Are Trade Ins Worth It?

Just keep in mind...(like my husband and I are)....the value of the trade in WHEN you decide TO trade it in.
We have a POS VW Beetle...its paid off...running (now) (its had an ENORMOUS amount of problems).....what do we do? trade in when its worth $2400? or wait til the transmission goes out and it smokes and its worth $500?
Sometimes, you have to gettin' when the gettin's good!!!

Good Luck!!!

It's only a good time to buy a car if you can afford a car. Without payments.
Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsay?
His philosophy is never, EVER buy a brand new car. And always pay cash for your cars.
If I were in your shoes, I would keep driving BOTH cars until you have the ca$h to get something newER.
Sounds like the last thing you need right now is a car payment!

Get a Ramsay book: Financial Peace or Total Money Makeover. You will understand the straightforward financial principles and common sense approach to money.

Good luck!

I worked for a dealership...If you have an older vehicle, you're better off outright selling to a private party. You won't get near the value they're worth by doing a trade. I will be honest with you though--being a 1-guaranteed-income family for the last 5+ years--it's better to keep the vehicles you have now and fix or maintain them than it is to invest in another one. It's actually cheaper to replace the engine & have the braking system all redone in his car than it is to buy all new. GL with your decision!

I side with your husband for two reasons - I believe that if the mechanic says it's okay, it's okay. Just because it is old with the light on and doesn't drive the same as yours doesn't make it bad. I always notice a difference in breaking and accelerating when I drive different cars than the one I am used to.

Also, to buy a new car is not always the best financial decision because its value greatly decreases after a year.

Our Honda Civic is 21 years old, well-maintained, has over 270,000 miles on it and is going strong. Some worn spots and stains inside, a couple of dings and chips outside, and we love it. It still gets better mileage than most new hybrids, and has never needed a major repair.

We've saved thousands of dollars a year over what we would have spent on newer cars by now. We hope to drive it for another 100,000 miles.

Upgrading cars is one of life's bigger expenses, especially if you buy one new. So determine your priorities: Safety? Reliability? Mileage? Size of car? Power, handling, speed? Style? Overall economy? If you work through a priority list that you and your husband can both agree on, it will make your decision to sell/keep/trade easier.

If you decide to keep your car, I can't stress good maintenance enough. Regular servicing, oil changes, checking tire pressure. Not only will it keep your car operating longer and more safely, but costs will stay lower if you fix things while problems are still small. You'll get optimal mileage.

Keeping and repairing an older car is one of the most economical choices in almost every case. We won't give up our car until it becomes unreliable or unsafe.

If your finances aren't steady, you can keep both cars. His car can maybe make it 5, maybe 10 more years if he is getting it worked on properly, and is driving it well (as in not accelerating it like crazy or driving it to the ground).

My car is 12 years old, and my husband's is 18! If my husband needs to drive a long distance though, he will borrow mine for the day, but otherwise, it still runs great though it does need to be worked on every now and then. Also, standards typically last longer than automatics.

If he is intent on keeping his car, which sounds wise to me... then he should be the one to drive it and you trade in your car for the new one. Your car would probably get a better trade in value due to the mileage and driveability.

Go to Kelly Blue Book to compare trade in values:
http://www.kbb.com/used-cars

I just cleaned my car a few days ago, it looks so new now, even though my kids trashed it! It's amazing what some elbow grease, vaccuuming and a carpet shampooing can do to a family car.

I would say knock on wood....LOL. A major break down can occur at any moment on either of your vehicles.

I say keep both cars and just look around for a good deal on low down payments since you guys have good financial heads on your shoulders. It can't possible hurt to keep 3 vehicles through Winter just to see how they do and if one breaks down. By Summer you'll know which older car you want to get rid of, he can drive both for a while and see if he likes one over the other.

I would get a program vehicle for you because you have the kids with you and your vehicle would be the family transportation.

If he got the newer vehicle then he would be driving it to work and you'd be staying at home while he had the new van or SUV out putting all those miles on it. I have quite a few friends who are SAHM's and if their hubbies car breaks down he has to drive the big van/SUV to work and leaves the mom and kids home without transportation for the day.

So, all in all, the newer vehicle goes to the kids first.

I'm no expert. I would make the time to get your car really cleaned out and detailed as best you can--I have 2 young kids in my car so I know what you mean about the mess they make.
My car is about 12 years old as well but is doing okay. My parents had more than one car they kept 20 to 25 years. The key is making sure you do all the preventative maintenance and don't let necessary repairs go. I'm not perfect on this myself but my father is very good at this and his cars last and run well for many years.

Have you looked at the option of a fairly new used car? My best friend got a very nice car that was under a year old and in beautiful shape (had been owned by a rental company). It was much less expensive than a new car. There are some down sides but it may be a good backup plan if your husband's car dies unexpectedly.

