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Average auto loan now over $30k

capitalcityguy said:
The average American household isn’t saving’s poor and debt heavy due to taking out pay day loans or in many cases, high interest loans either. So I’d push back gently and suggest you are missing the point here.

It is being pointed out by a few that people are accepting as “normal” practices that we’ve been sold as normal…e.g…financing cars we can’t afford.

These aren’t the practices of past generations, they aren’t the practices of families of average incomes that over time generate a healthy net worth, and they aren’t “normal” for countries where the populace doesn’t find itself so overextended.

If the “it” you speak of is bad advice from the get go, does it really matter “how you go about doing it”?
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I don't live in the past
 
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capitalcityguy said:
The average American household isn’t saving’s poor and debt heavy due to taking out pay day loans or in many cases, high interest loans either. So I’d push back gently and suggest you are missing the point here.

It is being pointed out by a few that people are accepting as “normal” practices that we’ve been sold as normal…e.g…financing cars we can’t afford.

These aren’t the practices of past generations, they aren’t the practices of families of average incomes that over time generate a healthy net worth, and they aren’t “normal” for countries where the populace doesn’t find itself so overextended.

If the “it” you speak of is bad advice from the get go, does it really matter “how you go about doing it”?
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History seems to speak otherwise...
 
capitalcityguy said:
The average American household isn’t saving’s poor and debt heavy due to taking out pay day loans or in many cases, high interest loans either. So I’d push back gently and suggest you are missing the point here.

It is being pointed out by a few that people are accepting as “normal†practices that we’ve been sold as normal…e.g…financing cars we can’t afford.

These aren’t the practices of past generations, they aren’t the practices of families of average incomes that over time generate a healthy net worth, and they aren’t “normal†for countries where the populace doesn’t find itself so overextended.

If the “it†you speak of is bad advice from the get go, does it really matter “how you go about doing it�
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Yeah, where some European countries allow you to take debt out that carries over to your children.

Americans may be bad, but citing other countries as "better" is erroneous. Americans in general are in much better shape than Australians, Canadians, and other "western" countries.

https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-debt.htm
 
[h=1]People Over 50 Carrying More Debt Than in the Past[/h][h=2]The average 65-year-old borrower has 47% more mortgage debt than those in 2003[/h]

By JOSH ZUMBRUN

Updated Feb. 12, 2016 4:17 p.m. ETOlder Americans are burdened with unprecedented debt loads as more and more baby boomers enter what are meant to be their retirement years owing far more on their houses, cars and even college loans than previous generations.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-yor...in-debts-held-by-those-over-age-50-1455289257
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wxman1 said:
Might just be me but I have yet to see anyone give any truly bad advice on here. No one has told anyone to go take out a high interest loan or payday loan. It is all "if you are going to do it here is the best option." The rest is all a **** measuring contest.
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Someone talked about puttin no money down on a new vehicle as being a good idea because of 0 interest. Sorry any advice that suggests you go upside down on an asset is terrible.
 
Cyclonefan710 said:
Someone talked about puttin no money down on a new vehicle as being a good idea because of 0 interest. Sorry any advice that suggests you go upside down on an asset is terrible.
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again, that kinda depends on what they instead do with the money they otherwise would have put down on the car.

Of course, this gets us back to the "is debt bad" discussion from a previous thread.

The answer, as always, is it depends.
 
wxman1 said:
Well when was the first bank started?
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Did you see the WSJ article I linked to? I can supply many more.

Am I to understand that it is your contention that the average American’s debt levels and propensity to buy on credit today is anywhere near the same as they were for past generations? Is that what you are claiming? If it is, I would love to see a link to anything that would support such a claim. This has been a generally worsening steady tread beginning in the 1980’s.
 
A car is a DEPRECIATING asset. Almost always a terrible idea to leverage up buying depreciating assets. A house maybe, but a car no.
 
Clark said:
again, that kinda depends on what they instead do with the money they otherwise would have put down on the car.

Of course, this gets us back to the "is debt bad" discussion from a previous thread.

The answer, as always, is it depends.
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I don't care what someone's opinion is on debt, leveraging yourself to obtain an asset you immediately go upside down on is moronic.
 
capitalcityguy said:
Did you see the WSJ article I linked to? I can supply many more.

Am I to understand that it is your contention that the average American’s debt levels and propensity to buy on credit today is anywhere near the same as they were for past generations? Is that what you are claiming? If it is, I would love to see a link to anything that would support such a claim. This has been a generally worsening steady tread beginning in the 1980’s.
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I know my grandparents didn't have access to credit cards and I was a teen before my parents had access to one so i think it's hard to compare between generations.
 
ArgentCy said:
A car is a DEPRECIATING asset. Almost always a terrible idea to leverage up buying depreciating assets. A house maybe, but a car no.
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I guess it depends on your purpose though. I drive my cars until they are pretty much dead, so I feel I get every last once of use and value out of them. I don't care about how fast they depreciate because I am going to have it long after its presumed useful life is expired. So if I can get buy with no down payment I will take it every time.
 
capitalcityguy said:
Did you see the WSJ article I linked to? I can supply many more.

Am I to understand that it is your contention that the average American’s debt levels and propensity to buy on credit today is anywhere near the same as they were for past generations? Is that what you are claiming? If it is, I would love to see a link to anything that would support such a claim. This has been a generally worsening steady tread beginning in the 1980’s.
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That isn't my claim at all. My claim is that debt and credit are nothing new and although not perfect if used wisely is not a bad option.
 
Cyclonefan710 said:
I don't care what someone's opinion is on debt, leveraging yourself to obtain an asset you immediately go upside down on is moronic.
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If I had $30k in the bank with the options to either buy the car with cash or take a 5 year 0% loan, I'm going to take the loan. If you have the money in either scenario, what does it matter the asset's value is depreciating?
 
isufbcurt said:
I know my grandparents didn't have access to credit cards and I was a teen before my parents had access to one so i think it's hard to compare between generations.
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Anecdotally for your personal family situation, maybe. But that doesn’t really help to know anyway since it is unique to just your family.

On the contrary, the average US household debt levels, savings rates, etc. over time and thus across generations are well documented.
 
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