How are you going to spend your stimulus money?

The credit life is a scam. Period.
The GAP coverage is valuable. If you're in an accident and your vehicle is totaled, GAP takes the difference between what you owe versus what the insurance company gives you, GAP pays it off

Example:
Your 2018 Ford F-150 gets totaled.
You owe 26,000. Insurance gives you 17,000.
Your GAP coverage pays it off.
You can normally get it for 4-500 dollars total. Roll it into the note at 0 percent and its a few bucks a month.
The extended warranties CAN BE very valuable, provided your finance guy isn't a complete moron.
I've seen people save several thousand dollars by getting one.
The first time you use your extended warranty, you've paid for it.

 

He would have been really mad if your bank beat his rate and you show up with a check.

 

Bought a new car in July. Sales manager makes me fill out a questionnaire. Won't say what it's for. Then comes back with the extended warranties and all that stuff. At the start of the process, I told him I wouldn't be interested in any of it. But he persisted, so to speak.
Tried the hard sell. I said, "I have just paid full price for a new car without any semblance of negotiating. In fact, I bought this car only hours after taking it for a test drive. Less than six hours from start to finish. I do not wish to discuss these topics any longer."
I suppose my "crime" was in paying with a cashier's check in full rather than in getting into a finance plan with American Honda.

 

I didn't finance my last vehicle ... or the two prior.

Last one, the dealer was smart enough not to go there. There have been more than a few that tried "F&I." Made clear that going there again would end everything.

I know what I'm getting into. I don't need your $200 window etching - which one place tried to claim was already done - your $200 pinstripe or your $300 undercoating. Didn't want a pinstripe on any vehicle I'm buying and the manufacturer took care of the undercoating or the machine would already have rusted during the time it sat at the plant, on the truck and on the dealership lot. I call my carrier to switch vehicles on my policy and your other attempts at getting money back are going to fail.

Now ... to get the third-party extended warranty rip-offs to stop sending mail I won't respond to and to make clear to SiriusXM that I'm not paying for their service. My music preferences are not met by them in any way, shape or form and my phone is loaded with more than 1,000 tracks and 80 hours' worth of music. Sell your rip-off elsewhere, please and thank you.

 

Your crime was paying cash, period. Anymore financing and add-ons are where they make money, 'cause it's pretty easy to get an accurate cost on the car and to internet shop buying it.

 

It's also because people are obsessed with the "payment" amount and not the total cost. And dealers know it.

You can do a lot of fancy maneuvering to arrive at a monthly cost tolerable to anyone. Last car my brother bought was a seven-year loan. I wanted to slap him.

 

I've always paid the dealer in cash. That's one reason why I drove my last car for 15 years. I hate shopping in general and car shopping is the worst, so I try to do everything I can to minimize the experience.

 

Per NC above: As a general note for the youngsters, always negotiate the price of the car before you tell the dealership whether you're going to finance or pay cash.

They make their money on financing these days. If you offer cash as soon as you walk through the door, they'll just charge you more for the car.

In the old days, if you showed up with fistful of cash you got a better deal. No longer.

So, even if you want to pay cash, do your haggling and lock in the price of the car first.

 

And because so many buyers are trying to get into the best car they can, regardless of whether they can actually afford it. That’s why you see so many 72-month loans now.

 

We had some lenders that offered up to 10 years. I know Navy Federal did.
I remember when we did our first 5 year loan. Owner of the store about krapped.

 

72 is the new average.

 

I saw a TV ad yesterday for an 84-month loan. Seven years. Fuck that noise.