Trying to Get Into First New Truck

Off Topic
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Assholes had me walk out for a couple hundred dollars. This is my first time to buy any vehicle.

Credit score @ 732 and approved for a 5.7% interest loan through my credit union. Good enough considering I’m 23 with immaculate, although short history of credit. (As an aside, Wells Fargo offered 9.9% and a Dodge Dealership offered 18%!!! My Wells Fargo credit card is 7.9%!)

So after calling around for 3 days, I finally found a truck that was within my criteria:

Full size, 2008, new, V8, at least above base model, regular cab, and near enough to $15k that I could get it for 15k out the door with my trade (99 Tacoma with 140k miles, auto, power, 4 cylinder, etc. good little truck, worth 4400 on the market).

A beautiful black Chevy with chrome package and a 4.8L V8 and power everything. Great, considering I have only been able to find '09s or 2008 V6’s in any make. Test drove it and loved it compared to the V6 Dodge I also test drove yesterday.

Its lone draw back was rubber floors, no carpet. I was OK with this, depending on price of the truck… and carpet and carpet floor mats could be added by them for $299.

Their single and final offer was $15,175. I could have afforded it… but they wouldn’t throw in the carpet. They wouldn’t hold off on the carpet and drop it under $15000 for me. They would do nothing. Offer for my truck was 2000 and they wanted 16077 for theirs, which with TT&L adds up to 15175.

I did what my dad said and walked if it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. Said I’d think about it. He played the “someone is preparing a backup offer” or whatever, saying someone is also looking to buy it. Considering they had the truck for 4 hours from a dealer trade, and it was in make ready because it was driven in from Houston, I know he was bullshitting me. I was the first one to actually look at it and drive it.

I really hope they call me tomorrow and offer to work with me… Loved the truck. Then I can see if I can get even lower financing since GM announced today a 0% interest deal. I won’t get 0, but I could do lower. Credit union lady said my 732 qualifies for their best auto loan rate.

Unless they call tomorrow, the plan now is to clean up my truck and sell it outright for $3500 next week and walk into a place with that as a down payment. I’m not looking at anything else now, an '08 Chevy is what I want.

Sorry so long, it’s a stressful deal… plus my first time.

2

Not getting that truck is probably the best thing that could have happened for you.

Pay cash.

If you cannot pay cash, save up until you can.

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[quote]lighting_guy wrote:
Not getting that truck is probably the best thing that could have happened for you.

Pay cash.

If you cannot pay cash, save up until you can.[/quote]

Not necessarily smart…for instance I’ve got a 2.9% interest rate on my car, for 3 years. I could pay it off quicker, or I could put that money into something that gets more than 2.9% interest, like a CD or something, and i’d actually come out ahead than if I had just paid cash up front.

Clearly you don’t want to be strapped down with debt if your financial situation is potentially unstable and you see a point in the future where you might not be able to pay it off. But in some cases debt isn’t all bad.

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[quote]nowakc wrote:

Not necessarily smart…for instance I’ve got a 2.9% interest rate on my car, for 3 years. I could pay it off quicker, or I could put that money into something that gets more than 2.9% interest, like a CD or something, and i’d actually come out ahead than if I had just paid cash up front.

Clearly you don’t want to be strapped down with debt if your financial situation is potentially unstable and you see a point in the future where you might not be able to pay it off. But in some cases debt isn’t all bad.[/quote]

I agree.

As for the truck - the great thing about buying a car from a dealer is that there are dozens of dealers and dozens of cars. Don’t fall in love with anything and you won’t get your heart broken. I think you did well to walk away. Just relax. This is the time of year they are looking to unload the '08 models, and I bet you get a call in a few days.

It’s much harder when you’re looking for a rare or very specific car - something you can’t order from a dealer.