Good for you, but you should have done away with car payments a long time ago.
I only had a car payment when I bought my first car. It was 1967. A friend at work offered to sell me a car she no longer needed (a 1959 VW convertible) for something like $150. Needless to say, I didn't have the cash and so I took out a loan through the credit union we had. I think it was paid off in something like 10 months. That car got sold when I moved across the country.
Next car, another VW, was purchased in 1976. A co-worker had bought herself a new car, thought she'd keep the Beetle for a bad-weather car, and after a few months realized she loved the new car so much she wasn't willing to drive the old one. Offered it to me. I think for $300, but that was a long time ago, so I probably have the exact amount wrong. Point being, I had the cash to write her a check.
I have never understood leasing a car. Apparently the whole point of a lease is to get a fancier, more luxurious car than you could otherwise afford. Why?
I've always thought of cars as things on four wheels that get you from place to place. I realize that makes me quite weird, as a lot of people are heavily invested in other aspects such as luxury details.
In any case, I will still make the point that financing a first car makes sense. After that, it doesn't. DO NOT buy a car you cannot afford. DO NOT assume a car payment that stretches your budget. DO NOT take on a loan that makes you underwater, meaning you owe more than the car is worth. If that car is in an accident and is totalled, you still owe money. Buy a lesser/smaller/not so luxurious a car. Buy a used car. And pay cash.
Some years ago, when one of our cars had died, my husband got a rental, and we drove it for several weeks while he was looking for a replacement car. At some point I expressed impatience with the process, and he told me, "Most people are not really buying a car. They are buying a car payment." That resonated with me. And even though I was already in the habit of paying cash, his comment made a lot of sense.
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