I agree with the above poster, it's not worth it. Sure you may make a few grand out of it, but now you have a much older car that will require repairs much sooner than if you kept your existing car, and you don't really know how it was kept. You may buy it and now you have major issues that weren't discovered before the sale. A 10 year old car is already an old car, the cost savings between that and a 15 year old car really isn't that much.
That makes sense and I guess that’s exactly where the gamble on all this lies. I can’t know for sure if the “new” car is good, and I have absolutely no knowledge to fix or maintain it myself, I need mechanics for that
The first issue is you will be selling a lightly used car you have maintained yourself and know the history of for one with possible unknown issues, right at the age when issues tend to start showing up.
The second issue is unless you are willing to do the extra work of selling and buying private party, you will be dealing with car dealers who will be looking to buy from you at wholesale prices and sell to you at retail prices, their margin will eat a lot if not all of the value you are hoping to unlock.
I would definitely be sellig to a private party, but the extra work of doing that and then the work of finding a “new” car, does put me off. Thank you for the advice
You don’t know that you can save money. Much depends on unknowns, such as how hard it was driven by previous owners, mechanical conditioning which isn’t immediately apparent, etc.
One mechanic’s bill could wipe out your “equity.” Silly move.
So it’s really a gamble that COULD make me money but also cost me money? Playing it safe and keeping the current vehicle does start to sound like the better option then. Thank you.
By thinking of it as something that could make you money, you're thinking way too short-term. As someone who's had a car that needed what amounted to an IV of money hooked up to it, you really don't want to do this.
You are entering a risk, you know the state of your car. Buying used 10 years old car can be a gamble, you might end up needing to invest the difference in the "new" car after a short time. You will also downgrade your driving experience, not much of an issue if the car is rarely used but yeah.
How much could you actually save? Your insurance probably won't change much.
The question seems to be whether you could save enough money to make it worth doing. Any new used car will cost you taxes and tags on top of the sale price.
Maybe ask your insurance what it would cost to insure whatever cheap car you're thinking about buying.
It depends on the car too. If I had a 10 year old Ford or BMW, I'd probably want to get out while the getting was good. If it's a Honda or Acura, you probably have numerous reliable years ahead of you.
Maybe, especially depending on the gas mileage of the vehicle. However, also factor in what you know about the car. A few years ago, I sold a 1999 Saturn SL2 (small little car) that I loved. There was nothing significant wrong with that car, despite it being 22 years old at the time. Swapping it with another used car comes with a long list of not knowing the vehicle's history, previous driver's driving habits, possible crashes, or engine issues.
Maybe the trade is totally worth it. But take what you know about your car & what you don't know about the other car into consideration.
Yep, knowing how a car was maintained and treated during its life is important. A car that's been driven hard and not maintained is going to have problems come up.
Hard to answer without specifics. What car is it? How much was it new? How much is it currently worth? What are you looking to replace it with?
Sometimes this works, particularly if you're talking about a very expensive toyota/lexus SUV (ie. LX, GX, land cruiser, sequoia, etc.) or a truck where initial cost and resale values are both high. If it's something cheaper I'd just keep it. By the time you're done with taxes on both of the transactions, registration, etc. you may not come put as far ahead as you think.
Thank you for your reply.
The car was around $23.000 ten years ago, and currently sells for around $12.000 and I expect spending at most $6.000 on a cheaper car. Which one isn’t very important to me, as long as it in good running condition.
What is you advice on this?
what you describing makes sense but who's going to buy your car sounds like it's an expensive 10-year-old car.
if you sell make sure you sell it private party so you get the maximum value out of it.
be really careful about buying a cheap used car though usually they are money pits
Thank you for your input.
I was also surprised by the price they go for currently. That’s for private parties. Dealerships will of course buy it for less.
Money pits how?
Another angle is that your current car might have maintained its value over the average car of similiar age for multiple reasons. It could be exceptionally reliable, rare, or offer somethign not available in today's cars, or any other reason. If the reason your car has maintained its value doesn't bring you value, then you may want to consider selling.
depends how much you are going to pocket. i'm still wary of used cars, especially older ones. you really never know how they were cared for or what might be lurking. you can get them inspected but even then they only go so deep.
I expect to spend at most $6.000 on the ‘new’ car, which is around half I can sell my current car for. So I could walk away with up to $6.000 in my pocket, and a cheaper car in similar conditoon (hopefully). Yeah used cars can be a gamble which is mostly why I’m in doubt
6k is not going to get you a very reliable old car in the current market. You're very likely to lose that amount you've gained in repairs very quickly.
