Financial Update: I bought a car!

My lease was coming to a close, so I decided to take some of the experts' advice and buy - but I do have a car payment, and I'm totally fine with that.

I bought a car that I love, love, love. A Toyota Prius Prime:

So pretty!

The Prime model has a more advanced electric battery that lasts longer and is utilized more often than in the standard Prius. The battery lasts for my daily commute, and then automatically switches to gas, but also recharges the battery using kinetic energy while in gas mode. I wanted a hybrid this time because I didn't want to be limited by battery life. Given that the Camry is still going strong, I also was happy to buy Toyota.

I got an awesome interest rate from my credit union and it got even better when they gave me a discount for agreeing to auto-pay. It's a 5-year loan, but I want to pay it off in 3 or 4.

Of course, most experts state that you shouldn't buy new - that it loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot and you should only buy as much car as you can afford in cash. I considered all that, but in the end, I wanted a new car because I wanted to not worry about maintenance or repairs for at least a few years. I'm not that concerned with the value loss since I don't plan to sell it - like ever. I also wanted this new car, and the market is not yet flooded with used Prius Primes. And my financial situation is what it is. I'm not about to spend my emergency savings on a car, and I can afford the car payment. I also have a lifestyle which just wouldn't work without a reliable car.

So my point here is to consider all the personal finance expertise out there, and use what you can and discard what you can't..at least for now.

My long term auto plan is to pay this off as quickly as possible, and then start saving for the next car while I drive this one into the ground. I expect this car to last at least 10 years. I do hope that the next car purchase I make will be entirely in cash, and that I'll be just as happy with that purchase as I am with this one.

But for now, I'm really happy with my shiny, new car!!