Finance plan or I don’t care?

Alright Tundra owners...I’ve been on this forum for a few months and there are two obvious behaviors from this collective community that make it a nice place to frequent.

First, you like to spend money (mods)! Who doesn’t right? Second, this is the friendliest digital community in the connected virtual world. There is a lot of truck and non-truck conversation. I was reading some data on the average demographic of Tundra owners and due to the high price point of the truck it makes sense. Perhaps this lends to why we all get along so well.

The reason for this post...what are your personal thoughts on Tundra financing and general debt? I see buy, trade, and upgrade Tundras frequently here. Which is great! If that’s how you roll, do that.

I’ve been in the camp of buy once, cry once. Bought Tundra in Nov ‘18, paid 45K OTD, and today I owe 13K with plans to pay off in the next few months. Dislike owing firms money I guess. What’s your Tundra financing approach? Thanks for sharing.

 

I bought in May of this year, put 20k down, and traded an accord in with minimum value. Financed about 24k for 5 years at 1.9%, at that interest rate, I don't mind spreading it out. Payments a little over $400 / month but paying more to finish early..

 

Daven. Post a photo of your truck man! Let’s see that thing.

 

Similar story here, I put 25k down and planning to pay it off quickly (so I can buy a Calvary Blue one) haha. Just messing around but your truck looks great!

 

Pic I took when I test drove it. Since then I've added Window Tint to the front windows as well as an eyebrow. Only 50% to keep it legal. Also added a BAK Backflip bed cover. The options I had added when I purchased it were the rear sway bar, running boards (not on picture), Sprayed Bed liner, all weather mats, and a Drone Remote Starter (which I love).

 

Toyota has a well earned reputation for building great trucks that are durable, so I shopped for a deal on the pre-owned model that I wanted... I paid cash when I found it almost 2 years ago.

 

Put 20K down and .9% on the remainder which was 30,000 on a three year loan.

I normally wait till the last year and pay it off but with that being so low of a rate I think I may just use their money.
I could take that ten grand and make another point on it just by being in a simple account but I doubt I would ever think about it.

If it were 0% I would just run it out.
If it were 6.9 like they wanted to charge me I would have just bought it.

 

Well, first off I will agree that this forum is the best one on the net. That's coming from a guy who helped found and moderate a major forum. The people, respect and friendliness here is second to none.

As to financing, one of the reasons I drive a 1st gen and not a 3rd gen is because I don't miss $600 per month truck payments. At this point, I can't justify it. Job instability, desire to buy a house in 1 or 2 years, The Woman going to school this fall etc.

That said, I do plan to finance my next truck albeit with at least 50% down so I have lower payments and it won't be on a term longer than 3 years. Toyota builds vehicles for the long term, so I have no issues financing them since I know I'll own the vehicle for a long time. If it's in the cards, I'll even look at brand new vs 3 - 5 years old.

 

Put about 20k down and financed the rest through my local credit union after doing the first 3 payments through Toyota.

Been nice only having a $230 truck payment each month. Only $3k to go so plan on doubling up on payments and knocking the rest out this year.

 

Bought my '19 Limited in Nov 2019. Only 10% down for me. The payment stings my checking account every month, but I have plans in place for an early payoff.

 

Well as one of the lower income classes here lol I financed my current tundra. I used the 0% for 72 offer they had
Put up the difference in my trade and then rolled in the ttl. It’s 0% so I look at it as free money
Ya the payments suck but I only live once and might as well have a little fun

 

If you have the money, buy it out right. But if you have the money and they are offering 0% for 60, then finance it all the way. Then put that 45k+ in a money market account or CD. Free money!

 

Nothing wrong with financing, but I really don't like debt. In the past, I have always paid off my vehicles quickly - I think the longest I made payments on one was 2.5 years.

My wife and I have worked hard recently to get ourselves truly debt-free. We achieved it last month with our final mortgage payment. My wife bought a new car last fall and purchased it outright. I am going to do my best to not finance a vehicle ever again. Monthly payments and interest suck.

 

100% dependent on APR for me and if I can make more money putting that money somewhere else.

The only debt I have is my house and tundra currently.

 

I buy new and keep for a long time. I get a low interest rate then I finance the whole GD amount. Literally zero down. I wont go more than 5 years. If payments too high then I cant afford it. I put other money into savings that earns more (always a risk to that). So I dont mind financing all. The bigger picture works to my advantage that way. After 5 years no payment for at least 10 after that. Just how I roll. Everyone is different which is cool.

