🔒 Ford Credit Finance Rate Lock Program - For 2023 Models Ordered by 1/3/23

[M4Madness]

If you’re not joking about your wages, that cash is better in your pocket than into a down payment on an item that can be destroyed on the drive home.

Thankfully, I have a year's take-home pay in savings.

Sponsored

 

[Bronco Dad]

I got 2.9%/48 Months on our 2022 Expedition we picked up in September through Ford Credit.

 

[dbattle]

You’re leaving out insurance. If you wreck your car and have gap coverage, your loan is paid off. However, since a vehicle depreciates, quickly, you rarely will ever get back what you put down. This is why businesses and the wealthy do a lot of leasing.

If your car is totaled, or flooded, whatever, you still need to get a new one, right? So where is your down payment for that one? Well, it’s in the one you just lost, so now you‘re screwed twice.

If a vehicle is only in a wreck, your insurance fixes it minus your deductible.

Investing is always fruitful, particularly now with the market being down or in flux. Buy low, sell high, but even smarter to hold. Investing should always be done in a cycle and and investment cycle is 20 years. You only lose money when you cash out when the market it down. Yes, it’s all about timing and it’s akin to gambling, but that’s what makes it fun and gambles and taking some risk is where the most money is made.

So again, keep some cash in your pocket; makes you have some liquidity in an uncertain world. The lower your income, the more important cash on hand is.

I normally charge a hefty sum for even this simplified info and it’s not charged to people, rather to corporations and industries.

Interesting. So let's create a dream world scenario for fun. I have enough money to pay for new car outright plus enough money to buy a replacement car in the future if something happens. So for round numbers let's say I have $100k in the bank and each car is $50k. The market is down and the rates are high. I can pay a 3-4% interest rate and keep all of the money in the bank or I can pay for the car upfront. Are you suggesting that in this case the best move is still to pay the interest even if the market won't match the 3-4% that you'll lose in interest because the market will eventually recover and then you'll have the cash to invest and you can make up your losses then?

Am I following?

 

[NayNay]

So if reading it correctly, you have to apply now for the financing even though you have no idea when or if your Bronco will be built?

The day your order is placed you are able to get whatever rebates and rates are available on that day. Once your vehicle comes in you can decide if you want the rebates and rates from the day you placed your order or whatever the current rebates are on the day you pick it up.

 

[BigHoof]

The day your order is placed you are able to get whatever rebates and rates are available on that day. Once your vehicle comes in you can decide if you want the rebates and rates from the day you placed your order or whatever the current rebates are on the day you pick it up.

I find that hard to believe. My order was placed in February of 2021. Do you really think they are going to offer the same finance rate for a delivery that will be well over 2 years into the future?

 

[NayNay]

I find that hard to believe. My order was placed in February of 2021. Do you really think they are going to offer the same finance rate for a delivery that will be well over 2 years into the future?

When you have to re-order it for the following year the order date changes again. It changed for the MY22 and again for MY23. Perhaps I was not clear in my statement. I work at a Ford store and handle all our Bronco orders. I deal with this stuff every single day as a finance director. My apologies for not clarifying that.

 

[BigHoof]

So just by ordering the '23 we are qualified for the then rate? You do not have to do anything else and it will show up in the system somewhere at the time of delivery?

Thanks.

 

[AMC Ape]

Without charging you interest, where is the incentive for me to allow you to ”borrow“ my money? That’s literally the basis of the concept of capitalism.

You have a level of risk tolerance that is of your own, so do I. I always suggest planning for contingencies, but I also understand most do not, thus the debt that most of us carry.

I of course hope you have no issues at all with your Bronco, so hope you don’t have anything to worry about with the high down payment. Best!

It’s a Ford, there will be issues. I buy extended warranty and will have no payments except to self.

 

[Scopebit]

Actually, rates should start to come back down within 18 months.

Once consumer spending slows and people get over this pandemic fueled spending frenzy, the Fed Reserve will lower rates. They’re only striving for balance in the economy.

Supply chains are already catching back up and people are slowing excessive spending. There will in turn be a few companies who make layoffs, but the workforce is much smaller than the recession of 2008-10, so we won’t see anything near those days again.

