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If it's something in the transmission it may very well be covered by warranty. 2013 Subarus have a 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty.
That car should be able to do at least a 150,000, if not 200,000+ miles ... keep the car for another 10+ years !
Thanks for your feedbacks. What about this final option, would it be a sound option, or would I still be better of keeping the car (still be doing the most financially sound thing)?:
Current status:
-Student loans: $12K in student loans left. The interest rates are all around 2.8%, with the ones that were 5.x% paid off.
-Auto loan: $7.9K left at 0.9% interest, or less than 2 more years of payments @ $336/mo.
-CarMax value: $15K was last estimate about a year ago, leaving me with 7.5K or so of equity after remaining 7.9K balance
paid off.
-Relocation over the past 12 months or so means I can drive shorter distances to work than before, or rely on light rail train.
This has cut my annual mileage significantly. Before, I was racking up about 12-15K mi/year which included commuting
55-60 miles roundtrip to work and back home each day, 5 days a week, plus weekend driving and occasional trips. I'm
guessing now I may drive half that (6-7k mi) this year, since I catch light rail to work during the work week. I mostly
zip around town to go shopping, dining, trips to the hospital, and etc., with very little long-distance driving (well over 1hr).
Option 1: Keep the 2013 Subaru Outback Premium that I bought new and drive it at least it's all paid off, or another 5+
years beyond that. This means: 60K Mi service (spark plugs and other stuff = $695 in another year or 1.5 yrs,
at my current rate of driving. 90K Mi service (another $350 or so) in about 5 years. New brake pads (another
$200 or so) in about 10K miles. New 17" tires, about $500-600 (AWD, so need to replace all 4 at same time) in
about 3 years or so, maybe longer if my low mileage driving holds up on these 3 year old originals with 50K on
them? GRAND TOTAL: $1845 over the next 5 years. Auto insurance should inch a bit lower each year too.
By keeping the Subaru, over the next 5 years or so, essentially costs another $7.9K in car payments over 2 years
plus the maintenance and replacement costs of $1845. This is close to $10K total that I must outlay over the
next 7-8 years or so.
Option 2: Sell the 2013 Subaru Outback, pocket the $7.9K equity and pay off the remaining 7.9K balance. use that equity
to buy a used Corolla or the like (something in the $8000-8500 range). If well-taken care of and carefully
purchased, such a car may be mid-2000 made, with maybe 60K miles or so on it, and may last us another 8
years or more.
Apply towards student loan payments what would be applied towards paying off the Subaru over the next 2
years, leaving approximately $4k left in student loans 2 years from now, which can be paid off by another year
of payments, making me free of student loan debt within 3 years.
Keeping the Subaru and finishing making the last $7.9K payments on it over the next 2 years, pushes back
the amount of time it'd take to pay off the student loans by 2 years, for a total of 5 years before becoming
free of student loans.
Buying a used car that is older than the Subaru by maybe 7-8 years, and not having a personal knowledge of
its care or service history would be a risk. I might expect to have to pay for the 60K service and then the 90K,
so over 5 years my costs to maintain the cheaper used car may be about the same as the Subaru, but I'd save
myself another $7.9K in remaining Subaru payments (2 years @ $336).
Which do you think is the most financially sound option?
If it's something in the transmission it may very well be covered by warranty. 2013 Subarus have a 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty.
That car should be able to do at least a 150,000, if not 200,000+ miles ... keep the car for another 10+ years !
I called Subaru about it today. Telling them when I put the gear shifter into Park and sit idle, I many times hear a clicking over this past month, like it's trying to engage the shifter somewhere below. The Subaru service lady said maybe it's because I have my foot on the brake when I'm in park.. I still don't think it
should make that clicking noise whether I have my foot on the brake or not, right? I mean it makes that clicking noise on and off indefinitely.. So I told her I'd try again and pay attention to whether my foot is on the brake or not next time.
When I put the shifter into another gear like R or N, the noise goes away.
Bought a 2013 Outback for about $27K 3 years ago. It has 47.5K mi on it. No real problem except just a few days ago I noticed sometimes when the car shifter is in park with engine running, there is this clicking sound that stops when you shift out of park while still at a dead stop. It doesn't always happen, as later in the day or the next day, I can put it in park while running and don't hear that sound, then later I may hear it once or twice. Carmax last gave me a quote of $15K for it about 9 months ago. I may or may not be able to get $17K for it in the private market. I have $8K left in payments @ 0.9%.
