Thoughts on when to get rid of a car

NorcalLinds · January 2010

DH and I have been going back and forth about his car for a couple years. He drives a 2000 Jetta, we bought it used in 2004. It has been an ok car, but when it does need work, the parts are so expensive compared to my honda.

His commute is really short right now, 4-5 miles. But that could change in an instant, hes a consultant

Our goal is to get him a honda civic

I want to buy the new car, and sell his Jetta soon before it really goes down the crapper

DH wants to wait another year.

I fear the longer we wait the more likely we will have to put more money into the Jetta

WWYD?

abvernon · January 2010

I know what you mean.

I was in this situation 3 yrs ago when my Honda Civic was overheating constantly (it was a 1994 and I bought it used in 1999) and I was putting $$$ into it only to keep going back in the shop (and the fact I dropped $2K when it broke down on the way to Reno having my 3 day trip turn into a 10 day trip, but that is a diff. story).

When I was told I needed a brand new engine, I said no more. I got a New 2006 CRV. Buying a new car outweighed putting more $$ into an old one. I was able to trade my old car in for $300. Not what I wanted but certainly took my hands off of the clunker.

I say if you can afford the payments and you find a civic you both like, go for it! Who knows it may take some time to find the Civic he wants or do you know what you want already?

tiki_t · January 2010

How many miles does it have on it. That should help me predict future expenses. Also, is it a manual transmission or automatic?

Roni.Cedra · January 2010

My thoughts, and I am not an expert, is that the more money you put/sink into the jetta will not only be recouped but also the blue book value will go down over the course of a year, and you won't be able to get the trade in etc for it. So you loose on two accounts. Plus a honda civic gets better gas mileage than the Jetta (last I checked).

NorcalLinds · January 2010

its manual, has about 180000? not sure, its a lot though.

we have the downpayment... and abvernon, my husband likes to sit on things for months! so its quite likely he won't be able to make a decesion Wink

tiki_t · January 2010

Another thing that you might want to do is call your insurance company and find out the difference in insurance costs between your used Jetta and a new Civic. Same goes with registration.

Sometimes used/older cars, that are more pricey to fix, offset that cost by the lower overall cost to insure them or register them. It depends on the car though.

But with 180,000 miles on the Jetta, it is time to kiss it goodbye while you can. It had a nice life. Time to put it out to pasture. A Honda needs to say farewell at about 200K miles.

NorcalLinds · January 2010

tiki_t:

But with 180,000 miles on the Jetta, it is time to kiss it goodbye while you can. It had a nice life. Time to put it out to pasture. A Honda needs to say farewell at about 200K miles.

Too funny! It does need to go :-)

yosemite · January 2010

I am with you. We just sold my DH's 1999 truck. We both felt like it was on verge of needing major repairs (probably within a year) that were probably worth more than the truck itself.

Also, with the state of the economy, it was a great time for us to buy b/c we got a 0% interest loan and were able to save a lot of $$.

mrscerruti2be · January 2010

I'm a run your car into the ground kind of girl. My 2000 Corolla has about 200,000 miles on it and dh is currently using that as a commuter car. Sure we had to get new tires this year and brakes, but it was still significantly cheaper than a car payment each month and higher insurance. I finally after months of persuasion got dh to get rid of his old mustang that he used as a commuter. Not nearly as reliable as my Toyota though and not as cheap to maintain.

Mrs.BoomBoom · January 2010

I agree with you. Sell while it still runs well. There's a lot of good deals right now too

Mama_v2.0 · January 2010

My DH also has a VW (2001 Golf)....If he would let me I would have sold it a long time ago but he has sentimental attachment to it or something. I money you will save by not dropping $300+ at every "oil change" will basically pay for a newer car by itself.

bb_n_jp · January 2010

I hate to say it but I think you should get rid of it while it's still limping along. I had an older Jetta with LOTS of miles, though not as many as yours, and ultimately decided it was just headed for total failure. I decided I didn't want to be in the car with kiddos when this happened. I was actually able to get a couple thousand dollars for it, which lessened the sting of buying a new car (we bought used, but you know what I mean).

Good luck! I miss my Jetta - it was kind of a symbol of my young, carefree, single days...

lunabeam · January 2010

I agree that it's time to let the Jetta go now. My brother had a Jetta, and once it reached a certain number of miles, it seems like it always needed something fixed. And yeah, the parts are expensive!

Sell it now before something else breaks! Wink

NCSW · January 2010

NorcalLinds:
DH and I have been going back and forth about his car for a couple years. He drives a 2000 Jetta, we bought it used in 2004.

Umm... that's us EXACTLY. What a coincidence. We're trying to make the same kind of decision. It needs a new catalytic converter (pricey) and we're not sure anyone would want to buy it. So... we may just try to keep it going as long as possible and when it finally dies, we'll replace it. I think it has almost 200K miles on it. Actually, I think a little more than that.

We plan to "move" my 2009 Corolla (yes, one of the recalled ones. Ugh.) to Jason and I'll get a little bigger of a car for when we grow our family.

Maybe that wasn't very helpful. Sorry!!!

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