Right now I'm pretty upset. I'm only 16, and my parents let me buy my own car, but they signed for it and everything. Anyways, I saw a 05 Neon at Carmax for 12,000, and I liked it so I said ok. I've had it for 2 months, but I now realize that I should have NOT bought the Neon. My parents insisted we purchase the Carmax care for $1,500, so that brought the car price up to $13,500. Since I'm in Illinois, sales tax was like $1,000, compared to about half of that if I bought the car in Indiana.

So I made the mistake of thinking APR was just a 7% additional to the total price of the car. I thought fine, 12,000 car, I pay 7% which is like $900. But no, it's 7%/year. I don't know how my parents missed this.

I could have gotten a brand new car for like $15,500 (08 Civic?) with a 0% APR and the exact same monthly payment. Instead I have an 05 Neon with 16,000 miles.

This sucks.

 

Yeah that does suck. Oh well, live and learn. Your parents dropped the ball pretty bad too though...

 

welcome to the world of finance.

http://www.uanw.org/cl-simpleinterest.html

also, nex ttime you want a new(er) car shop around more. i just bought an 05 sxt with 9900 miles for $8500.

 

You got a deal then. I see the dealers are still getting 12k for the 03-05 neons.

 

well first of all, unless the car costs over $25k i will never buy from a stealership, and maybe not even then. according to the online guides i checked before i bought the average private party value was $8000-9500. average retail was higher, but like i said... i forget the exact %, but an old friend who used to be in the car biz told me that you can safely knock off (i think) 18% from the sticker cost on any used vehicle, unless it is below $2500. even more usually, but should settle for no less than that. the original sticker on mine was at $16.4. my last car i got 2 years old with23k miles for less than half the cost of the original price from a private party as well. the only time a stealership sees me or one of my cars is when something under warranty needs repair/replaced. most items i do myself and for those that i can't i have a friend with a shop who is very generous with his pricing. most times i end up owing the 3 guys in the shop lunch. good deals are out there, but you have to do some shopping around.

 

Ouch!

 

lok at the birghtside youre a proud owner of a NEON!!! change a few thing i would look nice!!! like the taillights...
moderperformance.com best site,.... well one of the best sites for neons.....

 

sounds like your parents are financialretards, and now you are heading down that path too.

buying a car with 7% interest isnt that bad. what sucks is that you didnt read the finance agreement before you signed it. all the payment info is disclosed in it.

never buy an extra warranty.EVER, with anything. look it up on the net.

that car had the balance of a 3/36bumper2bumper and a 7/70 powertrain factory warranty and cost 12,995, brand new, because in 04 they were running the employee discount deal. so yeah ya got bumf**ked by the dealer. welcome to the club, now let that be the last time.

 

Nothing you finance will ever have simple interest. It's always an APR, which actually accrues daily ( your 7.0% APRwill accrue.019% daily). If you pay the car off in less time, you'll pay less interest (though some lines of credit have penalties for early pay-off).

You think that sucks, wait until you buy a house. I'll pay for my place almost 3 times in 30 years, and I've got 5.75% fixed. That's nearly 3/4 of a million.

 

Live and learn. Don't ever buy a warranty from a used car place. Especially, ifthe factory warranty is still valid. Not to worry about interest rates and financing.I think you have learned your lesson. Good luck with your "new" car. And,I still say you did the right thing. Honduhs suck. The world is finally seeing that this Japanese superior quality thing is just perception. You will have more fun in the Neon. What color is it?