Won't the newer Explorer last longer than the older used $20k car? I think the decision is not just about how much money is sitting in your garage today, but also about how long you will need the car and how much operating and maintenance will cost over its life. Having an older, cheaper car that you will have to repair more often and replace sooner isn't necessarily a better deal economically. If it were, then why not get a $12k car, or a $5k car? But if you will use it so little (say, 3000 miles/yr) that you will never wear any of your car options out, then I say go ahead, sell, and buy the cheapest car that you can find that will be reliable and do the job you have in mind for it.
Should I sell my car?
- Thread starter Katsmeow
- Start date
OP
OP
Katsmeow
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2009
- Messages
- 5,308
It is hard to know exactly how much driving the second car would get. I'm thinking most years maybe 4k to 5k miles, but it could be less.
One thing that is a factor is that the need for the SUV type vehicle is, frankly, time limited as it is based upon having our dogs. The youngest dogs are a little over 6 years and life expectancy for the breed is about 12-14 years. So, hypothetically, 8 years from now we would no longer have a need for this type of vehicle at all. We would then sell it and buy something else (or maybe not. By then DH is 73 and I'm 67 so maybe we are fine with 1 car by then).
Let's say I sold the explorer and bought a 5 year old car that had 50k miles on it. 8 years from now I probably still have less than 100k miles on it so I'm not really that worried about this second car needing huge repairs in that time period. My experience with most of my cars is that other than the type of maintenance all cars need (new tires, etc.) that they don't usually need a lot of repairs under 100k miles.
One thing that is a factor is that the need for the SUV type vehicle is, frankly, time limited as it is based upon having our dogs. The youngest dogs are a little over 6 years and life expectancy for the breed is about 12-14 years. So, hypothetically, 8 years from now we would no longer have a need for this type of vehicle at all. We would then sell it and buy something else (or maybe not. By then DH is 73 and I'm 67 so maybe we are fine with 1 car by then).
Let's say I sold the explorer and bought a 5 year old car that had 50k miles on it. 8 years from now I probably still have less than 100k miles on it so I'm not really that worried about this second car needing huge repairs in that time period. My experience with most of my cars is that other than the type of maintenance all cars need (new tires, etc.) that they don't usually need a lot of repairs under 100k miles.
Ok. Then I say sell the Ford and buy a low mileage 5-10 year old substitute with an eye toward keeping it for 8-10 years. Then keep up on the maintenance, because that car may be 15 years old or more by the time you're done with it.
Texas Proud
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 17,267
Have you looked at some of the small SUVs
Some of them get good gas mileage and have the room you need... CR-V, RAV4, etc. etc....
Some of them get good gas mileage and have the room you need... CR-V, RAV4, etc. etc....
