Is this Crazy? 84 Month Car Notes Becoming Common

In the northeast people generally lease instead of buy. The terms are also on the shorter end 24 months to 36 months. There were some cases of 12 month leases a few month ago.

In certain cases based on residual it is more cost effective to lease a vehicle and purchase it at the end of the finance then fincance it from the start.

There is no way on GODs green earth that I would ever finance a car past 60 months. And forget a lease. i have a friend who leased a Mercedes for 5 years. Basically bought the car and at the end of those 5 years all she got was a bill for an extra 40,000 miles. No thanks.
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We trade in all lease vehicles BEFORE the end of the term and that resolves any nitpick issues that you incur because of mileage overruns.

I would think that an early termination fee would apply, right?

I worked at the Money Store personal loan division back when I was in college.

I remember there were many, many people with car loans at 40% interest. I was always surprised that they would agree to such a high rate.

Out here in the SF bay area, alot of domestic stores put people into long term financing (72,84,96 mo) terms. Quite frankly it's sad and it actually hurts both the dealer and the customer. The reason why is because most consumers want more than they can afford so payment drives the deal or they have so much disequity from their trade the long term is needed to keep the payment down. Thats why especally high line cars I personally think that most customers should be leasing. I know everybody says " but you don't own the car" well when your doing financing you don't own it either.

A lot of people do this on vehicles over 40K. You would be surprised how many people look at monthly payment as opposed to the big picture of how much has been paid out at the end of a loan.....

Thats true I guess it is a trick the dealer plays because they want the customer to think that they can afford the $500 payment even though a customer would have to pay it over 7 or 8 years.

whats really amazing is that at no point is any resposibility at all placed on the consumers shoulders. its always those bad guys at the dealer that take advantage and use long tern loans to put people in to what? the car they went in there to buy!!! its people that trade a car in after a year or two cause they're bored with it or because the neighbor just got something new and shine that bring about the need for financing options like long term loans. that and the cost of vehicles today added to the 'need' to have a fancier car than they can reallyy can afford. is it the dealrs job to say 'listen folks at this point you owe way more than the car your trading is worth. theres nothing wrong with your current car, it has low miles on it so why dont you leave and just keep it until its paid off, then trade it in. that is the smart thing to do, stop coming into dealerships asking us to sell you a car simply because you want a new one and then calling us names for finding a way to do what you asked us to do whatever the cost!' the vanity of the american public keeps thousands of salepeople employed, where would the economy be without the car business? i see people each and every day buying cars that just dont make sense but its what THEY want to do, should i go broke and tell them i wont sell them anything? maybe arnold can pass a law that regulates how much vehicle a person can buy based on the income they have (ie you make $3000 a month so your payment cant be more than $400/mo) and how often you can trade/buy a new one (you still owe on it so you cant trade yet)! we shouldnt have to take any responsibility for the actions we take ever, espcially when buying a car from those mean evil nasty car salesmen......

Last four or five times (two for myself and three for my dad) I went to the dealer to get a new car and then went for finance all of them came back with plans above 5 1/2 years. The terms are getting longer and looks like people don't mind taking the 6 or 7 year plans - I think anything above 5 is too much.

***Last five times I went to the dealer.

Okay, I'm about to do an 84 month payment plan on a 2002 BMW M3. It's my dream car, so YES, I indeed CAN see myself driving it in 7 years, still. In fact, I HATE the newer ones, they all look the same, and are ugly. All the curves and no modern straight, sophisticated lines just kill it for me. Everything looks like a damn Honda Accord. *sorry, getting off here. But right; I'm 20 years old, I need a new vehicle. I have a full time job and no other bills, luckily, yes I know this, thanks. And I say; why not go for the long plans, than look at the "big picture" as you say. I say go for it! If it's what you want, and what you need to give you some sort of happiness and satisfaction in this world, then DO IT. You're going to die anyways! I mean, HONESTLY, that's what it comes down to, you might as well live your life, do what YOU want to do, live for and by YOUR own means, and enjoy it while you can. Because in reality, there really isn't a "big picture" when it comes to material possessions. you can't take them with you when you're gone, so you might as well enjoy it while you can here on Earth. :]