Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Not knowing your driving or financial situations....but if you have specific known problems with the 99 Accord and everything else is good, I'd fix it.
Forget about the timing belt.
Keep driving the car until it falls apart and start saving for a new car.
So really you have no choice but to drive the car until it collapses, unfortunately, or save up the $1K to get the car squared away.
Unless the '99 is an absolute pile of junk, it probably has another 75K in it if you nurse it along, and just buying some other used car with high miles isn't going to solve your problems.
The cheapest new car with a down payment is still going to cost you $250 a month if you have good credit.
You're not going to "trade" this car up for anything much---you don't have much equity in an 8 year old car with 180,000 miles on it. You'd be lucky to get enough for it to make a small down payment on a Yaris or similar entry-level car.
If you want a "nicer" car like a Camry, you'd best figure that you'll be financing $20,000 at 7% interest over 66 months.
Fix the car and run it until you have a downpayment on a new one.
But I would say that with 178,000 miles, I would probably just continue to change the oil regularly and drive it until it drops. Meanwhile, I'd start stashing money away for a down payment on a newer Accord.
I would probably look at the total amount you're paying and not the monthly payment.
Another thought to consider is upgrading to a newer Accord while keeping the old one, especially since you had the timing belt done. The old one could be used as a daily runabout car while the new one could be used more sparingly, thereby saving a little bit on depreciation.
Having said that, however, if the term is 60 months, then the payment is just about right.
I'm guessing $18,500 is the selling price of the car. ($18.5k - $2500 trade = $16k + tax, tags, fees = $17.5k OTD ... using a rough number of $20/mo/$1k financed over 60 mos, I get $350.)
Now... we're talking with automatic trans and navigation, right? At least, that is my interpretation of "fully loaded" (although alot of folks say fully loaded when it is obviously not).
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
OR... do yourself a favor and get a new SE V6 for a couple grand more.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Given your self-reported bad credit history, I wouldn't be looking to get the Honda discount financing, which is at 2.9% APR (in my area; Middle Tennessee) I believe.
But the brand new SE model, despite lacking a sunroof and leather, may be able to be financed at a lower rate, and you'll be able to get into a new car.
Sometimes I wonder why people even bother with a late-model Certified or Used Honda. For an extra grand or two, given the timing, you can get the brand new model.
And CarMax ain't cheap when it comes to used Hondas... For the time and effort, you may as well just go with the brand new one.
that can help lower your insurance rates, sometimes. Nothing special. As far as the new Honda, they are nice and feel more solid, but I still don't see how I can get one
within my payment requirements..Again, thanks all for the advice.
What are your payment requirements? For around $20,000, you probably could get $500 a month for 60 months, if not less. (extremely rough estimate there; I may be wrong)
If you are willing to wait until August, you could probably push prices down another $500-$1000, but you lose the luxury of selection in terms of colors, both exterior and interior.
Hyundais depreciate heavily the first few years though, so I wouldn't be expecting to trade up.
If you want to go used, I would definitely look into a clean, year old Chevrolet Malibu. You could get one in the $11,000 range, about the same as the Elantra, but you'd be getting a much bigger car for about the same price.
A.E.
I never heard of an 'intake gasket' that would cause coolant to leak if it failed. There is a head gasket that is difficult to replace, and if that is what they are referring to, I can see why it might cost a lot.
I don't think your problem affects the safety of the car, so you might want to just drive it and add coolant every so often.
I would strongly suggest renting a number of vehicles over the next few months to identify what you really want. You can get some great deals at Hertz Local Edition using some of the Spirit Airlines discount codes. I have been able to rent vehicles for about $35/weekend.
Since you enjoy your Sonata rental, I would start searching for a clean, year-old, ex-rental Sonata. (Others may disagree with me on the ex-rental part, but I believe it'll be an okay car) Remember, though, that if you buy a Hyundai or Kia used the 10 year, 100K powertrain warranty does not transfer; only the 5 year, 60K B2B warranty transfers.
Depending on your budget, I would not rule out a brand new Hyundai Elantra, an ex-rental Ford Fusion, or perhaps a Scion. (if you don't mind something small)
late model Hondas and Toyotas are extremely expensive, and if you can afford an 05 or 06 Accord, then I suggest ponying up an extra $1000-$2000 for a brand new one.
Good Luck
Of course if you are itching for a new car (and can afford it) then by all means dump this car and buy the Sonata.
