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

[Hank42]

I'm pretty upside down, but I don't care. At the time of purchase I had a specific need that I filled by purchasing my Lightning, and the price at that time was in line with the value of said need.

So, I'm not upset at all - I got the value I paid for it and it was worth every penny. In some ways, I think such a fantastic truck(even with some of it's software issues) is undervalued at the current(low) price point.

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[PreservedSwine]

What about us idiots that paid cash?

It’s funny. We learn from our mistakes. I always thought when I was younger, that with years would come wisdom. The problem I keep running to…there’s always new mistakes to make

 

[TaxmanHog]

removed poll expiration date to allow slackers to vote.....................

 

[Lomilar]

I think something worth considering here (not trying to contradict the OP) is that the length of your loan really determines your chances of going upside down. A 72 month loan is slower than depreciation on, I'd say, most if not all vehicles. 36 month loan has a much better chance (even with EVs that depreciate their tax credit immediately and generally suck at holding value) of staying ahead of depreciation.

To nobody's surprise, it's complicated. Hurts to see the % that are 25k upside down. I'm a "no-loan" kinda person, so I saved and saved and saved for mine that I have on order, but then they gave me 2% interest arbitrage (2.9% interest loan, I can make 5% in a savings account) so.... I'm going to do that.

 

[Green1]

What about us idiots that paid cash?

It’s funny. We learn from our mistakes. I always thought when I was younger, that with years would come wisdom. The problem I keep running to…there’s always new mistakes to make

I'm not sure paying cash was an "idiot" move. Especially being that I got a cash incentive of $20,000, I was certainly willing to finance given the right interest rates if I thought I could do better in other investments, but between high interest loans and the massive cash incentive, it certainly didn't make any sense to finance.

 

[Pioneer74]

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

I'll collect my insurance and buy another one.

I put some money down on it. If I'm underwater when it happens, I'll make the difference up. I have enough saved to pay the truck off, and I just might. But I have a few things I want to do first.

 

[F150ROD]

Upside by probably $30k, who knows never checked. I did put close to $20K down when all was said and done. The popularity of the EV Truck or just EV in general here in California isn't that great. Not to mention with 42,000 miles it's expected. Of course Ive never actually had it appraised, it's all KBB and what not.

I don't plan on getting rid of it, but it feels as though software updates have only made it worse as oppose to being improved. In the early days there was 1 or 2 updates that improved the truck but recently the dealer installed update made it worse, didn't help that I volunteered to be the guinea pig in order to fix my Blue Cruise.

 

[Newton]

This is a serious question so don't take it as snark. What did you expect when you bought the truck? Was the idea that, like sometimes happens with houses, you would keep it two years, put 10,000 miles on it and sell it for more than you paid for it? Maybe worst case you break even? Cars are not investments. Houses and land are investments, but people can lose money on them - I have lived through several cycles where houses and land went into foreclosure.

For example, I am sitting on a couch that probably cost us over $1,000 new. It is in pretty good shape and is a good brand. I could not sell it for that much, in fact I would most likely have to take it to the dump if I wanted to get rid of it. I have taken good, expensive small wood furniture to charities and had to beg them to take it. I have a 1980s era T-100 truck that runs great and has no rust, the KBB value of it is under $2,000. Ditto for our mint condition, < 30K miles garage kept Lexus ES-300. I lost much more than expected when I traded in my 2021 Lariat on the Lightning.

It is just the cost of buying new, I'm afraid. The good news if any, is that if you get a good payout that reflects the fair value of the truck, you should be able to buy a similar truck for that price. The Lightning is not that rare, we lost a diesel Mercedes R with very low miles for its age, and (the other guy's) insurance hardly paid us anything for it despite the fact that you really couldn't find any car like that anywhere in the country. They were seriously proposing cars with 150K miles in Florida (I live in WA) as comparables.

 

[Newton]

If you want to save money, always buy used - however there are benefits to buying new that don't show up if you just compare the cost of a new truck to a used one. The most important financial one is the warranty - even if a two year old car had hardly any miles and had been kept in a museum-quality garage it would still be worth less than the equivalent new car. Warranty matters, when we were looking for E-Trons the 2019s were at a pretty high price. Suddenly in 2023 they dropped like a rock, because Audi's warranty had expired.

The intangible benefit is that you bought a new car - and now you know the history of it. You know it hasn't been somoked in, damaged by a dog, charged incorrectly, or has some serious hidden mechanical flaw from an accident. KBB knows none of that when you put that information into their website, nor does any prospective buyer. That is part of the 'extra' that you paid.

The final consideration is mileage. I have seen people complaining about how much their car dropped in value over only two years, and it turns out that they put 'only' 50,000 miles on it. Every mile put on not only affects how much a buyer might want to pay, but also shortens the warranty.

 

[shutterbug]

This is a serious question so don't take it as snark. What did you expect when you bought the truck? Was the idea that, like sometimes happens with houses, you would keep it two years, put 10,000 miles on it and sell it for more than you paid for it? Maybe worst case you break even? Cars are not investments. Houses and land are investments, but people can lose money on them - I have lived through several cycles where houses and land went into foreclosure.

I don't think OP was hoping to make money on the truck. His worry was more along the lines of getting into an accident and insurance company totaling it. Then, if he is severely under water, he has to cover that plus down payment on a new vehicle.

 

[mr.Magoo]

removed poll expiration date to allow slackers to vote.....................

Can you add options for "I'm not" and "don't know, don't care"

 

[ericpullen]

Speaking of this, I keep watching the dealership I bought my truck from discounting the red 2022 Platinum that can in the same day. It’s down to $75k on the website, wonder how much lower it will go. Still owe way less than that, but I use it as a good mental note for the market.

 

[flyct]

Make a plan to become debt free. Once you ge there the weight of debt off your shoulders is awesome and easily maintained. .

 

[Newton]

I don't think OP was hoping to make money on the truck. His worry was more along the lines of getting into an accident and insurance company totaling it. Then, if he is severely under water, he has to cover that plus down payment on a new vehicle.

If insurance is efficient (a big”if”) he should get a check for the amount necessary to buy a truck in the same condition, not a new vehicle. I would think the lien holder would transfer the loan rather than have him walk. What would they do otherwise, repossess the wreck? He could always walk and view the down payment and monthly so far as rental.

 

[shutterbug]

If insurance is efficient (a big”if”) he should get a check for the amount necessary to buy a truck in the same condition, not a new vehicle. I would think the lien holder would transfer the loan rather than have him walk. What would they do otherwise, repossess the wreck? He could always walk and view the down payment and monthly so far as rental.

The insurance company will only pay for the difference between value and the amount of the loan.

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