Sonic Loan Roll Call

[Swordsmith]

Bought: 9/2012
Monthly minimum payment: $202.80
Amount left: $0
Mileage to date: 58563

Paid off today, they said $4080.96 if I mailed them a check, and a $6 charge to take it direct from my account. When I said take it from my account, they said the total including the $6 charge would be $4078.44. So... there's a hidden charge to mail them a check?

Anyway, I have been paying $500 per month, instead of the minimum, but there were months where they didn't charge me at all, because I didn't owe or something?! At any rate it was all screwed up and unpredictable.

Meanwhile, I make 95% of my income during August, September, and October, I have to live on that money the rest of the year. With around 4000 owed I would have the car paid off in 8 months more or less, before I have any further real income, so it made more sense to pay the money now, stop the interest and clarify my bank account.

The statements are not very clear, they just show what my current payment due is, without breaking it down at all. I owed $4550.44 as of last month, then made a $500 payment, and owed $4080.96 as of this month. That implies $30.52 in interest per month, which means I saved $244.16 by paying off the car now?

(edit to add) the month before that I owed $5029.40, and again paid $500, $21.04 difference. So I really don't know how much my monthly vig was. Why would it be larger when I owed less?

 

[The Champ]

The statements are not very clear, they just show what my current payment due is, without breaking it down at all. I owed $4550.44 as of last month, then made a $500 payment, and owed $4080.96 as of this month. That implies $30.52 in interest per month, which means I saved $244.16 by paying off the car now?

(edit to add) the month before that I owed $5029.40, and again paid $500, $21.04 difference. So I really don't know how much my monthly vig was. Why would it be larger when I owed less?

What was your interest rate? Based on the info given above - it appears to be fairly high. You are wise to pay your car off because you can't make near that kind of money having your money sit in a savings account.

Using number that make this easier to understand, this is how you can figure out how much the interest is per month.

Let's assume you owe $10,000 and your interest rate is 12% APR. 12 (interest rate) divided by 12 (number of months in a year) means that you are paying 1% interest per month.

So - if you owe $10,000, $100 of your payment that month would be the interest (1% of $10,000).

If your interest rate was 6% APR, your monthly interest would be .5%. So if you owed $10,000, $50 of your payment would be interest.

I borrowed $13,731.16 on September 15 when I purchased my 2014 Sonic LT Hatch ($20,355.00 sticker). I financed my car through USAA (the company that advertises on TV about car insurance for folks that served in the military or are related to those who have served) for 3 years at 1.39% interest with payments of $389.67.

My monthly interest rate on my balance is .1158%, so on a $10,000 balance I would have paid $11.58 in interest.

I just made my second actual car payment (I've also made some additional principal only payments) and currently have a balance of 11,984.71. Total interest to date is a grand total of $30.59.

I expect to have the car paid off in 18 months or less.

It really pays to shop your loan rate. The shorter term - the lower the rate usually. 0% interest from the dealer isn't a good deal if you have to sacrifice a big rebate to get it.

 

[Swordsmith]

I bought the car with a large down payment and very long term, so that the minimum payment would be low, for two reasons.

One, I have a bad credit rating (had a significantly worse one when I did this, it's been getting better ever since the divorce) and only qualified for a relatively small monthly payment.

Two, as a self employed businessman, my income is highly variable; being able, if necessary, to drop down to a 200 dollar monthly payment was a nice safety option. Fortunately I never had to use it, but it was always there.

I didn't sacrifice a rebate, none was offered. I was kind of amazed at how little they wanted to make the sale, but I didn't get any better offer from other Chevy dealers in the area... well $50 better, but I figured it was worth that much to use my in-town local dealership, since I could walk back from the service center. In retrospect, I would do my homework and find the most well respected service center, since the car itself is the same regardless of stealership.

Your explanation doesn't solve my riddle of why my interest rate seemed to be larger in October than it was in September. Sometime this week I should be able to find the rest of my old statements and see if there is any sort of pattern, at the moment I only have those two to hand.

 

[The Champ]

Your explanation doesn't solve my riddle of why my interest rate seemed to be larger in October than it was in September.

I'm just guessing, but I believe it would be the dates on when the payments were actually made.

If you made your payment early in September (say only 20 actual days since the last payment) the interest would be lower than the anticipated 30 day interest. Following that same logic, if you made the October payment on the actual due date, you would have 40 days of interest - or double the previous month.

I'm sure this is what happened.

My comment about 0% interest vs a rebate was not directed to your transaction - just a constructive comment to others to consider when making a decision on financing.

 

[Swordsmith]

I'm just guessing, but I believe it would be the dates on when the payments were actually made.

If you made your payment early in September (say only 20 actual days since the last payment) the interest would be lower than the anticipated 30 day interest. Following that same logic, if you made the October payment on the actual due date, you would have 40 days of interest - or double the previous month.

I'm sure this is what happened.

My comment about 0% interest vs a rebate was not directed to your transaction - just a constructive comment to others to consider when making a decision on financing.