I hope you're right brother! I have a 23 yr old son with a good job trying to save $$ for a house and he's currently watching those rates. I'm not personally worried as i can afford this rig and the rates. I just remember the 70s/80s as a kid, those rates were astronomical.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Interesting. So let's create a dream world scenario for fun. I have enough money to pay for new car outright plus enough money to buy a replacement car in the future if something happens. So for round numbers let's say I have $100k in the bank and each car is $50k. The market is down and the rates are high. I can pay a 3-4% interest rate and keep all of the money in the bank or I can pay for the car upfront. Are you suggesting that in this case the best move is still to pay the interest even if the market won't match the 3-4% that you'll lose in interest because the market will eventually recover and then you'll have the cash to invest and you can make up your losses then?

Am I following?

Check my post again. Investing isn’t a short term thing. Need lots of cash real fast? Sell drugs, ass, or some other crime or win the lottery. See how crazy each sounds? Right, because money isn’t fast; easy come, easy go.

Investing is a cycle and stocks only rarely should be traded; if you’re buying smart. Retail stocks have the most associated risk. I don’t totally avoid them, but depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, determines what level of risk you should take on.

So, in your scenario, no, I would not pay cash for two cars. That’s a poor person’s game. That is insulting, because such a foolish thing should be called as such, so you understand it to be just that.

To people with money, a car is a tool, nothng more unless you’re a collector of classics. Personally, I plan to drag my Bronco through the mud, back again, and then some more until it squeals like a stuck pig; it’s a toy because I’ve grown tired of luxury cars and all of the associated BS. Plus, I like to camp, hike, ski, and wheel. So, it’s a tool as well as transportation.

A car is not an asset. If you have $100K, I’d ask how much debt you have? How much mortgage do you still owe? One is a liability, the other is your asset. Then I’d ask if you could benefit from more education or training? Invest in yourself first.

Regardless of your feelings of retirement, what about your overall quality of life? Sure a Bronco is awesome, for now, but it too will get old, then a new toy will come to market, what’s the value of your Bronco then? What if you want the new toy?

Anyway, it’s your money, do as you wish, but in your scenario, I’d say you only need one car and unless you plan to off road it, lease the mall crawler. If you’ll wheel, paying cash gets you very little in the grand scheme of things, so paying a little interest to minimize your level of risk, is smarter money.

That’s the end of the free.

 

[dbattle]

Check my post again. Investing isn’t a short term thing. Need lots of cash real fast? Sell drugs, ass, or some other crime or win the lottery. See how crazy each sounds? Right, because money isn’t fast; easy come, easy go.

Investing is a cycle and stocks only rarely should be traded; if you’re buying smart. Retail stocks have the most associated risk. I don’t totally avoid them, but depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, determines what level of risk you should take on.

So, in your scenario, no, I would not pay cash for two cars. That’s a poor person’s game. That is insulting, because such a foolish thing should be called as such, so you understand it to be just that.

To people with money, a car is a tool, nothng more unless you’re a collector of classics. Personally, I plan to drag my Bronco through the mud, back again, and then some more until it squeals like a stuck pig; it’s a toy because I’ve grown tired of luxury cars and all of the associated BS. Plus, I like to camp, hike, ski, and wheel. So, it’s a tool as well as transportation.

A car is not an asset. If you have $100K, I’d ask how much debt you have? How much mortgage do you still owe? One is a liability, the other is your asset. Then I’d ask if you could benefit from more education or training? Invest in yourself first.

Regardless of your feelings of retirement, what about your overall quality of life? Sure a Bronco is awesome, for now, but it too will get old, then a new toy will come to market, what’s the value of your Bronco then? What if you want the new toy?

Anyway, it’s your money, do as you wish, but in your scenario, I’d say you only need one car and unless you plan to off road it, lease the mall crawler. If you’ll wheel, paying cash gets you very little in the grand scheme of things, so paying a little interest to minimize your level of risk, is smarter money.

That’s the end of the free.

I certainly appreciate your take on things as well as the thorough explanation. I was mostly curious about the approach to payment that you take. it’s funny I was raised with mindset that you don’t buy what you can’t pay for in cash. So I’ve always been a saver. I think the same basic principle applies with what you’re saying but with the suggestion that I allow my money to work for me in the process instead of being “car poor”. God has blessed us with a good amount of retirement savings which I am grateful for and I will continue to invest in regularly.

Yes, I agree a car is definitely not an investment although oddly enough if I get my Bronco anytime soon I’ll be able to sell my 12 year old Prius for way more than it’s worth. And yes I’m moving away from 20 years of driving a Prius to a gas guzzling Bronco.

