Random Question

[Dad's72]

Hey y'all. Just wondering if any of y'all have given any thought about taking a personal loan to be able to rebuild your truck all at once and just making a reasonable payment each month?
Here is my logic. I have great credit. I have money in savings but this is our reserve for my family of 4 in the event we need anything and savings for retirement, ect. In other words, not for just playing with.
But I can afford a reasonable truck payment each month and I was thinking about taking a loan for about $15K to do it all at once and enjoy it while insuring it and paying it off for about $300 a month.
My only concern would be regretting taking the loan after a year or so of monthly payments.

Thoughts?

[RonG]

Originally Posted by Dad's72

Hey y'all. Just wondering if any of y'all have given any thought about taking a personal loan to be able to rebuild your truck all at once and just making a reasonable payment each month?
Here is my logic. I have great credit. I have money in savings but this is our reserve for my family of 4 in the event we need anything and savings for retirement, ect. In other words, not for just playing with.
But I can afford a reasonable truck payment each month and I was thinking about taking a loan for about $15K to do it all at once and enjoy it while insuring it and paying it off for about $300 a month.
My only concern would be regretting taking the loan after a year or so of monthly payments.

Thoughts?

I am loth to give financial advice, but here is my past experience. Wife and I both professionals and working. I Saved for two years (70k) to have my '64 El Camino professionally re done. Wife convinced me into adding on to the house. Car savings gone...and 15k in debt. Guess I valued our future, home and family more than my cars.

[WarMonger]

I think as long as you use the money and get what you want then do it. I personally like working and fixing them up better than having them. I find myself working on them and once I get them done, I sell them. I usually never get what I have in them, but its therapy. I say do it.

[drewbert41]

Is it driveable yet? I would personally get it there first then decide if you wanna go into debt making it cool, pretty, fast, etc.

My plan is to get mine driveable and then save up for safety things such as power disk brakes. Cosmetics very last. My .02

[flashed]

I personally dont borrow money to play with my toys but that is just me .I have no debt and like it that way,I dont like payments .

[Overdriven]

Originally Posted by flashed

I personally dont borrow money to play with my toys but that is just me .I have no debt and like it that way,I dont like payments .

My thoughts exactly. Besides, if you plan it right, most projects you can save for a year or two, do a nice chunk of work on the vehicle then go back to driving it. Then just repeat the cycle. The hard part is stashing the $ as the significant other usually has plans of their own for it.

If you want it done now and don't mind payments there are plenty of trucks at dealers. No idea what their financing looks like but I don't imagine it to be pretty.

[Dad's72]

I was in the same boat. I had saved like crazy for a couple years but my dad convinced me to put a down payment on a home. I didn't put anything down but used $22K to remodel and did all the work myself. After that like and kids and being responsible. I have a motor for the truck, all new cooling system, and breaking system. All in boxes still. But it is hard to get enough time to work on it with two young ones and activities and being a great dad. I just threw in that last one. Just wanted to get others opinions on this. I don't have any debt so I didn't think this was too bad of an idea.

[cdowns]

a lot of really great advice sofar// if you do use somebody elses money you'll really really regret it for years to come

[Grumpy old man]

Worst idea you may ever have ! Your thinking about borrowing money with interest to rebuild a truck ? Have you gone mad ? I mean really if you don't have the cash dollar bills $$ extra laying around why would you ever consider playing the classic car/truck game ? You said you and your wife are both working professionals ? And you need to BORROW MONEY ? $70,000.00 to restore an El Camino ? I'm sorry but you got hosed badly . Anyone who uses credit on payments to play this game needs to take a serious look at their finances before even considering borrowing money for a toy . I don't know you or anything about you but I do know many people who live way above their means on credit . If you can't afford to pay cash you can't afford it , Period !

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by cdowns

a lot of really great advice sofar// if you do use somebody elses money you'll really really regret it for years to come

!00,000% agree. You better check on the interest you'll pay on that loan over the time period. It'll shock you.
Save what you can and work on the truck when you can, and it'll get done, and you won't have all those payments. They get really old in a hurry.

[dennislbrooks]

Stay out of the 401k ---unless an absolute emergency.

[Eddie H.]

Why not just borrow the 15k and buy a really nice truck that is already completed. That way you can start driving it and enjoy it from day one. Later on, if you get tired of making payments, or get tired of the truck, you can sell it and get your money back, buy something else, or maybe even make a profit.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Originally Posted by Eddie H.

Why not just borrow the 15k and buy a really nice truck that is already completed. That way you can start driving it and enjoy it from day one. Later on, if you get tired of making payments, or get tired of the truck, you can sell it and get your money back, buy something else, or maybe even make a profit.

That isn't a bad idea. The ****ty part is if you took a loan for 15K 5 years and had a $300 payment, after 1.5-2 years if you get sick of the truck and want to make a change.... well now you only own 40% of it. I took a loan on a bike in Feb of '15 and sorta regret it.... I have 700+ credit but the interest is still a pain

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by TwoFiftyShifter

That isn't a bad idea. The ****ty part is if you took a loan for 15K 5 years and had a $300 payment, after 1.5-2 years if you get sick of the truck and want to make a change.... well now you only own 40% of it. I took a loan on a bike in Feb of '15 and sorta regret it.... I have 700+ credit but the interest is still a pain

The borrower doesn't own anything until the last payment is made ,

[Dustmaker65]

If you have a 401k, borrow from yourself and then you will be paying yourself the interest!