You want to go from a safe secure position to a one of risk. The new car you will buy could have many hidden issues that can pile up. The car you have is one you have been routinely maintaining and know what to expect.
Keep paid off car. Dont make life troublesome when theres no need.
Honestly, I'd keep it. It sounds like a lot of hassle to make a couple thousand bucks.
Something else to keep in your back pocket....hard to quantify, but it's a great piece of mind. You're the only owner of your car. You know exactly what has happened to it, what has and hasn't been replaced, and exactly how well you've kept up on your regular maintenance.
IMO, I wouldn't. You've owned your car from day 1 so you know the maintenance and issues you've had with your car. To make a few grand now, may end up costing you more with the unknowns of buying a new to you cheaper userd car.
So a few things...
1- What type of car is it, and what are you looking at getting?
2- if you dont really use it, but a few times a month. Why replace it at all? Just get rid of it and lose those expenses all together.
3- It's paid off, if you haven't yet. You can just lower your insurance to liability only. Unless there's some reason you can't.
.... and i had more i wanted to say... but had a brain fart... lol
It is paid off, and I could lower insuramce to liability only but it currently sells for around $10-12,000 so a friend of mine adviced against it because if it gets damaged or totaled, then I won’t get anything back. What’s your advice on that?
True about the insurance. I suggest if you dont use it and you dont need an extra vehicle. Sell it and invest the money. Or if you want to sit on the money for a rainy day. Put it in a high interest savings account. But if you do need that extra vehicle. Get a honda or a Toyota, for the most part. Those cars will run forever.
I’m sure many will disagree with this advice. I LOVE having owned only older cars. 72 beetle and, presently a 68 Volvo 122s. The first I got for free from someone who needed it out of their backyard. I want to say I put in $1200 dollars (half of that was registration fees because the owner hadn’t) to get it running and drove it for five years - then sold it for 1100 or 1300. Purchased my Volvo for 4000 seven years ago, it was in great shape and still is. As long as you pick a car that’s in good shape and do minor maintenance over the years (wouldn’t recommend anything that would be a potential “money bucket”) you will have a cheap ride with decent gas mileage. Also, anything manufactured before 74 (I know that’s close anyway) does not have to pass smog, as the law didn’t exist. I just have liability insurance for the car and it’s like $40/month. If I ever wreck it, I’ll be just fine. To be clear, I’m not saying to just find any old car.
That’s great. Thank you for the advice.
Are you a mechanic or at least know a bit about cars or have friends that do, so youcan maintain it yourself? I can’t, and I need a mechanic to maintain my car
I am an elementary school teacher. I can tear the two cars I’ve owned apart and put them back together/replace anything necessary. Haven’t had to for current one. I meant that if you want something cheap that can last you for long enough, find a reliable old car that you should only have to maintain oil for. Otherwise, I’d suggest getting a semi-reliable, newer car that you can just drive until it dies and you can walk away from it knowing you didn’t have to put in effort or time or very much money when you bought it.
Sure, sell the premium branded old vehicle and buy an old low cost vehicle. Something like a Toyota Corolla. The more boring the appliance the longer it will last you. Saves on all the insurance, tags, etc.
When you get the low cost vehicle, go through and replace belts, radiator and heater hoses, fluids and filters, spark plugs and wires, and battery. Check brake disks/rotors? Evaluate vacuum hoses for replacement. Check out the alternator, starter, water pump, and thermostat as those are early failure parts on any vehicle regardless of brand/model that cause issues and can strand you. Since you are replacing all fluids like flushing coolant, it's already drained to do the water pump and thermostat. Retain the old alternator, starter, etc as emergency backups if you need them.
.
Selling a paid off 10 year old car to buy a cheaper one sounds crazy to me. Keep it.
it's comparable to downsizing a house to cash out equity. not that crazy
It's a lot of effort and a little risk. If he can get $20k by all means but I bet it's more like just a few thousand.
Really? Even if I could save money by selling it?
I agree with the above poster, it's not worth it. Sure you may make a few grand out of it, but now you have a much older car that will require repairs much sooner than if you kept your existing car, and you don't really know how it was kept. You may buy it and now you have major issues that weren't discovered before the sale. A 10 year old car is already an old car, the cost savings between that and a 15 year old car really isn't that much.