Alternative two would be to keep running the car until the engine does blow making sure that the coolant does not get to low. That is a little chancy to me, but my friends who buy only beaters will do tghat.
So I guess I'd say work on that problem first. If the oil pump does not correct the low oil pressure, then you have big trouble.
As for the control arms--what symptoms exactly suggest this repair? Are your tires wearing funny? Did anyone show you excessive wear in these arms? I'd like to know the basis for this repair.
I guess what I'm saying is that you need some second opinions to make sure all these repairs are necessary, and if they are all necessary, solve the oil pressure problem first. If the car has worn engine bearings, I would not put in a new engine. You can get a pretty decent car for around $10,000 and maybe $8K.
If I have a $2000 car and it needs a $1000 work, fine I know I can get my money back down the road even if it drops half its value over the next year or so. If in 2 years its only worth a $1000, no prob, thats the money I spent on my repair plus I got 2 years of service out of it.
But as a rough rule, it's pretty good...presuming you don't have to use it every 6 months!
Very true, but I always put 100K mile Service Contracts on mine so by the time I have to start paying for repairs the rule applies.
Excellent point, then its time to re-think the plan
I agree with the host, deal with that FIRST.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
BTW, my car has the Mitsu built 2.5L and I think the 2001 has the 2.7L Chrysler. Unless you have the 2.4L, in which case, never mind.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
The last time i took the car for an inspection the 'check engine ' light indicator came on due to a knock indicator and a temp indicator (?? ) . I had them both replaced which reset the check engine light . I have been fighting for the past 6 months to get the OB diags to go throught a cycle so i can get my car inspected again. Ive had diags run on my car which report there arent any issues with my emmisions system. Its just the OB wont report 'ready' for the inspection station. I have been told by nissan and by everyone else that i just need to keep driving it. An inspector told me he has seen Nissans go 5000 miles before the OB was ready to be tested again. It would probably take me a years worth of driving before i would reach that. i am worried that Nissan will not take the car as a trade in since it still has a rejection stick on the window.
Does anyone else think I will have trouble when trading in my car?
1. A new vehicle should have an inspection interval that lasts for at least 2 years (i.e. even if you bought the car in late 2005, it would still have at least an inspection cycle to the end of 2007).
2. A 2006 vehicle with low miles (< 36,000) is still clearly under warranty. Any repairs associated with the indicator light are Nissan's problem especially if you are buying another Nissan vehicle.
All dealers will try to rip you off on the trade, however, the indicator light should not be a problem as long as you didn't void the warranty.
I would drive 200 miles first, then try to get it reinspected. If the codes still aren't there, then I would head back to the Nissan dealer.
I would probably avoid trading it in, as it is rather new and you will probably take a hit on depreciation.
I would do the same thing that I said above though; and drive the car for another 200 miles or so.
Now, I know with 3 years and almost 35,000 miles on the car, it's expected maintenance. My predicament is that we are talking about getting something larger to accomodate our growing family.
In your opinion, would it be more economical to pay the $1000+ to fix everything and then trade it in, or to just take the hit on the trade-in value?
Thank you in advance for your assistance!
When a dealer offers you a trade-in price, he is already taking into account reconditioning costs.
Have a great day! :shades:
All the other stuff wouldn't be something somebody noticed right off the bat, and a dealership takes into account some reconditioning when they purchase the car from you.
-Do you think you need an alignment? Does the car 'pull' when driving it? Are the tires worn unevenly, which would indicate a need for alignment.
-I would have wanted to look at the brake pads myself. Many cars can go much farther than 36,000 miles on brakes, especially on the rear. Before having this done, I would get a second opinion at another independent shop. Also, many cars have a little thingie on the brake pads that will make noise when braking if the pads are worn down and need replaced. Does the steering 'wobble' when braking? If so, the front rotors probably need replacing, if not, just pad are probably all that you need.
-Have you looked at the tires? It's pretty easy, there are wear indicators in the treads. When you can see a 'bar' of rubber across the tire, it needs replaced. Sears always has tires on sale. If the tires are worn out, and you are going to trade it sometime soon, a cheap set of tires is all you need.
-Power steering fluid is usually NEVER needed to be flushed. Especially at 36,000 miles.
Remember, when a dealer gives you a list such as this, it has taken someone a couple of minutes to check off a bunch of items on list and run the estimates. A dealer in many cases is working to move money from you wallet to his account.
You need to become more familiar with maintenance items for your car. It is all laid out in the owner's manual. You should not need to do more than is called for in the manual.