Don't finance toys!

 

Yes finance its the only way to build credit. You cant build credit if u pay for everything in cash.

 

A quad is one thing the addons are another. You can get deals on the quad financing but to pay 18% on anything is crazy. If you can't pay it off month by month don't do it. I speak from experience on that one. You are better off saving the money and buying it straight out. You will have to wait a little bit longer but you will have paid for in half the time. Nothing worse then having something wear out and realize you are still paying for it. Jay

 

The way I do things are buy it on credit and pay it off before a year is over. Then it builds good credit and not the interest. when we refinanced the house we were told we have good credit but we did not owe enough. This way it looks good too.

 

the deals for the quads are great with the card. i was able to purchase a 2003 scrambler 500 and add all the racks, winch, skid plates, hand guards, hitch, safety equipment AND a two place trailer for 99 a month with a fixed rate of 7.9 for the life of the loan. it's been almost two years now and have had no problems with the card and the bike still runs awesome! A great way to afford a nice ride if you can't come up with the cash. They do put a limit of 8500 bucks for the 99 a month deal. but you can load it up for under that price! trailer and all!

 

But how much principal have you payed off that machine in two years. The goal is not to load up on the maximum amount allowed but to keep the purchase price as low as possible. You will end up paying three times or more in interest charges unless you pay extra off. At 8500 dollars you are barely touching the principal at 99 bucks a month. In essence at 99 bucks a month you will be paying for that quad for years. With no interest tacked on you it will take seven years to pay off the package. Now add 7.9% interest for that seven years. Your adding at least 4305 bucks to the cost of the package. So add that to your payments and you can tack on another 3.6 years to the payment plan on with that. Well over ten years to pay off that quad package. The deal is good for someone who can't forsee an extra 6000 bucks for a quad anytime soon. But don't add anything to the package. The interest will kill you unless you can afford to pay extra. They may offer a low APR but don't think they are not planning on getting their money out of you. Jay

 

It is sad but true what Superballs said " you need to finance to build credit". I was in that place 12 years ago, I had almost 20 grand in the bank and a steady job which I still have and I tried to buy a house. The bank denied me because of two factors: 1st one was my age, 19.

2nd: I had no history of credit. The bank told me of several ways to get a credit history. One was INSTEAD of a credit card is to get one of those gas cards or two and use them. Even though you are paying them off every month it is being reported on your credit tracking history and the next one was a credit line loan. I started out with a 300 dollar one and paid it off in six months( that is the trick, if you pay it off before six months it does not get added to the history) and then I went for a grand, same thing. It took me awhile to build a credit history but I have great history now.

I will admit I did get caught up in the Polaris card for a couple of years but learned that those or any other maufacture card are bad news because they will get there money out of you if you pay mininums on them. I saw a commercial on tv about credit cards and it was talking abou the average person owes something like 8 to 9 grand and it would take 14 years to pay it off if you just paid the mininums and charged nothing else on it. It was for a debt consolidation company I think.

I have 2 credit cards now. One is the milage card and it gets paid off every month, the interest is around 18 percent and the other one is through my credit union and it is 10 percent. This one is the one we use to do repairs and remodels on the house as it is slightly higher then a equity loan but we do not have to pay the fees of refiancing the house to get the loan. It is also the one we use if for some reason we have to carry a balance ie. major car repair or doctor bills. Other then those uses we pay with cash or take advantage of the x amount of interest free loans( pay it off of course before the end or they will charge interest back to day one).

Hope this helps alittle for the guys who are getting ready to start their credit history, as I pointed out gas cards do work for credit history and it is harder to get in trouble with and the credit line loans are secured collaterl meaning you have to have the amount of the loan in the bank before they will give you the loan. AlaskaBoy.

 

Polarisboy, you are correct that it helps to pay more than the 99 bucks to pay it off quicker, but it also allows you to enjpy the sport and only have to pay 100 bucks a month. the good thing is that my total didn't come to the 8500 limit.I got all that i mentioned out the door for about 6750. (including the trailer) I got it at Southeast polaris. Which is near you. I work for the Berea School District and I noticed that is where you are from....so, nice to meet ya! I don't suppose you were at rumble on the ridge last weekend were you?

Mike

 

I'm not knockin' the card but you can do the same credit building with a Gas Card like AlaskaBoy says or a regular CC Card simply by spending $20 a month, then pay it when the bill comes THAT MONTH. The credit bureaus see a debt, and then an immediate payment...debt, payment...on and on. My biggest issue is that most, not all, but MOST will end up paying on notes where the machinery is not worth the pay off amount or worse yet, they get in arrears and in trouble and it takes years to get clean. I know there are a lot of younger folk on this site and I just hate to see them get off to the wrong start as so many Americans have done in the last decade.

Revshredd,
I am curious to know...what is the length of the note @ 7.9% I have seen Polaris' credit deal but that was the $49 a month thing. If you read the fine print it says that you pay $49 per month for 2 years then it changes. If at anytime you default on the agreement in that first 2 years, that means anything wrong...late payment...miss a payment, it defaults to something like 18.9%. That's Mafia interest and you would never get out from under it with a high balance and small payments. I'm just curious as to what your arrangement is.

 

i would say using the credit card to purchase accessories isn't a good idea unless u pay off at end of month. i do think however that using the 12 month interest free purchase of a quad can be a good idea if you make some payments during the 12 months (even though not required) then at about the 11 month, go to a credit union or bank and borrow the balance to pay it off. then you are not paying the high interest, you're financing less, and your building credit.