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Call me a fanboy...

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Thanks for the comments guys, and trust me I fully understand some of your concerns. While I wouldn't suggest this method for everyone, I have done the math and I can more than afford to do this. I have no mortgage, no family to support and I currently have 0 debt.
 

kellyn7

Monkey
Apr 12, 2005
125
0
San Diego
Why is everyone acting like this is something new? Bike shops all over have been doing this for quite awhile, financing 12 months same as cash that is and it's always been done through a third-party merchant bank like Citibank or such.
 

Bart

Chimp
Dec 7, 2004
18
0
Please remember this simple rule of life..."Do not buy something unless you have the cash to pay for it".
Why do American always want to buy things with money they don`t have? Is it because of to show off to your neighbours?....

Bart
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Why do American always want to buy things with money they don`t have? Is it because of to show off to your neighbours?....

Bart
wUrd. Maybe same as cash isn't a bad idea...if you already have the money lying around for it. You could use the financing to pay for it now, and put your cash in some high quality fixed income security that would mature in 12 months. Win win, essentially investing with interest free money. OTHER THAN THAT though, only idiots pay for consumer purchases on credit, PERIOD.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Well this sucks...Originally the Spec website said Early Sept for the Demo 8 release, then it got moved up to Late August so I got a little excited because I thought I would get the bike in time for some late season races, But I just checked the availability again and now it says Early October?!?!?! WTF Spesh?:rant:

And for those of you questioning the financing idea, I actually made enough this month in bonuses to buy the bike outright, but that does me no good if I can't get it yet:(
 

APIOQM

Chimp
Aug 31, 2008
72
0
Where can I get more info about this S-Card program? And am I able to do it with the Demo 1?

 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
Nothing wrong with doing it as long as you can easily pay it off before the 24 months is up. The one downside is you might be able to negotiate a lower overall price if you weren't financing.

Free financing is always good if you're responsible; it leaves you with more cash to put to work (investment - stick the 6k in a revolving CD), and to a tiny extent you pay less for the product (inflation - although it's almost too small to matter on a 6k bike).
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Nothing wrong with doing it as long as you can easily pay it off before the 24 months is up. The one downside is you might be able to negotiate a lower overall price if you weren't financing.

Free financing is always good if you're responsible; it leaves you with more cash to put to work (investment - stick the 6k in a revolving CD), and to a tiny extent you pay less for the product (inflation - although it's almost too small to matter on a 6k bike).
You can't really negotiate when you're EPing a bike:D

I decided I'm just going to pay cash for it anyway.
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
You can't really negotiate when you're EPing a bike:D

I decided I'm just going to pay cash for it anyway.
Didn't realize you were EPing it. If that's the case get in good with the owner and go on a payment plan for the bike you really want, that's what I used to do back in my poor bike industry days :D
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Didn't realize you were EPing it. If that's the case get in good with the owner and go on a payment plan for the bike you really want, that's what I used to do back in my poor bike industry days :D
The S-card program would only allow 6 months on the Demo anyway, so I'm just going to pay for it all at once and just live off Ramen noodles and for a couple weeks.
 

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,520
7,069
Colorado
I know a large majority of the posters in this thread are young, and care more about what they want now vs. what they can afford now, I offer my advice.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199479&highlight=401k

I spent the better part of five years buying things I could not afford to further my lifestyle of racing and riding. Looking back at it now, I would estimate that it set me back financially 4-5 years (huh.. funny how those numbers line up...). Despite having decently good paying jobs in the financial sector, I was living as a pauper to pay off my excesses while riding. It sucks. A lot. Really, really, really sucks.

This is a nice way of saying I bought bikes that I could not afford now, on the hopes (plan?) that I would have more money in the future to pay them off.

Most of the reason why we are going through our current Recession (soon to be depression) is because Americans spent forward taking out debt to fund lifestyles they could not afford. If you look at the math, it's simple:

Reasonable lifestyle:
You make $1500/month; your bills including food are $1000/month. This leaves you $500/month of fun money. You really want a brand new $6000 bike, so you live frugally and save $300/month at 2% interest. You would think that it would take you 20 months to buy this bike, but you are incorrect. Due to the wonderful nature of compounding interest, it takes 19 months because you have earned over $300 in interest. And hopefully somewhere in this window of waiting, you've learned that you can't actually afford a $6000 bike, but can afford a $1500 used bike. In five months, you now have a bike that you can ride, and are again saving to further your habit. Plus, you should now have some cash saved just in case the market tanks and the min. wage job you have fires you.

Living above your means:
$6000 bike. Buy it now, same as cash. You have 24 months to pay this baby off. Sounds good, only $250 a month, but what if...
What if you lose your job?
What if you get have to sell the bike due to an emergency? You're guaranteed a 50% loss from new on the bike (if not more). In a perfect world, you will be negative value for at least one year.

Month Balance Sell Px Loss
1 6000 3000 -3000
2 5750 3000 -2750
3 5500 3000 -2500
4 5250 3000 -2250
5 5000 3000 -2000
6 4750 3000 -1750
7 4500 3000 -1500
8 4250 3000 -1250
9 4000 3000 -1000
10 3750 3000 -750
11 3500 3000 -500
12 3250 3000 -250
13 3000 3000 0

You now live indentured to the person who owns your loan. It sucks, because IF something happens, they get your money before you do.

Read the whole thread linked above. Hopefully you learn something that your parents and school have not taught you about being fiscally responsible.

Rule #1: If you can't buy it in cash, you can't afford it.
 

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
I

Rule #1: If you can't buy it in cash, you can't afford it.

In that case definitely. However, IF you're in a different position - say you have about $3k a month left over after expenses and you have $20k in the bank; it makes sense to take advantage of a no-interest loan.

Basically - if it's the only way you can afford the bike don't do it. If you can afford it easily anyways it can be a sound financial decision.
 

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,520
7,069
Colorado
In that case definitely. However, IF you're in a different position - say you have about $3k a month left over after expenses and you have $20k in the bank; it makes sense to take advantage of a no-interest loan.

Basically - if it's the only way you can afford the bike don't do it. If you can afford it easily anyways it can be a sound financial decision.
Exactly, however you need to keep that cash available, just in case.
The vast majority or people who would try to take advantage of this deal however, are not in your shoes.