Hey guys, So a while back I bought a used 2012 Buick with under 36,000 miles for 17,500 after taxes. I love the car but I hate the car payment . It's only 260 dollars a month and I'm paying more than that. Interest is low, 2%. I have about 15,900 left on it. I am thinking about biting the bullet and maybe selling it to CarMax and finding a cheaper beater but I guess I don't know if it's worth it? Has anyone done it? I'm somewhat handy with cars and I don't need a totally reliable car. I just don't know if I can deal with the constant issues that might appear. I'm just wondering if anyone has gone from payments to just getting a lower priced car from whatever situation, accident, selling etc...
I've done it before going from our G6 GTP down to the G6 sedan we just totaled. Our payments went down by 100 a month. With only that much equity in your Buick, it'll not save you much. You're pretty much nearly upside down in it. It is pretty much set up that, once you sign the papers, you're committed to that contract. Punch your stats into KBB.com and see what the market value is on that Buick to get an idea of what kind of sacrifice you'll be making. http://www.kbb.com/whats-my-car-worth/
Honestly, the more you move between cars the more it costs. Unless you are someone like nidex you will lose money when you sell your current car and then again you will lose money when you buy a car (to pay for the sellers profit). That's just my 2cents and why I plan on keeping my current car for as long as it will run. Purchased it brand new in 2005, paid it off in 2009 and been payment free since then. I am iffy on what you should do since you have an american car (see sig). If it was an import it would make more sense to keep it, I don't know anything about the reliability of your car.... so someone else needs to chime in here.
It's a GM recall car. I too, had two new vehicles that were paid off completely. It was a great feeling. Now I'm down to my work truck as the wife totaled the G6. The insurance company paid the book value for it. Instead of wasting money on another US made car, we were willing to go into a little bit of debt while forking over 10,500 down, just to get an import. Because this will have to be the last car we get. Me getting a new truck will have to wait. I'm quite sure that the '06 GMC I have will not last the rest of my driving days where a Toyota probably would.
There's no recalls on my car accept for a turn light issue. When I did a check with CarMax a couple months ago, they offered 14,000 and I owed about 16500 at that time. So I'm assuming I'll lost around 2,500ish now. I don't quite get the hate on American cars. I had a Dodge Neon since 2003 and put 130,000 miles on it. I didn't quite take care of it either and it lasted for 11+ years. Doing the math, lets say it's let go and I owe 2,500. I've been looking at Chevy Impalas for around 3000. That would put me at losing 5,500 on a car.. probably better off keeping it.
it's not so much a "hate" as it is a displeasure in finding that your "new" ish US made car is only worth 1/4 what you paid for it at 70,000 miles. And a comparable Toyota or VW sits at around 1/3-1/2 it's original value. A good resource: http://www.recalls.gov/nhtsa.html There are currently 3 open recalls on that car for which there are no parts to remedy:
Damn man, next time just give me 3000$, we'll go out back, I'll kick you in the nuts and well call it a day. In all seriousness, I did the same thing a few years back. Bought a 08 Sliverado for $22,500, made payments for 2 years, never drove the thing. I went to car max and they offered me 12,000. I laughed. It took a few months, but I sold it for $19,000 on E-bay. went out and bought a 6 year older truck with the same miles on it for 7k cash. Fuck payments. I'd throw it on e-bay and see what happens. A kid I work with flips cars, and always says buy on craigslist and sell on ebay. Trading in cars is for lazy suckers. Oh, and It's also a bitch to sell a car with a loan on it cause the lender has lien on the title and no one's gonna but a car with a lien on a title. I had to pay my truck off, get a clean title then sell it.
Yes, most buyers won't screw with waiting for the title to clear. I know I wouldn't, especially with all the scammers out there.
