Car Advice: sell, trade, or stay the course? (1 Viewer)

livefromDC

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I'm turning to the collective wisdom of the board on this one.

We have two cars that we need to because we both work. Each car has about $5,500 in payments remaining. One is a 2012 Equinox. It has $6,000 in remaining payments. The other, a 2010 GMC Terrain has $5,000. The Equinox has about 96,000 miles on it and the Terrain has 108,000 miles. The Terrain also just had the transmission rebuilt and will need a new AC compressor soon. Other than that both vehicles are working fine. The Equinox has 97,500 maintenance coming up, but works fine otherwise. As some of you know, we ended up moving to Atlanta about a year ago. My wife was relocated there and we pulled up our roots and made the move. There was a lot of back and forth until I found a job in Atlanta. (In case anyone's wondering, the move has been awesome for both of us career wise...but yeah...still trying to adapt to Atlanta, I miss NOLA.)

Here's my question. Is it concerning that both cars have high mileages? Should I trade one in now or sell it? And if the advice is to sell one of them, which one would you part with? I've never been in this predicament before. If a drunk driver wouldn't have prematurely ended the life of my last car, we would've never had 2 notes simultaneously. I'm just worried about the long term value of each. Thoughts? thx
 
What's your note on these cars? Months left?
How much do you have ready to put towards a new vehicle?
Do you want another note? Are you ready to pay one off?
Do you love these vehicles? Want to stay in a small SUV?
Are you committed to GM for some reason?
 
The value of purchasing (rather than leasing) is that when you finish the payments and own the car outright, you're not paying for it anymore and can free that monthly hit up for something else. The problem, as you indicate, is if you reach that point and the car needs expensive upkeep, you're still in the same bind.

What is the total cost of your reasonably expected maintenance in the next 12 months or so as compared to the notes you were paying?
 
What's your note on these cars? Months left?
How much do you have ready to put towards a new vehicle?
Do you want another note? Are you ready to pay one off?
Do you love these vehicles? Want to stay in a small SUV?
Are you committed to GM for some reason?

14 months left on the Equinox and 24 months on the GMC.

We have savings that I could pull from for a newer vehicle.

We could pay one off, but by my math, it doesn't save us money to pay it off earlier. The pay off amount for both would be the same (actually a little bit more) according the bank. Is that not right?

We love the Equinox. I'm over the GMC. That's the one I drive so it's not a big deal. The wife loves the Equinox and would want another one if we got rid of the one we have.

I'd move to a car again. :shrug: It doesn't matter to me.
 
This is obvious advice probably but I would keep them and start putting back monthly the extra per month a new or used replacement vehicle would cost.

If you are paying $300 per month on one and a replacement will be $500 per month start putting an extra $200 per month in savings and see how it goes.

More than likely maintenance on the old cars will be cheaper than the payment on a new one unless you plan on financing a newer car for a long time...which as you know is never a good idea.

An old buddy of mine that fixes and flips cars for a living says this about cars...."They rust, bust, and collect dust."
 
The value of purchasing (rather than leasing) is that when you finish the payments and own the car outright, you're not paying for it anymore and can free that monthly hit up for something else. The problem, as you indicate, is if you reach that point and the car needs expensive upkeep, you're still in the same bind.

What is the total cost of your reasonably expected maintenance in the next 12 months or so as compared to the notes you were paying?

According to the owner's manual (and that's usually when I do things except oil changes, I do those more frequently), the Equinox is due for 97,500 maintenance soon, spark plugs and transmission fluid. That's in addition to the routine maintenance.
 
According to the owner's manual (and that's usually when I do things except oil changes, I do those more frequently), the Equinox is due for 97,500 maintenance soon, spark plugs and transmission fluid. That's in addition to the routine maintenance.


I didn't realize you still had 14+ payments on both. I was thinking you were closer than that.

But I think it's all just about the calculations. Figure out what the resale/trade values are for the current vehicles and costs savings from the maintenance on one side of the equation with the replacement vehicle costs on the other and then figure out if the delta is attractive, given that it will come with the benefit of having new cars and limited maintenance costs.
 
Stop buying GM vehicles unless you plan to keep them forever, because the resale value is crap, and even more so since you seem to put a lot of miles on cars.

Yeah...I don't know much about cars so I'll take this as sound advice. We were just trying to buy from American companies. I don't think I'd do GMC again.

Since you are willing to go to a car and get rid of the Terrain, it may be worth it long term in gas savings depending on how long you keep your replacement car and how fuel efficient it is....Of course price of the replacement.

How about a Prius? - Cars for Sale: Used 2012 Toyota Prius in , LILBURN GA: 30047 Details - Hatchback - Autotrader

I'd be down for a Prius. Scary, how quickly you found that car? Are you a Prius person? Is that what you recommend?

I think the GMC may end up being fairly costly over the next couple years.
 
The only thing about a Prius (or any hybrid) is if you're going to keep it long-term, you are going to have to replace the battery at some point, and that is going to be mega-expensive. Batteries are supposed to have a lifetime of about 10 years/150K miles.

If I were you I'd keep the wife's car and continue paying it off. Sell yours and with that money buy a smaller Toyota or Honda sedan or hatchback. Something you can drive to 200K or more and be reasonably assured of no major problems.

Cars are just bad investments, there's no point in spending any more on one than you absolutely have to. I went from SUV to small car 7-8 years ago and have never regretted it even a little.
 
Yeah...I don't know much about cars so I'll take this as sound advice. We were just trying to buy from American companies. I don't think I'd do GMC again.



I'd be down for a Prius. Scary, how quickly you found that car? Are you a Prius person? Is that what you recommend?

I think the GMC may end up being fairly costly over the next couple years.

I have considered a Prius in the past but decided the back seat was too small for me. I chose it for you to maximize gas savings vs your Terrain.

I just added a ATL zip on auto trader and searched prius.


The only thing about a Prius (or any hybrid) is if you're going to keep it long-term, you are going to have to replace the battery at some point, and that is going to be mega-expensive. Batteries are supposed to have a lifetime of about 10 years/150K miles.

If I were you I'd keep the wife's car and continue paying it off. Sell yours and with that money buy a smaller Toyota or Honda sedan or hatchback. Something you can drive to 200K or more and be reasonably assured of no major problems.

Cars are just bad investments, there's no point in spending any more on one than you absolutely have to. I went from SUV to small car 7-8 years ago and have never regretted it even a little.


Retro is right about the batteries but how many miles do you drive per year and how often do you keep a car over 150k miles?

It is a math problem to me if the Prius can save you enough money in fuel to warrant the extra investment go for it. A 2012 Corolla or Civic would be a great choice as well and be less expensive at cost of a little MPG....back to the math. :9:
 
The value of purchasing (rather than leasing) is that when you finish the payments and own the car outright, you're not paying for it anymore and can free that monthly hit up for something else. The problem, as you indicate, is if you reach that point and the car needs expensive upkeep, you're still in the same bind.

Two words are the entire problem with that...."something else."

When you finish the payments, you take the monthly payment and start saving it for your next car. Then, when you reach the point where the car needs expensive upkeep, your solution becomes much simpler.
 
either you have crazy long limbs or you have a driving technique i've never heard of

I guess I should have been more specific. Too small for my family. My son is still in a rear facing car seat.
 

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