Keep in mind I'm a single male and have had a $115k mortgage for a full year now. I currently own a 2008 Honda Accord EX-L I purchased brand new from a dealership which currently has a little over 21k miles on it. It has every option except for a navigation system. I owe a little over 20k on it and my payments are a little over $500/month. I bought it in June of '08.

I am considering purchasing a 2008 BMW 325i with 12k miles on it. I can purchase it for less than 25k, but it is from out of state(I live in AR and the car is in TX), so I would be paying sales tax when I registered it and wouldn't have the option of adding it to the amount financed on the loan like I did with my current vehicle. I wouldn't really be seeing a change on my insurance. And I might be able to lower my monthly payments about $40/month if I financed over 60 months, but if I financed over 72 months it would be around $420-430/month. I did some research and my sales tax would be around $350.

I am looking to cut my monthly finances a little to save up for something in particular that would affect the rest of my life(if you catch my drift) and the extra $$$ every month would go into my savings account which I don't really want to dip into

What would you guys do if in my situation. Remember I'm unmarried now, but...probably won't be in less than 2 years.

I need some 3rd party unbiased advice

BMW maintenence/upkeep is going to run you more than the honda, the accord is also more "family friendly" you would also want to figure the difference in the interest you would be paying for a longer period of time.
Ck out Dave Ramsey financial planning or any christian financial planning they are great at showing how to cut corners & work towards being debt free

(11-30-2009 07:35 PM)MrsTigerPawr Wrote:  BMW maintenence/upkeep is going to run you more than the honda, the accord is also more "family friendly" you would also want to figure the difference in the interest you would be paying for a longer period of time.
Ck out Dave Ramsey financial planning or any christian financial planning they are great at showing how to cut corners & work towards being debt free

The BMW currently has 27 months left of the warranty on it which means free schedules maintenance until that 27 months is up. So I wouldnt be paying for oil changes/tire rotations/etc. for the next 2+ years as well...

Seems like a pretty deal. As a guy with some experience in the auto/banking business I would strongly recommend you steer clear of a 72 month loan.

Also, from experience, BMW has the best service plan and best customer service of any automaker I've ever seen. Except, Roadshow is a lot less flexible when it comes to service than other BMW dealerships. However, they typically can't be beat when it comes to price on a new or used car.

(11-30-2009 10:04 PM)supertiger Wrote:  Seems like a pretty deal. As a guy with some experience in the auto/banking business I would strongly recommend you steer clear of a 72 month loan.

Also, from experience, BMW has the best service plan and best customer service of any automaker I've ever seen. Except, Roadshow is a lot less flexible when it comes to service than other BMW dealerships. However, they typically can't be beat when it comes to price.

Dad told me the same thing, but I would also more than likely pay more than the minimum payment on the car each month and it would be paid off before the full 72 months, esp with a 2nd income...

You won't like what Dave has to say but that don't make it bad advice.

(11-30-2009 10:57 PM)GringoStarr Wrote:  You won't like what Dave has to say but that don't make it bad advice.

who is dave?

LOL Dave will say to sell the honda and buy a beater and become debt free in 8 years.

(11-30-2009 11:02 PM)Hernando Wrote:  LOL Dave will say to sell the honda and buy a beater and become debt free in 8 years.

ahh dave being dave ramsey...

Stay single.

If you plan on getting married soon, better hope her folks are springing for the wedding. If not, you better save every dime for the wedding starting now (so you won't owe anything). My wife and I paid for most of ours out of pocket and by cutting corners we still spent over 10K. It was still a nice ceremony and reception, but it ain't cheap.

(12-01-2009 02:08 PM)poppaslaw Wrote:  If you plan on getting married soon, better hope her folks are springing for the wedding. If not, you better save every dime for the wedding starting now (so you won't owe anything). My wife and I paid for most of ours out of pocket and by cutting corners we still spent over 10K. It was still a nice ceremony and reception, but it ain't cheap.

We had a fair amount of help, but still paid for some stuff on our own. Alls I know is that the term "nickle and diming" never applied to weddings. More like "$500 and $1,000ing"

As far as Dave Ramsey goes, I enjoy his show but would never become a follower unless I was at bigtime rock bottom debt. I don't want to sell every single thing I've ever bought. I'll rather have a few things to look at and pay our credit cards and student loans down bit by bit.

pardon my ignorance, but what is christian financial planning and how is it different from regular ole' financial planning?

There are "extremely reasonable" people here?? Who knew?!

Marriage isnt all its cracked up to be

/s/

Tiger Woods