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I'd go for it. For less money you get a 1.5 year younger car. A fresh warranty. $3900 (assuming 60 mo) back into your pocket. About 1K in parts and labor you don't have to add to your old car (assuming you are a dealer maintenance person.)
My rule is that, if I'm happy with my car, I don't even entertain the thought of trading it in for another car. It never crosses my mind. Once I start doing this, it's only a matter of time before I actually go through with it.
My guess is that you're already leaning towards trading it in...so do it.
I have a 2013 Prius v. It has 14000 miles on it. Its missing hubcaps (stupid thieves), needs a seat belt replaced (ugh dogs!) and has a few scratches and dings. But its fine.
The sales man who sold it to me called and offered a trade in, I went in and talked to him.
He offered the same exact car, packages, the protection plans, etc. in a 2014, but a different color (that I don't really like). Essentially no mileage.
0% interest (instead of our current 1.9%)
Our payments would be $65 a month less, and he will take our other car as is, so I wont have to fix the buckle.
The downside is that we have been paying on the car for a year and a half (I think), so that would start over.
He says he has a buyer for my car...which I am skeptical of, honestly. I wonder if he is just trying to sell us another car.
Without seeing hard numbers is sounds like an expensive solution for some missing hubcaps and a chewed up seatbelt
Yes...because you've already got 18 months of payments behind you.
If your payment is around $350.00 a month, you've already paid $6300.00 or more.
Now you start over....and there's always those "little surprises" the finance manager tries to force through at closing that build profit and costs you more.
I think I'd get some hubcaps and a seat belt from a junk yard.
From a zero-sum financial perspective, the dealership wins and you lose.
If you trade-in, you're already down 18-months of payments and, if any, a down payment. Since you didn't say what the dealer trade-in value is, you may have a trade-in value to loan balance deficiency which will increase your costs.
The dealer wins because they acquire your trade-in at a very low cost and then resell it for a nice profit. If your 2013 was financed through the Toyota, they also gain from the interest paid. And even though the 2014 is at 0% interest, by selling the vehicle, the dealership receives the manufacturer incentives/hold-back while opening up their vehicle allocation.
Doesn't this raise the issue that we always hear from car-buying experts, and the trick that dealers always want buyers to fall for: buying the monthly payment and not the total cost?
I don't think it matters that the dealer is making money on the deal: the dealer makes money on every deal. The question is whether the OP will be ahead of where he would have been keeping his current car. Is it worth it to pay out of pocket the 18 months of payments the OP has already paid, less the $1170 saved from the lower payment, for what he's getting? (We don't know that amount, but the OP can compute it.)
What's he getting? A car with 14,000 fewer miles, a set of hubcaps, and a new seat belt. Some people care about hubcaps, but I sure don't, so I don't think they're worth much, if anything. As for the seat belt, the real question in my mind is whether he's really getting a new seat belt, and that depends on whether anything has changed to make the dog less likely to chew up the belts in the new car; that seems pretty unlikely, right?
Doesn't this raise the issue that we always hear from car-buying experts, and the trick that dealers always want buyers to fall for: buying the monthly payment and not the total cost?
I don't think it matters that the dealer is making money on the deal: the dealer makes money on every deal. The question is whether the OP will be ahead of where he would have been keeping his current car. Is it worth it to pay out of pocket the 18 months of payments the OP has already paid, less the $1170 saved from the lower payment, for what he's getting? (We don't know that amount, but the OP can compute it.)
What's he getting? A car with 14,000 fewer miles, a set of hubcaps, and a new seat belt. Some people care about hubcaps, but I sure don't, so I don't think they're worth much, if anything. As for the seat belt, the real question in my mind is whether he's really getting a new seat belt, and that depends on whether anything has changed to make the dog less likely to chew up the belts in the new car; that seems pretty unlikely, right?
So are those 14,000 miles worth it?
Yeah, it doesn't seem like much.
Although the seat belt wont happen again. I had to transport a new dog mom and her puppies (rescue) and I had to keep the mom away from the babies because she was trying to hide them under my seat. Lesson, do not try to keep a new dog mom away from her babies.
I think...I am really suspicious about "too good to be true" offers. And I have a bit of an emotional attachment to my car, honestly. And I loooooove the color. Which all doesn't seem like good reasons to not take a good deal. But...
Our payments are over $600 at 1.9%, yes through Toyota. I feel like there is a catch. Plus, our other car we bought 14 years ago, long paid off and is junk but brings my husband great pleasure to drive a free and clear car.
Your current payments are $600 and the payments on the new car will be $535? That seems pretty high, although I can see why you might balk at a $600 payment. Could you get 0% interest on a longer term and reduce your payment even lower?
Sounds like a good deal, but it depends how much you have paid so far on your old car. If you had a 60 or 72 month financing, your not going to be loosing too much money. If you have a 12 month or something short, you are.
since Toyota is financing for 0%, you can get a few quotes, and really, no one should pay more than a few hundred dollars over INVOICE...dealerships make most of their money via the repair department and parts. Too easy to have them try to outbid each other. But since you are looking at only a year newer car, unless they had major changes, such as body lines, or interior upgrading, I wouldn't waste the money on a few hundred in replacing parts. If you like new cars and get them every 4 years, it's something to consider. But if longterm ownership is what you are about, then just keep the current car, the wheel covers and seat belt are nothing of concern.
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