What are you thinking about?

[twslhs20]

So I took a new job that will require me to buy my own car. They gave me a 10K signing bonus. I'm looking at a CRV. Anyone drive any hybrids they recommend? I live in an apartment (too poor for a house in North CA) so I don't think an EV is feasible.

[naptownskinsfan]

2 hours ago, twslhs20 said:

So I took a new job that will require me to buy my own car. They gave me a 10K signing bonus. I'm looking at a CRV. Anyone drive any hybrids they recommend? I live in an apartment (too poor for a house in North CA) so I don't think an EV is feasible.

So you currently don’t have a car now?  

How much are they expecting you to drive?  Or are you just referring to the need for commuting?  

If so, that might change how I’d approach things, but I will say there are two rules of thumb I’d recommend:  

1.) Do not spend any more than the $10k bonus on that car.  

2.) The 20/3/8 rule.  Put at least 20% down, do not finance more than three years, and the total car payment should not exceed 8% of your gross income.  An additional rule with this is that your car payment should not exceed your monthly investment number.  

 

[twslhs20]

1 hour ago, naptownskinsfan said:

So you currently don’t have a car now?  

How much are they expecting you to drive?  Or are you just referring to the need for commuting?  

If so, that might change how I’d approach things, but I will say there are two rules of thumb I’d recommend:  

1.) Do not spend any more than the $10k bonus on that car.  

2.) The 20/3/8 rule.  Put at least 20% down, do not finance more than three years, and the total car payment should not exceed 8% of your gross income.  An additional rule with this is that your car payment should not exceed your monthly investment number.  

 

My current car was a fleet car for my sales role. This new sales role will having me driving to Reno and Carson city on occasion (300-324 mi round trip). I'll be paid the federal rate for mileage. Just looking for any hybrids under 10K. They are 2013 or lower with 110-140K miles on them. I'm not sure I would trust that to be reliable.

Edited Saturday at 11:14 PM by twslhs20

[naptownskinsfan]

1 minute ago, twslhs20 said:

My current car was a fleet car for my sales role. This new sales role will having me driving to Reno and Carson city on occasion (300-324 mi round trip). I'll be paid the federal rate for mileage. Just looking for any hybrids under 10K. They are 2013 or lower with 110-140K miles on them. I'm not sure I would trust that to be reliable.

Co-worker of mine has a Prius that is 8 years old and holds up well on a 15 mile commute one way every day, plus their time going to the gym every morning and then back home.  

Can’t argue with the reliability of Toyota and Honda, the latter you are looking at anyway.  

Just don’t take too much of a loan if you have to, regardless of federal mileage reimbursement.  My recommendation is put most of that reimbursement into a high-yield savings to use for repairs and make sure you have the cash on hand for them because it could be lost income for you if you have to wait. 

[twslhs20]

1 hour ago, naptownskinsfan said:

Co-worker of mine has a Prius that is 8 years old and holds up well on a 15 mile commute one way every day, plus their time going to the gym every morning and then back home.  

Can’t argue with the reliability of Toyota and Honda, the latter you are looking at anyway.  

Just don’t take too much of a loan if you have to, regardless of federal mileage reimbursement.  My recommendation is put most of that reimbursement into a high-yield savings to use for repairs and make sure you have the cash on hand for them because it could be lost income for you if you have to wait. 

Question. If pay no more than 10K for the car, why would I finance it? Unless that's to use the savings account to accrue interest for future repairs?

[naptownskinsfan]

Just now, twslhs20 said:

Question. If pay no more than 10K for the car, why would I finance it? Unless that's to use the savings account to accrue interest for future repairs?

The money I would put into the savings account is your mileage reimbursement.  That way, it’s easily accessible in case you need it to keep the car running and for all of your additional case and standard maintenance stuff, since you will be putting more miles in than the average person.  

I’d pay cash for the car for sure.  

[minutemancl]

6 hours ago, twslhs20 said:

So I took a new job that will require me to buy my own car. They gave me a 10K signing bonus. I'm looking at a CRV. Anyone drive any hybrids they recommend? I live in an apartment (too poor for a house in North CA) so I don't think an EV is feasible.

I have a Ford Maverick hybrid and I love it as much as you could love a car. They're cheap too. I get 43 mpg.

[naptownskinsfan]

@twslhs20another thing to consider with the mileage reimbursement, federal rate is $.67/mile.  

If you happened to drive 100,000 miles for work with this car you buy for $10k, that’s $67,000, and if you put it into a HYSA, you likely net out the taxes in the long run.  You have likely used some of this up over the years for oil changes, regular maintenance, tires and probably some other bills that came along with the car over that time.  

Conservatively, that still leaves you with at least half of that amount to pay cash for a new car when it comes time for that.  Or, you can buy used again, and use some of that money for something else, and begin saving all over again. 

