Trying to decide if buying a new car is the right thing.....gas crunch

[Chris2597]

Dh and I are trying to decide if we should trade in our gas guzzling 2001 Expedition. We bought it when we still had 3 kids at home.....2 have left the nest and the baby is almost 17 and doesnt hang with us a whole lot....Most of the time it is only me running around in this big tank....I really like the SUV, but the cost of running it is getting prohibitive. We only owe 4000 on the SUV loan and it will need new tires which will cost about 700 in the next few months....The question is do we sink another 4700 into the Expedition or is it wiser to trade. The dealer has offered us 11200......
My dh has negotiated a good buy (invoice) on a 2005 Camry, which would more than double our gas mileage....but it is going to put us into another 4 years of payments.... The way gas is going up and up...I am concerned that a year from now we will have put 4700 more into the SUV and it will be worth nothing...no one will want it...
I also made the observation while in the dealerships that people are still in the market for large SUV's....We dont know what to do.....Any thoughts on this??

 

[janethill]

I would dump it now. It's my belief that gas prices are only going to go up. The problem isn't just our consumption, but we are now competing for oil with China and India, whose economies are booming.

You could probably save in monthly gas expeditures the amount of your payment. Your insurance will probably be lower as well.

Good Luck

 

[stinkerbelle]

Although DH kept his truck (as we need it for the plow)...he just bought a 05 Mazda 6 hatchback as a commuter car. We use this as much as possible (when we're not going to Lowe's or the such when we would need a truck.)

It's a sporty little thing, was affordable, and gets MUCH better gas mileage then the Dodge Ram...and hubby drives like 25 miles one way to work. So, in the long run, he'll save....eventually. heheheh

 

[Christine]

Dump it and get the Camry. You are getting a decent price for your Expedition. Do it while you can. There's no reason to be driving that hog around.

My Camry gets close to 30 mpg on it for a combo of city and highway driving and it's a wonderfully reliable car.

My DH's Dodge Dakota went "bust" a few months ago and we bought a Toyota Highlander (V6) right before the gas prices REALLY took an upward surge. At best, I'm getting 20 mpg and it is really killing me after being used to the Camry. I can only imagine how bad the Expedition must be. But I guess you get used to it?

You will save a lot in gas with the Camry.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I would dump it too. Camrys are great cars! The value of that Expedition is only going to down while gas prices seem to only go up.

Speaking of bad gas mileage, I was reading an article on Hummers and was just floored to see some got about 12 miles to the gallon.

 

[MdmMim]

Dump it before things start to go wrong! It's getting to the age where parts wear out, and it'll be one thing after another. (That's been our experience anyway!)

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Dh and I are trying to decide if we should trade in our gas guzzling 2001 Expedition. We bought it when we still had 3 kids at home.....2 have left the nest and the baby is almost 17 and doesnt hang with us a whole lot....Most of the time it is only me running around in this big tank....I really like the SUV, but the cost of running it is getting prohibitive. We only owe 4000 on the SUV loan and it will need new tires which will cost about 700 in the next few months....The question is do we sink another 4700 into the Expedition or is it wiser to trade. The dealer has offered us 11200......
My dh has negotiated a good buy (invoice) on a 2005 Camry, which would more than double our gas mileage....but it is going to put us into another 4 years of payments.... The way gas is going up and up...I am concerned that a year from now we will have put 4700 more into the SUV and it will be worth nothing...no one will want it...
I also made the observation while in the dealerships that people are still in the market for large SUV's....We dont know what to do.....Any thoughts on this??

Gas prices don't appear to be coming down anytime soon, which is why last year, we bought the car we have now, a 2004 VW Jetta Wagon Turbo Diesel. Diesel has come a long way from the cars of 80's and modern day trucks. I burns clean, has great pick up because of the turbo, has room for 5, and gets...ready?!?!...it gets 55 miles to the gallon!! On a full tank of gas, I can squeeze out around 700 miles. I would check one out if you have a chance.

 

[golfgal]

I would get the car. Yes, you will need to make payments longer, but, think of the money you will save on gas. Another consideration is to look at a car that is used. You can find a 2-4 year old Camry and for what you will have off your trade in you could but that down and only have payments for about the same amount of time you would have payments left on your other car.

Another thing about the Camry is that over the life of the car you won't spend as much in repairs as you probably would with the Expedition so you will also save money there.

