About to purchase- Finance questions

RoyBell wrote:

oakbowery wrote:

wing_zealot wrote:
Financing $12K for 12 years you are never even going to get close to 5%. I think if you start checking rates online, in order to get anything close to 5% you would need to finance about $25K or more. You did well by getting 5.99% if you ask me.
Now it's time for the popcorn as you get all the "how stupid you are" from the pay cash folks.

I'm one of the "pay cash" folks as I pay cash for everything I purchase (except house). I recently bought our 2009 Cherokee 31B (37' travel trailer) for less than 10k. The thing looks almost brand new. I've had to do a few minor repairs, but nothing major.

A few years ago I would have been in your shoes about financing until my wife lost her job. At the time we were dependent on both of our incomes to pay the monthly bills. I know God put me through that so that I would personally learn a lesson. I now have the cash only motto and if I can't pay cash for it (especially for what I consider a toy) then I don't need it. Yeah it'd be nice to have a brand new camper, but for half the price or less you could get one a few years old that is practically new.

To me, a camper that I use for recreation is not worth me losing sleep over if something happened and my wife or myself lost a job again.

Would I say that anyone who finances anything is "stupid"? Of course not, I just know that I sleep better at night knowing that if something were to happen the only thing I'm worried about financially at that point is my house.

Just my 2 cents.......

Luckily I am single with a decent paying job that is secure. There is enough in reserve to cover a years worth of mortgage if something where to happen. I could had asked the GF to chip in but I rather not. If we aren't married, I don't want a purchase that would be a hassle to split up if we ever broke up.

Unfortunately, I am getting a larger camper because of her kids which isn't fair for my pocket book lol. We looked at older ones and we really only like 2-4 year old ones the most. In the quad bunk setup, the older models were really beat up, smelled funny, or they wanted almost new pricing for. A 4 year old light weight trailer with sleeping for 8 is still around the $16-19K mark. The heavier trailers are obviously less, but I only have a half ton truck.

Sounds like you've really done your homework which isn't the case with many people. I'm just the kind of person to weigh all angles before jumping into something, and it sounds like you have really thought this through to me. I agree with you on the new purchase vs a $16-$19k used trailer. That's a definite no brainer as an ac repair or other minor issue could push you over the "new" price anyway. I just found a really good deal with mine for less than half the price of a new one and it had the floor plan I wanted. I guess I just got lucky.

Good luck with your financing and hope you enjoy the new camper!