WWYD: When you have buyer’s remorse
“Dude, what’s wrong you suffering from buyer’s remorse or something?” — Dionne in Clueless
According to Wikipedia, “Buyer’s remorse is an emotional condition whereby a person feels remorse or regret after a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of higher value items such as property, cars, computers, jewelry, etc.”
This is the feeling encountered by Andrea Dickson over at Wise Bread in her recent post, My car payments are too much! What should I do? She writes, “Last August, I decided to purchase my first new car ever. I had only ever owned used (and entirely paid-for) vehicles prior to this. I researched the type of car that I wanted and settled on a 2007 Mazda3. It’s a sexy little hatchback. It’s sporty, zippy, and has all the trimmings. Problem is, it’s busting my budget.”
“I got a decent base price on the car, but I fell for all the extras that the salesmen throw in at the end. You know, the extended warranty, the LoJack system. They kept showing me my monthly total (and not the grand total), and before I realized it, I was paying $3000 more for my car than I should have. I should note that this is pre-Wise Bread, so I wasn’t nearly as wise as I am now. Ahem.”
She asked a few personal finance bloggers (including me) their opinion on what she should do:
- Sell at a loss and go car-less to save money.
- Live with the expensive mistake and sell down the road when there’s an opportunity to break even.
Here are a few more details. She writes, “My payments aren’t horrendous, and I have an excellent interest rate on the loan. But all together (insurance, gas, payments, upkeep), the car costs me about $600 per month. Everyone keeps telling me that $600 a month in transportation costs isn’t that bad. But I can’t stop thinking about how I could use that money every month to pay down my debt or contribute to my IRA.”
Click over to her post to read her thoughts about going car-less and the savings it would provide her.
And in case, you’re wondering… my suggestion to her: sell, sell, sell and start riding the bus. It’s tricky to build wealth and buy assets, when you’re paying for the privilege of driving a fancy car.
What you would do if you were in the same boat or give your own example of buyer’s remorse and what you decided to do? Comments welcome below.
I always find suggestions to sell a car and do without to save money rather humorous. Remember, in most of the country, including big cities like Phoenix, AZ where I live, it is almost impossible to get by without a car. I have a relatively short commute to work, about 18 miles. I can do it in 1/2 hour by car. If busses actually run on schedule, I can do it in about an hour and a half, plus about two miles walking in 115 degree heat. Not really a possibility.
Yay, my fifteen minutes on Queercents!
I agree with Justin in that many places in the US are impossible to navigate without a car. My city (Seattle) isn’t like this. Oh, sure, it can be tough sometimes, but for the most part, you can get around with a bike or on the bus. My commute is only 5 miles. I have a motorcycle, too, so it’s not really an issue. Plus, the Flexcar system here is very popular, so if I really needed a car, I could get my hands on one.
The problem is selling the car – I’m not having any luck with that right now. 🙂
Interesting…my ex and I were just talking about the same thing…he bought too much and too many packs…and can’t afford it. As others have noted above, doing without a car is not an option for him. I suggested he:
1. Go back to the dealer and see if he can cancel the extended warranty for a pro-rated refund.
2. See if the dealer will allow him to trade down to a more affordable vehicle and how much that might cost him.
3. Approach his credit union and see if they can cut him any slack on his appalling interest rate (17%), or mildly suggest they may have to take back the car…
Its a tough situation…and maybe one reason why we should all ask a close friend to come with us when car shopping to make sure we don’t temporarily lose our sanity…an easy thing to do in a car dealer’s office!
mark.
Never go buy a car without having done some research ahead of time and knowing exactly how much you can spend. Get your financing at your bank not at the car dealership. And yes I would take a sane friend with you!
$600 a month is quite a chunk of money. I’d see about trading down.
I had an interesting experience with buyers remorse. Even though I didn’t have remorse at the time, I sure thought about using it.
You see, when I stupidly went deeper into debt to buy my car, I traded my truck as a $500 trade-in. The truck had been totaled by 2 hit and run drivers. Well, on day 2, I was called back to the dealership to sign some more papers, as they had to change the lender. When I go there I learned that they had brought one of the monster trucks, which were in town that week, over and had it run my truck over.
I was tempted to say I had changed my mind, seeing as it clearing had not been 3 days yet since the transaction took place.
I did get pictures though, which was kind of cool to see a monster truck on top of my truck.