I was on autopay, so the pay date relative to due date should have remained stable. I say should because I do remember some odd results early on, I will have to take a look at those papers when I dig down to them. It's No Work November, I am using my time to catch up on all that paperwork instead of making swords!

 

[RauBurger]

I've got a 2012 LT 1.4T 6MT
Bought the car 3/25/2014 with about 27000 miles on it.
financed: $12,791.86
interest rate: 6.74%
minimum monthly payment: $251.73
Amount left: $10,296.73
Current mileage: about 38100

I'm about to turn 24 and didn't need a cosigner for the loan. I've recently started paying it off in much larger chunks, so I'm hoping to pay it off relatively quickly.

 

[CheapFuneral]

I'm a retard.


If I die, bury me in my truck, because it's never been in a hole it can't get out of!

 

[CheapFuneral]

I was on autopay, so the pay date relative to due date should have remained stable. I say should because I do remember some odd results early on, I will have to take a look at those papers when I dig down to them. It's No Work November, I am using my time to catch up on all that paperwork instead of making swords!

Off topic, can u sell swords online? I know how guns work, but I have some crappy swords I was gonna put on eBay since I can't display them with my child.


If I die, bury me in my truck, because it's never been in a hole it can't get out of!

 

[Swordsmith]

That is off topic but in short yes you can. You can also ship them via UPS or the USPS or Fedex. When it says no dangerous objects it means explosives or chemicals, not inert hunks of metal regardless of how sharp and pointy.

 

[CheapFuneral]

Thanks.


If I die, bury me in my truck, because it's never been in a hole it can't get out of!

 

[Preloader]

It is done!!! I am now the OWNER of my 2012 Sonic LTZ.

Here is a gratuitous shot of the moment after I walked into my credit union (Provident, FTW) and honored my debt.

 

[robramrod]

I bought a 2012 Chevy Sonic in february of this year it had 35464 miles on it when I bought it and I payed $11490.00 for the vehicle I still owe $10,500 at 2.75% interest for 5 years or 60 months. My payments are $191.50 per month and my insurance is $183.00 for full coverage. Since I purchased the car I had to put new tires on it and replace the air outlet and the cabin air filter and engine air filter it has also been serviced for a transmission turbine shaft recall. I didn't start making payments until April so I guess it belongs to the bank.

 

[wasteoffilm]

Bought: 11/2011
Monthly minimum payment: $308 (5.9/72)
Amount left: $9300
Mileage to date: 33,000

I started paying 50% more in September, and dumped my whole tax return in there last month. I don't have to make another payment until December, so they say. Looks like I can pay 5x minimum this month, and if things continue this way, I might be able to pay it off before 2015.

And I'm spent. :banana:

39,800 miles in 3 years, and paid off 3 years early.

 

[Stew]

It is done!!! I am now the OWNER of my 2012 Sonic LTZ.

Here is a gratuitous shot of the moment after I walked into my credit union (Provident, FTW) and honored my debt.

Right on Preloader and everyone else who has managed to pay off early!

I've been away from the forum for a few months so I'm just getting around to reading this, you beat me to it Preloader but I'm still shootin' for having mine paid off by June this year.

With the payment I just sent in my balance is down to about $9400, I'm getting there!

 

[Jaysonic]

I have a 2014 Sonic Sedan LS
Bought- 9/2014
Monthly payment- was $300/mo for 60 months
Interest rate- 3.27%
Made 6 payments and then paid her off in full a few weeks ago! Just got the title in the mail the other day. What an awesome feeling it is to own my Sonic outright! This should be the last car loan ever for me. I've had way to many of them and it makes me sick to think how much money I've basically thrown away by trading one car in after another over the years. Especially when I was in my 20's.
But its all good! I'm keeping my Sonic for 15 years at least. Hoping to put 300 to 400 hundred thousand miles on it by then!

 

[4g63gst20]

Bought November 2012,
$357 /month
$12'360 left lol
50k mils

 

[Sonic Matt]

Bought: January 2015
200 monthly payment(terrible interest rate 10.6% never had debt in my life so no debt experience. receiving a big check in the future which will pay it off all at once though)
owe ~10500
33k miles
2013 ls sedan

 

[T76]

'14 CPO LS HB 7735 mi.
Bought 18 Dec 14.
$156 per
2.89% x 72 mos.
$9660 0wed.
Ins = $65 mo.

 

[612roots]

Date 6/20/2013
Price 11,000 (hailstorm discount and employee discount)
Monthly payment 222.92
Miles 3

I have paid it off last month and am so happy my current mileage is about 40,100 now

 

[bdub]

well... my payoff on my loaded lt hatch (2015 with 1200 miles) is only 23,000
I was in a bad situation and owed a lot on a car that was falling apart... several thousand over retail value... it took several attempts and working around just to get the loan processed... I honestly can say I'm happy with the car and plan to keep it for the long haul anyways so I'll try to pay extra as much as I can and get out from under it. opcorn: