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I was able to pay off my bikes every month and was able to build a great credit.
My 12k truck I bought with a loan. My APR is under 3%, I believe it's 2.5%.
Still not totally sure what to do.. Sure there's always that possibility of me missing a payment and digging myself into a hole but i'm very confident I could make the payments on time, plus it would help my credit.. I'm not taking out a massive loan, maybe 5k MAX.
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lots of good advice on here.some tips i will give you is pay yourself first. what you bring home(net) is not how much money you have. a piece of that pie goes away to a safe place. the other tip ,just my opinion...........dont buy a new bike yet. buy what you can pay for. there is a difference in what you can buy and what you can afford. time flies,be patient and good luck.
Some posters disagree with me on the debt thing, and I can see their point(kinda), but debt can be a slippery slope, especially for someone as young as you. Would you run out and buy a pack of cigarettes on your birthday and start smoking just because you legally could? Debt is the same way, it can become addictive and snowball with loans and credit cards until you owe $50,000 and you don't even know what you bought with it. If you really feel you need some credit, get a small $500 line of credit at a credit union(you can get this without a co-signer) and practice with that. That way if something bad happens, you only owe $500 instead of $5,000.
Here's some motivation... I bought my step-son his first bike, a CRF50, when he was 5. He's about to buy a new to him(used) bike, in cash, with his own money. He's 7. He keeps the money we got out of the CRF and he has a few hundred that he's saved up for a little over a year to get a new bike. He's been doing laundry for $1/load, dishes for $1/load, feeding the dog for $1, minor yard work for $5, etc. He's been working his butt off. Between the CRF money($650) and his savings, he has almost $1000 to throw at a decent Craigslist bike. I know if he can do it, you can, too. You're young, I don't want to see you get screwed over and start your adult life in the hole, but in the end it is your life and you can live it how you please. Good luck!
one of the best things i ever did was move to Asia 15-16 years , being a foreigner, there is no loans, no credit cards, no mortgages etc etc if you wanted someone you saved and brought it , i learnt to live with in my means . a good lesson that has served me very well over the years .
remember a bike is a toy its not essential so don't borrow money for one, save and buy a used 2 stroke you can afford , easy to fix yourself and cheap to run .
If he was saying he wants to finance $10K worth of bike, throw in all of the gear, and do it mowing lawns, I could see the reason for alarming him. It sounds like he is being pretty realistic though, we shouldn't discourage that. I know when I was a kid I didn't have $5K laying around, and I would have been old by the time I saved that much to pay cash for anything. I learned a lot financing bikes at this age.. I learned how to hold down a job (cleaning a welding shop at night), I learned responsibility, and I learned how credit works.. That sounds horrible huh?
my nickel's worth
When I turned 18 I convinced my mom to co-sign on a DRZ400SM (street legal supermoto) for me to commute to school and work on. She agreed and I walked out of the dealership incredibly happy with my new bike. I had also gotten the extended warranty, tire hazard, and everything else they were selling because it didn't affect my monthly payment (dumb, dumb, dumb). A week later I was regretting it. I hadn't read any of the fine print and that $105/month payment that I could afford no problem would become something much worse 12 months later, although at the time I did not know what. I spent sleepless nights Googling ways to get out from under the bike but nothing could be done.
I finally came to terms with it, understood that I had screwed myself and resolved to just get the bike paid off as quickly as possible. At least I had something to ride. Six months after I purchased the bike I walked out of my apartment to head to work only my bike wasn't there. It was stolen while I slept and never recovered. Being the invincible teenage I was I didn't have full coverage insurance on the bike because nothing would ever happen to me. So now I didn't have a bike, I still had the payment every month, and if I didn't pay it my mom's credit would take the hit (she has never had a single bad thing on her credit).
Twelve months later the special financing ran out and my new interest rate kicked in. That month the payment went from $105 to $280 and continued to increase to $350/month over the next year. I purchased the bike in 2008 and finally paid it off last summer. By the time I finished paying for it I had paid over $22,000 for a bike that was less than $7,000 new.
If I had saved the money up I could have bought a nice used bike for less than $5,000 and if it had still been stolen I would have just been out $5,000 without any of the additional headaches. Financing that bike (and not having better insurance) was the worst financial mistake of my life to this point (and hopefully the worst I'll ever make).
Don't get sucked into financing a toy. Save up and buy one cash. There are better ways to build your credit.
Relax.
In general, yes, cash is best. I myself have financed three bikes in my post-college years and had no issues at all. BUT, I used a small credit union that had a great rate and was excellent to work with. Big banks suck.
Telling him to pay cash is ridiculous. At 18 you're not going to have it (unlikely).
But with that said, there are indeed great used bikes out there. Sounds like you've been burnt a few times buying used, but get someone to help you find one that is without-a-doubt a good buy. I personally hate the gigantic hit you take when buying new - looks like you live in Portland - it's big enough, you should have plenty of options. I have the resources to buy any new bike I want, but if I was buying a new bike right now, I'd still look for an ultra-clean used bike and be patient. New bikes are fun, but paying 5k for a bike is more fun than paying 8k.
Having payments on things made me want to get out of bed and go to work. Do better at work. Get more money for nicer things.
Take someone with you when you buy it. The reason is salespeople are very good at what they do. Your expecting that, so you''ll fight for a great bottom line price. You get your price and the deals over.....LOL
No. You are then led into the finance office, and these people are better at what they do than the salespeople. Its not uncommon to spend another 1500.00-2000 in there with extended warranties, insurances, undercoatings (yes, I saw a very hot finance lady sell a guy undercoating for his atv 129.99) and probably other thigns added since I sold bikes..
Fight for every dollar. When they start talking about the payment, remember even 5.00 extra, per month, is 300.00 dollars, total, after 60 months.
Anyway, don't be cheap here. Insurance is the same price as a couple McD's meals, anybody who says they can't afford insurance, needs to check their heads.
I have a tough decision to make!
Pit Row
OP, make your own decision and do what you think is best, but think it over well and make sure you dont screw yourself in the long run.
The best thing to do in my opinion is hit up the grandparents. They'll be so happy that someone came to visit them that they'll sign any piece of paper you shove in their face. Here's where you have to be smart though, don't have them cosign for you, have them apply for the loan themselves. Chances are they will die soon and now you'll have a new bike that you don't have to pay for. The creditors aren't going to come after you because you were smart enough not to sign onto the loan and I'm pretty sure they can't collect from the dead.......it's a win win. If you want anymore ideas I'll be more than happy to share them, I've got tons of them.
Uh wait a minute I am doing it all wrong. I think I'll get fired get my 52 weeks of unemjoyment and get me a new KTM 350, to sit in the back of my new 50k Raptor truck, to sit in the garage of my new 4000sqft Mcmansion.
A lot of folks preaching to try to pay cash and that is fine if you are that wealthy, but still, you are trying to preach the most responsible route. Anybody saying credit cards is the best route is nuts.. They are the single most simple way to lose control of your spending and finances at any age, especially at 18.
Post a reply to: Im turning 18 and i want to buy a new bike. How hard will it be to get a loan?