My husband has been venting to me about how much having a car loan weighed on him. He had buyer’s remorse about his new car because I willingly took on extra hours to offset the car payment. I fully supported and encouraged his decision to buy himself something newer than the 2001 car he was driving previously. He picked out a 2020 fully loaded hatchback with very few miles that we got a great deal on.
Hearing about his buyer’s remorse made me feel awful that he wasn’t able to fully enjoy his new car, so I paid 14k out of my individual savings to pay off his loan as an early Christmas gift.
Fast forward a month and he tells me he wants a different car because of his negative association with how impulsive his decision to buy it was. I expressed I didn’t feel good about him trading in a car we got a great deal on, and asked him to wait some time before car shopping again so we could prioritize paying extra on our mortgage.
He agreed, told me he was just bouncing ideas around, and not really in the market to buy just yet. A while ago he told me he wanted to go test drive a 2000 SUV just to feel it out, and I noticed him cleaning out his car before we made a drive out to see it. He assured me he was only window shopping when I questioned him.
To my surprise, he told the salesman he was looking to trade in upon our arrival. The dealership lowballed him and offered 16k and he accepted it to walk away with a $500 reimbursement after closing a deal on a 20yr old SUV that was sold to him for $15.5k.
I feel under appreciated, blindsided, and furious. It took me over a year of really long hours to save the 14k I put towards his loan. Not to mention the age and mileage on this car means we’ll have to replace it far sooner than I intended. He makes over twice as much as me annually, and while that quantity of money may not mean much to him, I busted my ass to relieve his point of stress and regret. I’m disappointed that he wasn’t honest with me and basically threw 14k down the drain. I’m angry that he lied about his willingness to prioritize our mortgage before prioritizing his wants, and I’m highly considering divorce.