indianghetto69er

I have a 2006 acura TL. great car i love it, cept its auto, and i'm already really really really bored with it. It was a little out of my price range, and payments are a bitch. I can manage fine, but I wish i didn't have such a high monthly payment. I bought for 34,xxx in 5 months ago, it has got 11k miles on it and my interest rate is 5.9.

should i:

1. sell it private (i'm thinking 31k) and get another TL with stick.
2. sell it private and buy a much cheaper car (plz suggest one) with a lower interest payment (would i lose too much money, or will i save with the lower interest rate?)
3. live with it for x amount of time (please specify x)

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

This is just my opinion:

1. Your TL won't sell at $31k. I assume you have Navi since you paid $34+k. I don't know your zip code, but in Socal, that car is worth around $29k if you sell it privately. I wouldn't get another TL, unless it's used, to keep your payments low.

2. If your current monthly payments are too much for you, I'd sell it privately and get something cheaper. You can still get a nice new car with +/- $20k, like 4-cylinder Accord or similar. You will go even further if you're buying a used car.

3. Only you can determine if you can live with it, or how long.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

I agree if the TL payment is too much the accord payment is less but you can still have a V6 just with less features. Or you can do like me I have a 2000 TL that I dont have payments on (bought it used). However if you want new I diffenently say look into the accord.

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

if you want to switch to a cheaper car, specify what you need... im guessing you dont need all too much space and something fun to drive since the TL bored you

if you want to stay acura, try the TSX for round 28,XXX, smaller car and very entertaining to drive

kenny5

You will definitely lose money (about 5k) if you sell your 06 TL NOW. 5.9% interest is not too bad, since banks are paying 5% on 6 months CDs. You should have known that you like the stick more when you bought the car, and it is too late now, unless you don't mind losing money in getting a new car with a stick. If I were you, I will keep the car and pay off the loan. Otherwise, you will regret selling the TL, which is a very good car to begin with.

darksom1

I won't even get into the 6 MT vs Auto part because enough people know how I feel on that.

But as far as you losing money, no way you can avoid that. The least amount of money to be lost is thru private sale. No matter which way you go, buy another car used or new, you must seriously try to sell this car privately. Trade-in means you are giving blood!! Believe that!

But, because your car is basically new, you can get a good amount for it from someone, or have someone apply to take over your loan at your bank if they are local. I don't mean a handshake, I mean paperwork, credit qualify take-over.

Then, after that car is gone, go get you a used 04 with a stick and buy that for a really nice price! Just look at the cars people have on here that are 04's!! They are in good condition! Like PPLAPW's. I would buy that! (and he knows why!) That's the same as having an 06!! (type of car) Problem solved! Now go forth, sell your car, and God help you if you ever do that doggone automatic $&*@# again!!!

jvette

The below price report assumes you have navi. This is the wholesale price for the car. This is what you would expect the dealer to pay for the car. With that said you may have a real hard time getting any price over $29k for the car. In my research you can find 06 certified TL's for $29k in many places so your market could be on the slim side. You may want to look at a refinance to lower the payments. I think you are at a point you can't afford to get rid of this car. As I have always said a car is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So list it for your price and see if you get any action.


PRICE REPORT

..:: VEHICLE
2006 ACURA TL


..:: DESCRIPTION
Engine Type: 3.2L V6
Body Style: 4 DOOR SEDAN
Vincode:

Standard Features: CD CHANGER STD
DUAL POWER SEATS STD
DUAL ZONE AUTOMATIC AC STD
LEATHER STD
TRACTION CONTROL STD


Base Price: @ 16,000 miles 25,000
Mileage: 11,000


..:: ADDS & DEDUCTS

ADD: NAVIGATION + 900
As Equipped Price 25,900
Mileage Adjustment 550

VALUE 26,450

Hardtimes

if the payment isn't comfortable get something cheaper.. i like the idea of the accord. right now if you buy a honda certified accord you can get 4.9 for 60 months. could be win win both ways..

jazznut

Definitely, agree with some of the people here about buying a cheaper car like the Accord....Had one for over 15 years and it still is in good shape (My niece bought it).

leedogg

Swing by carmax and see what they can do for you. cant hurt. Get an S2000

brettallica

Is it just me or do we not have his debt-to-value ratio yet? That could be a pretty big factor. With the amount of money I put down when I bought my car, I could sell it now and not really have to worry about anything as far as getting something to replace it is concerned...not to brag, just as an example. Plus, I got a fairly good deal on my car, which defintely helps.

