I had one other deer encounter. My vehicle before the Scion was an Aerostar, which I also liked a lot. I was driving to work and came upon a small herd of deer standing in the middle of the road. I was going slowly enough that I stopped, and when they didn’t move, I started to go around them. Apparently they were waiting for one more of their buddies, because it chose that moment to dart in front of me. I wasn’t moving fast at all, but for some stoopit reason, I hit the gas instead of the brake and knocked the deer down. It got up and they all ran away, and I ended up with a lot of cracked plastic, including the headlight housing, making it impossible to align.
I took it to the dealer and he quoted $800 to replace all the broken trim. The van was about 8 years old at that point, and I declined. We taped what we could with electrical tape and my husband managed to get the headlight pointing in a reasonable direction. We drove it on and off for 3 more years before I sold it to a coworker who just wanted a junker.
Back to topic, I see wisdom in Eureka’s suggestion to wait 6 months or a year. We aren’t in desperate straits, so a few more months of slightly higher insurance won’t kill us. And we’ll see how much, if at all, we use the Scion. Of course, if someone hands me a pile of cash because they can’t possibly live without my car, I’ll probably oblige.
Interesting how things come together. My sister has a VW Beetle that’s older than mine and a bit too cramped for her and her menagerie (3 dogs.) We got to talking and one thing led to another, and she’s got a buyer for her car, and she’s going to buy mine. I’m spared the hassle of selling mine, she gets a newer and more reliable vehicle, my husband gets to move his motorcycle to a better spot in the garage, and we can put the riding mower in the garage and demolish the shed. Win all around! We just need to work out the details since she lives 90 minutes away.
Selling the car to your sister is a pretty good idea. The pitfall is the car might stop working for some reason and your sister will be stuck without a car. Try to work out something with her in advance to account for that possibility. I rarely sell a car. I’ll give it away or only ask for some nominal amount of money. But I don’t get rid of cars easily, it wouldn’t be worth much before I let go of it. My wife would agree with you about not having extra cars around.
I know there are no guarantees, but the car is a Toyota product and I’ve maintained it meticulously. It will have to be inspected before she can title it, and the inspections here in MD are pretty good, so she’ll know (as best as can be determined) how good a shape it’s in. And face it - a tree could fall on her vehicle whether it’s the one I sell her or her present car or any other one. Frankly, considering the last 3 cars she’s owned, mine is by far the nicest and probably the newest she’s been able to afford.
Heck, once I sell her mine, our car could be totaled - life’s funny like that…
I’m glad it worked out and your sister is also getting to benefit from it. The only bit of friendly advice I have is to get full payment for the car up front, period. If she is short $500 or $1000, just write it off and consider it payment in full and never think of it or mention it again. Do NOT finance any portion of the car for her!
My mom and step-dad did something out of love and generosity for my sister five years ago and it has done irreparable damage to our family. My mom had a 2003 Ford Explorer that was worth about $10,500. She bought my best friend’s company car (2007 Explorer worth $20k+ for $15.5k), so the 2003 needed to be sold. My sister and her husband were having financial troubles, their credit was trashed and her Dodge Caravan was on the life support. So they decided to sell her the 2003 Explore for $7500 ($3000 less than it was worth) and finance it for 3-years with no interest.
She made three payments, then her husband suddenly got a major pay cut and she stopped making payments. My parents understood and she told them she would start back as soon as things improved. A year later, he was back to making more than he ever had before and she has never paid another cent on the car! My mom is heartbroken because my step-dad was the one who wanted to help my sister so much. I’ve spoken to my sister and step-brother about it and even offered to ‘repo’ the cars for my parents, but they couldn’t do it.
My sister only comes around on holidays or when she needs something now. She goes months without seeing me, my parents or my elderly grandmother when she used to visit at least every weekend (she lives 20 minutes away). My parents did change their will because my step-dad has three kids, so there are five of us in all. The balance of the car loan comes off the top of her inheritance and I’m the executor, so I’ll make sure it happens.
I warned them before they did it and my mom was apprehensive about the idea. My sister has always has a major sense of ENTITLEMENT, even when we were kids. She is three years older than me (41, I’m 38), and she picked out her first car when she was 16 and just expected my grandpa to write a check, which he did. Three years later, I had to BUY the car from her when I was 16. I didn’t even get to choose whether I wanted it or not. But I also learned how to be a responsible adult and was proud that I worked to pay that car and I’ve never asked for a handout in my life! =)
