October round 1: Sales slowdown brings COE pullback

[Iziz]

i drive a lancer. i calculated and my break even point is when my car is 7yrs old cos at least i put some downpayment when i buy the car! still not in the worst case scenario of taking max 10 yrs loan without downpayment.

 

Bro, how come ur breakeven is 7 yrs when u have downpayment? U took cash rebate/over-trade?

[Friendstar]

altivo, tahan, dont backside itchy change again.

 

i'm in sweden now. and my german friends are saying its a pitiful sight to be in this state where we slogged to upkeep a car. to make matters worse, WE LOVE TO CHANGE NEW CARS and be in forever debt.

 

your car is still running fine. its still a reliable workhorse. keep it.

 

imagine ur kid, bought a pentium 4 two years ago. now he said he wants to change to intel quad core to play games, how would u feel? u'll feel wasteful right?

 

honestly, come to think of it, it is more worthwhile to buy a quad core (your kid) compared to another new car (which serves the same purpose).

 

dont flame me. i'm just trying to help u get out of the cycle.

Edited October 5, 2007 by Friendstar

[Albeniz]

You are very wise!

[Gz0707]

A 100k new car is equal half of purchase price of HDB apt here. We all know this. Guys who take half their take home pay to pay loan installments for sports cars. Those who have travelled will know that in Europe MB is an old man car, not a status car. Its only in Asia that pp are driving sales these EU luxury brands up the charts. The europeans dont even wash their cars, what more polish kim kim - how to wash cars in winter (blardy freezing)??? Luxury cars such as BMW can be bought for 20k pounds but still not everyone drive one.

 

Its gd to know ur german frens know the wrong mentality we have towards car ownership here. The rest of us who continue to change cars are forever in debt. It will be sad to bring up this topic 20 yrs from now and count back the monies that could have been well invested. sigh ...

[Guest Julio369]

some of the older birds are starting to make sense...only the younger generations with good starting basic pay are repeating the mistakes we have made.

 

see those ppl driving coe paid cars, like the E200 merc that cost only 15K-20K? see those coe paid car parked in bungalow estate? these are the wise ppl who use money to invest & cash rich.

 

BUT....ego/ face/ pride always take over common sense.,e.g. neighbors., colleagues, relatives, friends change new car, wife ,chidren nah nah nah, so very malu, also go change car.

[Zanter]

i drive a lancer. i calculated and my break even point is when my car is 7yrs old cos at least i put some downpayment when i buy the car! still not in the worst case scenario of taking max 10 yrs loan without downpayment.

 

bro... breakeven is one thing, must make sure u got some $$$ on hand for the downpayment for your new car. A lot people seems to overlook this aspect.

 

My ride already broke even last year (3.5 yr old).... now also itching to change a new car but in the midst of saving $$$ for the new car downpayment

 

Remember how happy you were when u bought this car 3.5 years ago? U prolly were calculating that ur yearly depreciation is say 5k a year. Now you lost the loving feeling, if you sell this car now your depreciation will likely be 8k or more per year.

 

Even if you broke even, you lost the DP. Will u keep repeating this cycle to get the shiok feeling of a new car, which is temporal? What car will you buy which makes you look good? Even you buy a BMW320i, which was a new model not long ago, now you see a 320i now, will you Wooo Waaah, feel so envious of the driver? After a while all cars will be INVISIBLE unless u drive a Ultracar like Lambo but even then if you drive a lambo & join the lambo club, one day you will feel lousy cos you got a old lambo when your club mates have a shiny new model.

 

When will this cycle end? Dont you think it would be better to invested & grow ur money instead of donating it to our rich garment?

[Surferguy1978]

haha. wat you guys said make sense!

 

my colleagues who are family man often make this comment at me tat i should drive those 2 door coupe, sport car, convertible etc etc instead of looking at those sedan when i am still young and haven't start up a family. when you start up a family, things will be different loh!

[Surferguy1978]

i got cash rebate. my car around 3 yrs old loh. and 3 yrs ago, a 1.6l car cost around mid 60k when COE is still around 20k...

[Surferguy1978]

quite true. i think must prioritize what is important in your life first.

[Gz0707]

i seriously doubt the young will learn these lessons so soon - i still hear of super high loans. my guess is whats slowing the mkt down is really they can no longer afford to clear the negative equity loans and hence take a new loan afterwards. if they can, they will ... dam scary. I doubt many pp are that financially astute or savvy, otherwise we will see older cars on the roads ... this is a msg i keep repeating, even tho i sound like a old broken record ...

[Iziz]

Pengz, how come u took cash rebate with downpayment?

 

Ur cash rebate is pro-rated throughout or lock-in period? Ur breakdown even computed based on getting back the same downpayment ar?

[Iziz]

Yes, prioritise wad u wan in life first and den decide, just like the analogy of filling a jar.

 

Fill it with the big stones first, next the pebbles, and lastly the sand... U fill it with pebbles first and u wun be able to fit in the stones after tat

[Iziz]

One thing I noticed during the course of my work. Forummers from MCF r usually veri financially prudent (eg. minimum loan, 7yrs loan, etc)

 

My challenge comes with walk-ins who wan to take full loan/10yrs and I have to highlight to them the implications that comes with it, which eventually falls on deaf ears

[Gz0707]

its good to know that gd advice hasnt follow on deaf ears in mcf ... on the other hand, there's tons of modding and 'mai tu liao' advice in forums such as bmw, vag, shc etc etc etc

[Iziz]

Ahhhh, tat is a different story

[Malie]

hey bro! you are in sweden? i'm in sweden too...stockholm.. which part are you at?

 

please dont tell me you are at Kiruna hahaha

[Surferguy1978]

aiya.. tat time first time buyer of car and never do much research. tat why i say it a mistake i made 3 yrs ago and i won't take another 10 yrs loan anymore.

 

i think my cash rebate is lock-in period. my lock-in period have ended this mth already and if i have the cash, i can redeem my loan without any penalty loh.

[Keithpapa]

Yes, prioritise wad u wan in life first and den decide, just like the analogy of filling a jar.

 

Fill it with the big stones first, next the pebbles, and lastly the sand... U fill it with pebbles first and u wun be able to fit in the stones after tat