Record number of car buyers underwater on their trades; loan lengths increasing

[Daschicken]

Originally Posted by Xist

I am not a big fan of creating new laws, but maybe they should not be able to finance for longer than the warranty lasts. Can you imagine still owing money on a car that does not run?

I've seen it before on craigslist.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Now THERE is money down the drain.

This is wonderful! It is precisely this stupid "oooooo shiny!!!" instant gratification consumer over reliance on credit BS that creates all sorts of havoc including bubbles and increased prices for those few of us that don't abuse credit.

Is this also why the media is perpetually whining about "how bad the economy is" all when people actually have it good- they're simply spending beyond their means as Standard Operating Procedure?

Go down in flames, idiots. I'll be laughing all the way.

Nope. You (we) will be sinking with them.

Last one to drown isn't the winner.

.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Seems like there's a lot of chicken & egg going on here. People don't have the cash available since they can't save anything because they're stuck with car payments.

So we had the subprime housing market crash, recovered from that, now we can look forward to the subprime auto loan crash. Really, sometimes I don't know whether to laugh, cry, run down the road screaming, or find an isolated cabin in the wilderness and wait for the bang.

The car loan thing is huge. A crash would affect whole economy.

This is not a country where having a car is optional. Not for individuals or too many financial/industrial balance sheets to count.

There's good reason the automakers (like the oil producers) are not allowed to fail.

Disconnect people from a house, they'll start over. Disconnect them from cars and all bets are off.

Someday, the party will be over. Until then, keep kicking the problem down the road.

System strain.

.

[Frank Lee]

Credit *****s already effect me and others like me by inflating prices. If they get some pain... good.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Disconnect people from a house, they'll start over. Disconnect them from cars and all bets are off.

Which is more of an imaginary obstacle to employment than actual for most people. I bet most people could ride a bicycle to work if they had to. Others could carpool or take public transportation. There are a few that must have a vehicle to work, but they aren't required to have a brand new car.

It makes me happy when new car purchases are at a high; it means I'll have a reasonably priced used car in about 4 years

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Which is more of an imaginary obstacle to employment than actual for most people. I bet most people could ride a bicycle to work if they had to. Others could carpool or take public transportation. There are a few that must have a vehicle to work, but they aren't required to have a brand new car.

It makes me happy when new car purchases are at a high; it means I'll have a reasonably priced used car in about 4 years

You really need to go look at transportation alternatives to cars. There aren't any that will work for tens of millions.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

It makes me happy when new car purchases are at a high; it means I'll have a reasonably priced used car in about 4 years

I guess we have a different definition of reasonable. I prefer to wait about 15 years. Just bought an '02 Miata for driving while I rebuild the Insight's transmission &c. Would have bought an even older one, if I could have found one that wasn't red or black.

[freebeard]

I've moved up from the 1971 to the 1979 model year. So far the water-cooling hasn't been a problem.

I now have two cars I could live in. One has 630 mile range with 3 1/2" of road clearance and the other is 440 miles with 6-7" of road clearance. Which one should be the bug-out vehicle?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I guess we have a different definition of reasonable. I prefer to wait about 15 years. Just bought an '02 Miata for driving while I rebuild the Insight's transmission &c. Would have bought an even older one, if I could have found one that wasn't red or black.

I started driving with 25 year old vehicles, but these days I enjoy the techno goodies. Bluetooth for podcasts, remote trunk and doorlocks, etc. Remote unlock makes it less necessary to let the lady in first, but I still do it regardless.

The newest vehicle I've bought was my motorcycle at 2 years old. It was the oldest fuel injected sport bike at the time, which is why I bought it. Next newest vehicle was a 3 year old Prius plug-in with a reconstructed title.

I don't have time for replacing clutches, doing engine work, or dealing with transmission issues, and I'm mostly against paying a shop to do work I am capable of.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I started driving with 25 year old vehicles, but these days I enjoy the techno goodies. Bluetooth for podcasts, remote trunk and doorlocks, etc.

I dislike most of those, and ignore them if possible. Both the Insight and Miata have remote door locks, but I've never used them - and I've had the Insight for I think 14 years now. Only thing I really like is having an aux input on the stereo so I don't have to haul around bunches of CDs. Going to order one for the Miata this weekend, that will just take a USB drive or SD card.