WolfeMacleod

And I'd like you to tell my wife, seriously, about it's fuel ecomony, insurance costs, etc. (Just how much does a tire cost?)

She's been hounding me for months because she wants one. Well, she finally found one she has the opportunity to buy for $27,000.
She makes $15/hr. And has $7000 credit card debt.

She's sick and tired of her job, and wants to quit.

She wants to move into a larger place.

I just bought a car. Because *I* can afford it and intend to pay it off quickly. And I could pay it off much more quickly, if I didn't have to give her $4k for a down payment.

We don't have room for another vehicle, for one. We don't need to haul large items, or people. We don't need a tow vehicle, and we don't go offroading.
She drives long distances for work, all over Washington state. She was in Eastern Washington just yesterday.

She has a 6 year old Saturn w/ 60,000 miles. It gets great gas mileage, and has been very reliable. It took her all five years to pay off the $15k 0% loan.

We keep our purchases like this seperate.

Although this is a used vehicle with only a couple thousand miles on it, IMO, she should wait another year or so and let the depreciation truely hit and drive the cost down even further, while saving up to buy one outright, or put a huge Down on one.

Someone, anyone, please tell her this is a [b]bad[/i] idea for her to do.

cyinisis

Girlfriend: Buying this vehicle is a bad decision.

It doesn't matter if it's an FJ or a Prius...if you're not in a financial situation to be able to purchase a vehicle, any vehicle would be a bad choice. As it sounds right now, you have a few other things in life to rope in before buying a vehicle out of pure lust to own one. And yes, of course FJ's maintenance is extremely expensive (tires particularly, my dad's offroading tires are near 400 a pop)...

The best advice that you could take is to wait until you are more solvent to frivolously buy a vehicle. I've made many-a bad decision about purchasing things (cars in particular) without being able to afford them...then I'd end up having to get bailed out by my parents, and take a loss on the vehicle...which you definitely would in say 6-12 months with an FJ.

Just wait it out, they are very popular, and there will definitely be one there for when you're ready to take on the extra financial responsibility...and at a better price.

They don't get extremely bad gas mileage though...I don't think?

PorscheDude1

@3.25/gallon ouch. I laugh at people who drive these big sport utes, who have no tru use for them.
No wander our gas prices are sky rocketing!

WolfeMacleod

HOw did this get posted here??

Someone please move it to OT!

Lord_Galva

The FJ is the Jap copy of the Hummer. Please please don't support the Jap auto market. Also as an unemployed car salesman it was the worst thing in the world to do a repo/rollback. Make sure you can afford it. With tax/licence it's a 30k car. That's the same price as a used 996 coupe. Weigh your option's carefully.

Mamooguy

Just give me her number. I've got many techniques I can draw on for changing a woman's mind.

sillbeer

good ole vacaville...I strongly and openly support the Japanese auto market. Lets face facts: most of their cars are built here. they are an excellent value, excellent quality. GM lays off people by the tens of thousands. Ford and GM both close plants like it's going out of style, while Nissan, Honda, and Toyota continue to build more plants and employ more americans building their vehicles. In a few years when GM goes bankrupt, Toyota will move and buy them out. Then it will get interesting.

alordofchaos

In before the move to OT!

What interest rate? Pay this off first, no matter what, before buying anything else - including that double mocha latte crap for $3! Seriously.

If she was paying $400 a month towards this and the card was 0% interest... it will still take her a year and a half to pay this off. And somehow, I doubt it's 0%. Credit cards are the EVIL when used for immediate gratification.

Buying a gas guzzler at the amount of money she's making... probably not a good idea... she'll be stuck for years in this car; what will happen in 4 years if gas goes to $5-$6 a gallon, or $8?
If she pays for her own gas, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how much many miles she drives a year, and calculate her fuel costs... add that to maintenance (wow, $400 for one tire? and she'll wear out 4 tires in how long?), add that to the monthly payments... and compare that to her take-home minus credit card payments...

What exactly are her priorities? Sit down with her, list all the things she wants, put them in order of priority, and figure out how much each will cost.

is she willing to wait on moving to a larger place so she can buy that new car?

Is she willing to put up with a job she hates so she can buy the car, or help pay for the new, larger place?

Or does she hate her job so much, she's willing to keep the older car and current place, til she finds another job to pay for the new car/place?

Good luck with this, Wolfe... my wife was also very much a "I want it all now, damn reality" type of person, despite reality and common sense

I hope you can get her to plan this out realistically.

Dan87951

Ouch $4k in credit card debt?! That should be the first priority!!Once she pays that off than she can talk about getting a new car.

Gobogie has a FJ, nice car, built very well but I doubt it gets good gas mileage..

RMills944

www.fueleconomy.gov says average user mileage is 16.4

WolfeMacleod

[QUOTE=alordofchaos]In before the move to OT!

What interest rate? Pay this off first, no matter what, before buying anything else - including that double mocha latte crap for $3! Seriously.

There's one or two that are very high...20%+

Don't really know what her priorities are, but she's definately the impulsive "gotta have it, damn the expense vs. income" type person.

Mamooguy, google my name. You'll find my number very easy. Feel free to call at talk her out of it.

inactiveuser92616

you are right, that would be a ludicrous purchase to make. I sent you a PM regarding a car purchase spreadsheet.

bleucamaro

Wolfe, You're doing the guitar pickups full time right? Any way that you have room for your wife to work for you? This way you get her out of the crummy job, kill the commute, and have some creative tax options open up. Plus it may be a good way to expand the business.

I also agree with the others in this thread, get that debt paid off before buying ANYTHING else. $7000 debt with 20%+ interest is more than $100/month in interest. Tear up those charge cards to stop spending with them, pay cash only until you get that thing paid off.

This is OT

alordofchaos

Dude, this is your wife!

I think she's like a lot of wimmen
Not sure what she wants, but she wants a lot of nice stuff and she wants it now. It's our jobs, as reasonable men, to sit them down and make them think (man, I'm going to bet b*tchslapped by the Women Of Rennlist when this goes to OT).
Ummm... that's really scary. She should consolidate her debt on one or two low interest cards, cancel her other credit cards, and go on a cash diet (no charging) until that $7k is paid off.

We did that about 8-10 years ago... my wife was able to quit a job she hated... but it was her choice; she could have stayed and bought a new car if she wanted... she chose to be stay-at-home mom.

with that debt paid off, at $15/hr, your wife can buy a lot of stuff... new car if that's what she wants; bigger place if that's what she wants; or quit the job and look for something she likes better -if that's what she wants.

If she gets the car, she has no choice over what she can do until that car is paid off - she's going to have to work to pay for the car, gas, maintenance, etc.

Mamooguy

[QUOTE=WolfeMacleod]I dunno, this one sounds like she needs some of my extra special attention. I'm in my 944 and coming down for a house call!