Here's the situation...Ryan and I needed a new roof about a month ago. $4,200. Mom and dad got themselves a band new 2009 Honda Odyssey so they gave us their 2002 Chrysler Town & Country LXi to either keep or sell, which would obviously help with the roof seeing as Blue Book lists it for around $6,000.
We just paid off Ryan's car (2005 Hyundai Elantra) and it's in great shape. My car (2000 Honda Civic EX) has been paid off forever and is running great.
We are not struggling with the roof issue, but of course it would be awesome to sell the van and pocket some extra money, but...
Well, I just have a lot of options and a lot on my mind. Ryan and I know we're not getting any younger and I mean we don't even know if we can even have kids so we have discussed starting to try maybe this time next year. A van certainly would be nice to have...but it's an older one, y'know?
In the meantime, I have NEVER had a "new" car. My first car was a '91 Honda CRX that I got in '94 (when I was 16) and the car I am driving now I got in '04. Not that I even need a "new" car, but it would be nice to drive something no older than 2 yrs for once...and something that is nicer and more of an "adult" car y'know?
So I was thinking that my options are:
a) Sell the van for $6,000. Put the money in the bank and chill.
b) Sell my Honda for $3,500. The van will be my main ride.
c) Trade in both and put ~$10K toward a newer car for me
Decisions, decisions. Any thoughts/advice greatly appreciated.
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'tis a tough one... and ultimately only a decision you can make.
ReplyDeleteWhile cars make great assets, they do depreciate in value a lot, so there isn't really a lot of benefit in buying brand new. getting an ex-demo on the other hand is a handy option-you get the best of both worlds! good price & a newer model car...
we're a one-car family, have been ever since we got married. we paid off our previous car at the end of 07(i think!)and while it was at times impractical (it was a coupe, the back seats didn't fold down & it had massive hinges in the boot which took up a lot of space!) we held onto it mainly because it was still in fantastic running order, and it meant that we could really take our time to work out what we wanted out of our next car.
I'm glad that we did that, because once we found out there was a bub on the way, we'd worked out exactly what we wanted, and how much we were willing to spend on it, and we started the search early in the pregnancy so that there was no rush in finding something.meant that we were in a position of power, as opposed to the car dealer.
Our new(er) car is flippin awesome. we went from owning a 2002 Lancer gli to a late 07 model Lancer VR-X (or GTS as it's known in america!), it was virtually brand new when we got it (only had 3000kms), saved over $10k as opposed to buying it brand new, and we can see ourselves having this car for quite a few years yet. we were surprised that we ended up going from one lancer to another, but we just couldn't fault the newer model. it even has a subwoofer as a standard feature! go figure!
Had we traded in our old lancer earlier, I think we would not have totally thought through the practicalities of having children in the car we got, so I'm glad we waited.
So, I guess with all of this rambling, I'm trying to say is that option a or b are probably good options for now, as they both buy you time to really do your research as to what you want out of a car once children come along.
~Amy~
Hey! So glad you found my blog! It's a little random, but so am I :)
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading your new blog - it's addicting (just like twitter!)
Wow, what a great situation to be in!
ReplyDeleteI would say ... A bird in hand is better than two in a bush. (hope that makes sense)
You have 2 (actually 3) cars that are paid off. One of which is a honda- which probably will drive forever (or until the wheels fall off). I would keep both of your cars since they are paid off. I doubt you will get 6K for your van right now. Hard times... and people are trading up for new cars with cash for clunkers. My advice is to keep the van as a back up- It was free!!!
Or if you really want to sell I would hold on to it until you get the maximum amount you can get- you have nothing to lose- like I said it was free! Then keep the money in the bank and keep adding to it until you can buy a brand new car out & out.
This is coming from someone who is currently in a one car family. And cannot wait for the car to be paid off & debt free!
You guys are the best. Thank you so much for the advice. We are so fortunate to even have these kind of decisions to make.
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