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am i over paying for this 2006 car?

i have a 2006 nissan sentra. my finance was 60 months ($17,000). i have had the car for 2.5 years but have been making my payments late every since then. i just now found out that none of the money i sent in went towards the car but towards intrest. its a 2006 and i been making full payments ($531.04) for 2.5 yrs and as of today i still owe 17,000 which was the amount when i got the car new. the estimated time for payoff if i pay on time from this month on is Feb 2011. got the car in 2005 which means i would have had it 6 years...warranty is almost gone im at 50,000 miles...ur opinions or am i crazy?

12 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Eugene, i think you already know the answer to this question.....

    60 X 531.04 does not equal $17,000

    60 X 531.04 = $31,862.40

    Like many others you are the victim of a car salesman, starts with a cheap car ends up an expensive piece of iron.

    The salesmen will do everything in their power to get you into a car and off the lot before you have a chance to look at the fine details of the paper work.... "sign here, here, and here.... Congratulations on a wonderful car"

    If you have a poor credit rating you get the worst interest rate. a person with a great credit rating gets a great interest rate. its a sad world we live in.

    If you don't have much money you will have to pay more money.

    if you have more money you get to pay less money.

    I've been burn't by a used car salesman in the past but no as bad as you have, i would go back to the dealership, sit down with one of the finance people and have them explain to you every detail of the agreement, it is likely that in small writing somewhere it will state that the interest rate will increase every year

    if you are on a 6 yr, 72 month plan....

    72 X 531.04 = $ 38,234.88

  • 1 decade ago

    What is your interest rate? You will be paying 14,000 interest given the payment amount. It appears that your credit score may not be the best due to the high interest rate. Payment should be $340-350 a month.Avoid making loan payments late. The bank will charge a high penalty for submitting payments late which results in little or no money going to the principal. Try having an automatic withdrawal from your account. This will help avoid late fees and usually results in a lower interest rate. Find out you credit score and talk with a financial advisor on how to improve it. In the mean time, take care of your car and maintain it properly and it will run until it is paid for and then some. Finally, talk to your lender. You are paying them for their services so make them earn it. It is your money and you have every right to know what is going on. Ask questions.

  • 1 decade ago

    It's relatively normal for the first few years of paying for the car to go mainly interest. You bought the car brand new and must have had a high interest rate for the payments to be that much for that long of a period of time. Plus you're paying over a long period of time. I'm not sure how your credit is because that all factors into your payment amounts.

    Personally, I wouldn't buy a car if the payments and the interest were going to be so high for 60 months. Maybe if you talk to the dealership they'll be able to lower your payments.

  • 1 decade ago

    Your payments going to nothing but interest is wrong. Actually the majority of your payments are going to the interest and the rest are going to late fees. Make your payments on time for at least 6 months and then try to refinance to get your interest rate lowered. When making payments, you need to make an extra payment, as much as possible each month and put it toward the "Principle" which is actually the $17,000. And work to get that down.

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    way too high if interest rate!!! not worth it, u should of read the fine prints and calculate the total cost after everything. you will end up paying like $45,000 for a $17,000. nxt time make sure to calculate ur payments/interest first to c if u r getting a good deal or just lease the car next time instead of buying it.

  • 1 decade ago

    Well if all your payments are late then they are probably charging you late fees every month..and that gets expensive. The first year of the loan you pay a lot of the interest..on top of that you're always late. Pay on time and your balance will drop. Seems pretty simple.

  • 1 decade ago

    you obviously have a high interest rate and the fact you arent making your payments on time arent helping you pay the actual price of the car down..you should go talk to a financial counselor and get on track..you have ruined your credit with late payments..and im sure there are added charges each time you do that...

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Your fault you were making late payments, the finance company can put your payments to whatever they want, whether it be principal or interest, because of your late payments they need to recoup their lost interest so they put it towards that

  • 1 decade ago

    The first few years always goes to interest. You need to look at your statements and see what they are taking monthly for interest and what for principle then do some math. If there is a discrepency then you need to take it up with the loan company.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    thats just how it works my friend

    try this

    pay $550.00

    the next month you will owe $512 because you paid extra

    then pay

    550.00 again

    the next month you will owe $474

    then pay

    550.00 again

    pretty soon you will be way ahead of your note imagine if you had been doing that for the previous 2.5yrs and its only 18$ extra a month

    oh yeah no matter what you gotta pay on time the fees will kill you

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