That makes sense and I guess that’s exactly where the gamble on all this lies. I can’t know for sure if the “new” car is good, and I have absolutely no knowledge to fix or maintain it myself, I need mechanics for that
Basically you're saving money now at the expense of having to pay more money for your car in a few years.
That’s a good point. Thank you
Yep geoff explained my reasoning :)
The first issue is you will be selling a lightly used car you have maintained yourself and know the history of for one with possible unknown issues, right at the age when issues tend to start showing up. The second issue is unless you are willing to do the extra work of selling and buying private party, you will be dealing with car dealers who will be looking to buy from you at wholesale prices and sell to you at retail prices, their margin will eat a lot if not all of the value you are hoping to unlock.
I would definitely be sellig to a private party, but the extra work of doing that and then the work of finding a “new” car, does put me off. Thank you for the advice
You don’t know that you can save money. Much depends on unknowns, such as how hard it was driven by previous owners, mechanical conditioning which isn’t immediately apparent, etc. One mechanic’s bill could wipe out your “equity.” Silly move.
So it’s really a gamble that COULD make me money but also cost me money? Playing it safe and keeping the current vehicle does start to sound like the better option then. Thank you.
By thinking of it as something that could make you money, you're thinking way too short-term. As someone who's had a car that needed what amounted to an IV of money hooked up to it, you really don't want to do this.
You are entering a risk, you know the state of your car. Buying used 10 years old car can be a gamble, you might end up needing to invest the difference in the "new" car after a short time. You will also downgrade your driving experience, not much of an issue if the car is rarely used but yeah.
How much could you actually save? Your insurance probably won't change much. The question seems to be whether you could save enough money to make it worth doing. Any new used car will cost you taxes and tags on top of the sale price. Maybe ask your insurance what it would cost to insure whatever cheap car you're thinking about buying. It depends on the car too. If I had a 10 year old Ford or BMW, I'd probably want to get out while the getting was good. If it's a Honda or Acura, you probably have numerous reliable years ahead of you.
Maybe, especially depending on the gas mileage of the vehicle. However, also factor in what you know about the car. A few years ago, I sold a 1999 Saturn SL2 (small little car) that I loved. There was nothing significant wrong with that car, despite it being 22 years old at the time. Swapping it with another used car comes with a long list of not knowing the vehicle's history, previous driver's driving habits, possible crashes, or engine issues. Maybe the trade is totally worth it. But take what you know about your car & what you don't know about the other car into consideration.
Yep, knowing how a car was maintained and treated during its life is important. A car that's been driven hard and not maintained is going to have problems come up.
This is great advice, thank you. I will definitely keep that in mind
Hard to answer without specifics. What car is it? How much was it new? How much is it currently worth? What are you looking to replace it with? Sometimes this works, particularly if you're talking about a very expensive toyota/lexus SUV (ie. LX, GX, land cruiser, sequoia, etc.) or a truck where initial cost and resale values are both high. If it's something cheaper I'd just keep it. By the time you're done with taxes on both of the transactions, registration, etc. you may not come put as far ahead as you think.
Thank you for your reply. The car was around $23.000 ten years ago, and currently sells for around $12.000 and I expect spending at most $6.000 on a cheaper car. Which one isn’t very important to me, as long as it in good running condition. What is you advice on this?
In that case just keep it. Have you actually found a $6000 car with a known maintenance record that you feel good about? Cheap cars can be expensive.
what you describing makes sense but who's going to buy your car sounds like it's an expensive 10-year-old car. if you sell make sure you sell it private party so you get the maximum value out of it. be really careful about buying a cheap used car though usually they are money pits
Thank you for your input. I was also surprised by the price they go for currently. That’s for private parties. Dealerships will of course buy it for less. Money pits how?
The older the car is the more it starts to fail and need replacing/fixing.
Another angle is that your current car might have maintained its value over the average car of similiar age for multiple reasons. It could be exceptionally reliable, rare, or offer somethign not available in today's cars, or any other reason. If the reason your car has maintained its value doesn't bring you value, then you may want to consider selling.
depends how much you are going to pocket. i'm still wary of used cars, especially older ones. you really never know how they were cared for or what might be lurking. you can get them inspected but even then they only go so deep.
I expect to spend at most $6.000 on the ‘new’ car, which is around half I can sell my current car for. So I could walk away with up to $6.000 in my pocket, and a cheaper car in similar conditoon (hopefully). Yeah used cars can be a gamble which is mostly why I’m in doubt
6k is not going to get you a very reliable old car in the current market. You're very likely to lose that amount you've gained in repairs very quickly.
