Wife's (unocuppied) car was hit in a parking lot. Initial damage estimate was that it was relatively minor, but when the body shop went to do the work they quickly determined that the work was much more extensive and thus declared the vehicle totaled. Now offered a check for about $9K, which is fair (KBB was ~$7.5K). So, we're suddenly in the market for replacing her car. Admittedly, we were probably ~1-2 years away from replacing it anyways, but nonetheless this wasn't on our immediate timeline and as such I'm scrambling to do my research to get current.
In the past, I would always go to my credit union and get a cheap car loan (e.g. 1.5%) and buy a 2-3 year old vehicle. Could have paid cash, but never would with low rates (always paid it back in 36 months). Those days are obviously gone.
With our backs relatively against the wall, what are general thoughts on how to pay for this in the current market? I suspect we're going to end up buying another several-year-old vehicle in the $30-35K range. Besides the obvious (applying the payment from our totaled car), would you (a) still get a car loan from a credit union at a rate likely to be 6%+, or (b) just keep it simple and pay cash. In my case for (b), I'd probably be looking at selling some funds from a taxable brokerage account to cover it (incurring some capital gains).
We are otherwise a debt-free family (only exception being our mortgage), 43M/42F with retirement savings of approximately $2M.
In the past, I would always go to my credit union and get a cheap car loan (e.g. 1.5%) and buy a 2-3 year old vehicle. Could have paid cash, but never would with low rates (always paid it back in 36 months). Those days are obviously gone.
With our backs relatively against the wall, what are general thoughts on how to pay for this in the current market? I suspect we're going to end up buying another several-year-old vehicle in the $30-35K range. Besides the obvious (applying the payment from our totaled car), would you (a) still get a car loan from a credit union at a rate likely to be 6%+, or (b) just keep it simple and pay cash. In my case for (b), I'd probably be looking at selling some funds from a taxable brokerage account to cover it (incurring some capital gains).
We are otherwise a debt-free family (only exception being our mortgage), 43M/42F with retirement savings of approximately $2M.
Statistics: Posted by dabretty — Tue Jun 25, 2024 11:08 pm — Replies 12 — Views 190