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Advice on a used car/truck

April 29th, 2008 at 06:47 pm

Well, so much for more frequent blog entries. Sorry about that. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Excellent news since I last wrote. My husband got a job in a local city as a firefighter/paramedic. I am soooo proud of him. He worked long and hard for this and it is going to be awesome. His start date will be May 5th. WOOT!!

So, here is where today's entry title comes in and where I need some advice:

Lafawnda the Honda (my car...an Accord) is paid off and in good condition. She gets decent gas mileage and I plan on driving her as long as I can.

My husband's Explorer is a different story. We are working on paying it off and the current balance is around $2,600.00 (this is our smallest debt and next on the debt snowball). With the way gas prices are now and the longer drive he'll have to work (even though it might not be that bad since he's only going to go once every three days instead of five days a week) we are thinking about a different vehicle for him. It has been a long while since we looked at cars/trucks and I am worried about getting a good deal, decent car, etc.

This is the dealio though...I don't know whether we should pay off the Explorer asap (and throw the tax rebate check of $1,200.00 at it to get it down faster) or try to trade it in now. It does have a few issues (passenger side mirror got broken and the mirror part is missing, needs new tires which would be around $450.00).

I don't want to deal with the whole private sale thing so I was thinking maybe Carmax. But should we take it up there as is now or what?

Also, for the replacement vehicle...we are thinking a small truck or small car. I have no idea where to get started on that because I don't want a payment and I don't want to deal with dealership scumbags.

Advice? Thoughts?

5 Responses to “Advice on a used car/truck”

  1. littlemama Says:
    1209496735

    I think Dave would say keep it and pay it off as quick as you can.

    You may want to call around to some junk yards and see if you can get a mirror. If you find one, take your own tools to disassemble yourself. More than likely it will only cost you a couple dollars or less.

    Another thing...tire prices are negociable. Not many know that. Call around, ask for the "drive away" price for all four tires and compare. Then call back to "place 1" and see if they will beat "place2" (and so on.)

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1209497836

    Paying it off, is an excellent idea. Is it possible for the two of you to switch vehicles on the days he needs to drive in to work?

    Carmax will give you the wholesale price. You really would do much better trying to sell it on your own. It's even easier once it's paid off with the title in hand.

  3. debtfreeme Says:
    1209499821

    Keep it and pay it off. Any reason why he can't drive your car if it is the further distance to work once every three days? Is your commute shorter than his?

    Then save up for a newer car. if it is only driven once every three days the expenses are not going to be to bad.

  4. crazyliblady Says:
    1209516484

    I don't think I would get a new or used car loan for a different vehicle to a part-time job. The interest on a new loan (which includes the old loan tacked on) would not be worth it. I think the best thing to do if you are really concerned about gas mileage is for you and he to switch vehicles if there is a significant driving distance difference. You should get the mirror fixed, though.

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