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WWYD?
Okay, so we bought my car a little more than two years ago. I LOVE my car, love it. It was amazing to have when I was driving to work every day and driving to school 1-2 times a week. But now I hardly drive anymore. I bum around to the store, etc... and the occasional client meetings 1-2 times a week. My car was not cheap, nearly $600/month including insurance. We can afford it just fine, that's not the problem. I guess I just feel like it's a waste to spend that much on a car that I barely drive. I can get what I owe on a trade in, so I was considering trading it in and getting a used car a few years old for a much smaller payment. Ryan says that it's better to pay for my car for two and a half more years and then keep it for another 5-8 years, but I'd rather save the cash now.
What do you all think?
Re: WWYD?
I have a Prius, so that's not really an issue. It's got four doors, nice sized back seat, and a big hatch trunk.
When I was driving a lot, we were making up the difference in the high payment with what I was saving on gas. So I guess we are still making up that difference because I'm getting even less gas. It's really just the outlay of cash that seems stupid to me. I don't know, Ryan keeps insisting that it's better to keep paying for it because it is a good, kid-friendly car and should last a long time after we pay for it. I just hate making that obscene payment every month.
I'd say the same as hound kinda, how do you like your car now as a family car? If you know it will work w/kids and is reliable, I'd probably pay it off and keep it for 8 yrs. or however long you want.
I am not crazy about my car but the thought of getting the kids through the messy toddler years keeps me hanging onto it...plus the no car payment.
I'm the resident cheap-o, so I'd definitely sell it if you can get what you owe and I'd go for a car that's at least four or five years old.
Cars depreciate 60% in the first four years... you'd be much better off with an older, cheaper car than throwing away your money on this one for the remainder of the loan. Your insurance will also go down.
I think that as long as the payment isn't hurting you guys, I'd keep it. Like you said, it will work fine for a child, the gas mileage is great and you'll have several years of no payments after you get it paid off.
I definitely understand where you're coming from with wanting to save now, but if it were me, I think I'd keep it.
Yep, this was Ryan's other main point.
This was my other thought. Throwing more money at it to pay it off sooner.
I am going to be honest, I think the Prius is much smaller than the Honda Accord, maybe not. I drove a Honda Accord until Davis was 6 months old. When Davis turned 6 months, my lease was up, we turned it in, my husband got a new car and I got his Jeep Grand Cherokee and I must say as much as I loved my Accord (I've had 2 of them) I prefer having the SUV even with just 1 kid. You don't realize how much crap you can lug around with a kid. I remember I had zero trunk room with a stroller in the trunk of my Accord which really sucked. Now with the SUV I can fit my stroller in the back end of it, among other things and then use the rest of the back seat for other stuff. Once the lease is up on the Cherokee we will go to another SUV, probably a Honda or an Acura.
I'm going to say, it cannot hurt to look into something maybe a little larger, even a smallish SUV or a bigger sedan with a lower payment.
I am a HUGE Honda fan for this reason.
We tried that when I started staying home, it is a no go. Even though we changed that my car is driven less, it didn't really make the insurance go down. I think if you classify the car as a "sunday" driver it makes it much cheaper, but not sure how that works and how true that really is.
Ours went down about $15 a month. Maybe it depends on your insurance company
Ours did go down, by about $10, but I just don't conisder that a significant savings. LOL
Well that's $120, it may not be huge but why let the insurance company pocket it when you could save it
No, it is still a savings. I probably came across as saying "who cares" But that is not what I meant, I just didn't want anyone getting all pumped like they might save a ton of money each month and then get let down when it is only $5 or $10 or $15 a month. Still a savings - I agree on that! And I'm sure the amount you save depends on many factors, company, type of car, whether you still owe $$ or not.
Interesting, I may have to check in on the insurance thing. I wonder if I can get some sort of savings for home office/car type of thing. There are so many crazy insurance credits out there.
Jill, the Prius is surprisingly large inside. People always think it is so small, but it's really not. And the hatch trunk makes a world of difference, it is huge. We test drove the Honda Civic and Accord and it was much larger than the Civic and comparable, if not larger than the Accord.