 

Congrats!!

 

So I purchase my 16 in January with very low miles. For what I paid for it, I could of bought a 19 Chevy dodge, or Ford. I have always been a firm believer in Toyota. All the research I did, was the proven point of why I did it as well. Of course, gas mileage was never in the equation. Lol. I swapped a 2012 Nissan pathfinder in that had 65000 miles. My plans are to have this truck paid of by the end of next year. I can't agree more with the guy that started this conversation. How often do you here of people that were previous Toyota owners, go somewhere else. All we need now, is 3/4 ton version and my life would be complete.. lol

 

Great to hear Atomic. You are truly wealthy pal. Keep 100% of all your earnings. I’m on the same plan.

 

Drove a 20 year old Camry until I had the money saved to buy my truck, 2016 1794 edition (son calls it old man leather). We've been debt free since about that same time. Love not having to make payments anymore. That being said however, I would not be averse to trading for a newer model with some expanded specifications (i.e. tow capacity increase, improved feel mileage). If that were the case I would trade and finance the difference for as short of a term as I felt comfortable with. Everyone's circumstances will be different and there are options to fit most circumstances.

Most importantly, enjoy that truck !

 

Curious if you've got the article you were reading on the demographic of us Toyota folk!

As for me, I've been a Toyota owner since I bought my first truck, a '96 Tacoma back in 2010. Paid $6k for it with 123k on the clock. Drove it for 6 years, upgraded to an '08 Tacoma in 2016 and drove it for a year and decided I liked more room. Made the jump to my '17 Tundra in August of '17.

Unfortunately, I'm a recent college grad with student loans, but I was fortunate enough to have a great job out of college. Bought my Tundra with $0 down on a 72 month plan. I can happily say I have no credit card debt, just the mortgage, student loans, and truck payment.

 

My own personal rule is to, the best of my ability, to never have more then one car payment (450/month or less) and my mortgage payment. I am only 32 so i still have a ways to go before paying off the house, but never the less, no other debt. I've been fortunate enough too keep it that way. regardless of how much down. That being said, instead of putting any down on the 2013 i just bought, I paid off my wife's car entirely, therefore still only having one car payment.

Also, I am a huge advocate of buying used. I try to always take advantage of the major depreciation vehicles go through in first 3-5 years. This also keeps a 450 or less car payment much more attainable. But, Atomic is right, debt free is the way to be. It just takes some of us longer to get there.

 

This is definitely where its at right here...

 

like @HBdirtbag and @Mike19 said, it should always be APR dependent. If the loan APR is lower than the interest rate on a savings account or some other investment product, it really is free money.

 

My wife and I's side of it(and apparently our financial adviser agrees with what we've done)...as both of us have credit scores of 800+ as of our late 20's(in early 30's now), we will usually try to knock down payments and loan amount with low financing. Usually we get around 2% or less on vehicles. If 0%, we let it ride until about 1-3 months before and pay it off(it's not costing us anything more). We always aim to pay off our highest interest items first or the ones that'll cost us the most aside from the house we just built 3 years ago. I bought my tundra in late 2017 with a trade in and some cash on an agreed price of $42k...then only finance around $18k. Paid it off in 1 year and 25 days since we came up on a bonus that we knew was coming. Bought her new van about 3 months after. Will hopefully pay that off then be done with big debts aside from house and soon coming pool. We personally don't want to pass on debt to our kids, so we will plan on paying off our house in next 15-20 years and be basically debt free for the rest of our lives. Just my $.02.
P.S....I love your truck man! Looks good!

 

Take however much cash you have in hand. Thats how much truck you can buy.

Open a savings account for your next vehicle. Put money into it each month. When the balance gets to an amount that equals the next truck you want then you get to go shopping again.

 

Just be persistent and stick to your guns and you will get there. It's a nice feeling - and honestly, I didn't think I would ever get here. Truly lucky.

 

I was lucky enough to pay cash. I plan to run this truck for a long time.

 

pay off as fast as you can but if you get 0%APR then milk the free interest.

 

I was 24 and put 0 down and bought a used one!! No regrets at all, about halfway paid off 2 and a half years left. Will probably trade it in before then honestly and put some cash down this time though...

 

Check out Dave Ramsey for financial education.