George Kamel - Reacting to the Internet’s Dumbest Car Loans

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

🚗 Check out the Ramsey Car Guide.   In this episode, I’m reacting to TikTok’s most unhinged car payment videos—because honestly, some of your car payments deserve their own horror movie soundtrack.     Next Steps: 🎥 Watch my video The New (Horrible) Way to Buy a New Car. 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.  💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! 💰 Estimate how fast you can pay off your car loan Auto Loan Calculator.   Connect With Our Sponsors: Get up to 40% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I've seen some scary money stuff over the years, but some of your car payments, they deserve their own horror movie soundtrack. And today I'm reacting to TikTok's most unhinged car payment videos, including a car that's costing one guy $3,200 every month. It's gonna get crazy. So stick around for a front row seat to the wreckage and to find out the hidden truth of what it's costing these poor unfortunate souls. And to spice things up, we're introducing a buzzer.

So once I'm just sick and tired of your videos, you're getting buzzer. Getting buzz, bro, when you buzz me off. It's like the voice, but the opposite. Instead of me turning around and saying, you're on my team now, this buzzer means you're no friend of mine. POV, you pay $658 a month at 19 years old because you want a V-car. Oh my gosh, this girl is everything wrong with America. That was some garbage editing, girl.

Hire someone. I don't know what's happening. Plugs into the seat. Okay, I don't even know what kind of car this is. 3K down two with the like little one tier emoji. I don't understand, but that's really sad at 19 years old. Goodness gracious. Okay, this is apparently a Kia from what I've gathered.

And here, let's look at some of the comments. Let's see if they agree that this is insane for a 19 year old to go deeply in the car debt because it's THE car. Celoria said paying triple what the car is going to be worth in seven years when you're loan up. Prayer hands. Danny, these comments are not it. Dot, dot, dot. You do you, girlfriend. Yikes, Danny. Not with the sparkle emojis. Another one. Putting that money in an S&P 500 for five years with the last 20 years average return rate, you would have around 600K USD at 40, with about 430 of that being profits. This guy maths. This guy maths. This.

This guy compound growths, if you know what I mean. Should I calculate it to double check the math? I guess we should. Okay, let's find out if this guy is really up to snuff here. So the payment was 658 a month. She's 19. He said 20 years average return rate. Okay, so we're gonna go to 40.

From 19 to 40, if she just invested that car payment instead of trying to look fancy, $650, okay, $658, you know, 10%. And he claims it'll be 600K. Yeah, real close, $560,000. They may have been using an 11% return, which puts you at 643. So yeah, 10 to 11%, which is what we've seen in the S&P 500 over the last several decades.

Yeah, she could be on the way to a million dollars instead of just trading in her now, you know, $15, $20,000 car for another car payment. Math checks out on that one. Abby with two Wies. That checks out. Maybe next time before you spend all that money on the car, on the car, maybe you should think about

the wealth that you're missing out on. Next up. Grace, what's the highest payment you've ever seen? 1784. Demetrius, what's the highest payment you've ever seen? Oh, 2100. Jeez. Roy, what's the highest car payment you've ever seen?

It was $1,958. Goodness gracious. Leslie, what's the highest payment you've seen? 1400. Hey, guys, what's the highest payment you've ever seen? No. March? $2,400?

$2,400. Bailey. Yes. What's the highest car payment you've seen? I wouldn't have a clue because I'm marketing manager. Patrick. What's the highest payment you've seen? Highest payment I've seen.

probably like 18, 1900. Oh, what's the highest car payment you've ever seen? 2,500 and you can be next. Oh, my gosh. These people are the worst. They're like proud of it. Like it's a badge of honor to get people into a $2,500 car payment. And that one guy who said he saw a $3,200 car payment,

I've got to use our Ramsey Auto Loan calculator, figure out even, like, how do you get, like, did you just get hosed on the interest rate, or did you buy a six-figure vehicle? All right, let's see what it would take to get a $3,200 car payment using our Ramsey Auto Loan calculator. I'm going to just going to go $100,000,

and let's say they had very little down. I hope they had something down. We're only at $1,700 with $100,000 car price. Loan term, I guess if you really lower the loan term down to 36 months, you'd have about 3122. So we're going to go 110. Yeah, that'll do it. $105,000.

