How upside down is everyone and how do you feel about it?

[farmtruck]

I leased. Right now I figure I will be at $0.78/mile when I turn my Lightning back.

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[queuewho]

I've got 'new car replacement' on my Allstate policy. It lasts 3 years after purchase. It's basically gap insurance for cash buyers.

So...zero?

 

[Texas Dan]

I paid a lot down so I can’t really say I’m upside down. What really gets me is Kelly Blue Book still won’t calculate a value for my Lightning. My Lightning is over a year old so I really don’t understand why Kelly won’t value my truck.

 

[shutterbug]

So they used current purchase price of a similar spec and mileage 21 MME? and then they added tax? The tax helps, I didn't know they put that in the calculation. Did you verify their number was similar to market sale prices? and Did you have to fight them on that at all or was the price fair out the gate?

No fighting, but I did get it bumped up just a little bit because of upgraded wheels I had. Here is the summary:
Actual Cash Value $35,700.00
Plus: Taxes $3,784.20
Title Transfer: $24.25
Title Fee $0.00
Subtotal $39,508.45
Less: Deductible $1000

Carvana offer was $28K.

Your policy may vary.

 

[detansinn]

If you want to mitigate this kind of risk, a substantial down payment really goes a long way to avoid being upside down. In the absence of that, gap insurance helps some folks sleep at night. Truth be told, unless you are trying to sell it or trade it in, it really doesn't matter how it depreciates. Drive your truck and enjoy it.

I paid cash for mine. We made sacrifices to eliminate our debt a number of years ago and it's the greatest thing ever. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to do it sooner. This video really hits it home.

 

[TaxmanHog]

My truck is paid in full, but I'm still disappointed in the accelerated depreciation of market value, barring a catastrophe, it's an unrealized loss, my plan to get ahead of this is to enjoy the truck as is until my warranties are worn out.

 

[Green1]

I do wonder about the percentage of people who are underwater on their vehicles. I did end up buying my truck new, but before doing so I tried to buy several used ones, and in at least 2 of the cases the deal fell through because the people selling were underwater and couldn't afford the difference (If you're so far underwater that you can't pay the difference between your asking price and your loan price, don't list the truck for sale, because you can't sell it if you don't own it!)

 

[detansinn]

My truck is paid in full, but I'm still disappointed in the accelerated depreciation of market value, barring a catastrophe, it's an unrealized loss, my plan to get ahead of this is to enjoy the truck as is until my warranties are worn out.

yep. This is why I am planning to own it for a decade. The initial depreciation hit is out of the way. I am getting value out of it by driving it.

 

[ryun]

My wife and I are fortunate enough to have been able to pay for the truck in cash as well, but we financed the full amount anyway. Stuck the money in CDs and other conservative investments. Should be up ~$8-10K (after subtracting interest and taxes) when the loan is paid off.

That said, debt-free rules too. Like most of you have said: don't over extend yourself and just enjoy the ride.

 

[sstevetx]

I only financed 20k, but already paid that off due to the high interest rates when I bought it. With the exception of the car I sold to pay for part of this, most vehicles are depreciating assets. I plan on keeping this for a long time with the 8yr/100k extended warranty I added, so I am just going to enjoy driving it.

 

[metroshot]

I think we're missing the point here - Its not about good deals or bad deals or the value of the trucks. Its about insurance protection given quicker than usual depreciation. Gap insurance doesn't cover the amounts we're talking about on our trucks. The cap is 125% with most major insurers.

So in that case, is anyone worried about this and what can we do to protect ourselves? I don't believe we could get stated value insurance on these which would typically be the solution for rare or vintage vehicles.

If I were you and worried about it, I'd consider creating a business and making the truck part of your business expenses.

That way, you would shield yourself personally from liability to some degree, have deductible business costs, and use the mileage for tax credits.

 

[csukoh78]

I know some of us paid a lot over MSRP, but even if you didn't, the values of our trucks (along with most other EV) have tanked since 2022. I originally put nothing down on a 74k MSRP truck. Can't really afford to pay any more monthly to get on the other side of this. I'm roughly 25k underwater on mine at the moment. - outstanding loan value vs wholesale. That's fine, I'm comfortable with the payments as is, but making me wonder what everyone else is doing here. I'm pretty used to being upside-down buying new, but the numbers here seem high.

My 25k gap worries me a little bit. I have gap insurance, but that only cover 125% of value. If they say my truck is only worth 33k wholesale (maybe 36 retail), and I owe 58k, seems like worse case scenario my insurance company would only give me $41,500. So then I'm out 17k? Is that right?

I don't want to get rid of the Lightning, but what should we be doing to protect ourselves here?

Not upside down considering this is 1,000,000 mile truck. I'll never sell mine and it's a blast to drive every single day. A lot of the electric vehicle animosity lately is corporate driven, Toyota being the worst offender and dumping millions if not billions of dollars and into an anti-EV campaign. But the fact is they're not going away and the increase by double digits single year. Corporations just don't want to lose their billion dollar investments. Stay the course, ahead
Of the curve

 

[Kit2874]

I personally not upside-down as far as payments I paid cash for my F-150...

I mean that's the hit you're going to take being the first one on a new /early adopters, on a new technology/vehicle

and honestly, if one is worried about depreciation. 1 should never buy a new car

 

[mb0220]

Don't know. Don't care. Not selling.

I'm with you - but what if you're in an accident and totaled?

 

[Avocadodude]

Gas is still over $5 a gallon in CA. Truck is worth more than I owe. Even with two major battery failures still love the truck and am fine that I didn’t get any “discounts”. If I would have been driving gas vehicle for the last 2 years (that went by fast), I would have spent way more in gas than any discounts being offered. I get that this is more about insurance gap and derailed into a different topic

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