A New Car- gulp...

At over 200,000 miles it no surprise that the life of our 99 Ford Expedition's life is coming to an end. We have actually been in the market for another car for awhile. I however despise car payments and have tried putting this off as long as humanly possible. Also, I always have had the mentality that if the repairs were less than a monthly payment I would keep it. Well, looks like the time has finally come for us to part. Here is what I am looking for- ready? A luxury crossover, with all of the upgrades, that seats 8, and is great on gas, oh- and did I mention I want my payment to be at about $200 per month! Here is what I found...

 The car that I have fallen in love with is the Buick Enclave, it seats 8, leather (a must with children), 25 miles to the gallon, and all of the extras you can imagine. Problem- this car new is 50k! That does NOT fit into my $200/month payment budget (payment even at 0% would be $850/month)! I am in the process of working on a solution. Here is goes:


1. Buy used!: Buying a car even 1 year old drops us around $15k! A few years is about $20k- I have found some amazing options by not limiting myself to a particular year.


2."Get a bigger box"- In the words of Bob Harrison, sometimes you need to look outside of your comfort level. Yes, I could drive down the street and buy a car but I might find an amazing deal in another city- or in the next state. We actually bought our current Expedition in Texas at a fraction of what we would have paid here. We paid a mechanic to go and check it out for us and had it shipped here for $500- we saved thousands of dollars.


3. Watch what is added on to your loan- ok, this I will probably have to write a whole blog on!!! Just know, that your sales person makes extra commission off of every add on- all of the insurances, etc...


4. Be willing to put money down. So, this $200 goal of mine might not be out of reach if I put some money down... You don't have to empty your savings account but put enough down to give yourself a comfortable payment.


5. Sell your current car yourself. At trade in my car is blue booked at $3000 at private sale my care is blue booked at $5500- so I make an extra $2500 just by selling it myself! Money that will go directly into the down payment fund.


6.Shop around for financing BEFORE you go to the dealership! When we bought Kiohud's car they said "Great news! We have you approved for a 4% rate!" I replied- " What is great news is that my credit union already approved me for a 3.5%!" They then of course tried to match or beat it- when banks start competing against each other YOU win!!!


That is all I have for now- if any of you have any tips for me- please let me know! My ac died in the Expedition the other day and I called Kiohud who is in Montana and said I was so frustrated I almost went down and bought a new car!!! He replied: Yay! You bought a new car?! It was this conversation that led to the realization that it was indeed time for me to take the plunge while we can still make a decent sale off of the Expedition. AC has been fixed, so we will take our time in finding our perfect, new car. Wish me luck!!! :)