Hey All:
I was so busy painting Odysseys that I forgot about something that might be of actual use to some of you!
When I was deciding to buy our van, I had all kinds of trouble deciding between my head (LX) and my heart (EX-L Navi). To make matters worse, when you add in interest the cost of these items goes up exponentially! Then to get the toys you can go with a 72 month loan but that costs you more still. Just how much does that Navigation system cost you over just an EX-L over the life of a 60 month loan? How much more do you pay in interest between a 72 month loan at 6.10 versus a 60 month loan at 5.9?
All these questions and more can be answered for you by this spreadsheet:
<a href="http://www.trms.com/pancreas/OdyLoanSheet.xls">OdyLoanSheet.xls</a>
It compares the cost of any five cars with two separate loan scenarios for each car.
Here's how to use it: Fill in the information into any yellow colored field. The white and grey fields are calculated for you.
At the bottom you will find a Matrix (take the blue pill... j/k). The figures listed are the payment deltas between all of your options. If you like, the Sheet labeled Loan Chart will give you a graph. This can sometimes help to find the best sweet spot between options.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If when you load the spreadsheet some data is not shown or gives you an error, do the following:
Go to the Tools menu and select the Add-Ins option. Check the Analysis ToolPak add-in and click OK. You need this add-in as it includes the loan calculator function that I used.
I hope you find this as helpful as I did! If you're nervous about using it, don't worry. After looking at the cost, I was still able to convince my wife to let me have all of my toys!
Also, If you have any questions, give me a shout and I'll be glad to help!
------------------
-Andrew Starks
[This message has been edited by pancreas (edited 11-02-2001).]
I was so busy painting Odysseys that I forgot about something that might be of actual use to some of you!
When I was deciding to buy our van, I had all kinds of trouble deciding between my head (LX) and my heart (EX-L Navi). To make matters worse, when you add in interest the cost of these items goes up exponentially! Then to get the toys you can go with a 72 month loan but that costs you more still. Just how much does that Navigation system cost you over just an EX-L over the life of a 60 month loan? How much more do you pay in interest between a 72 month loan at 6.10 versus a 60 month loan at 5.9?
All these questions and more can be answered for you by this spreadsheet:
<a href="http://www.trms.com/pancreas/OdyLoanSheet.xls">OdyLoanSheet.xls</a>
It compares the cost of any five cars with two separate loan scenarios for each car.
Here's how to use it: Fill in the information into any yellow colored field. The white and grey fields are calculated for you.
At the bottom you will find a Matrix (take the blue pill... j/k). The figures listed are the payment deltas between all of your options. If you like, the Sheet labeled Loan Chart will give you a graph. This can sometimes help to find the best sweet spot between options.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If when you load the spreadsheet some data is not shown or gives you an error, do the following:
Go to the Tools menu and select the Add-Ins option. Check the Analysis ToolPak add-in and click OK. You need this add-in as it includes the loan calculator function that I used.
I hope you find this as helpful as I did! If you're nervous about using it, don't worry. After looking at the cost, I was still able to convince my wife to let me have all of my toys!
Also, If you have any questions, give me a shout and I'll be glad to help!
------------------
-Andrew Starks
[This message has been edited by pancreas (edited 11-02-2001).]
