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I am trying to decide if it makes sense to keep my car still. It's an Acura TL and I took out a $15k loan for it two years ago. Buying it was kind of a dumb mistake and it just seems to make the most sense to just keep it. Car payments are 250 monthly which is manageable. The killer is the insurance, I've been shopping around and the best I can find is maybe $230 a month. Car's also started making all kinds of noises recently. Dealership thinks I need almost $5000 worth of repairs. I took it to a mechanic who did some work but that kind of stuff adds up. So all of this is making me wonder if I'm better off trading in the car. Problem is I still owe almost $9000 on this car. Not sure if it's possible but perhaps my insurance would drop if I got a model car that wasn't considered a luxury car? Another alternative would be to sell this car for maybe $8000 and buy a used one outright for maybe $3000. Then I'd be able to drop the comprehensive coverage but I'd hate to get burned by a car needing tons of repair.
Also, try having insurance priced with a $1000 deductible. Might be a lot cheaper. Sure $1000 is a lot for a deductible but if you have no accidents for a while you are ahead with premium money saved.
I would get 2nd and 3rd opinions on the repairs, that is an alarming number and would mean major drivetrain work. What is wrong with it?
Also, $230/month is quite a bit for insurance, even for a new driver on their own policy. Do you have many at fault accidents on your record? Speeding tickets? Are your insurance options maxed out? Why so high???
I was in a similar boat as the OP with car insurance once...but I was 23 years old, and had just bought my first car. I think I paid about $200-230/month in full coverage insurance on a year old VW Jetta. My wife and I are lucky now to spend less than that with three cars...but that's what happens after 8 years, a home, and no accidents. When I purchased that Jetta, I was also cross shopping the Pontiac GTO. Insurance on that car would have equaled my car payment every month...which quickly got that vehicle eliminated from my list of possible choices.
To the OP, I'd definitely get another opinion on the repairs. Are the noises coming from the engine, wheels, or where? I had a buddy buy a 6 year old BMW 3 series about 4 months ago. He's regretted that decision a few times, namely because of repair costs. About a week after buying the car, he decided to spend some money on a tuneup. Took it in, for sparkplugs and air filter service only to find that he had a bad tire, a bad rear shock, an oil leak, and an HID lamp out. Dealership quoted him nearly $5k for those repairs, plus his sparkplug, filter, and oil change costs which were going to run him another $1000. He ended up arguing with the dealership to get them to cover "pre-existing" conditions that his extended warranty stated they wouldn't cover...He eventually got it fixed and paid less than $1000 for everything (dealership covered much of the costs) but it opened his eyes to premium car ownership costs...and I don't think he likes what he saw. Hoping it goes smoothly from here on out for him.
Things you'll have to consider, a car is a depreciating asset, so as your loan decreases so does the value of your car. Hopefully you're not to far upside down, but if there are major mechanical problems with the car, it won't be any fun to try to sell it with problems lurking...and it's unethical as well unless you disclose them. I would advise you to get a second opinion on the repairs, check book value for the car to decide whether or not you want to sell...and a beater might be a good option (financially at least). You could even go with the Dave Ramsey plan where you purchase the $3000 car, save you're $250/month for 10 months then sell the $3000 car (which likely didn't depreciate much) and purchase a $5500 car...repeat every 10 months until you're in the car you want.
Full basic 100/300 coverage on a TL should be about 50-80 a month unless your in a horrible insurance area (ie downtown Chicago) in which case any car you get will be horrible. Alsos being pretty familiar with that car $5000 for any repair means your probably getting fleeced pretty bad. A brand new transmission from a acura dealer almost runs that...
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