Tell Me What to Do

When my wife and I had a TiVo, one of the cool features was that TiVo would recommend shows we might like based on what we asked TiVo to record. But it had some glitches. We once accidentally recorded an infomercial about the LifeCall alert system. For years. TiVo thought my wife and I were elderly people who lived alone and wanted to make sure we would be safe in case of an emergency.

There isn’t a website or service out there that doesn’t offer some kind of recommendation. Different sites will use different algorithms and analysis to determine what it thinks you might want or need, but in most cases, it’s hit or miss. And usually more misses than hits.

Auto lenders have had calculators on their websites for years to help consumers figure out what their loan payments would be under different scenarios. Case in point: https://www.roadloans.com/resources/iphone-app.

But why isn’t there an app that looks at my overall financial picture and tells me what to do when it comes to buying a car. Tells me how much to put down and how long the term should be. Tells me whether a loan or lease is better for my overall financial health. 

The app would act kind of like a newly released service that tells people which clothing brands will fit them best, based on their personal quirks and dimensions. 

I should be able to enter my financial profile, the kind of vehicle I’m looking to buy, and be told what to do. Whether I can afford a specific vehicle. Whether I should buy or lease. Whether I should make a down payment and, if so, how large. Whether I should use a captive or bank or credit union. This seems like a natural extension of the relationship I have with my bank. A bank should be able to tell me whether it’s a good idea to buy a convertible sports car, or whether I can fulfill my long-term dream of buying a pickup truck. 

I bet a pickup truck would come in handy in the event of an emergency…