Thank Goodness

[Anonymous]

Last I posted, I was looking into a S2000. The car was lovely until I ran an experian autocheck and noticed that it had reported a higher mileage that was listed on the carfax and odometer. I'm guessing it was rolled back at some point or the other and being the skeptic that I am, I passed up the vehicle - avoiding financial turmoil. 

Anyways, I have been thinking and realized that I rather not drain my savings into a new car at such an age; I rather keep my liquid assets. Now I've come to a cross point, should I downgrade my car to a beater or should I keep my current loan going? I have 9k or so left to pay on a 2012 Corolla S (car only has 40k miles - interest rate is 1.24%). The used cars I'm looking at are in the 3-5k range within the 80-100k mileage range. What would you suggest doing - keep my current car or downgrade? What other options do I have? I'd like to save up as much as I can so that I can move in a year or two to the west coast. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Last I posted, I was looking into a S2000. The car was lovely until I ran an experian autocheck and noticed that it had reported a higher mileage that was listed on the carfax and odometer. I'm guessing it was rolled back at some point or the other and being the skeptic that I am, I passed up the vehicle - avoiding financial turmoil. 

Anyways, I have been thinking and realized that I rather not drain my savings into a new car at such an age; I rather keep my liquid assets. Now I've come to a cross point, should I downgrade my car to a beater or should I keep my current loan going? I have 9k or so left to pay on a 2012 Corolla S (car only has 40k miles - interest rate is 1.24%). The used cars I'm looking at are in the 3-5k range within the 80-100k mileage range. What would you suggest doing - keep my current car or downgrade? What other options do I have? I'd like to save up as much as I can so that I can move in a year or two to the west coast. 

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I'd suggest you keep your current vehicle.  Without knowing what your payments are for the Corolla and your overall financial situation I think that's your best route. BYou have a reliable car with, for the most part, fixed monthly costs and if you downgrade to cars in that range you run a great risk of eventually spending more money than you currently are.  Vehicles in the 3-5k range are not known for being overly reliable and most likely have very little if any warranty.  All of a sudden you could get a huge repair bill and anything you thought you had saved is gone.  Ultimately the decision is yours but there is a lot to be said for having a reliable vehicle.

[StartingOver10]

turbine, your post is so refreshing to see.

Having said that I agree with the previous poster that your best bet in your particular situation (given the info in your post) is to keep your current vehicle.

[Gunnar419]

Turbine,

Great choice to forego a vehicle that looked too good to be true and that would have stretched your finances until they squealed. Good detective work, too. Kudos to you!

I agree with the others. Stick with the known for now. Keep what you've got. Downgrading could lead to bigger, more unpredictable expenses for repairs.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I would keep what you have. A corolla s is very nice and should last a long time, well after its paid off.

[Anonymous]

First off, it's nice to hear I made a logical decision. Second off, the vehicles I were looking at were closer to the 4-6k range actually - 1990s miatas/integras at 90kish miles.

Irish80 wrote:

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turbine wrote:

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I'd suggest you keep your current vehicle.  Without knowing what your payments are for the Corolla and your overall financial situation I think that's your best route. BYou have a reliable car with, for the most part, fixed monthly costs and if you downgrade to cars in that range you run a great risk of eventually spending more money than you currently are.  Vehicles in the 3-5k range are not known for being overly reliable and most likely have very little if any warranty.  All of a sudden you could get a huge repair bill and anything you thought you had saved is gone.  Ultimately the decision is yours but there is a lot to be said for having a reliable vehicle.

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I currently have a minimum payment of $244 but pay $300. I believe the original loan was for 4 years, I currently have 38 months or so left of payments if I pay the minimum amount each time. Insurance (full coverage) comes in at $90/mo and I spend about $50-60/mo on gas. I take home $1850-$1900 gross/mo or about $1550-$1600 net per month. I enjoy having an easy and cheap car to maintain - the only downfall is the color - I hate owning a black car. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

First off, it's nice to hear I made a logical decision. Second off, the vehicles I were looking at were closer to the 4-6k range actually - 1990s miatas/integras at 90kish miles.

@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I'd suggest you keep your current vehicle.  Without knowing what your payments are for the Corolla and your overall financial situation I think that's your best route. BYou have a reliable car with, for the most part, fixed monthly costs and if you downgrade to cars in that range you run a great risk of eventually spending more money than you currently are.  Vehicles in the 3-5k range are not known for being overly reliable and most likely have very little if any warranty.  All of a sudden you could get a huge repair bill and anything you thought you had saved is gone.  Ultimately the decision is yours but there is a lot to be said for having a reliable vehicle.

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I currently have a minimum payment of $244 but pay $300. I believe the original loan was for 4 years, I currently have 38 months or so left of payments if I pay the minimum amount each time. Insurance (full coverage) comes in at $90/mo and I spend about $50-60/mo on gas. I take home $1850-$1900 gross/mo or about $1550-$1600 net per month. I enjoy having an easy and cheap car to maintain - the only downfall is the color - I hate owning a black car. 

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Embrace the black!  I just purchased a black car for the first time. Yes, pain in the butt to keep clean but when they are clean, nothing beats the color.

on the main point, you're doing the right thing.  I've seen too many people downgrade for the same reasons you are considering doing so and ended up regretting it big time.  Good luck with your move west.

[Gunnar419]

@Anonymous wrote:

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 the only downfall is the color - I hate owning a black car. 

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LOL! Understood. If there's a speck of dust in the whole county, it'll show up on your black car, along with fingerprints, mud splatters, etc.

You could always get creative, though. Like ask your local grafitti artists to have a go at it. Throw a drunken party and hand your friends cans of spray paint. Sand the paint off so you have a silver car (then brush the surface and tell everybody it's a DeLorean). :-)

[Anonymous]

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@Gunnar419 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

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 the only downfall is the color - I hate owning a black car. 

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LOL! Understood. If there's a speck of dust in the whole county, it'll show up on your black car, along with fingerprints, mud splatters, etc.

You could always get creative, though. Like ask your local grafitti artists to have a go at it. Throw a drunken party and hand your friends cans of spray paint. Sand the paint off so you have a silver car (then brush the surface and tell everybody it's a DeLorean). :-)

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I don't think that's a good route to take lol. But I've driven myself to no end trying to clean up the paint. To get it done professionally, I'm looking at $800 and upwards. 

[sccredit]

Having owned a few black cars I can tell you that a quality detail guy makes all of the difference in the world.  I don't know who or what would cost $800, that just seems ridiculous.  I used to have my guy come out for a full detail for $125 and if water spots were involved and it needed an acid bath it was $225.  That included buffing, shampoo, headlights, everything.