A cheap bastard with 4 cars

You must have one huge garage.

 

Jason E, does you dad want to sell his Formula yet?

 

I'm with Guy.

Keep the GP and get a small bank loan or line of credit to pay off the credit card (and vow to never/ever carry a balance on a credit card again). If you choose not the buy the MC SS you'll have $211 a month to pay off the bank loan. Now is a good time to make some smart decisions on needs/wants that will pay huge dividends in the future. High debt and interest loads are an unpleasant way to live.

 

CLEAN,
Nah...he was thinking C6 but is keeping it now. He knows I'll kill him if he sells it That car will go no further than me, one of these days...it just rolled out of factory warranty and has 1,946 miles on it He registers it 7/1 - 11/1 every year, then it goes back under the cover lol. For those of you who don't know, I sold him a Sunset Orange Metallic/black cloth 6 speed Hurst Formula back in April of 2002. I ordered it for me and chickened out on selling the Z, so he did the honorable thing and bought it instead

poSSum,
I don't blame you and Guy at all for the advice. I tend to agree with you both to a certain extent. I guess you'd have to know my situation a little better to follow me maybe. I never carried a balance EVER until I bought this house. Unlike a lot of people, I didn't charge for the sake of charging. I needed a roof. The bathroom was awful. The front door leaked. Everything in this house was from 1951. Now? The house is far better one year later, but yeah...the credit cards are up around $5,500. That's why I've been selling cars again for the last year, only on Saturday. Now that the house is at the point where I don't NEED to charge anything, I can begin the slow and painful process of paying them down $500 a month at 12% for the next 1 year +.

OR...

I can get a 4.8% car loan and pay $200/month more for the proposed GXP (I changed my mind and landed on a car ), and still be able to save that extra $300/month that would have gone to credit cards. Whereas, a home equity line of credit typically has a variable APR (and obviously short-term rates are rising), or a home equity loan will have a helluva prepayment penalty (at least at my bank) if I sell the house before the loan has matured...which I may end up doing. My girlfriend has had a lot of trouble finding a job here in Western MA in her field, but has one in Central NH. She's driving 260 miles a day 3 days a week to the job...that's going to get old after awhile I'd guess.

So the way I look at it is this. I will never, EVER NEED to crank the card up so high again that I can't pay it off at the end of the month. I can get a 4.8% car loan versus the 12% variable rate on my GM card. I buy a kickass car almost $10k off, pay off my cards, and my monthly expenses rise $200/month. In reality, I now have $300/month cash to cover any and all extra credit card expenses I may have, so I'm no worse off and have a brand new car with a 3 year warranty.

The ONLY thing about this plan that would backfire is if I lost my job...my fixed payments every month would be higher, versus a credit card that you can pay whatever you feel like. I know this is a very unorthodox way of paying your bills, but between the deal on the car, how much I love the car, the fact that I now spend far less than I did when I cranked the debt up, and the fact that its actually the best rate with the least penalty, and it seems to work. Maybe I'm wooed by what my right foot tells me, but even my CPA father thinks its a great idea. And he's as fiscally responsible as they come. But again, he's a CPA with an orange Firebird

Regardless, its nice to see the concern coming from those older and wiser than me I appreciate it...

 

2 comments ... on the conservative side again.

If I read your posts right you have 2+ years of payments left now and would be getting into 5 years of payments.

An APR line of credit has to be significantly cheaper than the 12% you're paying on the GM card.

 

Is the 01 Grand Prix GT Coupe giving you any problems? Or any lurking problems you definantly know that would show up soon?

If not, then I would go with the conservative approach, keep the 01 GP GT, pay off your credit card bills, and save some more money..

 

Correct...but a line on my house will be 5.5% variable if I borrow OVER $25,000 (not quite needed!!!!!), or 6.00% variable if under $25k. A home equity loan would be 5.75% fixed, but carries a prepayment penalty. Conversely, the auto loan is fixed at 4.8%. You are correct on the amount of payments, though

And I can't re-fi the house because the closing costs don't make it worth it, and I have the only 4.5% fixed 30 year mortgage I've ever seen Hence the reason I bought a little before I probably should have...but the house has gone up in value significantly in just the past year, so I guess it was worth it.

 

Honestly? This car is a tank. A 3800 with a 4T65E is about as bulletproof a combo as there is. 4T65s get a bum rap from GTP owners who mod the crap outta them, but they really are a decent tranny. The only issue is on cold mornings, the steering rack binds a little when backing out of the driveway, then is fine for the rest of the day. Our zone rep offered to cover it under warranty when it starts doing it again this fall...it never did it long enough for a tech to diagnose, and now its too warm every morning. I love the car...I just love this GXP more