Unbiased Opinions on Possible Vehicle Decision

[Turbys_1700]

I would keep both paid vehicles and look for an older car if you can verify the maintenance. My last two car purchases were older Buick's that I knew the history on. My 01 Lesabre was a 1 owner with 105K miles. I've now got a tick over 217K miles on it and the darn thing still runs fine. I paid 5K for it and have to date spent 2K in repairs over a 7-1/2 year period. My last purchase was a 2000 Century with 80K 1 owner miles bought for $3100. So far I've spent $800 in repairs over a 2-1/2 year period. I also bought a 98 Ford Contour with 90K miles on it 3 years ago and have spent $1200 in repairs. All 3 vehicles run great, I knew their history, and I have a local mechanic that is really good and really reasonable. I am lucky. Right now in my life I want dependable serviceable cars that if they get the door dinged in the parking lot it doesn't matter. When I retire we will buy something newer and better.

If you want to trade the truck in you will get wholesale from the dealer. Do what you want. I like not having payments.

 

[radioman]

i agree with gary fowler. if you must have third and first two is paid for- dont give them up. you know what wrong with it and it hasnt failed you. once you trade for two older ones - you are just opening up to a new can of worms and have TWO unreliable vehicles. i disagree with diamond pilot that getting a beater or third will cost you money. you just never know what you get and how long will it actually last , sometimes you get a good one that lasts longer then a monthly payment would be. What i do is look at the used cash purchase price and divide it by number of years i am expecting to keep it and see if it less then what i would pay for an higher loan kind of a car.
remember - any 4x4 vehicle or a work van sold cheap always have problems or super high mileage. you get what you pay for.

 

[Olympus]

I will not be doing anything that will require payments. I would be selling my truck private party, not trading in, and using whatever money from the sale to buy two vehicles OUTRIGHT. So if I get $22k for my truck, then I have $22k to spend on two vehicles, like $16k for a daily driver and $6k for the third vehicle. If I went this direction, I would still not have any payments.

 

[Citydude]

3rd opinion here for keeping the paid for vehicles.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, keep what you have. Drive slower down the rough roads if you are worried about tearing them up.

 

[KennyG]

If you only need two vehicles stay with it. I've been keeping 4 vehicles lately when sometimes I only need two because of kids back and forth from school and other issues. Around here, having an extra vehicle brings along an extra $1000 per year or more because of insurance, licensing, maintenance etc. You also have to figure on more depreciation, even with older cars. I'm down to three now and looking forward to going back to 2 (except for uninsured projects).

 

[JJZ 109]

I tried the 3rd vehicle twice. Both times it was a 5 to 7 grand car. Both times it did not work out. Both mechanical issues and the added cost just made it not work financially.

Yup. And the added insurance/registration expenses. Like the OP says, seemed like a good idea at the time. I did it mainly to save miles on a new (at the time) 2014 F250 that I planned on keeping. Wound up ditching the third vehicle and updating the truck to a new F250. Now I'll probably just go back to trading every 2-3 years like I always did in the past.

 

[bspeedy]

I would not sell a perfectly good used car to buy two cheaper used cars. Seems counter-intuitive to me. If you do that, only buy one of them at a time and get it sorted out before buying the next one. Any used car will require a few things to get everything right on it.

 

[dodge man]

I'll add a little more info on my situation. We have an extra vehcile but its more of a hobby for me. I park the car in the winter and don't drive it in the rain very often. From a cost point of view, its a waste of money but its my fun car. In my opinion, the only time it makes sense is you would have a need for a tow vehicle, but you have a commute to work that is long and would waste a lot of fuel driving a heavy duty truck. Even then, it takes a lot of fuel to make this a real cost savings.

 

[Renze]

The only vehicle that still has a loan in the Cadillac. Some people, especially my wife, ask me all the time why and how it is that I can drive such an old truck. I honestly love it as I don't worry about dirt, dings, bumpy roads or whatever else.

Thats how i drive my 1999 Volvo. pulling 3 ton loads at 23mpg, commuting to work doing 42mpg, inspecting the field, a sunday cruise through the woods. 18 years old, 417.000km, and only a lightbulb and a set of front tires for this years MOT inspection... Although the inspector allways complains about my car making his garage dirty
No econobox, nor truck for me !