Debt Dumpers 2020

[3threebabies]

Buying a new car is tough. What’s nice about the new ones is Apple CarPlay. I use it every day. Much better than what comes standard. This is what kept me from buying used.

I love CarPlay. First used it on a rental car in May. None of the models we have actually purchased recently have it, even though I swore it was a must on my next car. So now for my next car, I guess.

Edited for CarPlay.

 

[pblack]

DH is parts director for Toyota/Lexus with previous Nissan and way back Ford experience. Be very careful of older hybrid from any make. The hybrid batteries do not last forever and are very expensive to replace. We have leased 3 Toyota hybrids. My husband would consider buying a new hybrid, but we get such good deals (pretty much equivalent of 0% interest) that it makes a lot more financial sense for us to lease. When he has considered used hybrids, it is usually just dealer certified used.

As an additional aside for the transmission discussion, they can be a crap shoot. My parents just had to replace theirs on a car with known transmission issues around 75000 miles. My father went nuts and was sure the dealer was cheating them. They bought car used from dealer 2 years ago and purchased extended warranty. Transmissions are generally not covered under any warranty. It didn’t help my father any, but my mother was satisfied with $5K expense. Especially when dh told her they just had a 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser need a $12000 transmission at work. That is not a normal issue with Land Cruisers.

Good info, thanks! My DH used to work for Toyota for 9 years, so we generally tend to lean towards Toyota's vs. anything else. (Except I have a dodge, but I've had it since before we were together.) We talked about it more earlier and decided to hold off on buying anything right now since it's not a need at this point in time, it's just a really big want. But i'll keep browsing just in case some major deal pops up.

In non-car related news I just splurged on San Jose Sharks tickets for Saturday. This wasn't in my budget, but it shouldn't be too big a of a deal. This is essentially mine and DH's Christmas gift.

 

[jen7233]

DH and I have also been contemplating a new car purchase. Our original plan was to wait a bit longer (summer-ish) since my car is completely paid off, but i'm also just so over my car. I really want an SUV (preferably highlander), but those aren't in our price range at the moment. We currently have my paid off car and a camry on lease. Once the camry lease is up (I believe May 2021) we were going to purchase a commuter car for DH, but now we're considering purchasing a commuter car now and i'll take over the Camry until the lease is up. Once the lease is up we would then look into purchasing an SUV for me. I found a 2010 ford fusion hybrid for $10k with only 98k miles on it. We haven't seen it in person, but it looks like a nice car and would be perfect for a commuter car. Now the decision is do we take the plunge on it, or do we wait knowing that we also need to pay for a replacement roof in the next few months. Decisions, decisions.

If you take the plunge on the commuter car now and doesn't make a problem for paying on the replacement roof, you could go for it. There are always cars on the market, and chances are if you were to just wait for the roof replacement bids to see what the price on the roof is there will still be another deal on a car you like.

 

[pblack]

If you take the plunge on the commuter car now and doesn't make a problem for paying on the replacement roof, you could go for it. There are always cars on the market, and chances are if you were to just wait for the roof replacement bids to see what the price on the roof is there will still be another deal on a car you like.

That is very true! Ideally I want to wait at least a few months (April/May) before taking the plunge. By then we'll have DH's student loans paid off, and hopefully our sectional. That will free up money to go towards either the roof repayment or a car. I've also told my DH that the next time something goes wrong with my car i'm just getting a new one. So I think if my car (or really me) can hold out until the summer we'll be in a better spot financially.

 

[imbatman]

Wife of an ex-roofer and DIL of a roofing business owner here. As @Gr8t Fan said, YMMV. PLEASE make sure to use a contractor with insurance, both liability and workers comp. Ask to see a copy. You may end up paying more for a company with those, but roofing companies are famous for "fly-by-nights," meaning they open long enough to make money and shut down when there is trouble with installations. Then they open under a new name. Half of my FIL's business was repairing those installations that were $200-$800 cheaper than his quotes.