 

[crs7568]

Great question. My husband and I are considering the same options. It is not thrilling to start making car payments again, but it is also not too fun spending so much money on gas. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I see a lady in a red VW Jetta on my commute and she has "55MPG" on her plates. I'd brag too!

I just traded my Mazda 626 in for a 05 Toyota Corolla b/c it gets 41MPG.

 

[ZachnElli]

I'd get the car. Sure you'll have 4 more years of payments, but the Camry will run FOREVER with great gas milage and fun car for just you to boot! I'll get something smaller as soon as my 2 older kids are outta the house!

 

[Christine]

You migh even try a Camry Sport Edition. That's what I have. It's a bit "snappier" looking than the regular Camry and has a nicer interior, I think. Tighter suspension too. It's definitely more "fun" if that is something you might be interested in.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I don't know how this might help but I just heard on the news that since the big 3 just had their "sale" there are too many used cars on the market now from all of the trade ins and they are pretty much giving used cars away.

 

[minniecarousel]

I'd get rid of the big car NOW! If you really don't need it and can get that much in trade-in - go for it!

 

[Planogirl]

That's a great trade-in offer. I would go for the smaller car too. Car payments are the pits but if you don't do it now, you'll still have to do it later right?

 

[ashjohnson80]

Hi, I had a 1999 Expedition that I traded in last summer for my VW beetle. Since I bought the SUV used and the beetle new, the payments on the beetle are a little higher every month, but with the money that I'm saving on gas it more than makes up for it. I know when I had the Expedition it spent most of the time parked in the driveway b/c I couldn't afford to keep gas it in. And we never took it on any trips or anything. I like having the freedom to be able to go places without worrying about "can i afford the gas?". And it appears as though the prices are just going to keep going up. Plus Toyotas are great cars, my DH has a Rav4 and it has something like 130,000 miles on it and he's never had one mechanical problem with it.

 

[jonestavern]

I would say dump the 'burban while the dumpin's good! Most especially if it's getting on. I loathe those car payments, too, but am afraid as time goes by, you'll be royally stuck! Even if say, around election time , gas goes down, it's not going to stay there. As Janethill said, competition as other nations' economies do better. We like our Honda Accord--gets reasonable mileage, nice pickup, too.
DH has a hybrid Insight for his 3 hr rt daily, commute-averages 75 + mpg. It is engineered for hiway driving & only takes 2 passengers-
there is a Prius hybrid, which is engineered for stop & go travel, 4 passenger
Check out tax incentives, state, local & Federal for purchasing gas-wise autos. We got a $2,000 Federal taxbreak when we purchased the Insight.
We are in an area with many unpaved roads & winter does come, so studded snows are an added expense, but an absolute must--
for theSurlyMermaid: recently I saw a bumper sticker that read:" If you're driving a Hummer you'd better be in Iraq"

Jean

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I am surprised to read this thread! Where I live, almost everyone around here still has a SUV and will never consider trading them in! People around here just pay the extra gas without a second thought. I can't imagine the people I know going without their SUV's - they love the image/power/status that an SUV brings, and gas prices won't change that!

And I agree that the higher gas prices are here to stay, and probably going only up and up.

 

[Cindy B]

I am surprised to read this thread! Where I live, almost everyone around here still has a SUV and will never consider trading them in! People around here just pay the extra gas without a second thought. I can't imagine the people I know going without their SUV's - they love the image/power/status that an SUV brings, and gas prices won't change that!

And I agree that the higher gas prices are here to stay, and probably going only up and up.

Yes, around here, in the Northeast, the SUV's are still the king. In fact my DH just bought an Expedition not that long ago, and doesn't mind the gas bill. (He paid for the car in cash, so no payments, just gas). He wanted something big, safe and comfortable. Its not a brand new Expedition so it isn't a a status thing, but a hauling/comfort thing. In fact, the Expedition gets better mileage than his older Explorere.

My parents still have Excursions, Suburbans, and multiple Hummers. Yes, gas is high, so what? Its the cost of working, going out doing things.

 

[CharlesTD]

We are going backwards gas is getting expensive and we are selling the Malibu and getting a new Chevy Avalanche to park next to the new Pontiac Montana mini van in the driveway. I look at it like this cars are moneypits no matter what you buy. You are always paying for them wether it be insurance or gas or other little things like repars tires etc. Gas is just a necessary evil for the thing to run so no matter how much gas costs I will keep my Avalanche. As it is now it costs us 50 bucks to put a half a tank of gas in the van at 96.8 cents a litre which is much more than the price of gas in the US.