[Bandit102]

Bought my first truck 11 years ago at 22% interest with a 527 credit score and a great relationship with my banker. Refinanced it in one year at 12%. Now I get money from the bank at 5 to 6%. These guys are giving you some great advice. I think at 22% I would have paid something like $250K for a 3 year old Kenworth!

[Scottt]

I decided instead of spending most of the cash I had saved to buy a truck I would finance one and keep some some money in the bank for startup/ operating capital.

I talked to my local bank and they had no problem lending the money to me for a truck.

I am preapproved for $60,000

I am still trying to decide if this is really what I want to do

[tankyanker]

yea, i definitely wouldn't dump all my cash into a down payment. i also wouldn't buy a $60,000 truck. there's plenty of good equipment in the $15,000 to $25,000 range, you just have to be patient and look for it (repos, fleet sales, sale by owners, etc). i would find somethin cheap, in decent shape and finance it through a local bank on an accelerated depreciation scale. somethin like two years, maybe three tops. i would put down the minimum, put the rest away into an accessible account, and write off the truck payment every month. write off as much of the truck as you can. you're monthly payment will be a little larger, but you're not stringing it out and accruing a lot of interest. if for some reason you get in a tight spot and can't make your payment, go up to the bank and talk to the person who issued your loan. explain to them your situation and ask them if you can pay the interest for the month and roll the payment to the back. if they know you, or you've been good about taking care of your business, a lot of folks will let you do this.