I think you're in the Sac area? There are only two layers of composite roofing allowed. That or if you have a profile shingle (the ones that don't lay flat), you'll have to have a complete tear-off. The cost also depends on the pitch and valleys, repairs, etc. You can actually call now and asked to be fit in for an estimate ASAP. Our weather allows that.

 

[barkley]

Wife of an ex-roofer and DIL of a roofing business owner here. As @Gr8t Fan said, YMMV. PLEASE make sure to use a contractor with insurance, both liability and workers comp. Ask to see a copy. You may end up paying more for a company with those, but roofing companies are famous for "fly-by-nights," meaning they open long enough to make money and shut down when there is trouble with installations. Then they open under a new name. Half of my FIL's business was repairing those installations that were $200-$800 cheaper than his quotes.

the other issue with not using a roofing (or other contractor) who doesn't have insurance is if one of their people are injured on your property your homeowner's may not cover it. we were cautioned tremendously by our insurance company regarding this when a massive snowfall several years ago entailed us hiring someone to come and do roof snow removal.

 

[pblack]

Thanks @imbatman and @barkley! I am in the Sac area and I'm pretty positive it's going to be a tear down and replacement since when we bought they house they said we maybe had 5 years left on it. We also have some eaves with dry rot that need to be addressed. Friday's my last day of work for 2 weeks, so I'm thinking if I have time (or motivation) while i'm off i'll call around to see if we can get some quotes.

 

[dayvewc]

I went through this in 2016, albeit not from overseas. I went into Terminal Leave at the end of March and moved the family in June. Our greatest stress was finding a home to move into. I never had a problem finding work. Places were actively looking for fresh hires from the military. I eventually settled on one and had that completed by May. I negotiated a higher rate of vacation time build-up! We then later moved and dealt with the one last PCS in early June. Getting things straight with the VA was next hurdle as everything that had been previously submitted needed to be re-done because it had been done badly.

Looking back it was a stressful time, but also one where I got to do more with my family and stop thinking military.

@DLgal I didn't retire, but ... stay on top of the VA. Find a good VSO to help.

I separated in 2003.
Today, I got the call from the company the VA contracts to do the disability and compensation physicals. It only took them 16 1/2 years. I don't actually have any of the appointments yet, but I got the phone call to let me know that they got the notice from the VA that they need to schedule the appointments.

 

[Orionreplay]

@DLgal I didn't retire, but ... stay on top of the VA. Find a good VSO to help.

I separated in 2003.
Today, I got the call from the company the VA contracts to do the disability and compensation physicals. It only took them 16 1/2 years. I don't actually have any of the appointments yet, but I got the phone call to let me know that they got the notice from the VA that they need to schedule the appointments.

Make sure they back date that stuff! QTC is not the fastest in the world, but seeing how it's been 16.5 years... what's another 6 months??

 

[DisneyMandC]

Adding to the car talk--we are also looking to buy a car by the end of the year. I think the choice will come down to a Toyota RAV or a Mazda 5. Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm also curious about your 2017 model @DisneyMandC -- how many miles does it have? And do you know the history of who owned it (and maybe how they maintained it)? We had decided that a 2019 model would be worth the depreciation because we will own it for 10+ years (will trade in our 2006 Mazda) but I wouldn't mind a slightly used car that comes with a dealer warranty.

We bought the car tonight! 50k miles on it. It was a fleet vehicle before this, which we like because we know it was maintained. We bought from Carmax and trust their ownership records. Plus we bought the extended warranty so any major issues will be covered. We're pretty happy with the price we got and some of the discounts.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

just as a reminder-i know some on this year's thread who get paid bi-weekly use those 3 paycheck months to throw at debt so check your 2020 payroll calendars b/c due to the leap year you may see 3 of those months vs. the normal 2 i just ran the numbers for dd's last student loan and it look like it will be laid to rest due to this by 5/20

Wow! Thank you for pointing this out. Dh gets paid every other Thursday and it works out that he'll get 3 checks in Jan, Apr and Dec. Sweet! I love those months with 3 checks and seeing such huge progress on our goals.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We bought the car tonight! 50k miles on it. It was a fleet vehicle before this, which we like because we know it was maintained. We bought from Carmax and trust their ownership records. Plus we bought the extended warranty so any major issues will be covered. We're pretty happy with the price we got and some of the discounts.

