I'm in a position to make a very difficult decision... (page 2)

Hortensia

no you won't have repairs of $310 a month - you'll have a couple of repairs per year of one or two thousand dollars. Keep the newer car, refinance the loan so the payments are lower, and change the oil faithfully.

wanderlustguy

I have payments on the Tauras for 5 more years.

OMG!!!!! You're gonna pay over $20,000 for a car that will be worth maybe $2,500 when you are done. You are so upside down in that thing you'll never get out of it.

Even if you had to go bankrupt to dump it, that's a lot of cash to just stuff in the garbage. Imagine what just half of that could do for your kids education if invested properly, for instance if you just did that amount in an IRA every year you could easily end up with over $500,000 by the time you are 65...and get a tax break for doing it!

horrible life

I have payments on the Tauras for 5 more years.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't spend all of the monthly savings though. You may need it. And as wonder said, it feels good to have money in the bank.

greenhornet

In most areas the electric company can average out you bill so the winter bill is the same as the summer bill or close to it. Also if your low income there is federal grant money. Try and keep your Ford.

Highlander

I'm in the opposite position. I drive an older camry for business and personal use. It has close to 300,000 miles. If I so choose, I could walk into a dealer and get a new car, but I don't want the payment. It's a waste of money and I enjoy using the saved money each month towards important things such as paying off debt and saving for retirement.

When my car finally takes a dump, I'll get a new car, but you can be sure that I won't be doing that until I have to. There's no shame in being practical with your finances.

SixofNine

Yeah, you're probably thinking the right way generally... BUT (big BUT!) what are you doing to make sure you are getting a fair deal?

IOW, I'm asking, "what does this mean: 'I was just offered to take a 1995 Saturn (still runs decent) for the Taurus but with the '95 I will not have a payment though there will be more maintenance on it.'"

"I was ... offered to take a 95 Saturn....for the taurus". What exactly does that mean? Someone will take the Taurus off your hands and give you a Saturn w/ no money exchanged?

Are you making sure this is really a true sale, so that you're not responsible AT ALL for the Taurus payment?

BrentR

I will never buy a new car. Right now a friend of mine has a 06 F350 diesel he bought for over $50k and can not keep the payments up. I am getting ready to give him $25k for it so he can get out of the loan. He just paid off the depreciation for me and then some.

MeneMene

The safety of your children in a newer car means more than having more money to buy them toys & stuff.

A 12 year old car can be expensive. Have you checked to see how much it will cost you when the transmission or motor needs replacing; or even smaller things like the water pump, alternator, etc? Check with your mechanic just to see what kind of money you need to have in savings to get the old car fixed. What will you do while it is in the shop?

If you are serious about this, have the old car checked out thoroughly by your mechanic before you make a decision.

Your insurance payment would also drop as you would not need full coverage - only liability.

Highlander

Six is right. Make sure you are not getting screwed. Are they purchasing the car from you using their own financing? Or are they merely making the payments for you while the vehicle stays under your name?

The money you can save by not having a car payment can easily buy you another cheap used vehicle if in case the saturn has a major failure such as an engine or trans.

Also, think of the money you will save on insurance.

tnangel73

Parts on a GM, which is basically what a Saturn is shouldn't be very expensive. It all depends on what parts break. And where you get them. ( I work for an auto parts manufacturer, I don't get parts wholesale, but I do know what fair retail values should be. )

I'm in a position to make a very difficult decision...

Share this