You can finance a car that you buy from an individual. You would just have to arrange the financing yourself. Shop around for a good rate. 50% of the time the dealer gave me the best rate and the other 50% of the time, I got a better rate at my credit union.
You can get a car loan from your bank or credit union to buy a used car. It doesn’t have to be purchased from a dealership.
We have paid cash for cars…and we have financed cars…just depends. In fact, this month is the last payment in my 2012 Volvo. I love this car…and while it has 72,000 miles on it…Volvo dropped a new engine into it bout 8000 miles ago at their expense. I plan to drive it a LOT longer.
Right now, we have a 2011 Subaru we bought used and paid cash for (dealership), a VW Golf bought used paid cash (private sale). And my volvo.
In the last two years, we have also paid,cash for two cars for our kids…also from a car place (not a car dealership…but a place that sells previously leased cars).
You don’t have to own in Infinity to have a care with good longevity…lots of less expensive options that last a LONG time…think Camry, Accord, Civic, Corolla.
Oh ok well I appreciate all the advice.
A separate question if anybody feels like answering:
I know that areas with snow can take a toll on cars because of the stuff they put on the roads to help melt snow. Realistically, can you protect a car’s underside from it?
I mean I have the Infiniti G35 already, and I don’t plan on selling it I love this thing.
We live in New England. Our roads are definitely treated when it snows.
We do NOTHING to the undersides of our cars. We recent,y sold a 2003 Accord, and a 2000 Volvo…and neither had underside rust issue.
Any other old timers remember Rusty Jones?
@philbegas maybe someone will disagree…but I don’t think that is necessary anymore in these parts.
In the old days, cars would take a lot of abuse and you’d see a lot of corrosion. Cars are built better now. We live in the land of ice and snow in Northern New England. We keep our cars for 10-15 years and have not had issues. Like @thumper1, we do not treat the undercarriage of our car, or any other surfaces for that matter.
If you are thinking of moving to an area with winter weather, I would give some thought to purchasing a vehicle which handles well in winter conditions.
I really don’t want to give up my car, so ideally, my gf and I will be moving together, and she would have something that drives better in the snow (something with front wheel drive like a golf or a mini cooper).However, if it was needed, I could get a separate set of snow rims/tires because I know they make a world of difference.
I try to go to the carwash often in the winter, but yes I think there is undercarriage treatment you can pay for.
If you move where there is a ton of ice and snow…and you use your car for commuting…you probably will,want something with 4 wheel drive. In our neighborhood, I think everyone has one 4 wheel drive vehicle.
A mini is nice and fun…but really, you will enjoy it more in nice weather.
My husband has a front wheel drive golf. When it snows…he takes the Subaru. He says that’s the one downside to his golf…it’s just not a great handler in the snow.
My previous volvo had an extra set of snow tires and rims. It handled great in the winter with the snow tires. Since I really don’t NEED to go out when it snows, my current volvo does not have snow tires.
@thumper1 sounds like I need to convince my girlfriend to get a golf R32 since those are 4wd hahaha.
A Golf R may have summer tires, so you may need to get another set of wheels with winter tires for the snow and ice season.
I’m mostly joking. A Golf R is going to be 30,000+ which is a little more than her budget.
My H used to have a G35. What a fun car it was! He loved it.
He was driving a lot for work and was putting a ton of miles on the car. Gas was expensive at the time and the car was going to the shop quite a bit. So he traded it in for a more practical car. But he loved that G35.
We live in an area that gets lots of snow. That car is rear wheeled drive and it is terrible in the snow. Terrible without snow tires. He bought snow tires for it and did not have any trouble driving it in the winter. But the snow tires had to go on as soon as the weather got bad. I know people don’t believe me but that car with snow tires drove better than the Honda Odyssey I had at the time.
2 things, that car did not have much clearance so if the roads aren’t cleared, it’s not good. Also that car has bigger back tires than the front, he put snow tires on that were all the same size, not 2 different sizes.
Enjoy your car. P.S. Mini’s aren’t good in the snow either. They are really light and not the best in the snow.
I love mine so much glad to hear of a more specific example! @deb922 My G35 has been reliable (I’ve put around 18k on it since I bought it) but when things go wrong boy can they be expensive. And the Infiniti dealership network is one of the worst I’ve EVER dealt with. Even a 4.5/5 star yelp dealer still didn’t do a bunch of the things they said they did on my 60k service.
I was going to get some basic steel wheels (maybe 17 inches) and get 4 snow tires that are the same size all around so I can just change them myself in between seasons. Function>form. I’d keep the staggered stock set up for the nice seasons.
Yup, he kept the staggered set up on the wheels except for the snow tires.
$700 a month over 3 years (usually the longest term you can get for the best interest rate - I’m using a 0% rate there) is a ~$25k car. Not exactly what I think you are talking about when you are talking about your love of cars.
Stop looking at the monthly cost…look at the total amount you would be committing to when buying your next car. Monthly amount is meaningless…especially if you get sucked into a 72 month term because you keep talking about what you want your ‘monthly payment’ to be.
Areas of the country like CA and AZ have the best used cars for reason. There’s no snow and little to no corrosion, unless you live at or near the ocean. I bought a used low mileage car from the Northeast and various suspension parts, nuts and bolts had corrision. Cars out west and southwest don’t have it.
I stopped buying new cars because you take a 50% depreciation hit after 3-5 years +/- depending on the car.
Generally Craigslist sellers want quick cash in hand and not have to deal with buyers who need loans. If the car isn’t a high demand car, then a private seller will be more likely to wait for the buyer’s loan to fund.
Didn’t see this brought up - if you live in a city/urban area - like Boston, DC, Philly, NYC , SF, etc most people really don’t drive super nice cars unless they have a garage to store it and don’t do parking garage or on street parking with it. Cities are brutal on cars - dings, bumper dents, break ins, etc. And on street parking is bad news - you would definitely want a smaller nondescript car. A whole lot of apartments/townhouses and the like don’t have private parking, you’re on your own for on street. A whole of of fun when there’s a snow emergency and you can’t leave it parked on the street so they can plow - you have to find a place to put it.
If you’re in the suburbs, it’s such an issue. Although you will want good tires and some clearance in winter.
If you want short term money, there are some offers with new credit cards thT have low to 0% interest for some month–9-18 or so. You just make minimal payments and then pay it off before they start charging interest. You can do that if you will save up enough or get a loan in the meantime. That’s how we bought a van in 1999.
I would never finance a car–just gate debt.
DH and I are not fancy car people - we look at them as transportation only. But I do understand how some people truly enjoy their vehicles - my sister and ex-BIL are people like this. I recall them saying they’d rather get a car they love and drive it every day, they get more enjoyment every day than taking a nice vacation, which is great for a week or even 2, but then the rest of the year you get what… longing to be in a better car? I choose to value the special experiences, but I know they will never agree. And that’s fine with me. I still love them.
It is not just undercarriage treatment needed to prevent rusting out, but especially here in New England, the winter roads/highways are being treated with a gel that destroys the nickel cadmium used in the breaks / rotors / drums / calipers / shocks / struts etc.