This comes from my beautiful, intellegent gf!

[71swb4x4]

I say go for it. I made what I consider some poor decisions with money, and it taught me some very important lessons. One of those is to NEVER do what you are suggesting. But, in the grand scheme of things your idea isn't that risky, so it could be a cheap way to learn a very important lesson. So borrow the money, hopefully in a year or so you will realize that it was a very poor decision and it will save you from making a larger mistake someday.

Have you ever read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover? It's a great book on financial responsibility. I will send you the book for free if you promise you will read it. PM me your address.

[Dad's72]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

I say go for it. I made what I consider some poor decisions with money, and it taught me some very important lessons. One of those is to NEVER do what you are suggesting. But, in the grand scheme of things your idea isn't that risky, so it could be a cheap way to learn a very important lesson. So borrow the money, hopefully in a year or so you will realize that it was a very poor decision and it will save you from making a larger mistake someday.

Have you ever read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover? It's a great book on financial responsibility. I will send you the book for free if you promise you will read it. PM me your address.

I'm familiar with that book. I'm fine when it comes to that. I have owned a home since I was 26, debt free other that mortgage, have savings, retirement, investments, and never touch or savings. The idea I had was to keep my liquid and to just pay slowly do the truck I want. I have never made bad financial decisions and my credit is a strong 806 so I figured why not use that to my advantage? I have a buddy who is building a truck and did something similar because he just didn't have the time to dedicate. So he outsourced have the build ands borrowed against his money.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by Dad's72

I'm familiar with that book. I'm fine when it comes to that. I have owned a home since I was 26, debt free other that mortgage, have savings, retirement, investments, and never touch or savings. The idea I had was to keep my liquid and to just pay slowly do the truck I want. I have never made bad financial decisions and my credit is a strong 806 so I figured why not use that to my advantage? I have a buddy who is building a truck and did something similar because he just didn't have the time to dedicate. So he outsourced have the build ands borrowed against his money.

If you have the financial means to get the job done by getting a loan and paying it off, and if you care about having this particular truck up and running, I suggest go for it. Several people are saying it's a bad financial idea, but sometimes it is not about making 100% correct financial decisions all the time. Don't over think it. If you think you could have regrets a year into the loan, you'll just have to deal with that when you come to it. I've had ups and downs with my truck, and I have paid way to much for some stuff. I've certainly got more into it than it is worth. Hell, I've spent thousands and now I have arrived at the point of having a $1500 truck. But it's running, and I enjoy it. I hope you enjoy yours. Get driving!

[LongBox]

My observation is that it usually costs more to fix up an old vehicle than it will be worth when it's finished. How many times have I read "...you couldn't build it for the price."

So, as someone else suggested, I'd find a truck already done up real nice, and buy it. At least, if it's finished, you can sell it to get out of the loan in the future, something that would be difficult with an unfinished vehicle.

[drewbert41]

I am in the same boat with the no time thing. Cheapest option would be to pay someone you trust to come over and put the motor in and just get it back on the road and go from there.

[Overdriven]

Originally Posted by drewbert41

I am in the same boat with the no time thing. Cheapest option would be to pay someone you trust to come over and put the motor in and just get it back on the road and go from there.

Good advice here. Find some time and some help to get it together and go from there. Whether it's some friends or a hired mechanic from Craigslist. Seriously craigslist as there's mechanics out of work or just looking for side jobs that could help speed things along. With it running and driving it'll be worth more, you could drive it for awhile, evaluate what else it needs or that you'd want on it. Then make your descision whether to finish it or sell and get something already done.

But honestly, unless you're a workaholic with a litter of kids who all have multiple ballet, soccer, etc things going on, you can find some time to get on the tools. Get out there for an hour or two after dinner (and after you've helped the wife clean up!) and you can still kiss your kids goodnight. Get off the couch, skip the game on tv and park your butt in the garage instead. A classic vehicle is a commitment and restoring one requires giving up some of those other things for progress to be made. I'm single and not a dad but I like coming home from work, fixing dinner, then relaxing on the couch but only working on a vehicle on weekends is not a recipe for progress. Some days I can't get out to the garage until 8pm and only put in 2 hours but progress is progress and you do what you have to do to get it done.

[cruisinthe34]

Never borrow for or against Hot Rods or Harleys...... I think thats actually some sort of CARDINAL rule.

[flashed]

My truck was frame off restored by a shop as I did not have the skills ,tools or time and I paid as he worked .It worked good for me even though it took the shop 5 years from beginning to end as we found things were worse than we thought and I kept adding things to be done but I paid it in cash .

[GASoline71]

Step away from the loan calculator!

You don't have the time to do stuff now... so that means you won't have the time when you have the money either.

Gary

[In The Ten Ring]

It's harder to get a personal loan than it used to be, perhaps when the govt bought out the banks those new rules came into effect.