How can you afford the cost of a new SUV?

[mountie]

that is one sexy car! I love old american muscle cars. My fav is the 65 mustang. To me the muscle cars are an art form

I was assisting on 'artwork' on some '70's bodies... I was honored to work with my friend, Kenny Youngblood on his repaint restoration - paint projects. ( example below) Uh, no,... not me airbrushing !! But I did some brush work on some logos, but mostly masking for his genius work.

 

[Geotrash]

I do want to ad that we originally had no intention of buying new. For the last 2 years we looked for a used 2017-2020 Suburban, wanted an LT with less than 60k miles. Every single one we found up here was around $45k. I just couldn’t get myself to pay nearly $50k for a used vehicle with no warranty when we could get a brand new one with the diesel for $25k more. Used prices are still stupid high.

Nothing wrong with that at all, as long as you're cool with the depreciation that awaits in the months and years ahead and the lost investment value of that money down the road. In my 30's I would've made the same choice, I'm sure. Would I make that same choice knowing what I know now? No. But I also didn't have $40K to put down then either. And there's much to be said for keeping mama safe and happy with those kiddos in tow.

If it helps update your awareness though, the bottom fell out of the used market on the previous generation of these over the past few months. Right now, I can buy a 2018 Yukon XL Denali with 96K for $31K or one with 64K for $39K (before negotiating) within 50 miles of my house. 2018 is the first year of the 10-speed transmission and the one I would buy if I were in the market.

I've also been following the enterprise car sales site for the past couple of years. Last December there were only a handful of these trucks (of any age) available for sale there. Right now there are 45 Suburbans and Yukon XL's for sale there, some of them with a "price reduced" banner. We're going to continue to see downward price pressure on these through 2024 & 2025, I predict.

 

[mountie]

When Tom " Mongo$$e" McEwen was void of sponsorship, he wanted to play in the Alcohol. His exhibition '57 was built. The ONLY REAL parts on the fiberglass are the hood 'points', headers, intake, parachutes. Everything else was airbrushed by Youngblood. ( all chrome is painted, headlights/grill, etc )

( I did a lot of masking )

 

[SNWMBL]

We haven’t had a payment on anything except for the mortgage since 2017, I’m not going to lie that it’s hard to do that again. I know we’d be better off putting the $45k down payment towards the home mortgage(did the math on interest saved) but we decided we’d do the car now so my wife has more time to enjoy it while kids are young and once it’s paid off we’ll hit the mortgage hard.

I have a 2015 2500 HD 6.0 I bought brand new in 2015 right before we went thru FPU, I don’t regret buying it new. I’ve kept up on the maintenance and it’s in immaculate shape, I know it’s history, I know it’s reliable, and I have no plans to get rid of it, only has 60k miles on it and the 6.0 is very reliable. The big draw to the diesel burn was having a backup (or possibly primary based on the great mpg numbers owners are seeing) tow rig for our side x side. I had a 1500 truck with the 5.3 and that was a turd towing.

Financial decisions are super tough. Every decision has a downside no matter what you choose. I think the most important thing is that you and your spouse agree to whatever the decision is. My wife and I sat down and made sure we were both comfortable taking on a payment before we finally submitted the order.

 

[Jocko PDX]

Great topic, just finished reading all the replies.

IMO, true affordability means your home is paid off, you have ZERO debt, retirement accounts are maxed, you can pay cash for the vehicle and it doesn’t affect your budget at all. If you have to make a payment and sacrifice in other areas then you can’t really afford it. I don’t know anyone in life though that buys only clothes from the thrift store, all their food from Walmart, doesn’t subscribe to any kind of TV streaming services ect so everyone to some extent is not being as smart with their money as they could be.

Having said that, we have a suburban on order and by my own definition we can’t afford it. By the time it gets here we will have 40k to put down and will be financing the remaining 30k for 3 years and should have it paid off in 2. My wife has been driving a used 2003 Honda Pilot that we bought in 2015 for $5,500 when she was pregnant with our first child. That was to replace the $1,000 Chevy Cobalt she drove all thru college. The Pilot has 226k miles on it and we now have 2 kids ages 4 and 7. If we waited to pay the house off, then waited to save up all the cash needed, we would be buying a new car when the kids were about out of school and it wouldn’t even be needed at that point. My wife works hard and is not materialistic at all, I want her to enjoy a new car, we will have it for the next 14 years until our youngest is out of the house. I also got the 3.0 and wanted a new diesel before our stupid liberal government makes everything electric.

