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Do you finance your sled or pay up front?

BikerPepe` said:
well... unlike so many of you fancy pants fellas, I'm broke and disabled.
I buy used with slowly saved up cash. Yea... I'm not riding some of the biggest, baddest out there and my gear may be comparable to a lumberjacks, but hey... I'm out there havin' fun! :face-icon-small-ton

Not crackin' on any of you with the means to do... just sayin', it ain't all about the benjamins!
Click to expand...

believe it or not our local Yamaha dealer up here is run buy a family with a lot at their disposal, they can run anything they want.
One of the son's now finds he mostly enjoys time sledding with the only sled he owns now and that's a Bravo 250 Longtrack. He has won the Alcan in previous years on the turboed apex reaching speeds of 151 miles an hour and now he is content pushing the Bravo to its limits..so Bikepepe many people are having fun the way you are and you are likely envied by more then you know..
 
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Interesting and different thread.

A bit hard to relate since both prices and vages are higher in Norway (normal jobs, not actors and stuff).

I financed mine with some cash thrown in there, just about done paying of my 2011 pro. Could have done it sooner if it had been my number one priority.

I paid roughly 6,3 times my net monthly income for my 2011 pro 155" with a shovel and a tunnel-bag to put it in. Would be really interested in hearing how many months of net income a "normal guy" will pay in the US for such a sled??

A new 2014 pro rmk over here will be about 26-27K in USD.


Cheers.
 
A very rough estimate for comparison:

Average salary I believe is now around $45K/year, Take 28% off the top for taxes leaves you at about $2700/ month. This obviously doesn't take into account if you have to pay health insurance, retirement or other pretax exemptions.

New sled is $12,000 roughly

12,000/2700 = 4.44 months of income.
 
Norway said:
Interesting and different thread.

A bit hard to relate since both prices and vages are higher in Norway (normal jobs, not actors and stuff).

I financed mine with some cash thrown in there, just about done paying of my 2011 pro. Could have done it sooner if it had been my number one priority.

I paid roughly 6,3 times my net monthly income for my 2011 pro 155" with a shovel and a tunnel-bag to put it in. Would be really interested in hearing how many months of net income a "normal guy" will pay in the US for such a sled??

A new 2014 pro rmk over here will be about 26-27K in USD.


Cheers.
Click to expand...

27k your nuts or your rich! Which is it? Haha
 
Well the first couple sleds I had were financed. But after the first one, nobody will be paying 12k for a new sled. For example I usually trade sleds every 2-3 years. So that means I take the money from that sale, and apply to the snocheck. The last couple sleds have had a balance of 5-6k. Payed cash
So figure I keep sled for three years, sell it, add 6k to buy a new one...now I am basically paying 2k a year to get a new sled every two to three years.
Yeah it may be tough getting that first one payed down, but if you handle it right, additional sleds should be easy to pay cash. Regardless of if you are rich or not.

However, if you need a loan to get into or stay in the sport, to get out of the house on the weekends and have fun with good friends and family......then why not! I understand that everybody runs into different circumstances.
Nobody here should be judging! Just be glad that the sport is growing. With or without the bank's help.
 
I'm on the finance route. I would never be able to have anything - even older sleds if I didnt finance. I have financed 3 sleds over the years. I always sell them for about $2000 grand over what I owe. I usually buy a newer one every 3-4 years. This year a local bank gave me a screamin deal so I bought a 14 XM. I have never had a brand new sled and without financing I would never have the opp. Pay some in interest or pay up front - who cares! Just my 2 cents.
 
I borrowed money against my vehicle and got 1.9 %. I'm not rich enough to pay cash, but I do ok. I love the sport and will do what I have to in order to go riding. I work overtime when offered and try to pay off my toy loans faster. I also learned over the last ten years don't sell your sled to buy a new one if you don't have a large group of friends to ride with. The resale on sleds suck. It's best to keep a spare sled around for the wife or a buddy to ride compared to sitting at home trying to find someone to ride with. Keep your sleds well maintained and keep them longer. Buying a new sled every year or every other year isn't for us non rich people. Sleds are much more fun to ride after you paid it off and can start saving towards the next one. Some people jump into the sport to fast and buy to much right off the bat and then go broke. I bought one sled, then a trailer, then another sled, then a bigger trailer over a ten year period. I keep everything well maintained and only get a new sled every 4 to 6 years. This system works for me. Don't be afraid to buy used. I find sleds with less then 1000 miles for 3 to 5 thousand off new retail all the time with warranty! Hope this helps.
 
I pay cash for my toys, but when I was a younger man I had to finance the first few. Im lukcy enough that I dont have to do that now. BUT if I did have to do that I would in a heartbeat. having something to do in the winter time that is the absolute funnest thing to do on the planet is worth it. Just be smart about it and enjoy. Have some friends that do nothing from Nov through April. Gotta get up and keep moving.
 
It all boils down to the fact that everyone is in a different situation. If you really love the sport such as I do paying up front or financing has never mattered much to me. If I can get on the snow every weekend and actually afford to do it, I'm in. Life without snowmobiling would be a rather miserable existence in my opinion, I've been riding sleds for 50 years now and have never had a dull day on a snowmachine. I've always looked for a well cared for sled that somebody only has one season on, I can usually save 3K to 4K over new and some snowcheck sleds will have a transferable warranty. I wear out a two stroke motor pretty much every season, warranty is more important than how the sled was purchased, without it I couldn't afford to ride.
 
Finance make a payment then don't. What till you receive notice of not paying. Make partial payment. End of season sorry hard times come and repo. Snow check new one same procedure next year. Works great.
 
There are a lot of variables (other than cash position) that dictate whether one should pay cash or finance and they are not always as cut and dried as some suggest. Even 0% interest is not necessarily the way to go if offered (but usually is)
 
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