How can you afford a $50K plus SUV

Pchief520 · Sep 2, 2015

Went to take a look at a loaded 15 R/T for $53,005!!! We told the sales guy we where just looking and wanted some info!!! It was sweet but the price tag was hard to swallow!!! After the test drive we went into the showroom, they wanted to take my temperature I believe!!! I looked over to my wife and she gave he the look "HELL NO" not going to have a $700+/- car payment for the next 72 months...

How the hell can you afford this rig? As of now it's a no!! my wife and I make well over 100k but feel it's more important to payoff the house and save $$ (4 kids)..

How the hell do you do it?? What are you paying per month? Are you living beyond your means? I saw a 75K Chevy Z-28, that's crazy!!! Thanks for letting me vent!!

Pappy35 · Sep 2, 2015

1) Money to put down
2) Debt under control
3) NO KIDS AT HOME!!!

Moose135 · Sep 2, 2015

I'm paying $650/month for 60 months, my '14 Limited stickered about $10K less than what you looked at, and we dealt down from there. No wife, no kids, making in the $100K neighborhood, so I got what I wanted and can afford it.

Szy_szka · Sep 2, 2015

You don't need to spend that kind of money to get into a Durango. The key is to find the trim and specs that suit your needs and, most importantly, budget. Good luck shopping around!

rrhodes · Sep 2, 2015

Because I work so that I can provide for my family and enjoy things that I really like. Can't take it with me, so why the hell not. The wife drives a more expensive car than I do.

Lanson · Sep 2, 2015

Shop around, I was able to get a dealer that wanted to trade high enough, sell me theirs low enough (Truecar pricing, not bad) and the 1.9% means the money goes pretty far.

edit: also picking with things I wanted and skipping things I didn't made it a low 40 price, not 50. But for any price point, the above logic helps all the same.

RangoLimited · Sep 2, 2015

My limited wasn't that much but I put lots down to keep payments low. I've got 4 kids as well, but what do you mean save $ for kids? We started college 529 accts, but don't add to them. Kids need to grow up ready to work for what they want, not have it handed to them. Let them save for a car and work hard for scholarships. Then you enjoy the money you work for. That's my 2c but do what you want.

Skippy426 · Sep 2, 2015

I bought my 2011 citadel HEMI CPO, I never buy new. Let someone else take the biggest hit of depreciation. 645 a month because I put nothin down, got gap and extended warranty.

Robfrmny21 · Sep 2, 2015

Put 15k down and got 15k trade in on last car. Pay 273 a month

HemiSphere · Sep 2, 2015

Yes, it's a crap ton of money. But it's not just the Durango and not just Dodge. You will not find any vehicle out there with equal features, performance and quality for less than $60k. I just spent a moment on Ford.com to build an equivalent Ford Explorer Sport (the closest vehicle to the Durango, in my opinion) for myself and it comes out more than $3000 higher than my R/T. And this is for an SUV that simply does not get as good a ratings from the consumer sites and car magazines.

It ain't cheap, but it's a relative bargain, especially in R/T trim.

SilverRT · Sep 2, 2015

Our sticker was just above 43k ended up with almost 6k off thru Truecar.com. When we purchased there where no incentives like 0% and the market was so strong for them they were buying them literally as they come off the truck. We had a good trade in with a 2011 4runner and kept our payments at $500 even

Pauls72 · Sep 2, 2015

As Pappy35 said:
1) Money to put down
2) Debt under control
3) NO KIDS AT HOME!!!
Plus
4) Good credit rating and low interest rate.
5) Other cars payed off.
6) Mortgage payment that's less than the SUV payment.
7) Price negotiation.

I used TrueCar.com for a starting point and negotiated down from there. You can use Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book too as all 3 will be close in price. Don't be in a rush, be willing to walk away and go to another dealer. Dealer invoice is just a number, the dealer generally pays less and the higher their volume the less they pay. The dealer also gets a kickback from the manufacturer (it's called holdback) so even is they sell it to you at their so called cost, they still make money. Make a list of what you need, what you really want and what would be just nice to have. Do you really need the power sun roof, the rear fold and tumble captian's chairs, the rear DVD entertainment system, the technology group or the leather seats? If you don't want it or care about it, don't let the dealer force it on you. So you should be able get a a nice R/T, 5.7 V8, AWD, towing package, 8.4A radio for $41K to $41.5K plus tax and garbage fees. (Maybe even less if your persistent like me.) This would be something that lists for $44.5K. Just because the dealer doesn't have it in stock doesn't mean that can't get it. They can search it out at other dealers, just like you can on-line too. On the Dodge web site use the Build Your own option to configure what you want then do a search expanding the distance to 200 miles, if you find what you want of very close, print it out and take it with you. Same thing with any on-line pricing you find. Don't get conned into dealer add on's like paint sealant, extended warranty, etc... Pretty much everything outside of license fees and taxes is negotiable. If you gave a good credit rating you should be able to get a loan for 2.24% @ PNC Bank or 2.14% @ Chase on 60 month loans. Maybe even as low as 1.99%. You don't have to finance through the dealer, but they should be able to match what every else you can get. If your a credit union member check their rates too.

