Keep car or get an older one?

[CounselorX]

Take Supersnoop's advice. Instead of paying car payments every month plus full coverage insurance, you could afford to buy another "beater" (If that's what you choose to call it) every single year if you had to (which you won't). I shake my head in sadness when I see people, such as coworkers, who I know make far less than I do, driving a car that is worth 5 to 10 times as much as the car I have been driving reliably for the past 5 years. It's a harmful part of culture/society that people don't even think twice about before practically selling their soul.

 

[powellrj]

I would look around for an older car that you could pay cash for so you could lower your insurance and depending on where you live, your taxes. If you can't afford to pay cash, than I would just keep what you have and try to add any extra money on your car to lower how much you owe. We divided our car payment in half and paid every 2 weeks instead of once a month and really saved alot doing it that way.

 

[kymom99]

It has been my experience that most lenders will not give auto loans for cars older than a certain model year. Personal loans have very high interest rates. I would try to cut corners somewhere else and keep the car you have.

 

[jesse8931]

Imo. I would sell the car to a private party and then take the profit and buy a used car.

I only drive old cars my current car is a 98 Volvo s90. I paid 800 dollars for it and put 1200 into it two years ago. It's currently got 157k and with regular maintenance I feel I can get 5 years no problem. So if I drive the car for 5 years and invest say 3k total for the car and maintenance that is well worth it to me. On the flip side my friend bought a 2012 Honda and after the 1 year warranty was up from the dealer the starter went out. It cost her over 600 bucks because she insisted it go to the dealer. Well I fix my car myself or on the rare occasion I take it to an independent repair shop.