Not the case with simple interest loans. Pay interest on what you owe until it is paid off. Did this with the last 2 cars I bought (one for business, one personal). Got the dealer financing incentive and put down 20% down. When the first payment came along, paid the entire thing off with no prepayment penalty or additional interest.
Watch out for the doc. fee. I bought a car cash and they wanted me to pay a $495 doc fee after we agreed on a price. I drove off and they called me 10 minutes later saying they’d take it off.
I think that's why it is always wise to negotiate take home price. I always ask the dealership, give me your actual price including all the fees associated with the sale. If I don't like it I attempt to negotiate down. By the way, I know in the finance department they will always attempt to sell you extra **** which I always always decline. But take home price is what matters to me when in negotiations. Anything more and I also just walk.
Good stuff, thanks. I'm really just looking for a high-mileage Honda Pilot or Toyota 4-Runner to drive for a few years while I save up to pay cash for something newer/nicer. I've read you can put 250K-300K miles on a Pilot with minimal problems as long as you take care of it. What is a good SUV that could have as much as 100K miles and still have a lot of life left? I've thought about this as well, it just seems like you'd have more recourse with a dealership than some jackass on craigslist who you'll never see again. Could be just me being paranoid though.
I recommend you watch some ChrisFix videos if you are looking for something older with mileage on it. Here is a link to his inspection video. I helped my uncle purchase a vehicle last year and we looked at about 20 Honda Pilots/Acura MDX until we found the right car for him. I inspected every single car for him, took a flash light and looked for anything alarming. Some dealerships are sleezeballs and try to get a quick one on you. The best you can do is be as knowledgeable as possible and attempt to get a good used car that hasn't been abused/maintained by the previous owner. I'm not a mechanic, but watching ChrisFix and Scotty Kilmer has taught me a lot about cars and I've made wiser choices because of it. I hope you find a good car at a good price.
You'll probably get a better deal buying direct from an owner tbh. That and if it really is cash anything over 10K will force a dealer to notify the feds and you'll have to fill out a form.
Good point. I was looking for a BMW a few years ago and a "dealer" I went to was as crooked as they come. Actually refused me to have a mechanic look at it. Ended up getting an awesome bargain from a kid who needed money.
What year and how many miles to start were you thinking? For example, on the Pilot one thing to watch out for is the timing belt - on this particular engine instead of a timing chain it's using a belt. Here's the pros for a belt - better for performance (technically, like on a sports car/bike etc it's great), but for a car I want to last- I prefer a chain. The reason being, unless you're going to do the repairs it can get costly (~$700-900 depending on year and mechanic). And it has to almost always be done by 100k mark. - for people not used to cars I'm not talking about the serpentine belt (this wasn't directed at anyone, but if anyone's curious). Cons - So on a belt driven motor and depending on engine it has to be done at ~60-100k, because (as with most cars for sometime now) it has an interference engine. So let's say you goto the dealer and find a car at 90k or 120k and there's no documentation about timing belt being done, you'll want it done along with the water pump. So negotiate or have them provide proof it's been done. Because - going back to interference engine part, unfortunately if this fails or the previous owner treated the car poorly - ignored signs (didn't do the maintenance etc) and let's say you get the car - start driving and a week later it snaps you're now looking an entire engine replacement (most likely) . And I know this can be a heated debate on a timing chain/belt, but on a chain I almost always prefer it on a car I'm wanting to last because while they do have pros/cons, on a decent engine design the chain isn't going to just snap at 100k, I've seen plenty of chains go into 200-300k+ w/ no issues. Of course the argument is it'll skip at some point (and sure - this could happen), but when I've seen the teeth go on a belt you're usually in a lot more trouble - ie no start or belt has total failure and pistons slam into the valves etc etc. Note, I'm not against Honda. I will just as easily turn against my favorite cars depending on year/model, but it's just one thing to think about if you're looking at getting something w/ minimal maintenance. I think if you type in - pilot timing belt lawsuit or failure you'll see what I'm getting at (good forum details too). And again, if I was doing a Sports setup where I didn't care, sure you can typically get better torque/less lag, but I'm not really interested in that in a reliable family/suv/truck. On a side note, the job is definitely doable if you work on cars/have some help, - where people fail on these jobs is not marking the timing correctly and also not taking time if they're new to car work. ie I've seen some people jump into a car project, not mark the cams/crank shaft or even find factory timing marks and then have like the cams way off when they attach the belt- and on an interference engine you might as well have had the belt break etc. (I mean not always.. but you get my point, like once you mess up there it turns into a bigger job, again though it's definitely doable ). Aside from that, it depends on what you're looking for, for example on an suv/truck I'd probably look at the full size type (probably a chevy/Ford v8), but then you lose on fuel economy/cost most likely. So then within this style/price range I'd probably go 4runner - since it has a chain (if v6, please note you do need to look at years/model engine in some cases since it'll flip/flop on some years, I want to say v6 03-current are chains, but the v8 is a belt 03-09 - def check regardless). If you go smaller - the Honda cr-v can be chain/belt depending on year/engine. Then though depending on generation cr-v you want to look at which one had oil burning issues (I think it was 2010/11) I hope this helps some, and can definitely help more/discuss, but for me belt never equals minimal maintenance - with that said though... I've seen plenty of engines that have chains but are junk so my statement can definitely vary by year/model of a car.
I was thinking of driving and buying a car same day recently and mentioned cash... The response was basically something, something financing -- end full stop.
Can a mod go ahead and give good guy @CCity Zero the title of "car guy", always so in depth with car advice and always willing to help.
Bought a certified pre-owned (CPO) car from a dealer last week. Did my research on the going rates for used cars in the market place. Also looked up the rates of car loans on used cars. While I was discussing the features of the particular car I wanted with the sales associate, he asked me how much I planned to pay and how. I quoted him my out-the-door cost but said I could go either way depending on the dealer rates. We locked down a price, which the associate said wasn't conditional on financing, and I wrote him a check. Pretty painless.
