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Okay, back here to clear couple of points. The car in question is a Honda Accord, that is why it has good resale value. The repairs needed are shocks and struts, strut mounts/boot, alignment, tires, brake. Early wear on the suspension is probably due to the previous owner abusing the car, but obviously these show up after 3 years of me owning it. I have not been back to the dealer, never go there for the repairs unless covered by warranty. The repairs are actually going to be done mostly by myself. I will have to take the struts to a local shop to be reassembled because I am not going to put my life at risk and don't have access to a spring compressor. I will also have to use a shop to do the alignment. So overall I am paying ~ $120 for labor. The tires would also be mounted by whoever sells it to me. I am saving ~ $400 by doing the labor myself, but then I tend to by high quality parts for the car.
For the person who is driving their Astrovan to the ground, great, but nobody would pay you $10K for it. Such is the case with our other car, an 11 yr old minivan with 130,000 miles on it, not burning a drop of oil and being maintained and repaired on a weekly basis but myself. We will keep it until the wheels fall of and then some (probably my teens would practice on it).
The dilemma here is the cost of getting a 7 yr newer car comes to ~ $111 per month. I would be taking advantage of the good resale value of my car. I am not sure how much the dealership would sell my car for or what their profit would be. They inspect the car and buy it, the rest as far as I am concerned is not my problem.
Okay, back here to clear couple of points. The car in question is a Honda Accord, that is why it has good resale value. The repairs needed are shocks and struts, strut mounts/boot, alignment, tires, brake. Early wear on the suspension is probably due to the previous owner abusing the car, but obviously these show up after 3 years of me owning it. I have not been back to the dealer, never go there for the repairs unless covered by warranty. The repairs are actually going to be done mostly by myself. I will have to take the struts to a local shop to be reassembled because I am not going to put my life at risk and don't have access to a spring compressor. I will also have to use a shop to do the alignment. So overall I am paying ~ $120 for labor. The tires would also be mounted by whoever sells it to me. I am saving ~ $400 by doing the labor myself, but then I tend to by high quality parts for the car.
For the person who is driving their Astrovan to the ground, great, but nobody would pay you $10K for it. Such is the case with our other car, an 11 yr old minivan with 130,000 miles on it, not burning a drop of oil and being maintained and repaired on a weekly basis but myself. We will keep it until the wheels fall of and then some (probably my teens would practice on it).
The dilemma here is the cost of getting a 7 yr newer car comes to ~ $111 per month. I would be taking advantage of the good resale value of my car. I am not sure how much the dealership would sell my car for or what their profit would be. They inspect the car and buy it, the rest as far as I am concerned is not my problem.
I'm in the same situation. I have a Dodge Caravan with 98k on it. I have gone through two rounds of repairs $800 and $1200 in the past 6 months. I'm now looking at another $2000 needed in the near future. The van gets 21 mpg. I drive a lot of miles due to a long daily commute. I decided to get a new car that gets nearly double the mileage. I got a decent value for my trade that surely would not be the case once it passes 100k. The savings in gas alone is covering 1/2 the difference in monthly costs over the term of the 36 month loan.
Well that is a tough one...if paying the difference for the new Honda in cash wouldn't be a hardship, you'd be assured many years of fairly reliable service for about ten grand plus you can treat it right from the start. It may be worth it if you drive enough miles to make the gas savings pay off...? It's the dealership that would buy it? You may be able to get more for it selling it privately if that is the case.
OTOH, the present car will probably give you many more years of low-cost miles, especially if you can do a lot of the maintenance and repairs yourself....and you won't have to come up with about ten grand.
One thing no one has mentioned yet is that the insurance and registration cost are going to be higher with a new car, whereas the insurance/reg. will stay flat or drop for the older car.
For the person who is driving their Astrovan to the ground, great, but nobody would pay you $10K for it.
I keep my vehicles in good shape, so where did you get the idea that it was being driven into the ground, and that I was trying to sell it for 10K?
I'm not interested in selling it, and I never use dealers for repairs, I have an independent mechanic with his own garage. Before I bought the Astrovan, I researched out all the minivans on the road. The Astrovans had the best ratings of all of them, and they last. For those of you who don't know, the Astrovans/GMC Safaris are built on a 1/2 ton truck chassis, unlike the lightweight regular minivans.
so it's a question of spending $8,000 plus taxes on $18,000, or spending $1,500 on a 6 year old car with 70,000 miles for what sounds like "routine" maintenance? if it were maintenance that effected the engine or drive train, i would consider the fact that more problems could be coming. but it didn't sound like that.
$10,000 is trade in value? what are the chances you could sell it private party on craigslist, ebay, or through popping a for sale sign in the window and get the extra $1-$2k the dealer will take reselling it?
it sounds like it makes sense to buy the newer car. but was $18k the price for a brand new honda accord? i didn't think they started that cheap.
Given that this is a Honda Accord- which are cars known for their reliability- I'd personally keep it. The repairs you mentioned are what I would call regular maintenance issues and not mechanical failures. For comparison my brother has a 98' Avalon with over 275,000 miles and I have a 96' Tacoma with over 240,000 miles. Neither have any issues. The key is to make sure you change the oil every 3,000 miles and also keep up with all the other items- like the transmission fluid and engine coolant.
I see at least a dozen or more late 80's Honda Accords on the freeway on my way to work. These cars will last forever.
so it's a question of spending $8,000 plus taxes on $18,000, or spending $1,500 on a 6 year old car with 70,000 miles for what sounds like "routine" maintenance? if it were maintenance that effected the engine or drive train, i would consider the fact that more problems could be coming. but it didn't sound like that.
That was my first thought. It's routine maintenance.
I guess we just like to hang on to our cash. I wouldn't want to let go of that much just for a brand new car. Not to mention, we tend not to buy brand new cars anyway...
One thing no one has mentioned yet is that the insurance and registration cost are going to be higher with a new car, whereas the insurance/reg. will stay flat or drop for the older car.
This is another good point. Although, it might depend on where the OP is located, but I know here, that is definitely something to consider.
Given that this is a Honda Accord- which are cars known for their reliability- I'd personally keep it. The repairs you mentioned are what I would call regular maintenance issues and not mechanical failures. For comparison my brother has a 98' Avalon with over 275,000 miles and I have a 96' Tacoma with over 240,000 miles. Neither have any issues. The key is to make sure you change the oil every 3,000 miles and also keep up with all the other items- like the transmission fluid and engine coolant.
I see at least a dozen or more late 80's Honda Accords on the freeway on my way to work. These cars will last forever.
i'd change that to changing oil about every 5,000 miles. maybe not on your vehicles, but most cars manufactured slightly more recently do not need oil changes that frequently unless you're driving under very harsh road and climate conditions.
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It may be worth it if you drive enough miles to make the gas savings pay off...? It's the dealership that would buy it? You may be able to get more for it selling it privately if that is the case.