What I have seen a lot of people do over the years is that they just assume the mileage reimbursement as ‘extra money’ and spend it as such, instead of setting it aside like this.  Which you need to do, because if you are driving 300 miles in one shot for work, you are going to need this for that extra maintenance and upkeep.  But in the end, saving these mileage checks will end up buying you a car.  

[ramssuperbowl99]

13 hours ago, twslhs20 said:

Question. If pay no more than 10K for the car, why would I finance it? Unless that's to use the savings account to accrue interest for future repairs?

Do you have a reasonable emergency fund?

New jobs can be somewhat unpredictable in terms of how they change expenses. You might end up wanting to upgrade your professional wardrobe in the short term.

Financing the car isn't necessarily a yes/no thing either, if you have $10k (presumably that's net and you already paid the taxes?) and you e-fund is a little short, you can always use any surplus to pay down the amount you finance.

22 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said:

If you happened to drive 100,000 miles for work with this car you buy for $10k, that’s $67,000, and if you put it into a HYSA, you likely net out the taxes in the long run.

Personally I'd view it as extra income just like the rest of the check and invest it in an indexed mutual fund, rather than stomaching that much cash in a HYSA. But that's a personal risk tolerance thing.

[minutemancl]

 

 

[BobbyPhil1781]

Whether it's true that people were controlling the robots or not is to be determined and honestly, not that big of a deal, and while this will make some here very unhappy it is an incredible feat and it looks like it's been done a hundred times. This was the first time ever though.

 

[twslhs20]

14 hours ago, minutemancl said:

I have a Ford Maverick hybrid and I love it as much as you could love a car. They're cheap too. I get 43 mpg.

Appreciate the suggestion. I avoid trucks because my eyes suck tbh. I don't have great depth perception.

[twslhs20]

3 hours ago, naptownskinsfan said:

@twslhs20another thing to consider with the mileage reimbursement, federal rate is $.67/mile.  

If you happened to drive 100,000 miles for work with this car you buy for $10k, that’s $67,000, and if you put it into a HYSA, you likely net out the taxes in the long run.  You have likely used some of this up over the years for oil changes, regular maintenance, tires and probably some other bills that came along with the car over that time.  

Conservatively, that still leaves you with at least half of that amount to pay cash for a new car when it comes time for that.  Or, you can buy used again, and use some of that money for something else, and begin saving all over again. 

What I have seen a lot of people do over the years is that they just assume the mileage reimbursement as ‘extra money’ and spend it as such, instead of setting it aside like this.  Which you need to do, because if you are driving 300 miles in one shot for work, you are going to need this for that extra maintenance and upkeep.  But in the end, saving these mileage checks will end up buying you a car.  

That's an interesting point. My though process was to use it to supplement my gas and insurance then through the rest in a ROTH or something.

20/50K commission is nearly guaranteed for meeting 80% of my target. Based on the numbers I've see I'm bagging that. But I'm figuring all of this on just living on my base salary.

[naptownskinsfan]

2 minutes ago, twslhs20 said:

That's an interesting point. My though process was to use it to supplement my gas and insurance then through the rest in a ROTH or something.

20/50K commission is nearly guaranteed for meeting 80% of my target. Based on the numbers I've see I'm bagging that. But I'm figuring all of this on just living on my base salary.

@ramssuperbowl99 isn’t wrong, putting that much money over time into the market is worth it, depending on how you view that kind of money in that amount.  I’m not sure I’d do it the way I outlined it, but it’s a thought for sure……and that’s serious money if you view it at the 30,000 foot level and drive that many miles.  

My main point is to make sure you keep an amount outside of your emergency fund for car-related expenses, especially since you are going to be driving a ton.  

 

[twslhs20]

2 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said:

Do you have a reasonable emergency fund?

New jobs can be somewhat unpredictable in terms of how they change expenses. You might end up wanting to upgrade your professional wardrobe in the short term.

Financing the car isn't necessarily a yes/no thing either, if you have $10k (presumably that's net and you already paid the taxes?) and you e-fund is a little short, you can always use any surplus to pay down the amount you finance.

Personally I'd view it as extra income just like the rest of the check and invest it in an indexed mutual fund, rather than stomaching that much cash in a HYSA. But that's a personal risk tolerance thing.

I have a little over 9K in my savings currently. Its what I was able to negotiate a signing bonus because I didn't want to dip into it for a down payment on a car.

I ideally I want a 4-5 year old hybrid around 30-50K miles but that's going to run me 18-28K. Its more than I want to spend. I a 14' outback with 245K miles on it for 8K but that feels like I'm inheriting a ton of problems.

I don't want to buy a car that just going to have the transmission or engine just drop out it the moment I sign the title.