If you could get $17K for the Outback and buy a brand new Honda or Toyota compact sedan (Civic/Corolla) for no more than $18K out the door (no more than $1K more out of pocket, hopefully on the much lower end of that than not), including title, taxes, license, etc., would you do it for a brand new car with 0 miles, another 36K-60K mi warranty, maybe 10mpg in gas savings, and little to no change in your monthly payments or length of payments that you currently have?
I have thought about selling the Outback at the 3-5 year mark, and buying another new car (Tesla Model 3, or something else in the $30-40K range), but then think about how that would mean carrying an auto-loan for at least an additional 3 years (if I sell the Outback now at the 3 year mark with 2 years of payments to go) of car payments, which means an opportunity cost in the tens of thousands of dollars over the additional 3 years. That, plus a likely hike in my insurance premiums for the brand new car, would probably negate any mpg savings of the newer car and the money I would save over those 3 extra years I'd be making car payments could be applied to many other things (down payment on another real estate property, savings towards buying a cheaper new car outright, additional rainy day funds, or other)... I don't NEED a brand new car, but have flirted with the idea of getting a Honda Ridgeline, Honda Odyssey, Tesla Model 3, or BMW/Mercedes sedan. I've tried to rationalize the Ridgeline by imaging the opportunities to drive to nature and camp in it, put my road bike in the back with the magic seats put up, and bringing my dog.. maybe carrying a kayak or paddle boat.. I've tried to rationalize the Tesla Model 3 and BMW/Mercedes sedans by saying you only live once and fully enjoy some of the best years of your life while you have your health to "live it up". Especially tried to justify the Tesla for the auto-pilot, cutting edge design/features, and no need for gas. Finally, tried to justify a Honda Odyssey for more cargo room, seat configurations that could make a parent more comfortable traveling on long trips (can stretch legs out more), can take my road bike in back without removing wheel to go riding, can camp inside the back when all chairs removed to go on vacations with my dog or solo, showering at my gym chain, and saving on hotel rooms and air fare.
But ultimately, anything involving extending my car loan payment period (I only have 2 years left) and the added cost of buying one of those cars seems too high to be worth it when you consider the opportunity costs of doing that.
So the only thing I can remotely justify is consider trading in the Subaru if I can do what amounts to pretty much an even trade out the door for a less expensive brand new car that will still get the job done and give me an extra 50K of fresh miles to drive.
I should also note, another incentive NOT to buy another expensive new car and to instead try to keep the Subaru or make a deal for a cheaper brand new car that has little impact on my out of pocket costs or loan payment length that I currently have, is that I still have about $12K of student loans to pay off. If I do not buy an expensive brand new car, trading in my Subaru, after my Subaru payments are done, I could apply that money towards paying off my student loans within 3 years.
What would you do?
Keep the Subaru and if the "click" you mentioned turns out to be a problem, get it repaired. It's only 3 years old with normal mileage; it has a lot of life left in it.
Thanks for your feedbacks. What about this final option, would it be a sound option, or would I still be better of keeping the car (still be doing the most financially sound thing)?:
.
.
.
Buying a used car that is older than the Subaru by maybe 7-8 years, and not having a personal knowledge of its care or service history would be a risk. I might expect to have to pay for the 60K service and then the 90K, so over 5 years my costs to maintain the cheaper used car may be about the same as the Subaru, but I'd save myself another $7.9K in remaining Subaru payments (2 years @ $336).
Which do you think is the most financially sound option?
I find it hard to believe that maintenance cost over the next 5 years for a 3-yo Subaru will be the same as for a 8-yo car. In addition, some of the $7.9k in car payments is lost to depreciation while some remains as equity.
You just need to do a simple 5-yr TCO calculation for the two scenarios and see for yourself -- depreciation, insurance, maintenance, fees, gas, etc . A simple car depreciation caculator (http://www.money-zine.com/calculator...on-calculator/) can help.
Ecsdude, I'll cut to the chase and give it to you straight.
I would say don't be a fool.