With $1,000 down, I don't even know if that's legal, but I feel like dealerships would let you do that. 36-month loan term, 8.43% interest rate. That is so insane. $3,200 for a car payment. I don't know. I just don't know, guys. Oh, and here's a fun fact for you.

In Q1 of 2025, the average car payment for a new car, $745. And even for used cars, $521. That should depress you. I don't know. I don't have a lot of faith in America after that. And for those reasons. Don't forget.

Me having $1,420 carpane because I wanted a bends with beige interior, big screen, rose gold trim, carpe, LED lighting, and panoramic. Sunroof. Rose gold trim. That's what we're doing out here. Rose gold trim is what sold you? Guys, this is so sad. $1,420. for Mercedes. Listen, it's going to cost you that just per month in fees at the service center,

let alone your car payment. All right, that's really depressing. Let's see some of the comments here. Mariana said, that is rent for real. Shock G, that's 21,600 each year with insurance. Jay Darrow said, and now that depreciation is crazy, I have the same car. Ha, it was a waste of money. Yeah, Mercedes are not known to hold their value in most cases. So buyer beware. Because guess what? When people buy that, use Mercedes, they know what they're getting into. They're getting into a car that's going to have some very expensive maintenance and repairs.

And so the longer it's been driven, the more likely you are to have issues, that scares me a little bit. And then say with Sophia, congrats. I'm only six months into my Mercedes and I'm sick of the expensive car and gas payments, L.O.L. Sad face, sad face. Yeah, you got to remember, you're also paying premium gas for these cars, which is going to cost you a whole lot extra. for the life of ownership. Not a fan, but you know what, Brie with two eyes. Okay, here's my, go with me here.

If you have two letters at the end of their name instead of what should be one, you are bound to have expensive car payments and live a sad life. Now, I hope her parents did name her Brie with two eyes. I think that's just her TikTok handle. Oh, no, I lied. It's Brianna with two eyes.

B-R-I-I-A-N-A. Now I just have to hope that's like a cultural thing and that's just how it's spelled wherever her family's from. To be fair, the guy that she ends up with, he's going to be like the same dude. They're probably going to be like, I have a bigger car payment than you, so I feel like you should get Chili's today. You know what? Let's do two for Brianna with two eyes.

Sorry audio guys. Here we go. Rees, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? I have a 2016 Porsche of Cayman. and I don't have a payment. Let's go. What do you drive and what's your car payment? I drive a 2004 PT cruiser and my payment is $6.99.

No, he doesn't. Then what car do you drive and what's your car payment? I have a 2016 Tesla Model S and I'm paying right around $6.50. Hey, Ranier, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? Uh, 1972 Cutler, Supreme, uh, $500 a month. No way. Hey, Lo, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? Job a jing wrangler, Rubicon, and my car payment is a grand.

Hey, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? I drive in 1999 to your car payment. My guy. I had a vibe this guy was dead right. Hey Brad, what car do you drive and what do your car payments? Well, I'm a car enthusiast. I drop several cars and I can't say what the payments are. But I have a 24-hunter, 23 Defender V8.

Goodness gracious. 23 Audi Eutron RS. rest but I would not say what the payments are. Hey Ron, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? I drive with Nissan and Ultima my payments 850 a month. No, no one's driving Ultima, and it's paid for it. Hey Patrick, what car do you drive and what's your car payment? I don't have one other motorcycle. Whoa, motorcycle guy. What's your car payment? Wow, okay, I'm impressed. That's probably the most people at a dealership without a car payment I've seen in any of these videos. I got to go back to my guy with the 04 PT Cruiser with a $699 a month payment. I don't

buy it because the cruisers, can I show you? 2004 PT Cruiser. Okay, let's look at the Kelly Blue book here. God, that is, this is the cyber truck of 2004. Like at the time, we were like, this is the future, and now we all laugh and go, who bought that car? Okay. Wow, the MSRP was 19 grand at the time. Starts at 3 grand today. Wow. That is set.