We budget every month and track our expenses, we make decent money, and I am in the category of life is a balance. Like others have posted, I have seen too many people retire only to die a couple years later. My wife and I started 529’s for both kids when they were born, but I do not believe in fully funding college for kids, just my opinion but I think it produces lazy and entitled workers. I don’t want my children to struggle(hence the 529’s) but they will work during the summers to fund the remainder of their educations. I don’t max retirement but I have a good chunk saved so far (38 years old) and should have a good nest egg by 60 when I plan to leave my current job.

Like posted multiple times, only you can make the decision for yourself.

A couple things that I would say to follow up on your post.. Buying a nice suburban for your wife and kids to drive in has value in its self. Happy wife happy life,.. Also a big suburban is a very safe ride.. How much of a price can you put on that?? How much would you pay to have your children be safe.. Very good choice in My opinion. My wife and I bought a new suburban in 2003 (I was 33). It still runs awesome (even tough I just bought a Denali that burb wont die!..) But I would say that 2003 suburban is some of the best money I ever spent., it has never broken down on the side of the road once.. ever.

 

[mountie]

As they say, " In an accident, the bigger car wins ".

( photo)..... I chauffeured this 6-door Ford a few times.... I couldn't resist parking next to the little thingy.

 

[B-train]

Dude you won't win against the advocates of the old stuff. The old stuff is junk compared to new and that holds true with any brand. I the old gm stuff was terrible.

Another thing. I hate anything that isn't obd2. I want data. I don't like guessing. Obd1 and older sucks. Carbs suck.

You are definitely a younger technician. OBD2 can tell you a lot, which is helpful, but I will take older gen stuff any day......period. Anything TBI or MPI with/without OBD2 will run FOREVER and be cheap to fix.

Once you get to AFM, DFM, DEF, etc it gets exponentially more involved and expensive to fix. COOL a new truck can get 20 mpg with 420 hp. I had a 1996 with 305hp that got 19-21 mpg. NOTHING has improved in the last 20 years (other than the 3.0 diesel) that has made any half ton greatly improved over the last versions.

If you took CAFE out of the equation and put newer motors to the same standards as say a 1996 with OBD2, then the new stuff would mop the floor in efficiency......but the EPA and big oil won't let that happen because it would cut into their profits and motives. The improvements are there, just not usable for the public

 

[B-train]

Great topic, just finished reading all the replies.

IMO, true affordability means your home is paid off, you have ZERO debt, retirement accounts are maxed, you can pay cash for the vehicle and it doesn’t affect your budget at all. If you have to make a payment and sacrifice in other areas then you can’t really afford it. I don’t know anyone in life though that buys only clothes from the thrift store, all their food from Walmart, doesn’t subscribe to any kind of TV streaming services ect so everyone to some extent is not being as smart with their money as they could be.

Having said that, we have a suburban on order and by my own definition we can’t afford it. By the time it gets here we will have 40k to put down and will be financing the remaining 30k for 3 years and should have it paid off in 2. My wife has been driving a used 2003 Honda Pilot that we bought in 2015 for $5,500 when she was pregnant with our first child. That was to replace the $1,000 Chevy Cobalt she drove all thru college. The Pilot has 226k miles on it and we now have 2 kids ages 4 and 7. If we waited to pay the house off, then waited to save up all the cash needed, we would be buying a new car when the kids were about out of school and it wouldn’t even be needed at that point. My wife works hard and is not materialistic at all, I want her to enjoy a new car, we will have it for the next 14 years until our youngest is out of the house. I also got the 3.0 and wanted a new diesel before our stupid liberal government makes everything electric.

We budget every month and track our expenses, we make decent money, and I am in the category of life is a balance. Like others have posted, I have seen too many people retire only to die a couple years later. My wife and I started 529’s for both kids when they were born, but I do not believe in fully funding college for kids, just my opinion but I think it produces lazy and entitled workers. I don’t want my children to struggle(hence the 529’s) but they will work during the summers to fund the remainder of their educations. I don’t max retirement but I have a good chunk saved so far (38 years old) and should have a good nest egg by 60 when I plan to leave my current job.

Like posted multiple times, only you can make the decision for yourself.

Absolutely love this reply. Good man, I like your program.....other than the payment portion, but I'm confident you'll hammer that out in no time.

And +1 for the college explanation. F the free ride our govt has said we should do. I worked for everything I have......from teenage on up. Per my daughter's FAFSA, my wife and I SHOULD contribute 41K per year to college!!!! What.....in the...actual F? It's bogus and will sink patents. Let the kids learn at their own pace, or through community College if they haven't really figured out a path (if college is their thing) .

 

[Miami-Dade]

Great post but you had to make it political. LOL.

Fixed that and sent message to the OP.

 

[Miami-Dade]

This is the last message on POSTING POLITICAL. I am not cleaning up any more posts. This thread will be either deleted or entirely removed next time around. It might be sooner then you think.