WWMMD Car Question

Smonet

What would you guys do?

I'm driving a '04 Pick up truck with 140,000 miles. It is no drivable as of today and it is most likely the power steering. My guestimate from looking online and checking with my dad is it looks like around $600.00 if that is the only problem.

We were figuring we would have to get a different vehicle for me before we have child #2. We were planning on TTC sometime this year. LOs carseat fits behind the passenger seat, but another carseat would not fit behind the driver seat. The cab is too short-currently no one can ride with me due to no leg room.

I looked at all SUVs on the market today that offer a 3rd row seat. If we buy a new vehicle I don't want to have to buy another one as our family grows. 

My consensus came to a dealership here that has the Ford Explorers marked down to beat the competition-its better than Costco price even. 

They will give us between $5,500 and $6,500 for the truck.

I can get 0% financing for 60 months. 

If we buy one I can keep my payment between 400 to 450 per month. 

My budget is tight, but its getting better and DH just got a raise. I'd like to finance it at 0% and work on paying my HELOC down first, then pay this off as fast as possible.

FYI: come September I will have a payment of $490.00 free that is currently paying off the new furnace and air conditioner on our rental property.

Do I fix the car and hope its good for a while, or do we take the opportunity of buy a new one? 

TIA

lifeonthehill

I know that this isn't very MM of me but I just can't imagine dumping $600+ into a truck with that many miles that doesn't quite meet your family needs.

I suggest looking into a used explorer. I would say at least two years old. There really is no sense in buying new. Then just paying it off as quickly as you can. It seems like come September you would be able to make X2 payments or even more which would be great.

We are facing the same problem as our Focus is now 7 years old and starting to need mare repairs. We are hoping to start TTC next December so are hoping we can either get three more years out of this car or have a baby before purchasing a small SUV.

zzbb

Can you consider a newer used car? One thing I wasn't aware of was the cost to register and insure a suv. It was outrageous. The first year can be like $700 to register. You could get a great car with a warrenty for at least $100 a month less and still get 0% if it's not too old.

smerka

I drive an 04 Vue with just over 100,000 miles and really want a minivan. About every six months we drop about $1,000 on maintenance and repairs. But the car is paid for and runs pretty well so I can't really justify taking on a car payment. I would fix it and start saving the $450 a month for a down payment for the future. And look into minivans. They are cheaper to insure I think.

hoffse

I don't think I'd pay for a repair that large if I was going to dump the thing in a year or so anyway.  H and I are facing a similar situation, and we've just decided to buy.

I've also heard that minivans cost less to insure than an SUV.  It would make sense - they have a lower center of gravity than an SUV and won't roll as easily.

You might also look at a cross-over.  They cost less than an SUV upfront and are surely less to insure.

Xstatic3333

I would definitely not keep your current truck. Like Alyssa, I know it's not a very MM viewpoint but I hate sinking money into repairs for old cars. I would first look into used Explorers and minivans, but if after research this seems like the best deal I wouldn't be against it. They're offering you a great trade-in value.

zzbb

In my experience a crossover is treated the same as a larger suv...this is why I had sticker shock when I went to get my plates and still had to pay close to 600 with the credit from my previous car. I had a Honda CRV so it was tiny in comparison to the others out there. Insurance was more too but I'm not sure it was super significant but made me think to look into that with my next purchase ahead of time.

hoffse

That might depend on your state then - my parents own a CRV and it was very cheap to tag/title/insure.  Cost them about the same as the Accord.

zzbb

That might depend on your state then - my parents own a CRV and it was very cheap to tag/title/insure.  Cost them about the same as the Accord.

Never thought about it being state related. I went from a civic to the Crv and it was triple since the Crv was new. We needed a 3rd row and switched to a dodge journey which is also a crossover and it was costly too but we got it used so saved some there. The lady at the branch said to expect about $25 decrease each year.

Erikan73

You mentioned wanting a 3rd row for your growing family. I would recommend looking at mini vans too. From seeing friends experience with their kids/grandkids, it's a lot easier to have to deal with small kids in a 3rd row of a mini van compared to a 3rd row of a SUV, especially if cars seats and/or booster seats are involved.

Also don't forget to calculate the increase in your insurance when figuring out what you can afford. I'm guessing with a truck that old & high in mileage you probably don't have full coverage on it, and even if you do, the cost isn't very much due to the value of your truck not being very high. A new vehicle is going to cost you more to insure.

Sisugal

Fix the truck (that is 1 1/2 car payments) and drive it until you get pregnant.
Meanwhile save more toward the down payment on a different vehicle.
Buy USED, not new and finance for no longer than #3 YEARS ONLY.  If you cannot afford that - you are buying too much card for your budget.