There's no way. He has a $700 month car payment on a car that's worth 3 grand. I just don't buy it. I think that guy was trolling, and he was just a really good actor. But also, the other guy paying $8.50 a month for an Ultima? I don't really buy that either. So I'm starting to wonder, can you trust people that work at car dealerships? What else are they lying about?

Oh, I got to go to the back. I got to talk to my manager about, yeah, I don't know if we can do that, man. You know, like we're already at the bottom. We can do you. Oh, you know, I talk to my manager. Yeah, we can work it out, man. But we're going to have to get you to go to the finance. I don't care.

You're not going back to the talk to the manager. You went back to vape while telling your coworkers, dude, I'm about to hose this guy with this payment. I'm sick of it. Stop vaping inside of establishments. It's disgusting. I want to do seven for that guy's seven cars he has, but he's a little too shy to tell us all of his payments.

But I can tell you based on those cars, that guy's life sucks. Okay, before I get back to anger-inducing TikTok videos, I want to tell you about something that makes me happy, and that's Delete Me, one of the sponsors of today's video. I personally use Delete Me to clean up my digital footprint because they comb through hundreds of shady data broker sites to make sure my info is not that

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I'm going back into the coal mines. What do you drive and what's your car payment? Orix 500. I think my payment is 945 or 955. What do you drive in winter car payment? 1982 Toyota Selaica through $2. No, that's a good payment. What do you drive in once your car payment?

I'm driving a Dodge Scat Pack. My payments is 7. Now that I believe. I also have a 2021 Toyota Corolla and that payment is only $400. Only. Got two cars? What do you drive once a car payment? 2014 Commero S. No car there's go. Oh, that's good.

What do you drive and what's your car payment? I drive a Raff 4 and my payment is $400. Oh, that's good. What do you drive and what's your car payment? I drop a BMW M340. I and my car payment is $250. That's the best one today. 940. I still can't get over that, guys. 940. Okay, but this guy here, an 82 Selica for $3.20? I just don't believe it. Are these people trolling for like, is this engagement farming?

I just don't believe it. Toyota of Montgomery, tell the truck. I will call your dealership right now and ask for this general. I'm going to show them a picture of this. And say, I want to talk to this gentleman right here. I need to interview this man. Goodness gracious. That is, that's just dark. I'm going to say a Selica, 1982 Selica, 325 a month.

That takes the cake. Moving on. Alex, save us. Alex on a budget. Let's make a $2,000 card payment together. Let's not. And this is how much we have left to pay. If we want to pay it off in 48 months,

we have to keep making a $739.84 payment every single month. But because I'm trying to pay it off faster, let's make that extra $2,000 payment right now. We're going to click right here. $2,000 review payment. Why do they make the button red? It just gives me anxiety. It never gets easier. I just get stronger.

It's crazy when you think that this is probably like a mortgage payment. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Okay. Sudmit. What's taking so long, Alex? Oh, it gave her an... Oh, success. Your payment has been scheduled successfully. $2,000 additional principal.

It's a 2023 Honda Civic, and wow, I love the car. I hate making that payment every single month. Thank you for your honesty, Alex. Okay, just go with me here. The payment's like $750, right? And the payoff amount that was left was like $22,000. So I don't know what this car costs. Or let's say it's around that. Sounds like she's made some payments already. But if you just save up, let's pull up her hand. dandy calculator here. So if we just say 750 a month times 24 months, you could save 18 grand in two years, just in a savings account with a 0% savings rate. Now, she's putting an extra $2,000 a month toward it. So let's say she could do $1,000 a month to save up for that next car. Well, a thousand a month, this is pretty easy math, times 24 months, she could have bought a $24,000

dollar Honda Civic in cash if she just had the delayed gratification to wait 24 months. Instead, we're busy paying for the past instead of building wealth for the future. And for that, uh, you lose a point, Alex. You are the weakest link. Let's check out the comments section. Let's see what the vibes are down there. Oh, here we go. Gave me motivation to save up for my car.

