I have suddenly become a popular guy. Not with the general population but with a select segment of society known as auto sales representatives and finance and insurance managers. For I am the magnet, the auto sales representatives are steel.
I’m popular because in a few weeks I will pay off the loan on my 2021 Mini. That’s why I finance rather than lease. I own it at the end. Financing is preferable because there are no mileage restrictions (most leases cap your mileage). Leasing might have a lower month-to-month cost but with financing you end up with an asset at the end of your loan (albeit a depreciated one).
Since January, auto sales representatives from Mini have been “reaching out” to see if there is a “good time to check in.” There is “no rush or pressure at all” – they just want to make sure I know my options.
I heard from one the other day who was dropping me a line to say “hello” because my “finance term is coming up next month.”
I’ve been invited to mingle at Mini Rally Sales Events. They want to know if I’d like to chat or “swing by” sometime. It’s important that I “have the info” as my term comes up. They want me to know they aren’t after anything. They’re happy “either way.”
I feel sorry for these auto sales representatives because I have no intention of financing another vehicle. I’m about to be free and clear.
Next to paying off a mortgage, paying off your car is a milestone financial event in the life of a 21st-century serf. According to Finder.com, the average Canadian pays $914.73 a month for a new car for a 72-month loan.
Analytics firm J.D. Power reports new cars cost an average of $50,000 and a third of Canadian car owners who finance pay more than $1,000 a month.
In February 2026, the average interest rate on new cars was 6.72 per cent for someone with good credit, according to Statistics Canada.
I got my Mini during one of the worst periods for new car buyers. During that time of the pandemic, there was almost no new vehicle inventory as the entire supply chain was constrained. Used vehicles were in high demand and values rose 60 per cent from late 2021 to early 2022, according to Canadian Black Book.
Interest rates, however, were historically low. I got away with paying 0.54 per cent. Over five years, I paid less than $1,000 in total interest. This was the equivalent of being drafted into the Vietnam War and spending your military service stationed on Hawaii performing in the USO. I have no intention of climbing back on the new-car-debt merry go round.
Thinking rationally, I don’t need a new car. But I want one, and all the auto sales representatives out there know it. I felt that need when I brought my Mini in to have its all-season tires put on. I entered the dealership and walked past a forest of verdant brand-new Minis.
There was a 2026 Mini Cooper S 3 door in Ocean Wave Green Metallic, a 2026 Mini Cooper C 5 door in Chili Red II and a 2026 Mini Cooper S Convertible in Midnight Black II Metallic. I imagined the new car smell. There is nothing like a new car. I have not had that many. This siren song tempted me. I emailed my sales representative to ask about interest rates. He told me 2.24 per cent from 24 months to 60 months. I wavered.
When you are about to make your last payment, the auto sales representatives who call and email are the equivalent of that friend from your 20s who breezes into town and suggests you get together. You’d like to see them, but you’re wary because you know what will happen.
You plan to meet for one civilized cocktail and then – whammo – you’re wandering around at 3 a.m. looking for somewhere to eat something you will regret. You know you cannot handle the bloodshot morning that would follow such an excursion. You don’t need it and yet there is a part of you that wants it, that craves the immediate gratification.
I know it’s a bad idea for me to go to a Mini Rally Sales Event. It will start with a test drive and then I get tempted by the low interest rates. Then I start thinking about all the repairs my now-paid-off 2021 will need. Cars have a habit of breaking down shortly after they are paid off. Then the sales representative mentions all the warranties I could get cheap or for free and then I start thinking, “One little car payment wouldn’t hurt, would it?”
Then I wake up with that new car smell in my nostrils and a splitting headache.
No, better to stay strong.
One 2021 Mini, paid in full.