1 year field assignment, sell or keep vehicle ???

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My hubby is going on a field assignment for a year.

We have our paid off mini-van and his not payed off 300M.

If made all nice for a few hundred, we could break even on the sale of the 300M.

Is this a wise thing to do? My hubby is concerned that I will have to start the car periodically and drive it occasionally to keep it in running order. The last time he was away for 6 months, says a lot of work had to be done on the car since I didn't reliably do this.

We save on car payments, and insurance (~$10K in one year). However....we'd be one vehicle short and have to get him something next year. And lets just say we are not very wise when it comes to car shopping.

We'd love to run my van into the ground---but there is the option of selling that...but then replacing it, we would have 2 car payments.

So calling all budgeteers----keep the car or sell the car?

 

[disneymom3]

I would sell the car. Then put the monthly payments into your savings account and by the time he is back, you will have a good down payment for a new car. And when I say new, I mean one or two years old. That is the biggest lesson I have learned in car shopping. Never, ever buy new. Just buy used with some factory warranty remaining.

 

[swilshire]

We always keep more vehicles than drivers, partly because we really DO run them into the ground. We drive the older ones on a daily basis and keep the newer ones for vacations and longer drives. No worries if one is in the shop for a few days as there is always a spare.

I'm not sure how well we come out once you calculate in the insurance, but there usually are discounts for more cars than drivers.

I reluctantly traded my last car off at 239,000 miles, but it was still running great with very little maintenance through the years. I just found a used one ten years newer with only 114,000 miles on it that was too good to pass up.

A year will go fast. I would keep both cars and not be forced to buy another one at the end of the project. Just drive it once a week and it will be fine. If you're lucky, it will work out that you'll always have one fairly new car when the second one needs to be replaced.

JMHO.

Sheila

 

[geetey]

Hi Lisa,
I am with disneymom3. I would sell the car and bank the payments/car insurance premiums. Cars only go down in value. Why let the car sit the driveway losing money, when you could be banking some $$?
When you buy, make that car 1-2 years old and the bulk of the depreciation will have been taken by someone else. Start looking around 3 months before your dh returns, so you can find that perfect car at a great price.

I assume your dh won't be home on the weekends, needing a car to drive?

 

[Longsx3]

My hubby is going on a field assignment for a year.

We have our paid off mini-van and his not payed off 300M.

If made all nice for a few hundred, we could break even on the sale of the 300M.

Is this a wise thing to do? My hubby is concerned that I will have to start the car periodically and drive it occasionally to keep it in running order. The last time he was away for 6 months, says a lot of work had to be done on the car since I didn't reliably do this.

We save on car payments, and insurance (~$10K in one year). However....we'd be one vehicle short and have to get him something next year. And lets just say we are not very wise when it comes to car shopping.

We'd love to run my van into the ground---but there is the option of selling that...but then replacing it, we would have 2 car payments.

So calling all budgeteers----keep the car or sell the car?

As a Military Spouse I can totally relate....sorry to hear your DH si going to be gone.

I think financially it makes a lot more sense to keep the car. Really you only need to start the car once a month, 12 times. Just pick a date and put it on the calendar...maybe you can drive it to the car wash! A car is always worth more to you than someone else so it maybe hard to sell it to brake even vs if you keep the car you will have a yrs worth of car payments into it and relatively no mileage for that year. If you were to sell it you not only will be starting all over with new car payments but whatever you will buy will loose money as soon as you drive it off the lot, that is they way of the new car business, and if you buy used you could be taking someone elses problems.

I am not sure how much you owe but if your budget allows you could even pay extra into the car with his deployment money and possibly even pay it off.
You should be able to call your car insurance and have them drop the rate....because the car won't be driven...I know USAA does this.

Good luck!

Kelly

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I second calling the insurance agent. You may be able to get some type of policy that covers the car, for comp claims (ie; if there was a storm, etc) but not for driving.

 

[tinan]

sell the car assuming that you can/will stick to putting the car payment in the bank every month. While he is away you won't need the extra car/car payment. With the car payment, unless you have a 0% loan, you are also paying interest on the car while the value is depreciating for a car you will have to remember to drive. Assuming a $300/month car payment and that you sell the car immediately, you could bank $3600 in the car payment alone. When he returns you could use that $3600 + for a very nice down payment. If you also bank what you would have spent on insurance and add in the interest you could be looking at over $4000. Of course this number is dependent on your actual loan amount. If he were only going away for a few months this wouldn't be worth it, but with it being a year definitely worth it. When it comes to buying, as someone else said don't buy new. Another thing I always do is look up blue book values and get a carfax subscription for one month to run reports on cars I am interested in. Additionally, I take the car to a local garage and have them look the car over for me. When you're dealing with a year or two old, this isn't as much of an issue, but can still help at times. And I always haggle with the salesmen! I play the bad guy and run my mouth in the office. I know they're always within ear shot and tell my husband (like I am mad), I know what this car is worth, they know what it is worth and this is all the higher I am willing to go, if they don't like it then we will take our business elsewhere. I usually get my way

 

[tinan]

some say to drop your insurance rates. Usually when you have a loan on a car, you also sign a waiver which states that you will not allow your insurance to lapse under full coverage. If you decide to keep the car, I would call your lender and ask if you are not driving the car if you can drop your insurance to fire and theft. Additionally, do you have to pay personal property tax on vehicles where you live and/or need certification via a state sticker or emissions testing?

