How much do you owe on your 4RUNNER

I paid cash for mine but at 57 I think you sleep a bit better knowing that you owe no one. Should I get laid off next month and all of a sudden my cash flow is greatly impacted which could easily happen, then I think I could still get along with some adjustments. I understand the rationale for borrowing at cheap interest rates and it reminds me a bit of the early 90's when home prices were still going steadily up and if you relocated you tried to buy the biggest house you could afford (biggest payments) because the prevailing wisdom was that your house would always appreciate. Well, we stopped playing that game a few years ago, actually downsized a bit, paid off the house etc and so now if we get the urge to buy a new toy like a another motorcycle etc and I take out a small loan we feel fine with that. Besides, I plan on driving this TE forever so It's a good feeling owning it outright and basically feeling like I'm driving it for free.
 
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zmw said:
I won't call anyone a liar, but less than 2% of people in the US own their cars outright, yet on this forum it seems like EVERYONE does.
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If board replies were a random sample and that 2% figure applies to $35k vehicles, you're right, there would be a lot of liars.
 
Guess I am another liar...

I owe $0 Sold my 08 GMC for cash, owed $0 on it. Paid for my Trail. I love getting deployed as an Army Civilian.Tried to use my Credit card to get some points, Stealership would go for it, something about it cost them too much...
 
I doubt the majority of people own their car out right either, but I think if you're buying a 5th gen 4runner, you're probably on the higher end of the scale when it comes to having available cash. Plus my dealer didn't offer me a very good interest rate, so I just decided to not even worry about it.

Yes you can beat 2% interest playing stocks, but there are risks associated with that. The market has been extremely volatile. You won't beat 2% by putting it in a savings account and the only CD I've seen above 2% is also a 7 year CD so... you lose a lot in opportunity cost. I'd rather for sure own my car than possibly lose my money in a BP oil spoil for example.

No shame in having a car loan... as long as you have job security and can afford it! You only live once, you might as well spoil yourself a little.
 
How much do I owe?

I paid cash for my 2010 SR5. Owe zero. I do not think the people on this forum are average. I think we are above average compared to most in several ways.

1. Most have jobs.
2. Most have good jobs.
3. Most are very confident and self-reliant.
4. Most are likely above average on IQ.
5. Most like high quality.
6. Most like to drive exciting vehicles that perform

In short, we are all candidate's to live in Garrsion Kiellor's Lake Wobegon.

Jerry G
 
zmw said:
I won't call anyone a liar, but less than 2% of people in the US own their cars outright, yet on this forum it seems like EVERYONE does.
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I think US population is about 300,000,000. So even if only 10% of them are car owners - 2% would be still 600,000. This forum has 45,450 registered users and how many active 5th gen users here? Maybe few hundreds? But anyway as you can see every US 5th gen owner here could own his/her 4Runner without compromising statistics you mentioned.
If I lived in US I might have paid off my T4R too : )
 
Bought my 2010 SR5 in June of 2010. I owe $0 on it thanks to a nice chunk of cash earned on my recent deployment to the arabian gulf.
 
Paid cash for my 4Runner and Sequoia. Don't believe in loans, even if rates are low. I can thank Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for that. I think it would be pretty cool to have a zero credit score, which can happen if you only pay cash and not allow anyone into your personal life with loans... whole other topic.

On this forum I believe people who are going to mod their vehicle have the security of owning it and making it their own.
 
I agree that this is a great time to have a loan based on low interest rates. However, I still hate taking out loans for vehicles. I set myself up to save enough so I could pay cash for all my future vehicles. My 2010 Tundra was paid in full, and I planned on keeping it until I saved enough to buy my next vehicle in cash. Unfortunately, I soon realized that the Tundra was not going to work for me, so I had to take out a loan on the T4R. Damn!
 
2010 TE, paid cash.

The problem is people assume others have the same size wallet or it makes them feel better about themselves if they know others are in the same financial shape.

Yes money is cheap these days but unless you happen to be John Paulson and I doubt John would waste his time on Jap car forum, a roughly $35,000.00 purchase won't send you into early retirement.

Being a cheap bast ard I rather not give a bank any interest on a loan.

If you have a business that allows you to write off the spend then that is a different animal.
 
I'm not saying owning your 4R outright is a bad thing, what i'm saying is that if you can afford to pay it off, you also can very likely make more money with that cash than just putting it on a vehicle that is going to depreciate heavily.

I'm a fan of dave ramsey's getting out of debt plan, I really am - but his plan does not allow you to maximize your earning potential either - it allows you to get out from under burdensome debt.

Please don't misunderstand what I am saying - if you can't have afforded to buy the 4runner cash you shouldn't have financed it either - the point is if you CAN afford to buy it cash you could put that money to work for you better.
 
codyaustin5 said:
Paid cash for my 4Runner and Sequoia. Don't believe in loans, even if rates are low. I can thank Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for that. I think it would be pretty cool to have a zero credit score, which can happen if you only pay cash and not allow anyone into your personal life with loans... whole other topic.

On this forum I believe people who are going to mod their vehicle have the security of owning it and making it their own.
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Yeah, again I don't know that I entirely agree, I have nearly 50 grand of mods on my supra, including over 10 grand in wheels and tires, and I still owe money on it - I realize it's a different type of beast, but modding does not preclude financing - now, warranty coverage might, something my supra has been out of since 2000.
 
There's some hangover paranoia about loans, and truly legit concerns when jobs are volatile; but zmw's point about leveraging your cash position is a good one. Lots of people just hate debt or despise giving the bank one extra cent of interest, which is fine, but if you have $35,000 in cash in your account, you are unquestionably going to gain if you can put that cash into an investment vehicle (pun intended) that earns a rate of interest higher than that of a debt. Sure, those vehicles aren't hanging around like low fruit, but there's plenty out there.

It truly is a unique time when money is loaned with such low rates, and some of the concern over debt no doubt stems from the time when we saw massive interest rate spikes. Remember 18 per cent?

My mother-in-law, who always paid cash for her new car, was shocked when I advised her to take the zero per cent Toyota loan on her RAV4 instead of paying for it in full. "But I've never paid for a car over time," she said.

It's a mindset as well as a strategy. She is now enjoying a small return on that little bit of cash, while at the same time paying off her RAV.
 
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Maybe we should get Engineer1 to do a "how much money do you make" poll and a "how much do you have in liquid assets" poll!
 
dekeman said:
I just increased my liquid assets with a case of cabernet sauvignon.
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My wife and I just got back 2 days ago from Napa and Sonoma. We drink plenty of wine here and we figured if you're going to worship wine you might as well pray at the proper alter. Fantastic trip except for the flight delays etc from NY.
 
rickwol said:
Maybe we should get Engineer1 to do a "how much money do you make" poll and a "how much do you have in liquid assets" poll!
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Boring. It's all relative anyway as apparently nobody never has "enough." If they did, they would quit making it and spend the stuff. As long as I make enough to take care of my family in a reasonably comfortable middle class way (oh, and pay taxes to support half of the US population who pays nothing) we are fine.

People would just complain that I did not get the poll divided up correctly ha.
 
1engineer said:
Boring. People would just complain that I did not get the poll divided up correctly ha.
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Exactly. and of course we would be accusing each other of not being honest or truthful. BTW, I hope you know that I wasn't serious. Tongue in cheek stuff !
 
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