Question on Vehicle and Car Options for a Starting Entrepreneur

[akbrouwer]

Alright, I need some help with the best route to getting a new(to me) vehicle.

Here's where I'm at:
2007 Nissan Xterra Off Road (119,000 Miles) I owe just under $10,000
Retail is $9,000
Trade in about $6,000

So I'm upside down on her. Here's where it gets interesting. I need about $2000 worth of work done to her.

With the miles being at 120k+ I would rather not put $2000 into the truck, because of me being upside down.. the money I put in is going nowhere.

The truck wont last long without the work.. and I need something better on fuel for all the miles I'm commuting anyway. (50+ per day)

How should I get out of this? What route should I take? and what makes sense not only to my pocket now, but to my savings later on?

Anyone have any advice?

Older used car with moderate miles?
Newer car with low miles?
Lease?

thanks

 

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[RHL]

If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

 

[Twista]

Older Hondas get great gas mileage. I used to have a 98 Civic and I only filled it up about twice a month, then again I drove it about 10 miles a week.

 

[CycleGuy]

I work closely with a lot of the used auto industry. I really don't like the used car business because of how shady people can be that work in it.
Here is the bad news OP...

If your car needs $2k in repairs and has a trade in value of $6k most car lots will pick you to pieces.

They will offer you $4k-5K trade in, which would mean your negative equity is closer to -$5k...

My advice would be to fix it and try to retail out of it or continue to drive it. Trading it with that negative equity will only put you upside down in something else. It sucks but that is the reality of cars. They depreciate quickly and cause a lot of financial woes for people.

Now for my recommendations for future cars.

I prefer Honda cars. For the last 7 years they have been my go to for daily driving. Fuel economy and basic comforts for the value are great.
My college car was a 2000 Accord v6. I started driving it with 255K miles and drive it until 290K before passing it to my little brother. It didn't have any major issues and still averaged around 26mpg. My next daily driver Honda was a work issued 2005 Accord V6 with 102K miles. I was driving between 110 miles a day and put 22K on it very quickly before selling it. Zero issues and fuel economy around 28mpg. Now I'm driving 50 miles per day and the work car is a 2005 Civic ex 4cyl. It has a whopping 236k on it and still gets 31 mpg. I have only put 1k on it but so far it has been a good vehicle. I prefer the ride of the 4 door accords over the civic and would give up the slight fuel economy advantage for it. These Hondas could all be purchased between $4K-10K. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

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[Shades]

Thats a tough spot. Your gonna be eating a good deal of money either way.

As for the next car? Lease.

Kia Forte or Optima, Honda Civic or Accord, Toyota Camry and Corolla. Really most cars in those classes should be about $220-250 a month with nothing down. Toyota offers 2 years of Toyota Care with free maintenance and roadside assistance.

They after your 36 months you do it all over again and arent left with a situation like you have now. Where your either flipped on the loan or have a car that needs expensive repairs.

Tho if your driving more then 12k a year leasing probably makes less sense.

 

[biophase]

I'd give Carmax a try. In my opinion, they don't look at your car thoroughly enough to figure out if it needs work. Maybe they give you more than anyone else. The real question is, can you afford to pay the difference to get rid of your car?

 

[Kak]

2 grand seems steep for only having 120k miles on it.. You are also more upside down than you think.

I hit 219k on a 2006... And I drove that thing HARD. Biggest things were leaky radiator, busted u joints and roasted brakes (I'm hard on brakes)... All of that together was less than 2k.

That said, I would band aid the problems until you are right side up. Then depending on where you are with your venture, get a super cheap lease or pay cash for some old car with a legendary reliability record. NO unnecessary payments unless you are profitable and your business is paying the bills!

I have a lease on a nicer car. I'm driving it too much so I'm going to pick up a 6 or 7 year old town car next month to drive the hell out of.

Bottom line, cars are a distraction and they suck.

 

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