You might just reconsider re-financing to a longer loan that lessens your monthly payment. You'd get nailed on interest rate, but the car would become more affordable. Then who knows - maybe you'll get a raise or something over the next year or two and will be able to pay even easier with the lower monthly payments. Then you could refinance again to a shorter loan and get back to paying down the principle.

indianghetto69er

thanks for all your input guys...

its a lot of things... my insurance is high(1400/6 mo), my payments are high (513), i just paid property tax, which is high (like 515)... i'm 23 and have been working for 2 years, and i was a complete idiot for buying a car this expensive this early... I can afford it fine, but instead of spending 500 bucks a month on payments + insurance + whatever.. i *should* be trying to afford a MUCH cheaper car and SAVE... i shoulda listened to my parents haha, but noooooo

i love the TL, if it was stick i would have stuck with it, but it seems like i got shafted.. (first time buying, the dealer said only one black tl and it was auto, so i jumped on it)... I was first considering a TSX because of price, but on the 6spd tsx the dealer told me sale price of 30,5 + ttt... and the TL came out to 31,5 + ttt, that was my reason not to get the TSX

i mean i DO realize i will lose money (selling my car at 29k hopefully), but i wonder if i'll save myself in the long run the aggrevation for the next 5 years of payments and insurance and whatnot. I'll prob get a higher paying job, but right now my focus should be to save save save...

and it being automatic just tops of all my worries

indianghetto69er

i think i'll do that on saturday

brettallica

hahahah! No but seriously, you really should have thought about the auto vs. stick issue before you bought the car, know what I mean? Also, you say you're 23 but your profile says you're 27...which is it? I say a conspiracy theory at work here.

MTVtec

Go for the new GLI. Very nice cars!

Matt

darksom1

As a sale, carmax can offer you more than what you will get as a trade-in at a dealership. But I don't know if that will help you out, really. Nobody can duplicate the net of a private sale, so try that now. There are some free sites like Craig's List that you can post your vehicle.

To tell you the truth, if your insurance is that high, consider a company like Erie, that may cost that much for an annual policy versus a semi-annual policy.

Forget trying to break even or whatever on the car loan thing and just go with what nets you the minimal loss to pay it off or get out of the debt. Like, maybe take a loan out for what carmax renders as negative equity if they bought your car (what will be left over after their offer). I mean, you can make payments on a $6K> loan, and then just get you something to help you get from point A-B, a hoopty! You can pay that loan off while you wait for a bigger paycheck and work on your other financial problems at the same time! All with less of a financial strain and some dough in your pocket! Just do what you have to do to protect your credit! That's infinitely more important than your image right now so get the hoopty, pay some bills, and then live large!

Just my thoughts or .

TMLInfinity

yea bro,

I feel for you. But you're young man and a nice ride is usually on the top of most ppl's mind. Like many of us. =)

yes www.kbb.com and www.edmunds.com tells stories about what people need to think about before they buy a car.

My opinion is this; please don't take it as any financial advise etc... (as I am not licensed to do so) and you don't have to follow it either.

If you want to start saving, then you better sell the car right now as mentioned in a few of the previous posts.

If you keep your car, you are in a lose lose situation. By no means am i putting down an Acura TL, but for your situation, you are in a lose lose situation if "saving up" means that much to you and the payments are too high.

You are dealing with a car. And cars depreciate in value with time (unless it is an out of production classic?).
So you'll be losing money. That lost money (if you sold your car earlier) could have been used for investments and you would have potentially gained money (of course there is always risk and you are never guaranteed any gains unless u go for a GIC).

Also, i'm not sure if they have this in the states, but in Canada, there are organizations / forums that deal with "lease breakers".

Where lets say you find a car with a year left on its lease and you take over it. It could be a cheaper alternative?

Or just simply get another model that isnt' as costly. Remember....calculate the monthly payments (taking into consideration the finance / lease rate), how much it'll cost u for gas, insurance and annual maintenance (oil changes, etc....).

I hope whatever decision you come to, it works out good for you.

indianghetto69er

thanks a lot guys... i shall see how much i can get for the TL, and work from there...

and i'm 23, i just put some random birthday on my profile

and i am going to learn next time... DONT SINK MONEY INTO A DEPRECIATING ASSET (if you are tight on money)

thanks dark and TML

darksom1

You got it bro!

Desert_TL

don't worry, we all make mistakes. i'm in the same boat you're in. my monthly payments are $813 (i financed the sales tax, registration, extended warranty, etc etc with no money down 4.9%). i can afford it fine, but sometimes i wish i had that extra $813 a month to save for a house. at least, unlike you, i LOVE my car more and more every day, so the $813 is an easy pill to swallow

brettallica

At least buying a house in Arizona isn't quite as hard as it is in California. That payment sounds like a lot, though! No money down is crazy...but totally cool that you could walk into a dealer and buy a car without having any money to put down.

TMLInfinity

Ya no prob...

Be thankful you aren't living in Canada where cars cost alot more for some ridiculous reason along with tons of tax.

yea we all make mistakes but learning from them is the key.

