Submitted by garfunkleandmoats t3_z2xbfw in personalfinance
I hate being dependent on vehicles and it’s a dumb depreciating asset but here we are. Our current vehicle is having a myriad of issues that seem difficult to resolve. It will randomly stop and so far at least one mechanic has told me it’s fine because they couldn’t find the issue. It’s not fine I’ve had to tow it twice now. We’ve been planning on replacing the car but were waiting to be able to take on a new payment when it started having issues. I need help making this decision.
The car is paid off and trade in value is around $16k. The car doesn’t currently suit our needs but to buy the car we would want would mean a payment we can’t afford. An older car that has higher mileage would be more affordable to buy and wouldn’t create a new payment but also more expensive to operate and maintain.
Question: Should we; 1. Dump more money in to fixing the car we own (anticipated at around $2-3k car has a problem that makes it stops and also burns oil)2. Trade in the car we own for an older car that meets our needs (Larger, higher MPG car that fits our family)but is more expensive to maintain and operate (+$150 monthly fuel cost) but no new payment. 3. Trade in our car for an older car that is cheaper to operate ($120 less monthly fuel cost) doesn’t create a payment but still doesn’t meet our family needs like our current car.