Were paying $615/month for 48 months on a 2015 SXT Plus. $39.6K MSRP and we got it for $35.7K. That's about $1K under dealer invoice. The only thing we didn't get that we wanted was a CD/DVD player. But I RIPPED the CD's and put them on a USB thumb drive.

LiGuy · Sep 2, 2015

Szy_szka said:
You don't need to spend that kind of money to get into a Durango. The key is to find the trim and specs that suit your needs and, most importantly, budget. Good luck shopping around!

^^exactly^^

If a fully loaded RT is too much of a hit for your budget then figure out which features/options are most important to you go from there. If appearance is most important, consider an SXT with Blacktop or Rallye package. It will look almost exactly like an RT only the MSRP will be about $20K less than that RT you looked at.

If you've got young children, maybe leather is most important (much easier to clean than cloth). Consider a Limited. Sticker on mine was around $42k. Ended up getting it for around $36k after holding the salesman upside down by his ankles and shaking all change out of his pockets.

Absolut · Sep 2, 2015

Pchief520 said:
.... feel it's more important to payoff the house and save $$ (4 kids).. ...

You kind of answered it yourself. Other people may not have 4 kids or do not feel that expediting mortgage payments is more important than a driving a car that they love.... Unfortunately, at the end of the day, a modern "loaded" SUV w/ a V8 will not be cheap now days. Just get 2014 that is coming off the 2yr lease, it's a well known fact that the cars lose their value at a fastest rate when new. This way you will have 95% of the car you want (basically all of the features of the 2015 but with 20-25k miles) at 70% of the price.

just IMHO

Pauls72 · Sep 2, 2015

Some sales people will tell things like this price won't be available if you leave or this vehicle is hot and it won't be here when you come back. You just have to tell them well maybe I can get a better deal some place else or maybe I can fine one I like better.

Ultimately you will get asked "Whats it going to take to get you to buy this vehicle today?". You should have a realistic, but low price to give them. Something they can choke on, but not so low that they will not take you seriously.

Last figure your rough loan payments ahead of time. Go find an on-line loan calculator and run several different scenarios. So then you will know you have x to put down, you want your payments to be y which means your total cost needs to be z or below. Dealers always want deal in your payments will be... This is just a way for them to hide your true cost. You want to always deal in your all inclusive out the door price. This way you are comparing apples to apples when shopping around.

Pchief520 · Sep 2, 2015

Rangolimited we are starting to save for their education!! We are on the debt snowball from Dave Ramsey, just about debt free except the house. I have CAR FEVER, I've been trying to figure out a way to make this happen. Before Dave Ramsey I wouldn't mind having a $700+ car payment, but now I see things different!!!! We paid off the family van back in March and now we've been saving for car replacement for me!! As I type this I'm working OT on my day off, I've done 12 OT shifts so far and hope to do more this year!!!! Figure I could make an extra $10K.....

Durangutan · Sep 2, 2015

Price out a fully loaded Yukon Denali XL (yeah, it's bigger, but still), and pretty soon that Durango won't seem so bad after all!

Actually, of course, it's to each his own. Spend your money on what you decide is best.

Durangutan · Sep 2, 2015

Well, I know you're probably looking for something new, but you could always pick up something used and apply the savings toward a boatload of mods. I'd tell Dave Ramsey to kiss my racetrack lights!

You only live once!!!

DURANGO_RT8U · Sep 2, 2015

buying brand new is good if you want to custom build it..
i was looking at the 15 also but yeah price is crazy... i started looking at 14's. i found what i was looking for. 2014 R/T with 9k on it. the sticker price was 40,000 the dealer knocked off 2,000 made the truck 38,000. well what im getting at is a year old truck with low milage you will get the same as the 15 but also save some coin in the long run.. i saved over 12,000 by doing so.. oh i also traded in my ram 1500 but that was not a big deal.

Mr D · Sep 2, 2015

I got mine right at 10% below MSRP. My previous car was totaled but 5 payments away from being paid off so I got a nice chuck of change to put down. Then I went a put even more down on top of that and financed for 66 months. My payments are $463 but I also pay extra on principal. I suppose I should add that I have two kids, one of which is a newborn, and we bought a new house last year. Our credit is stellar so we also got a great interest rate. I wish they were offering the 0% when we bought it though.

How can you afford a $50K plus SUV

Pchief520

Pappy35

Moose135

Szy_szka

rrhodes

Lanson

RangoLimited

Skippy426

Robfrmny21

HemiSphere

SilverRT

Pauls72

LiGuy

Absolut

Pauls72

Pchief520

Durangutan

Durangutan

DURANGO_RT8U

Mr D

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