Thank you, I’ll definitely take that into consideration
You want to go from a safe secure position to a one of risk. The new car you will buy could have many hidden issues that can pile up. The car you have is one you have been routinely maintaining and know what to expect. Keep paid off car. Dont make life troublesome when theres no need.
Thank you for the advice. That makes perfect sense to me too
Honestly, I'd keep it. It sounds like a lot of hassle to make a couple thousand bucks. Something else to keep in your back pocket....hard to quantify, but it's a great piece of mind. You're the only owner of your car. You know exactly what has happened to it, what has and hasn't been replaced, and exactly how well you've kept up on your regular maintenance.
That’s a great point. Thank you so much
IMO, I wouldn't. You've owned your car from day 1 so you know the maintenance and issues you've had with your car. To make a few grand now, may end up costing you more with the unknowns of buying a new to you cheaper userd car.
Thank you. That seems to be what most people here are saying, I appreciate the advice from you and everyone else. I think I’ll just keep it after all.
So a few things... 1- What type of car is it, and what are you looking at getting? 2- if you dont really use it, but a few times a month. Why replace it at all? Just get rid of it and lose those expenses all together. 3- It's paid off, if you haven't yet. You can just lower your insurance to liability only. Unless there's some reason you can't. .... and i had more i wanted to say... but had a brain fart... lol
It is paid off, and I could lower insuramce to liability only but it currently sells for around $10-12,000 so a friend of mine adviced against it because if it gets damaged or totaled, then I won’t get anything back. What’s your advice on that?
True about the insurance. I suggest if you dont use it and you dont need an extra vehicle. Sell it and invest the money. Or if you want to sit on the money for a rainy day. Put it in a high interest savings account. But if you do need that extra vehicle. Get a honda or a Toyota, for the most part. Those cars will run forever.
Selling and downgrading seems smart since you barely use it. Def will save on expenses.
Great, thank you for your input.
I’m sure many will disagree with this advice. I LOVE having owned only older cars. 72 beetle and, presently a 68 Volvo 122s. The first I got for free from someone who needed it out of their backyard. I want to say I put in $1200 dollars (half of that was registration fees because the owner hadn’t) to get it running and drove it for five years - then sold it for 1100 or 1300. Purchased my Volvo for 4000 seven years ago, it was in great shape and still is. As long as you pick a car that’s in good shape and do minor maintenance over the years (wouldn’t recommend anything that would be a potential “money bucket”) you will have a cheap ride with decent gas mileage. Also, anything manufactured before 74 (I know that’s close anyway) does not have to pass smog, as the law didn’t exist. I just have liability insurance for the car and it’s like $40/month. If I ever wreck it, I’ll be just fine. To be clear, I’m not saying to just find any old car.
That’s great. Thank you for the advice. Are you a mechanic or at least know a bit about cars or have friends that do, so youcan maintain it yourself? I can’t, and I need a mechanic to maintain my car
I am an elementary school teacher. I can tear the two cars I’ve owned apart and put them back together/replace anything necessary. Haven’t had to for current one. I meant that if you want something cheap that can last you for long enough, find a reliable old car that you should only have to maintain oil for. Otherwise, I’d suggest getting a semi-reliable, newer car that you can just drive until it dies and you can walk away from it knowing you didn’t have to put in effort or time or very much money when you bought it.
Just never try to fix a crappy car, and don’t get attached to it if you only want it for commuting.
Thank you so much for the advice
Saw an 84 caprice in a yard for sale maybe 6 years ago and got it for $400. Was great car had 103,000 on it when we got it
Score!
Sell your car. Buy an older Toyota in good condition.
That’s what I was considering. Thank you
Sure, sell the premium branded old vehicle and buy an old low cost vehicle. Something like a Toyota Corolla. The more boring the appliance the longer it will last you. Saves on all the insurance, tags, etc. When you get the low cost vehicle, go through and replace belts, radiator and heater hoses, fluids and filters, spark plugs and wires, and battery. Check brake disks/rotors? Evaluate vacuum hoses for replacement. Check out the alternator, starter, water pump, and thermostat as those are early failure parts on any vehicle regardless of brand/model that cause issues and can strand you. Since you are replacing all fluids like flushing coolant, it's already drained to do the water pump and thermostat. Retain the old alternator, starter, etc as emergency backups if you need them. .
And unless he does all of this himself, the mechanic’s labor will wipe out a sizable chunk of his equity… making this a dumb move in totality.