You Should Never Buy a Car

Going in Debt Over a Car

My friend's father went with us when his son went shopping for a car. I guess to this family, owning and driving a car meant that he, my friend, was a man. Weird logic and strange to me, but whatever floats his boat. Now we road in my friend's father's car. It was a nice plush car with soft leather on the seats. I can't remember the make nor the model, but it was built like a sherman tank but road like an ocean liner. It was European, I'm sure of it. My friend's father once did the marble along the seems trick you see in the commercials. He wasn't bragging about the car so much as he was showing how American craftsmanship in a car was a joke compared to the rest of the entire world. "At the end of the day patriotism is great for waving a flag, but if you have to take home a car, that's where it ends and good sense starts. Never buy an American car," he said.

What did I know? I did not and still don't know about cars. But, I can follow a simple rule. Don't buy American cars. Ok, I get it.

Today, though, car shopping, he was quiet and just drove us around where ever my friend or I suggested. My friend had worked for two years to buy a car. This was his own money he was spending, not his father's. His father was simply there for moral support.

We had gone to at least 2 dealerships already. His father said nothing. My friend was shrewed though and knew when the salesmen were telling blatant lies. It was even obvious to me, who is clueless about cars. My friend sat in the back seat next to me, with the car section and classifieds in hand. "Oh, this can't be true. Let's go to Hyundai," he yelled out. So we headed there.

We got to the place and my friend went over the car with a magnifying glass he was so paying attention to every detail. The deal did sound great. I think my friend was just about to ask to step into the office when his father tapped him on the shoulder.

That was a "come here now" tap. We all piled back into the car, my friend and I puzzled at why we were summoned back into the car. We were halfway down the road when my friend suddenly asked what was going on.

His father took a flash card from the front seat and handed it to him. On it were 5 addresses. "We are going to buy a car you can afford." My friend sat back in the seat, waiting for the lecture or sermon or whatever was to come.

"You see son, a car is simply a means to squeeze time out of distance. It is not a toy. It is not a decoration. It is not a dressing accessory. It is a means to get from here to there, but a whole lot faster than walking. You should never EVER buy a car and go into debt over it. If you cannot afford to pay cash for it, do not buy it. There are millions of cars for sale by normal regular people that are asking for the normal price of it. There is no reason to even buy a new car."

My friend sat there stunned. He had never heard this speech out of his father. Neither did I, but then again I wasn't his son. But, I did spend a lot of time together with my friend over his house. I might as well have been. I ate dinner there, and sometimes slept there. If my financial situation ever changed for the worst they would have been the first to come get my things and move me in. It never came to that though.

He looked at the card. "On that card are 5 people selling cars that I have done a little leg work on," his father pointed over his shoulder. We're headed to the first one now.

The cars his father picked out were simply amazing, and they were all in mint condition. He made sure my son saw all the cars first before making a decision. One of the people wasn't even in the market to sell their car, but was willing to do it as a favor for my friend's father. He was some sort of car collector.

The collector sweetened the deal by offering to fix the car if it broke down, since he worked on his own cars. My friend would have to simply pay for the part. I think he offered him a job in his company too by the end of the conversation. Needless to say, my friend bought the jaguar off of him.

At the end of it all, my friend paid in cash 1/3rd of what he was looking to spend before from dealerships. He actually came out with money still in his pocket, which his father promptly told him to put in the local credit union and not touch.

His father also made him stay at home until he had saved, in that same credit union savings account, enough to pay for a house with cash. He was 25 when he moved out and bought the house.

My friend asked if I wanted to move in with him and pay rent to him instead of the dump I was in. They all helped me move in. A month later when rent time came the whole family came over to the house. When I came back from the bank with the check in my hand his father intervened. He said, "you're as much a son to me as my boy. You go take your money out of that sheister bank and put it in the credit union I told my son to put his into. You're going to save up for a car and a house." I blinked and my friend was laughing behind his dad. "The look on your face right now is priceless," my friend kept laughing. I would have asked if it was a joke, but his father never really joked around about money.

So I went back to the bank and closed my account. They gave me dirty looks, but oh well. I then put my money into that credit union. I was amazed at how money they DID NOT charge like the bank did.

I lived with my friend for some years. In fact when I had enough he AND his father both said I needed more money and to stay put. I bought a car, with his father's great advice of course. They were so right. I forgot about all the hidden expenses people do not talk about when owning a car, registration and all that stuff.

Also, as soon as I bought a car, I was a magnet for the police. I think they kept trying to see if I had something illegal going on, which I never did. But they ran me ragged with minor tickets. "That's how they make their money," my friend's father said, one day when i came home complaining about it. "Police is a money making business for the city and state and the government. Why do you think there's city, state and federal "police"?"

It is all a big extortion racket they police run, once you get into a car. But, I learned my lesson. Never buy a car you cannot afford to pay cash for. Look in your local area for regular people selling their cars. If you need to, take a mechanic with you, to make absolutely sure the car is in tip top condition. Nowadays you can check carfax to make sure the car was never in an accident.