Congrats on the new car!

 

[dayvewc]

Make sure they back date that stuff! QTC is not the fastest in the world, but seeing how it's been 16.5 years... what's another 6 months??

There must be multiple companies. I'm dealing with LHI. We actually discussed that. They have to return the information to the VA within 30 days, so my appointments will be scheduled sometime between Dec 23 and Jan 3. I just don't know what days, times, or locations yet. The only thing I do know, is that they are not likely to be scheduled on Dec 24, 25, 29, 31, or Jan 1.

That is what the really good VSO managed to do. She not only found the paperwork that the VA "lost", she convinced them to backdate everything to my separation date.

 

[RamblingMad]

We bought the car tonight! 50k miles on it. It was a fleet vehicle before this, which we like because we know it was maintained. We bought from Carmax and trust their ownership records. Plus we bought the extended warranty so any major issues will be covered. We're pretty happy with the price we got and some of the discounts.

Congrats. Buying a car is stressful.

 

[AmyAnne]

We bought the car tonight! 50k miles on it. It was a fleet vehicle before this, which we like because we know it was maintained. We bought from Carmax and trust their ownership records. Plus we bought the extended warranty so any major issues will be covered. We're pretty happy with the price we got and some of the discounts.

Congrats! I'm curious about Carmax--is it one of those "no haggling" car buying places? We are going to contact the Costco car buying program, and I also just got an email that Chase has a similar (maybe?) program. I think DH still wants to see what we could get from a dealer but neither of us really likes that process--we always leave wondering if we could have gotten a better deal if we bargained a bit more.

 

[barkley]

Congrats! I'm curious about Carmax--is it one of those "no haggling" car buying places? We are going to contact the Costco car buying program, and I also just got an email that Chase has a similar (maybe?) program. I think DH still wants to see what we could get from a dealer but neither of us really likes that process--we always leave wondering if we could have gotten a better deal if we bargained a bit more.

we used the costco program for our last new car purchase. very easy, very low stress. they have a fixed price structure so no haggling. we found the price offered through it much lower than the best haggling at multiple dealerships in our area.

 

[AmyAnne]

I think DH is set on at least seeing what a dealer will offer, but the Costco program is really appealing and I'm secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) hoping it will give us the best deal. With the kids out of the house, the main reason I keep my Costco membership is so I don't have to stress about buying things like a vacuum/tv/printer. I just buy whatever Costco has and it almost always works out fine.

 

[WeatherLights]

Thanks! Yeah I read about the CVT issues and talked to a couple people before we test drove. My brother has had Nissans for several years now and hasn’t had any problems with them, but I’m going to get my mechanic to check it out within the 7 day return window. We also get a significant discount on the additional car warranty so I’m probably going to buy the one that covers up to 125k miles. Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of newer cars are moving to those transmissions. Even the new Honda CR-Vs, which is what I originally wanted to get, have them now too

Curious why you decided against the Honda CR-V? That's at the very top of my shortlist for new car (we'll be buying sometime this year).

 

[Shughart]

I went in for my blood draw this morning at 7:30 am. Results came back around noon saying that it was a positive pregnancy result with a good HCG level. I go back on Friday for another blood draw to make sure the HCG levels are rising as they should and everything looks on track. I didn't think I would get too emotional, but I totally cried with joy when I read the letter with the results. Then called DH, my mom and texted my best friend.

DH wants to decorate the baby's room in a Mandalorian theme.

Congratulations, that's wonderful news!

 

[RamblingMad]

we used the costco program for our last new car purchase. very easy, very low stress. they have a fixed price structure so no haggling. we found the price offered through it much lower than the best haggling at multiple dealerships in our area.

That was my experience too. I’d use the program again.