new car but until then, I will drive the one I have until it dies.

Shelly said...

Good job! My car is an '85 Chevy Celebrity and it's on life support! LOL It sat in the parking lot at work from Tuesday until last night. Then when DBF (a mechanic) goes with me to check on it, it starts! It's very cold natured and just getting worse. I CAN NOT afford a new car or a used one so I just have to keep this one running for another year or so until I can get another teaching position---I'm currently an assistant.

PoorMom said...

I am in the market for a new car ..We need more room for new baby and baby parphenalia !

However , about the lifetime powertrain warranty ..it is valid when a used car is purchased through a licensed dealer. It is the person to person transaction that voids the warranty.

My dad is retired Chrysler Dodge employee and I ( we ) have only ever had Jeep, chrysler or dodge cars due to our discount ( which is more than employee plus btw) .

I think this time however I am going through CarMax.com . They have lots of VERY low mileage cars from rental agencies that still have the majority of the original warranty on them . Since I only drive about 9,000 miles a year I'll have tthat warranty for years ! With my trade in I should only pay around 3,000 OOP for a 2008 SUV .

Ju said...

Awesome post!

If you move forward to buy a car, here is a tip:

When buying anew car you should bring a piece of paper to the dealership and make sure you do all the math of the finance calculations yourself. The point is not that they will do the math wrong. The point is you will see exactly how the deal is structured. Do not be afraid to take the time to do this or look like a fool.

Here are five other steps that may save you thousands if you follow them next time you buy a car: http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/29/how-to-buy-a-new-or-used-car/