How is that an insane deal? Like someone in a sister thread mentioned, the interest rates are so low that paying later has very little benefit since you can barely invest the money anywhere else. All this does is make you pay the same amount a little bit later.
0% is very nice, but oftentimes there is a cash rebate alternative. On my last purchase (last model year Volt before they were discontinued) I could take 0% or $8,000k off. I took the 8k!
0% has been common for years. 2015-2018 they were super common. Only the automaker offers these loans, and it's because they just take the loss out of their profit margin.
I mean not all investing has to be some risky thing. Say the car costs $25k. Put $5k in a 1,2,3,4 year CD and pay off each year with what you get from the CD and at the end of the 5 years enjoy the $1.6k you made for basically nothing.
Here is what needs to happen: the vast majority of people need a steady job that sees them afford a car. They need to not be "financially literate" because the vast majority of options open to them are not financial footguns, and we need a world where playing financial games doesn't make or break a person.
What was it Henry Ford did?
a. gave all his workers a Robinhood account so they could play derivatives and try to afford one of his cars
This is a very US centric view of the world - whose gotten itself into a corner with urban planning centered around cars. People don't need cars, they need mobility and the ability to get around their surroundings efficiently. If we're making up solutions to the world, by all means raise salaries if you can, but I wouldn't center our goals around car ownership. Walk around, ride a bycicle, use public transportation.
Yes they might not need a car if there is public transport.
That wasn't my point. My point was ordinary people shouldn't be looking to hedge the principal of something costing $15k with long/short positions in the stock market.
This is the financialisation of yet another area of western life and it's not smart.
Isn’t that what dealerships call “bonus cash”? Like you have to run the numbers yourself but you can use that as a point of negotiation if you’re buying outright.
Also 0% loans are fantastic for your credit! I take them as much as possible because it’s a free credit score bump.
A lot of this is because they want to maintain the status of the cars they sell.
For instance, the Honda Accord outsells the Chevy Malibu by ten-to-one. Instead of simply selling the Malibu for a lower price, Chevy wheels and deals on the rebates and the financing.
Meanwhile Subaru, per usual, is offering on the low-end compared to what others are doing. 0% for 63 months. They never budge on financing or offers.