Planning on upgrading, best use of my funds? - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

OperativeXIV · 01-29-2014, 07:55 PM

I currently have a 2012 2LT I got in July 2012 (which I adore!) but I'm looking to upgrade around the end of 2014 or early 2015 to a V8 - either a Stringray, a 5th Gen ZL1, or a 6th generation SS (Or ZL1 if I can be patient enough). My plan is to custom order my car this time around and keep it for a long, long time. As such I'm willing to pay a little bit more now for a car I'll be happy with for, hopefully, the next 40 years...

Right now I owe around $20,900. kbb.com (...for what it's worth...) says that my car would fetch ~$21,800 in fair condition, albeit I think the condition of my car is better than fair. I would be financing my upgrade, and I figure I could carry about a $700 a month payment. I have a 72 month loan on my current car with a $413 a month payment, but I'm currently sending in $700 a month so I can see how that expense fits in with my life and to pay off more of the principle. I'm also putting $500 in a special savings account every month specifically to build up my down payment aside from what I can put in there from time to time otherwise. I'd just like to clarify this is after general expenses, general savings, saving up for a future house, retirement accounts and so forth are taken care of.

I'm hoping I can get some advice from someone more experienced than me at buying cars on how I should be allocating that extra ~$300 a month. Do you guys think that it's better to pay off more of my cars loan so that it maximizes its trade in value as I'm doing now? Or should I just forget about trade in value and pay the minimum on my current car so that I can save more for the down payment on the upgrade? Should I pay extra on my car for 'X' months to ensure I'm not upside down on the loan, then switch to putting it in my upgrade account?

I'm of two minds - I know that dealerships like to play games with trade in values. If I save up $3600 over the next year in my aptly named V8 savings account, I'll have $3600 to put towards my down payment. Whereas if I put it towards my car I'm gambling on how much the dealership might give me and that $3,600 might turn into, relatively speaking, $4,000 or $1,200 once the dealership does give me a trade in value.

Any advice?

01-29-2014, 07:55 PM	#1
OperativeXIV Drives: 2012 Summit White 2LT/RS Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Phoenix Posts: 71	Planning on upgrading, best use of my funds? I currently have a 2012 2LT I got in July 2012 (which I adore!) but I'm looking to upgrade around the end of 2014 or early 2015 to a V8 - either a Stringray, a 5th Gen ZL1, or a 6th generation SS (Or ZL1 if I can be patient enough). My plan is to custom order my car this time around and keep it for a long, long time. As such I'm willing to pay a little bit more now for a car I'll be happy with for, hopefully, the next 40 years... Right now I owe around $20,900. kbb.com (...for what it's worth...) says that my car would fetch ~$21,800 in fair condition, albeit I think the condition of my car is better than fair. I would be financing my upgrade, and I figure I could carry about a $700 a month payment. I have a 72 month loan on my current car with a $413 a month payment, but I'm currently sending in $700 a month so I can see how that expense fits in with my life and to pay off more of the principle. I'm also putting $500 in a special savings account every month specifically to build up my down payment aside from what I can put in there from time to time otherwise. I'd just like to clarify this is after general expenses, general savings, saving up for a future house, retirement accounts and so forth are taken care of. I'm hoping I can get some advice from someone more experienced than me at buying cars on how I should be allocating that extra ~$300 a month. Do you guys think that it's better to pay off more of my cars loan so that it maximizes its trade in value as I'm doing now? Or should I just forget about trade in value and pay the minimum on my current car so that I can save more for the down payment on the upgrade? Should I pay extra on my car for 'X' months to ensure I'm not upside down on the loan, then switch to putting it in my upgrade account? I'm of two minds - I know that dealerships like to play games with trade in values. If I save up $3600 over the next year in my aptly named V8 savings account, I'll have $3600 to put towards my down payment. Whereas if I put it towards my car I'm gambling on how much the dealership might give me and that $3,600 might turn into, relatively speaking, $4,000 or $1,200 once the dealership does give me a trade in value. Any advice? __________________