Tool truck payments/financing

[Vinko]

I was reading some threads here and elsewhere on tool truck payments (just for kicks, I wanted to see if I could find figures for financing a large box).

What's your experience with financing and payments? I see that some guys can get really sucked in to seemingly everlasting, lifetime payments for tools!

My local SO dealer mentioned to me that he doesn't do any repossession of tools, stays away from trade-ins, and other things. He's been at it for over 20+ years. I think he's pretty successful at it. Good attitude with us, even though our days of buying a lot of stuff (mostly hand tools and power tools) was over 10 years ago.

What I'd be down for is something like Sears offers on major appliances. 1 year of no-interest financing. That's how I bought my washer/dryer and paid it off in a year. Of course that only set me back a little over $1000 (after sale rebate) and so payments were a reasonable $100 or so a month.

Still, if Sears offered the Craftsman Professional boxes at a a 12 month, zero interest loan, I'd be hard tempted not to go for it. No such luck though from what I've seen.

[ossaguy]

When I did mine,they had a 60 day same as cash offer.I was able to see what life was like with 2 accounts,and I didn't like it.The one thru Snap-on Credit,and the regular revolving one on the truck.
So I would bring my weekly payment for the box,but if I needed a tool,it would have to go on the truck account,which made me feel like I was sinking deeper.....So I took the cash out of savings,and paid it off before the 60 days.
I gotta be able to sleep at night....
I believe the percentage rate is over 20 percent. Almost like just putting it on your Visa card.
As much as it would fullfill my dreams,I'd be scared to upgrade to a big new KRL box.Seems almost every one for sale is like under a year old,or brand new in the box still.The ads always say the reason is loss of job,or space,or just too big.....I'd hate to jinx myself!
Any thoughts on why so many new SO boxes are on eBay? Do people buy them on credit,then sell them for cash at a large loss,and pocket the cash and go bankrupt? Could it be repossesd from the guy that bought it?
I've always wondered if it was from the wife finding out!

[TheToolMan]

Well i bought mt snap-on box KRA5319 on a truck account with no intrest, Paid him a min of $100 a week till it was paid off. Most of the time the got $200-400 payments, I also got a shit load of tools in that time frame so it felt like the payments never went down, I still have a moderate account with him $400-500 and give him $60-100 a week, Good thing about this is i never missed a payment, always gave more than asked, and i could get anything i want on a truck account and never pay intrest, My snappy driver loves me and always gives me free stuff and great deals that he dosent give to other people

[dps]

Just keep in mind that if you must borrow, you're almost always better off with a loan or revolving line of credit from your bank instead. If your dealer will carry you, it means he's being carried too, and you'll pay for his share as well as yours. All that is included in those high prices, so if you walk on with cash in hand, you should receive a discount.

Many other products, including automobiles, are more up-front about this with ads that say something like "no interest for x months, or take an additional 10% off the advertised price" etc.

[Deafautotech]

I would say... STAY AWAY FROM ANY TOOL TRUCK CREDIT SYSTEM!!! My snap on guy tried to get me in credit system but i told him NO. even i told him that i would buy toolbox as no interest or no bullsh!t thing. he agreed with me. so i bought KRL1003 for much cheap. i made payment but very tough as paid off quick... right now i own KRL1203 and KRL1003 with tons of tools as no debt... i am 22 years old with harley road King classic that i had loan on it but keep paid more than what monthly suggest...

[SpiderGearsMan]

snap on man is selling you that 20% loan - he is getting for 10% or less , just like the F&I guy in the showroom
in the dealer we have sub prime used cars , selling poor credit risks overpriced used cars with 24% financing and added fees that are absorbed into 80 payments
you buy an 01 pathfinder that is worth 4grand and end up paying 20 grand for it


the high price of snap on tools cover the truck credit , the dealer doesn't charge interest or have credit requirements , but the markup on the tools pay for that

[MAD]

My advice is to not buy anything on credit other than a house unless you just can't live without it.

[Uncle Buck]

My advice is to not buy anything on credit other than a house.

Fixed that for ya MAD! :pimpflash

[MAD]

Fixed that for ya MAD! :pimpflash

Thanks. I used the phrase "can't live without" in the literal sense.:)

[hamburglar]

My advice is to not buy anything on credit other than a house unless you just can't live without it.


I'll go stricter than that. In a lot of the country (ie. not California and the like), I'd say stick to cash for houses if at all possible...just buy smaller than you otherwise would. If nothing else, only buy a house if it's cheaper than renting (including insurance, taxes, etc.).

Credit should be reserved for investment. Farmland, business inventory, anything that actually makes money.