Anyway, thanks for taking some time to respond. I’m always interested in hearing other peoples approach to things of this nature. I appreciate it.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

I certainly appreciate your take on things as well as the thorough explanation. I was mostly curious about the approach to payment that you take. it’s funny I was raised with mindset that you don’t buy what you can’t pay for in cash. So I’ve always been a saver. I think the same basic principle applies with what you’re saying but with the suggestion that I allow my money to work for me in the process instead of being “car poor”. God has blessed us with a good amount of retirement savings which I am grateful for and I will continue to invest in regularly.

Yes, I agree a car is definitely not an investment although oddly enough if I get my Bronco anytime soon I’ll be able to sell my 12 year old Prius for way more than it’s worth. And yes I’m moving away from 20 years of driving a Prius to a gas guzzling Bronco.

Anyway, thanks for taking some time to respond. I’m always interested in hearing other peoples approach to things of this nature. I appreciate it.

The don't buy unless you can pay cash thing was born out of the Great Depression. That's an era I studied a lot in school to earn my degrees and do what I do, but it's outdated for today.

The inflation era of the 1970's basically put most large purchases out of the reach of more than 98% of the population.

With that mindset, few would ever own a home since the average price of a home today is approaching $400K nationally. So, does this mean that renting is the smarter money move? No. Most people carry a mortgage because that "asset" can be leveraged. Then, there's this thing called equity that build and you can cash out long before your home is paid for; at times, before you start to chip away at the principle.

It's all relative and a matter of perspective. In a small town in mid or rural America, sure, you can buy homes for what an entry level luxury car costs, but do I want to live there? No. However, someone usually has to, just not me; perspective.

I respect the cautious approach to money by older generations, but that's what was needed to survive in a time that's now been 80 years past and hard to pull off today.

A person's income level also influences ability to live debt free and other factors that may only be relevant to a particular individual.

 

[AMC Ape]

I find that hard to believe. My order was placed in February of 2021. Do you really think they are going to offer the same finance rate for a delivery that will be well over 2 years into the future?

Wen I suggested Ford do this for us (2021 Bronco res holders/turned orders) in this very forum, all I got was the lol emojii. It is absolutely the moral and ethical thing for Ford to do, if they want to earn interest money from me. It’s a sad and greedy world so much so, that such a concept is unbelievable. Especially since Ford sold many Broncos to walk ins, dealer stocks and individuals with multiple orders some who even got Raptor tickets as well as the multitudes to put on Bronco Rodeos all the while us patiently waits.

 

[jleafgre]

Rates are going up mid December I think a 1/4%

Feds meet early November and mid December. They have already hinted at another 3/4 a percent. I suspect you will see two increases and both will be 1/2 to 3/4 a percent.

 

[da_jokker]

Reading all the financial advice responses truly have me confused. Apparently I've been doing it wrong most of my adult life. Maybe someone can dummy it down and explain it to me?

When I was younger, and ignorant about things like paying interest on debt, All I thought about was how much I could afford per month. I had little to no money in savings and owed a crap ton in loans/credit cards.

Then I wised up (or so I thought) and paid my way out of debt. Without all those monthly payments, it didn't take long before I had a crap ton of money in the bank and was able to buy everything in cash (eg pay off my credit cards every month, purchase my vehicles outright, etc).

The one exception to this was a mortgage. However until the last couple years, having a mortgage, more accurately the interest on a mortgage, helped give you an advantage on your tax returns but not so much anymore.

Now I'm a millionaire, going to be retiring soon, yet still very heavily live and breath "budgets".

There was one time when I had the opportunity to finance a vehicle at 0% interest....which I jumped at because that made sense.

But right now, today, Market indexes are down significantly from a year ago. Most standard investment will most likely continue to lose 5-20% for the next year, standard savings accounts/CDs yield next to nothing, and yet the advice on this thread is NOT to pay cash outright and instead pay 3-4% interest on a car loan instead of watching my money lose 2-4% practically every day with his current market environment?

I honestly don't see how that makes any sense. If this was 2 years ago when you could practically throw a random dart at the Markets and probably make 10+% while interest rates on borrowed money was 2%... Well then it would be a different story. However today, markets are diving and loan rates are raising.

My math has Paying $60k outright for the Bronco at better returns than losing 10% in the Stock market or letting it sit in cash/CD at 1-2% while I pay 3-4% in interest.

I mean I know they got that new-age math now a days....but is it that much different?

Sponsored