 

[wright1baby]

the only thing that would make me hesistate is when he gets back. I would not want to purchase a major purchase like a car for my DH without my DH. If you wait until he gets home then you feel rushed and may be more likely to make an unwise purchase because you NEED a car. I would just plan with whatever you decide how to procede when he arrives home. Good Luck

Is your DH being deployed with the military?

 

[canwegosoon]

First: your husband is away..what will you do if your car breaks down, is there other family to call in the area or is it easy for you to rent a car? (If not , don't sell)
Second: I get the impression that you are a - buy a car for DH pay it off, then your turn for a new car. If you get rid of his car now, you will have to start the cycle over again next year, starting with him. Can your car make 5 more years? (If not don't sell)
Third: Can you make the car payments on your own for sure? (if not then sell)

If you do decide to sell you have plenty of time to watch for what a good price is for a replacement car. We just got DH a s80 Volvo for 26K...it was 11 months old with 12K miles on it. I thought that was a great deal.

 

[jckdisneybound]

Being a military spouse with this type and having delt with this type of thing. Most likely you will be upside down if you sell it and a 300M is a nice car, to me keep it. Drive it when the kids are in school to keep it running good and think of your hubby while you do it. It's not that much harder to take car of two cars as it is one. And since your Van is paid off, I'm assuming it's an older model. So Murphy's law for military spouses would guarentee that if you sold the 300M the van would breakdown within the first week of your husband leaving on assignment and you would have no vehicle to drive...Just my .02

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Sorry--I should have made it more clear, my hubby is not in the military--but he does have one of those types of jobs that involve working with the military--though I really wouldn't know what he does b/c it is a security clearance job.

The van is paid off--and murphy's law is so much fun in regards to the van.

We are talking about getting a 2nd set of car seats to make it easier to drive either vehichle.

I can say that we can be disciplined in our vehicle purchases--both minivan and 300M were used cars when we got them--they are 1997 (bought in '01) & 2000 (bought in '02) respectively. However, the temptation with needing to purchase a vehicle will be too high I'm afraid.

And the 300M only has 46K--still a youthful car

 

[lovemygoofy]

My view on this is do you think your dh will go away again after he comes home for a certain amount of time? You can't just keep buying and selling off cars while he is away at work. A back up car is handy to have just in case your van does break down.

Do you honestly think that you could bank all the money that you would spend on car payments and insurance and upkeep while he is gone? Bank it all without touching it for the year his gone? It would be easier if your dh could set up an allotment to a savings account that you couldn't easily reach.

I'm not trying to be ugly in anyway but do you just want to get rid of the car to make it easier on you or because ya'll would like another "new" car? Try to do whats going to be easier on you but the best for your pocketbook in the long run. Deployments are hard enough without the added stress of trying to buy or sell a car and manage that money while your dh is gone. You can call the bank or finance place that holds the lean on dh's car and ask for written permission to drop everything but liability because it won't be on the road as often with your dh gone. If they approve you can call you insurance company and fax them a copy of the letter of approval to just carry liability and bank the extra money you are saving.

Good luck with your decision and wishing your dh home quickly.

 

[tlbwriter]

If you like the car, keep it. And you probably won't be able to drop insurance coverage altogether, but you might qualify for a discounted "non-driving" rate. Call your agent and ask.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My view on this is do you think your dh will go away again after he comes home for a certain amount of time? You can't just keep buying and selling off cars while he is away at work. A back up car is handy to have just in case your van does break down.

Do you honestly think that you could bank all the money that you would spend on car payments and insurance and upkeep while he is gone? Bank it all without touching it for the year his gone? It would be easier if your dh could set up an allotment to a savings account that you couldn't easily reach.

I'm not trying to be ugly in anyway but do you just want to get rid of the car to make it easier on you or because ya'll would like another "new" car? Try to do whats going to be easier on you but the best for your pocketbook in the long run. Deployments are hard enough without the added stress of trying to buy or sell a car and manage that money while your dh is gone. You can call the bank or finance place that holds the lean on dh's car and ask for written permission to drop everything but liability because it won't be on the road as often with your dh gone. If they approve you can call you insurance company and fax them a copy of the letter of approval to just carry liability and bank the extra money you are saving.

Good luck with your decision and wishing your dh home quickly.

Very interesting, your post.