[rsanter]

back when I was buying off the truck, I would only ever do an on truck account. one time when buying a toolbox I was asked to fill out finance papers for the MAC company financing and refused.
I also wont buy anything that I cannot pay off within a couple of months.
if it was expensive and I wanted it I would put the money aside myself so I could pay a chunk up front and then pay it off within a few weeks.

remember, its in the truck guys interest to get you to finance it with the company because he gets his money now and if you default its someone elses problem

bob

[MAD]

I'll go stricter than that. In a lot of the country (ie. not California and the like), I'd say stick to cash for houses if at all possible...just buy smaller than you otherwise would. If nothing else, only buy a house if it's cheaper than renting (including insurance, taxes, etc.).

Credit should be reserved for investment. Farmland, business inventory, anything that actually makes money.

Even with the recent drop in home values, the equity I own in my home is equal to all of the mortgage payments I have made over the last 10 years. That does not even take into consideration the large tax benefit. Paying mortgage interest sucks but paying rent sucks more.

[SpiderGearsMan]

I'll go stricter than that. In a lot of the country (ie. not California and the like), I'd say stick to cash for houses if at all possible...just buy smaller than you otherwise would. If nothing else, only buy a house if it's cheaper than renting (including insurance, taxes, etc.).

Credit should be reserved for investment. Farmland, business inventory, anything that actually makes money.

most houses around here are in the 800k-to over a million , hard to come up with that kind of cash , so I rent in the hood
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5609812/The-politics-of-sky-high.html

[Nova72]

when i was getting my associates in Automotive service and when i spent a few month internship in a Pontiac Dealer ship, they always refered to "on the truck" financing as the FNO plan... meaning "From now on" when you make a week/monthly payment, you have a minimum and it also list the other facts and figures. its just like a credit card.

the reason most of the "weekend warriors" have a hard time getting snap-on service help is because the owner makes his money off the financing. the mark up on the tools is marginal, the money comes from the 14+% financing on the $20,000+ in tools you bought from him. hes just a credit card that comes to your place of work to give you what you need.

but it is a good tax write off :D

[Fedwrench]

The truck account usually is for items that you pay off in five weeks or less. Take the item's purchase price, divide by 5 and that's your new weekly payment. There is no interest on the truck account. Then there's factory financing for the larger ticket items such as boxes and scan tools. That's like financing any major purchase from furniture to appliances. However, the truck interest rates can be higher than a credit card's rate. Now where the $50 a week forever comes in is when you carry a balance on both the truck account and the techcredit or factory financing at the same time. Like the old saying goes, you can dive in and crawl out. As with all major purchases, you need to shop around to find the best deal and rate.

[hamburglar]

Even with the recent drop in home values, the equity I own in my home is equal to all of the mortgage payments I have made over the last 10 years. That does not even take into consideration the large tax benefit. Paying mortgage interest sucks but paying rent sucks more.

It's all just money outflow. It's a pretty straightforward spreadsheet problem to plug in the discounted mortgage interest (due to the tax advantage) plus all the expenses of home ownership vs. rent. At this point in time, houses will drop in value if anything so that's got to be worked in. My bet is that in most areas, you'll end up with more in your pocket over the long term by renting rather than buying for the foreseeable future.

This all ignores the emotional angle of home ownership of course.

The funny thing about houses is that same house values (ie. the value of a given house, not houses generally which have gotten larger over time) have not gone up in 100 years if corrected for inflation.

[SpiderGearsMan]

when i was getting my associates in Automotive service and when i spent a few month internship in a Pontiac Dealer ship, they always refered to "on the truck" financing as the FNO plan... meaning "From now on" when you make a week/monthly payment, you have a minimum and it also list the other facts and figures. its just like a credit card.

the reason most of the "weekend warriors" have a hard time getting snap-on service help is because the owner makes his money off the financing. the mark up on the tools is marginal, the money comes from the 14+% financing on the $20,000+ in tools you bought from him. hes just a credit card that comes to your place of work to give you what you need.

but it is a good tax write off :D

do you own a home ?

[Nova72]

do you own a home ?

im 20, currently a full time student about to start my junior year. locked into a 15 month lease that i plan to extend for my senior year.

now i havnt taken any of them fancy finance courses yet, just a few accounting courses... but why? i spent my few months in a tech bay, and i understand the other side. but im not ready to take on any more expenses than necessary. if i happen to have money left over at the end of the month for the snap on ratchet i want great, but until then ill keep reaching for my craftsman.

[Brad54]

always remember:
"Visa takes life," and the road to Hell is not paved with good intentions, it's paved with gold and platinum credit cards.

-Brad