I won't do anything unless minimum 10% downpayment and 5 years.

Anything longer you pay too much in interest.

This was something I brought up some months back when discussing with one of my cousins.

She bought a brand new Toyota Vios that cost RM87,000 on a 9 year loan.

I advised her against it on the basis that she is paying RM875 per month on 9 years vs RM1440 for 5 years.

Downpayment and what is included in the loan remains the same as does interest rate though in practice for a 5 year loan the interest is a few points higher.

When you finish paying the car on a 5 year loan inclusive of interest you would have paid RM86,500 towards the car but on a 9 year loan you would have paid a total of RM94,500 the difference is enough to put towards the downpayment of another new Vios.

Another thing to consider, if you take 5 year loan anytime after the 10th month of repayment, in an event you need to sell off the car you will be looking at a minimal amount maybe under RM1,000 to settle the bank loan as on average that Vios will lose RM15,000-20,000 per year. On a 9 year loan you will be looking at upwards of RM8,000 to settle the bank loan.

Where would this become most important and maybe might not even be your own fault but that situation is where your car is involved in an accident and has to be a total write-off. The amount the insurance company will compensate you isn't going to be your insured value even if you have an agreed value policy but you will be compensated based upon open market value of your car and that means just a little bit more than what you would get if you traded your car in.

Do you have that type of cash sitting around? Else you will be paying a loan on a car you cannot drive.

That's one of the reasons why in this country there are many cars after a bad accident where it can and should be written off due to chassis damage the owner would insist on repairing the car.