I posted an inquiry b/c I don't know the best financial course of action. We are not looking for an excuse to buy a new car, nor are we reallly looking at getting out of a car payment this very second. He's not military--these assignments that pop up--he's been given the opportunity to take them. He finished a 6 month assignment a year and a half ago....so they don't pop up all of the time and he's not in a position or with a company in which they are mandatory.

We know our weaknesses---and I was actually looking for support on keeping the car b/c my hubby wanted to sell it. He sees it sitting as an unused vehicle--I see selling it as opening ourselves up to another loan a year from now. He just does not want it to sit idle and end up with problems. When he was gone 6 months--he left a perfect car and came back to a car needing work. He was wanting to avoid that this time around. I think we are just going to get extra car seats and I will alternate the use of vehicles and leave insurance in tact. Knowing me, I'd forget the limited coverage and murphy's law would have something happen and just the wrong time. I'd rather be completely covered and not have to worry about it.

Thanks for the advice

And just b/c someone asks a question a certain way, doesn't mean that we are trying to seek validation for a poor choice---sometimes we really want help in determining the right choice .

 

[weregoingtodw]

My DH is on a one-year remote assignment right now. Our second vehicle, which is paid, is in storage, paid for by the military. The storage facility has a policy that will protect us in case of fire, etc. They start it, check fluids, etc. on a monthly basis, and record their checks on the internet so we can easily check on it. We put our insurance for that vehicle on hiatus and it will stay that way until his return. However, with a car that's not paid in full, I doubt that would be an option, and I'm not sure if DoD workers and contractors get the same storage options that active duty receive.

Could you possibly put your van into storage, and drive his car for the next year? That's what I'd do - no miles going on the vehicle that's paid off, you'd be driving the vehicle which is less likely to break down, etc.

 

[techmonkey]

If you're looking at it from the money standpoint, you need to look at as if it were an investment. If you can recover what you owe on the car (within a few hundred bucks) it's a bad "investment" to keep the car. It's like paying for an AP that is never used. The 12 months of payments on that car could be placed in savings CD's or Money market accounts earning interest instead of you paying interest on money you aren't "using"...

If he's attached to the car...well that's different. It might be worth paying for it just so he has something he loves (other than you of course) sitting home waiting for him to jump into and drive Us men are funny that way.

The bottom line is economics. If you really can cover the remainder of the loan by giving it a good cleaning and putting a for sale sign on it...do it IMO.

 

[d-man's mom]

My vote is to keep the car.

I was thinking about this as my car hit 100K last night. I don't have a second car (or a dh for that matter). If my car breaks down, ds and will be in a bind until the car is fixed. I would LOVE to have a spare car if I knew that it wouldn't impact my current budget.

I would keep it for the security of knowing that if your high milegage van has problems when he is away, you can still get around. What if the van completely died when he was gone and you had to buy another car because you had none since you sold off dh's car?

My other question was what if his assignment ends early for some reason? Then he's home early with no car and you haven't saved enough $$ for a new one.

You can get your insurance rates lowered on that car if you commute less than a certain mile radius a day- call your agent and see what he has to say about minimal use on that car.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[robinb]

This is a tough one. When were you planning to replace the minivan? You don't want to get in a situation where you are paying off 2 cars at once. I know. We had our car purchases staggered so we were only paying off one car at a time. Then, a friend wrecked my car while we were on vacation last year and now we have two car payments.

 

[SnowWhite]

I am in agreement with those that say "sell" the car. If you can almost break even then it is a good time to sell since you will not break even if you pay another year on the car even with no mileage added. Here is what you do, wait till he gets back then purchase another car either brand new or used whichever you prefer. The arguement of not buying new does not hold up with me as there are alot of ways to purchase a new car and save dollars if you know what you are doing. I am speaking from experience here as well. I am 32 yrs old and have had 16 brand new cars and 1 used one. (this includes my work vehicles and personal vehicles for myself and DW) I am not saying that used is bad, but you have to be careful when you say you won't have to worry about depreciation as you will have to worry about repairs and regular maintenance items coming due much quicker. If you go used get an aftermarket warranty as this will help for your immediate future protecting you from major repairs. Even getting "the balance of factory warranty" is usually only maybe a year before it is done. Here in Canada we have a company that I use that for a nominal fee will give you the actual factory cost of a specific vehicle including what was actually paid for freight. (this is where alot of people don't know that dealers make HUGE dollars) Just because it says on the sticker that freight is $900.00(or whatever number) that doesn't mean the dealer paid that and you shouldn't either. I have saved thousands by being informed and surprising the sales manager with my knowledge that they don't dicker with me much as they don't want other customers overhearing me quoting their REAL car costs. This is how I get new with full warranty and sometimes pay the equivelant of a good used car. There are people out there who run businesses just purchasing cars for people who don't like dealing with car salespeople and guarantee you will pay less than retail. You may want to look into that in your area. I agree that the money you save over the next year not making payments will be better served in your savings account than in a depreciating vehicle that is not even being driven. Good Luck on whatever you decide!

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)