We were in this position a few years ago and decided to trade-in the one we thought wouldn't last as long when we bought a new car. Unless you know a lot about cars it's really hard to figure out which one you should trade-in. Well, the car we kept crapped out sooner than we wanted and we just replaced it with another used car on eBay Motors for just $1200.

I would say make a list of the pros/cons for each car and look up the trade-in values on http://www.nada.org and on Edmunds. Maybe shop around a little and see what's out there and then make your decision. If you find something you like the dealer can give you an estimate on trade-in and may be willing to give you a value on both cars and go over your payment options with this information. When we bought our Scion 3 years ago the dealer was terrific and really helped us weigh all of our options so we could get a car we were comfortable with financially.

Hmmm, if you don't feel safe in his car ya think your going to sell it? probably not for a good price. If you want to sell a car I'd say yours but only when you have your eye out for a specific car so you don't have to use his car or sell his car private for as much as possible and use that money to get a car.... TRADE IN IS NOT WORTH IT lol... PRIVATE SELL! craigslist, your local newspaper.
If yours is older and lower mileage you can get a good private party sale price for it. I had carmax try to give me 1500 for my mustang that was actually book valued at 5000... they will always rip ya off. go kelly blue book.com and see what the private market value for your car is and try to sell it and then either buy a newer car cash or down payment on a new car. Sometimes craigs list has good deals on cars but I wouldn't do that unless you have a mechanic friend. Same with used car dealers, have your own mechanic check em out. I always make my dad tag along cuz he's been a mechanic on cars for 25 years.

This isn't a conspiracy or a difficult choice. Of course you are going to get more on a private sale, but here's the deal:

Trade-in = less money; less time (to sell); less headache

Private sale = usually more money (not guaranteed); more time; more headache

its all about what you want to do. Arm yourself with knowledge as well. Check www.kbb.com for trade-in and private party values on both your vehs. You can haggle your trade in value dealership as much as you can haggle your private party sale; the key is not to be afraid to do it. KBB will also tell you who's car is worth more to sell. If the mechanic is saying the car is fine, then most likely it is, this does not mean you shouldn't get rid of it though. It is too difficult for me to tell you what you should do exactly, but I recommend trading in/selling your hubby's veh based soley on the information you have given; I would need year, make, model and condition in order to be more detailed. Either way, good luck!

P.S. a car's year doesn't matter as long as it is in good condition, my brother has a 71 mustang that still drives fine and that is 40 years old (in a couple months that is)

Don't trade it in - sell it your on your own - we have had really good luck with autotrader.com for selling cars. Just make sure it is clean and be honest about any work that has been done. And if your cars are old make sure you discuss insurance savings with your insurance provider - no need to carry full coverage on a car if a minor collision will total it in the eyes of the insurer (or the amount of insurance you pay is more than the replacement cost of the vehicle) - you could probably just drop the insurance to liability only. Also let me echo some of the other posters below about old cars - I have a 16 year old basic Lexus sedan that runs like a dream at 175k miles (bought it used at 2 years old). Regular maintenance - oil changes/tire rotations goes a long way with these cars (and I never paid for any "scheduled maintenance"). And its not just toyotas/hondas - our Ford Expedition gave us 15 great years until we sold it for $3500 to a family friend - and that was a "friendly" discount for the $4200 kbb price (note that the dealer was only going to give us $2k.

I can so relate to what you are thinking... my husband and I both have cars that will be 10 years old next year and we are thinking of selling 1 and getting a new or gently used vehicle for one of us. We aren't sure who should get the newer vehicle. It makes more sense for my husband to get the newer one as his seems to have more problems (although working fine for the past 3 months), has more miles on it, and the body is in worse shape. he loves his truck and I love my van. I think it is much easier to do a trade in, but makes better sense financially to sell it yourself.

There are many incentives and bonuses when buying now, consider a vehicle 1-2 years old to still get warranty a better value for your money. Look at your overall budget and start putting aside the monthly payment now to be sure you can afford it. We haven't had a car payment in a few years but we will have a credit card paid off in January and will make that the car payment for something newer.

Hi, V.M.
It sounds like a boundary issue is trying to be crossed.

If he wants to trade in his car, then he can trade in his car.
If you want to trade in your car, then trade in your car.

If it is a control issue on which car to trade in, no one is going to end up happy. If your car is older, it stands to reason to trade it in.
It stands to reason that you will get the new car.

If he trades in his car, then he gets to drive the new car and you keep your car.

What is involved here is: power, emotion, and face.

It sounds like your husband and you are having a power struggle.
Just a thought.
Good luck.
D.