JimC

So here is the senario. I am currently saving for a down payment on an Evo. I am planning on putting 10-12K down on one and buying it in June/July next year. At the same time I am paying off a financed car that is in my name and financed on my credit (my girlfriends car) which runs me $238/mo. When it comes time to buy my Evo the money I will have saved to put down on it would pay off my gf's car. Am I better off putting the money down on the Evo, and keeping two reasonable car payments, or am I better off paying off the Toyota, and buying the Evo with only like 2K down? I am curious which would be better when financing the Evo with regards to what rates I would qualify for. I have good credit, I qualified for the next to best interest for my gf's car (It is a Scion and they have fixed interest rates, they said the only issue was that I did not have a long credit history) I am 23 right now and as of this month have had credit for 3 years. My salary is nothing special, I have only been out of school for less than a year. My gf's salary an mine combined get us by nicely though, which is why I would be able to afford the payments. So which way should I go? Pay off the Toyota and 2K down on the Evo, or leave the Toyota as it is and put the money down on the Evo? Sorry for the long story and thanks for any advice.

Jim

04 rs

iTrader: (23)

if i were you i would pay your girls car off and put the 2k down on the evo and have your girl co-sign your loan

Kelmar

iTrader: (1)

You lost me... you really need NUMBERS to play this game.

Just a question, could you afford the Evo if you didn't rely on your gf's salary? I mean, would you be able to afford the Evo if something happened and YOU had to pay for everything?

Jakeg97

iTrader: (56)

pay off the other first
then buy an evo

EngineChauffer

I would not pay off your girls car unless you marry her first. I would not mix buisness and personal life in that way.

I understand what you are saying, you will be in great standing if you pay her car off early, but if you do, and something happens down the road between you and her, and she is co-signed on the loan it could be a very bad situation. That would mean that the car would have to be titled to her also, and she would have to be insured (depends on the state laws where you live) too.

I would just basically say, listen, this is your car, I will continue to help you pay when I can as much as I can, but I want to purchase this new one on my own to establish my own credit.

End of story. If you two share your money anyway, it shouldn't be an issue of how the car payment is made. If things don't work out, you will still be in great shape on your own.

Look out for number one.

elhalisf

iTrader: (171)

keep the downpayment for your car. with a big downpayment, they will probably give you financing even with a short history credit.

JimC

Kelmar, without her car payment yes I could afford the Evo on my own.

With regards to her co-signing, technically she is co-signed on her car, but I am the primary so we could get the good financing, her credit is not perfect. I understand looking out for myself, and I do agree that things can always go wrong, but I do plan on marrying this girl, we already live together and have joint finances. My primary focus is which would Mitsu look at and be happier with? Thanks for looking out for me though.

Jim

Mr. Slappy

iTrader: (8)

I'd say the big downpayment

DUROEVO

iTrader: (1)

I work in finance at a auto dealer.....do you have any established credit??? because if not you are better off putting a big down and financing the rest......Plus I would not go through MItsu unless they still have the 0%.....deffinetly go through a credit union..due to all the banks interest rates are going up sky rocket up.....

JimC

I do have established credit, 3 years of it. Everywhere I go and they run my credit they tell me its great.

04 rs

iTrader: (23)

do you know what your score is?? are you tier one???

timzcat

iTrader: (10)

Look at it this way. Lets say the Scion is at 6% on the loan and you can get the Evo at 6% a year from now. Would you rather pay 6% on say $16,000 (Scion) and 6% on $20,000 (Evo)
or
nothing on the Scion and 6% on $30,000

Looks obvious but I bet if you look at the numbers themselves the big down payment is a better option. Keep in mind you pay a lot of the finance charge up front on a loan so if the Scion is 2 or 3 years old you paid the bulk of the finance charges.

Another option is to get the bank to agree next year to let her take over payments on the loan and remove you from the loan. This should get you a paid on your credit and it will help her build her own credit. Once she owns the car it will only say she paid the loan satisfactorily. As a co-signer I don't think she will get any credit for the loan.

djskyy

iTrader: (14)

Assuming these numbers.....

$12K savings
$10K payoff on Scion
$2K DP on EVO

-$30K at 0% = $500/60month

or

$12 DP on EVO
$10K on Scion($240)
$33K for a NEW EVO (less $12K DP) = $21K at 0% = $350/60month

-your payment will be about $600/month if you decide to dump the $12K in the EVO....and when your Scion is paid off, you'll be paying around $350/month till EVO is paid


****prices are only estimates & based on 0%****

JimC

Hmm, lots of good points here. I think I may just end up going to Mitsu, or whom ever I finance the car through to see what would be the better way to go. Transferring the loan to my girl is a good idea as well, I will have to look in to that, so long as Toyota Financial will agree to it.

Jim

ru4real

If you plan on paying off the Scion, don't save the money and THEN pay off the Scion, pay extra on the Scion starting NOW and you'll save a significant amount of interest. That'll be extra money you can save towards your Evo downpayment.

This is assuming you have additional money that is put towards long-term savings that you don't touch.