On another note, the purchase of a TL made more financial sense than going after an 07 G35s or IS350 since those cars were 10K and 20K more respectively (in canadian dollars).

avs007

My 2 cents:

If you are going to sell the TL, becuase you want to save money... You better actually SAVE money. (Boredom issues aside)

I only say that, because I got into an argument with a coworker the other day. She was saying that she thinks it makes more sense to rent property than to own property. Basically, they were raising her rent... She was looking at the monthly payments and said she could be saving the difference, so renting is better, becuase she could "invest" the difference and make more money.

So I asked her what she currently does with her money. Of course it's sitting in a non-interest bearing checking account, and she spends it on silly things. So I asked her if she isn't saving money now, then don't use "saving money", as a reason to justify something.

Granted Cars don't earn money like houses do, but you get the idea. If you say you can manage, than at least that is a non-issue. The issue is, if you do get a cheaper car, are you going to actually going to save money, and be happy? Or are you going to find something else to complain about? (Being serious). I went throught the samething when I graduated college.

Granted, you find the TL boring.... Would you be happy driving a TSX or an Accord? Because if not, then there is no reason to sell your TL, unless you are serious about saving money.

But then are you going to be happier driving a TL, or knowing you're saving $100 a month? A lot of things to ponder...

Kostyan

You should start with stating how much you owe on your TL, and what is your money situation.

If you owe more on the loan than your TL maybe worth (27-28K) then you're upside down. You could either keep the car and make payments (extra pmts if necessary) to get your loan balance even with car's true market value, or "cut the losses" and trade your TL for a car of lesser value, not necessarly more fun, and make payments for that + extra of what you owed on your TL.

You are totally wrong about not able to decide what car you want at 27

ankur914

Remember this, money doesnt bring happiness, but financial woes can definintely bring grief. Anything you own, you will, more likely than not, get bored with it. Especially a car because you use that same equipment everyday. The TL, imho, is a very enjoyable car, manual or auto. As a recent post stated, figure out if your are upside down, and proceed from there. Plan not for today, but for tommorow....Figure retirement, figure family, and figure emergencies......Figure out your necessities, and then choose your wants accordingly. Best of luck in your decision dude!!

geekybiker

Trouble is selling your TL so soon means you take a bath. Not only will you sell it for about $5k less than you bought it for, but you'll eat the sales tax too. That makes more like $7-8k losses in a year.

Sounds like you're already in a 60 month loan from your payment, so I dont know how much refinancing will help.

If you're not upside down, eating the loss now and buying something cheap like a Honda Fit might be the best option.

LKLD

Logic... would be to sell if you can't afford it and keep it if you can. Auto..manual...whatever! Next time to buy, you can buy with experience on your side. Think with your head and not your heart if you want to keep money in your pocket.

P.S. This advice works for women as well as cars

enormus

Man, Accord, TSX, Fit . . . these will all be cheaper, but LESS fun than the TL. I'd look at a MazdaSpeed 3 if you are looking for cheap fun. They are manual, sporty and FAST!

JPA3

you made her pay for a 15 year old Honda? Boy is my niece lucky.

Expat TL-S

indianghetto69er, Not sure you want to get into this level of analysis, but I ran a quick, really quick, cash flow calculation to see what your options are. If you want the file, PM me and I can send it to you through regular e-mail. Looking at your future cash flow under the two scenarious may give you some ideas. I did not factor into this how much your insurance, another ugly payment by the way, would change based on your next car purchase. If it does drop signficantly you can deduct those annual savings from the negative flow each year.

Basically, assuming your initial down & title, tax, & lic. was about $7k (guess), to have the same cash outlay at the end of the term in Year 6 (assuming a new 60 month lease added to the one year you already have), you can loose $5k on your current car and get something new with a montly payment of $380/mo (providing your down, tax, lic, etc = $3k). This gets you to a same total cash outlay as your current lease does in 5 years and at $515/mo.

However, the above scenario DOES NOT let you save any real net cash over the time period. You are only extending the time in which you pay. The spreadsheet can let you make changes to see how much you could save if you lowered your payments, etc..

A lot can happen in a few years, and as previously noted your financial situation may change to the better.

Kostyan

if you are truly in a savings mode then what kind of savings are you going to realize going from a $29K '06TL to a $20K+ S2000?? See, you can't a cool ride and be able to lower your debt at the same time. To realize the savings you can feel, which is probably shaving off at least half of your current car payment, you gotta go LOW. Get yourself the best car you like as long as it will cost you no more than 10K. Make the right decision- buy a car that is easy on gas, reliable, and cheap to insure. There's nothing wrong with a used Camry or Accord, both come with manual transmission for fun factor. Drive that for 3 years, get a better paying job, save up some money, build positive equity in your car, and trade up to what you really want.

.