I Bought a New(ish) Car!
A little over a year ago, I finally decided that enough was enough – I needed to get rid of my old clunker 2007 Ford Focus. What should have been a cheap car was costing me more than I’d like to admit in yearly repairs. While repair costs often work out to be cheaper than a monthly car payment, the math just wasn’t supporting the decision any longer.
I knew that I wanted/needed to take out a loan rather than paying for the car in full. Rarely will the dealership offer the best financing option, so I set out investigating multiple financial institutions prior to my car search to get pre-approved for a loan. I was pretty happy with the interest rate offered by my brick-and-mortar bank, and therefore pursued financing with them.
After researching which newer vehicles might suit my needs, I settled on a 2017 Subaru Forester with ~55,000 miles. Do note: I decided against purchasing a truly new vehicle, since the sticker prices on cars tends to drop dramatically as soon as you drive away from the dealership. My used Forester had only one previous owner and really felt like a new vehicle to me anyway – it was clean and had some big technological improvements compared to my ten-years-older Focus.
...and so the "Junk Mail" Began
About 6 months after buying the car, I started receiving emails from a credit card company that I use, offering to refinance my auto loan. I rolled my eyes at these emails, cluttering up my inbox, cavalierly assuming the effort wouldn’t be worth the money saved.
Eventually, though, I decided to investigate the offerings.
Their website provided some calculators for a few different loan terms:
- keep your remaining term
- reduce your remaining term
- reset to a longer term
- …etc.
With each option, I was able to see how the lower interest rate offered could impact the life and cost of my car loan.
I ended up reducing the life of my car loan by 6 months, which didn’t even result in an increased payment due to the lower interest rate!
The paperwork was all pretty straightforward, though it did involve mailing some notarized documents. A coworker of mine is a Notary Public, and she happily signed off.
Easy enough!
"Junk Mail" Then Showed Up in My Physical Mailbox
Around the same time as my loan refinance was finalized, I received a letter in the mail from Subaru discussing an identified safety concern with the 2017 model year. It’s easy to sift through your mail and immediately toss anything perceived to be “junk mail”, but a little investigation can bear some fruit. I decided to be a responsible adult and read it.
As a part of the warranty package, they announced that I qualified for a free replacement of the potentially defective part at a certified dealership.
It’s not always convenient to schedule car appointments, but it’s worthwhile (for both safety reasons and re-sale value) to take advantage of free improvements to your vehicle. So I did!
...Twice
The last tale I have to tell is the most exciting, in my humble opinion.
When I first bought my Forester, it was late spring. Summer weather came soon after that, and I noticed that the air conditioner was hardly outputting cold air. Being as it was a “new” vehicle for me, I decided to eat the cost of repairing the AC in order to increase my satisfaction with the purchase. Not necessarily the most frugal endeavor, but I considered it important for my peace of mind.
My mechanic, who specializes in Subaru vehicles, noted at the time that the stock air conditioning condensers from the 2017 model year had a defect that was causing a lot of people to experience failure. I chalked it up to bad luck and moved on with my newly working AC.
Then, just a few weeks ago (at the time of writing this), I got another letter in the mail from Subaru.
This letter stated that in light of the company’s recognition that a lot of AC units were failing, Foresters from the 2017 model year were having their warranty coverage extended. More importantly, they were offering to pay for replacement of the part – or to reimburse the unlucky folks who had already had to do so!
Falling into that latter category, I followed the provided website link and stepped through the process of filing for reimbursement.
I needed to provide a copy of the mechanic invoice; fortunately, I found the invoice in the pile of papers that functions as my filing cabinet. I snapped a picture with my phone to upload to the website, and resigned myself to waiting for an update. When that moment arrived a few days ago, I was immensely pleased to find that they were sending a check to reimburse the full cost of the part AND the mechanic’s work.
Lesson Learned
While I might have been tempted at first, I will not be throwing away mail or deleting emails without at least giving them a cursory review. I have learned that a quick look just might result in a good deal of money!
Good article, Hans! I will watch my “junk” mail from Toyota more carefully. Glad you had a good experience with refinancing and the air conditioner warranty.