Smonet

Thanks guys. I still haven't pulled the trigger. I'm sitting at the dealership and gong to have them look at it so I know what the repair cost it right now. I never planned on buying new but the market right now has many 2014 models priced about the same as used ones with 15 to 35,000 Miles.

hoffse

Smonet said:

Thanks guys. I still haven't pulled the trigger. I'm sitting at the dealership and gong to have them look at it so I know what the repair cost it right now. I never planned on buying new but the market right now has many 2014 models priced about the same as used ones with 15 to 35,000 Miles.

This is what we have found as well.  H and I will probably be buying new as a result - we figure we'll get an extra year or two out of it that way.  That's certainly worth something.  Our biggest dilemma right now is Accord vs. Civic.  We're still deciding.

If the prices are pretty comparable, I would go with new.  I do think that places like carmax have changed the used car market a lot.  My H has always gotten cars through carmax, because he just assumed new would be a lot more expensive and he hates to haggle... turns out, they cost almost the same and in some cases new cars are less than carmax cars that are a couple years old.  I think other used car places have been able to raise prices a bit as a result of carmax being the go-to price point for the used car market.  I'm not super into cars so maybe I don't know enough about it, but that's sort of the conclusion I'm coming to with all of this.

Point is, I want a car to last about 10+ years before needing to be traded in.  That requires lower starting mileage, which means I'm looking at newer cars regardless.  So if the choice is used with 10K miles vs. new with 50 miles, and they cost the same, I think the answer is pretty obvious.

brij2006

Sisugal said:

Fix the truck (that is 1 1/2 car payments) and drive it until you get pregnant.
Meanwhile save more toward the down payment on a different vehicle.
Buy USED, not new and finance for no longer than #3 YEARS ONLY.  If you cannot afford that - you are buying too much card for your budget.

All of this!!! I remember you posting your budget, and it was pretty tight.  Putting yourself into a $400-450 car payment each month definitely isn't going to help it not feel even more tight.  I would put the money into the truck and keep it until you have the child and know exactly how it's going to work or not work with 2 car seats.

Xstatic3333

hoffse said:

Smonet said:

Thanks guys. I still haven't pulled the trigger. I'm sitting at the dealership and gong to have them look at it so I know what the repair cost it right now. I never planned on buying new but the market right now has many 2014 models priced about the same as used ones with 15 to 35,000 Miles.

This is what we have found as well.  H and I will probably be buying new as a result - we figure we'll get an extra year or two out of it that way.  That's certainly worth something.  Our biggest dilemma right now is Accord vs. Civic.  We're still deciding.

If the prices are pretty comparable, I would go with new.  I do think that places like carmax have changed the used car market a lot.  My H has always gotten cars through carmax, because he just assumed new would be a lot more expensive and he hates to haggle... turns out, they cost almost the same and in some cases new cars are less than carmax cars that are a couple years old.  I think other used car places have been able to raise prices a bit as a result of carmax being the go-to price point for the used car market.  I'm not super into cars so maybe I don't know enough about it, but that's sort of the conclusion I'm coming to with all of this.

Point is, I want a car to last about 10+ years before needing to be traded in.  That requires lower starting mileage, which means I'm looking at newer cars regardless.  So if the choice is used with 10K miles vs. new with 50 miles, and they cost the same, I think the answer is pretty obvious.

I found this too, 100%. My theory is that Suze Orman and DR have impacted so many people to buy used that it's created a seller's market where used deals just aren't that great anymore. I'll always check for used first with my future car payments, but if new makes more sense what can you do?

That said, for you OP I'd still shop around a bit and look into minivans as well.

vlagrl29

I am probably in the minority, but I would pay for the repair and keep driving it.  it's much better than having a car payment.  My car has 135,000 miles on it and still drives really well.  A couple years I had several repairs happen that really pissed me off but that's what happens with older cars and now we are prepared for maintenance problems after that year happened cause it freaked me out.  The guy at the tire place told me I can easily get more than 200,000 on my car because I take really good care of it.  Don't go to the dealership to get it repaired because it will cost a ton more.  Go to a local reputable place that is half the price for repairs.  I recently found out my left passenger wheel is bent.  I'm going to find it at a junk yard so I don't have to pay $250 for it.

Smonet

 brij2006

 Yes, my budget was tight. I made some great cuts, and DH received a significant bump in salary. But you are right, a payment like this would bring me back to where I was argh. I hate car payments. 

I think I'm going to fix it, unless its more than I'm anticipating. Then try to keep it going and cross my fingers for another year. At least in 8 months I'll have a couple other things paid off and my monthly budget will be even larger. Its not like there is a super good promotion going on. It sounds like this dealership usually has the lowest prices and the 0% financing floats with your credit score. 

I wish I could get by with a car, like so many of you drive. I have to put my truck into 4WD daily to get home from work in snowy MN and between DH and I we should have one larger automobile. And since DH drives a company car he won't have the option to take an SUV/Truck until his next promotion/when his lease is up-which if I can get by until then (a few years) I could get an AWD car!