All right, there's something good out of the comment section. Angie, pay by weekly to pay off fast because interest to keep. accumulates daily. Yeah, I mean, the faster you pay it off, the better. So if you can make extra payments every week, that's even better than doing it monthly. But the strategy here is just throw as much to the principle as you can as quickly as you can. Now, here's what I do like about this. By paying off the car early, she's saving a ton on interest that would have accumulated otherwise. But here's the deal. If you can't pay off the car in two years, it's probably time to sell it. And if that car is more than half of your annual income or the total value of all the vehicles in your

life adds up to more than half of your household income, you got to do something. You got to get rid of this car, sell it. And if you're underwater, you're going to need that underwater amount covered, either through savings or a small loan from your credit union. Moving on. Hey, if you drive a paid off car, you're not driving a beater, you're driving a blessing, okay? Now, I get it. You're looking at all your friends. They've upgraded their cars. They've got the 2024 edition, automatic lane switching or whatever. But I'm telling you, comparison is the thief of joy. You do not realize how freeing not having a car payment is until you don't have one right like i don't even have a backup camera i don't have apple car play um you know heated seats would be nice but it's not worth not having a car

payment and what's crazy is that over 40% of people have a car payment and on average on average is they're paying $700 per month i may not be the most fun friend that tells you to treat yourself and go buy the new car but let me be your responsible friend and say you don't need it Amen, John. Finally, somebody talking some sense into the people. Big fan of John, he's a personal friend and loves the content he shares, especially as it relates to car buying. And this guy practices what he preaches, as do I. So, like he said, you got to stop comparing. Because guess what? Your 2024 fancy car a decade from now is going to be a decade old car that you hate. And so if you keep going, well, I got to have the latest and greatest. You're going to

live an exhausting life full of payments. So just buy what you can afford right now. And later on, buy what you can afford then. But stop trying to kick the can down the road with payments to get something that you truly cannot afford. And I love the comments on this video. Me with my 2005 Toyota Rav4, while all my friends had a new car, she's still running strong. Kaleen said me and my 2011 Corolla for life.

This is what I just learned to love the car you have and truly look at it like a blessing. Because there's someone out there who wishes they had a car as nice as yours, as reliable as yours, that gets you from A to B to a job that helps you pay the bills and live your best life. So remember, cars are utility. They get you from A to B. And sure, the nicer they are, the more fun they are, you want to hang out in the car, you don't mind taking the drive if it's a nice whip. But at the end of the day, it's just something going down in

value. It's a liability in your life that is just costing you money. And so be wise with it, pay cash what you can afford, and just upgrade later. All right, most of those clips were anger-inducing for a few main reasons. Here's the three things you need to understand about cars and car payments. Number one, a car is a depreciating asset. It loses value the second you drive it off the lot. And financing something that's literally going down in value is like throwing a flaming bag of Benjamin's out of your PT cruisers window. Next, a life without payments is a life of freedom. Imagine if your paycheck stayed in your pocket instead of becoming a payment, you send to the auto lender. What else could you be doing with that money? Well, you can pay off debt, save for a vacation to holiday world, Indiana,

pump up your retirement fund, literally anything you want. So the beige interior and the rose gold trim, it's just not worth sacrificing your freedom and your financial future. And last thing, car payments aren't the only way to buy a car. That's right. You can just pay cash, especially if you buy a used car because a new car loses 60% of its value in the first five years. So think about it.

You could get a 60% off discount if you just wait five years and get the 2020 version in 2025 or 26. You just have to set up your budget and set a savings. goal, and if that's $6,000, then you save $500 a month for a year. If it's $12,000, that's $500 a month for 24 months. Just set the goal, divide it out, and make it a priority in your savings to make sure that actually happens. And listen, if you can't afford the exact car you want right now, welcome to life. Get the car you can afford to get around while you save for something better. Yeah, it'll take some patience, some hard work, some discipline, but guess what? You're a

grown-up. And by the way, that new car smell probably has an abundance of carcinogens, if that makes you feel any better. And if you want to learn step by step how to buy a car the right way, we've put together a free resource that will walk you through the process. It's called the Ramsey Car Guide, and I'll leave a link to it in the description of this episode. Now, if you think this is bad, you've got to know what dealerships out there are doing

to get you into a lower monthly payment and help you get a nicer car that you really can't afford. And it's the dumbest way to buy a car of all time. So to learn what the trap is and how to avoid it, keep watching this next video, or click the link in the description. That's it for today. Thank you guys for watching. We'll see you next.

next time.