Meet Viktor- the car that saved me $74,210!

Meet Viktor.
He’s helping me pay off my mortgage in under 10 years.
Viktor is a 1979 VB Holden Commodore. Because he’s over 30 he’s now classed as a ‘classic’ and is actually appreciating (going up in value) every year. Pretty funny considering I only paid $1200 for him. He’s fast, sounds great, and corners exceptionally well. I have people give me thumbs up when I’m driving and shout out ‘great car!’

He also has rust spots coming through his pale yellow paint, making him look like an over ripe banana. He has no radio, no heater, no power steering and a hole just over the accelerator that is only noticeable by a wet foot when it rains. So how is this ageing car helping me pay off my mortgage?

Along with everything Viktor doesn’t possess, he also doesn’t have a computer. In fact, his entire wiring consists of maybe 4 wires. This means if ever something breaks, my mechanical minded husband can fix it. No auto-electricians chasing faults in computers, parts are cheap and easy to come by and I am not paying a loan, finance or lease for my car. I own him outright. Of course, if you don’t have a mechanically minded friend or family member, getting an old car may not be such a great idea. But you can still buy older, second hand cars that work wonderfully for a fraction of the price of a new one.

Don’t get me wrong, some days I scream at Viktor, curse his lack of power steering when I’m trying to parallel park and occasionally I even entertain thoughts of his destruction when he stalls at the lights. But I suck it up because I know, one day in the not to distant future, I will have the money to either renovate Viktor, or buy a car that doesn’t leave me frozen in the winter and melting in the summer.

He may be a little rough around the edges, but Viktor is a safe car. He gets me from A-B and he cost me a fraction of what a new car would have. What does this mean for my mortgage? 10 years and $74,000 dollars saved off a 30 year, $300,000 mortgage.

Let me explain…
The maths is based on having a new 30 year mortgage of $300,000 and an extra lump sum of $30,000 to buy a car.
The money you have left from buying your car is then added as a lump sum to your mortgage, decreasing the time and amount of your loan.
Second hand car based on median price of various Holden models on www.carsales.com.au at time of writing.
New car based on Holden Captiva price at time of writing.
New car + finance based on Holden Captiva with a 4.5% interest rate, 5 year loan at time of writing.
Does not include any on-road costs, repairs or maintenance as it is just an example!

Viktor has certainly made a bigger difference to my mortgage than I would have thought possible. I mean it’s all very well knowing it’s true, but when you actually see the proof-wow! Totally worth the craziness! And you know what? My whole neighbourhood likes Viktor. He’s unique. He stands out from the crowd and he’s a little bit quirky.
We could learn a lot from Viktor…
P.S- If you hear me revving the engine at the lights, I’m not trying to be cool, I just don’t want to stall!

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