This is not a "deal" for anyone but the dealership.
Read your own boldfaced words above and follow your own advice.
Don't be a consumer-driven, marketing-influenced monkey.
Put your money toward your freedom from debt by paying off and keeping the Subaru and paying off your student loans and not burdening yourself with anymore additional debt to acquire things that will only give you momentary satisfaction.
Thanks for your feedbacks. What about this final option, would it be a sound option, or would I still be better of keeping the car (still be doing the most financially sound thing)?:
Current status:
-Student loans: $12K in student loans left. The interest rates are all around 2.8%, with the ones that were 5.x% paid off.
-Auto loan: $7.9K left at 0.9% interest, or less than 2 more years of payments @ $336/mo.
-CarMax value: $15K was last estimate about a year ago, leaving me with 7.5K or so of equity after remaining 7.9K balance
paid off.
-Relocation over the past 12 months or so means I can drive shorter distances to work than before, or rely on light rail train.
This has cut my annual mileage significantly. Before, I was racking up about 12-15K mi/year which included commuting
55-60 miles roundtrip to work and back home each day, 5 days a week, plus weekend driving and occasional trips. I'm
guessing now I may drive half that (6-7k mi) this year, since I catch light rail to work during the work week. I mostly
zip around town to go shopping, dining, trips to the hospital, and etc., with very little long-distance driving (well over 1hr).
Option 1: Keep the 2013 Subaru Outback Premium that I bought new and drive it at least it's all paid off, or another 5+
years beyond that. This means: 60K Mi service (spark plugs and other stuff = $695 in another year or 1.5 yrs,
at my current rate of driving. 90K Mi service (another $350 or so) in about 5 years. New brake pads (another
$200 or so) in about 10K miles. New 17" tires, about $500-600 (AWD, so need to replace all 4 at same time) in
about 3 years or so, maybe longer if my low mileage driving holds up on these 3 year old originals with 50K on
them? GRAND TOTAL: $1845 over the next 5 years. Auto insurance should inch a bit lower each year too.
By keeping the Subaru, over the next 5 years or so, essentially costs another $7.9K in car payments over 2 years
plus the maintenance and replacement costs of $1845. This is close to $10K total that I must outlay over the
next 7-8 years or so.
Option 2: Sell the 2013 Subaru Outback, pocket the $7.9K equity and pay off the remaining 7.9K balance. use that equity
to buy a used Corolla or the like (something in the $8000-8500 range). If well-taken care of and carefully
purchased, such a car may be mid-2000 made, with maybe 60K miles or so on it, and may last us another 8
years or more.
Apply towards student loan payments what would be applied towards paying off the Subaru over the next 2
years, leaving approximately $4k left in student loans 2 years from now, which can be paid off by another year
of payments, making me free of student loan debt within 3 years.
Keeping the Subaru and finishing making the last $7.9K payments on it over the next 2 years, pushes back
the amount of time it'd take to pay off the student loans by 2 years, for a total of 5 years before becoming
free of student loans.
Buying a used car that is older than the Subaru by maybe 7-8 years, and not having a personal knowledge of
its care or service history would be a risk. I might expect to have to pay for the 60K service and then the 90K,
so over 5 years my costs to maintain the cheaper used car may be about the same as the Subaru, but I'd save
myself another $7.9K in remaining Subaru payments (2 years @ $336).
Which do you think is the most financially sound option?
Ecsdude, I stand by my previous post to you.
You are actually in a pretty good situation with the Outback and if you stay on the maintenance and take care of it, you can realistically get 10 years of service out of it.
It would be foolish to get rid of a vehicle that has given you pretty reliable service at a very reasonable cost for an unknown vehicle with an unknown reliability record.
Remember, the grass is not always greener and all that glitters is not gold.
Do not lose a good/great vehicle in pursuit of the "perfect" vehicle.
Least risk and best financial move is to keep the Outback, maintain it well, and pay off all debts as fast as possible. Any additional money available should be put toward the higher interest loans first, and then moving to the lower interest loans. Dave Ramsey would be proud.
Buying an economy car and trying to save a little that way involves a risk for a very small payoff in the grand scheme of things. Stick to the plan. You are doing great by the sounds of what you are doing and will succeed if you stay the course.
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