Why do you think you will do OK if you sell your car? You hvae just gotten to the point where the deprec has been way higher than the actual decrease in value, ie the cars PRICE will be way lower than it’s VALUE. Ie, you might end up not actually clearing anything. You might consider refinancing the car, esp if you are a homeowner. With the higher rate, and lower loan period for a used car, the payments might not even be much less.
If you do decide to buy, whatever you do, do NOT, under any circumstances whatsoever, buy from a Toyota dealer. Trust me on this, I know stuff I cannot tell, (but does the word “indictment” mean anything?).
Jodi, if haven’t bought a car yet, get a mid-eighties volvo. They’re relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain, and virtually indestructable. And they’re not flashy at all, so you’ve got less of theft threat.
Of course the price will be lower than the actual value. But fortunately, because it’s a Honda and they keep their value really well, it should not be much less.
I’m not looking to “clear anything,” in the sense of “make a profit;” I’m looking to get out from under my car payments by trading in a nice car (not paid for) for a less nice one (paid for).
Refinancing would not work for me, I’ve looked into it.
HANDY – Jodi, what do you want for your car?
Why? Are you seriously interested in it? Because Montana would be a long way to go for a used Honda. Call me shy, but I’d rather not post the asking price – which I’m not going to get anyway. If anyone seriously cares enough, e-mail me and I’ll give you all the details on the car (including price).
DANIEL – So, Jodi, did you follow our advice?
Not yet, but I’m going to. I have to sell the car I have first.
I’d recommend looking for a good clean VW Jetta, Golf, or Fox. Good reliable transportation, rugged, and you should be able to pick one up for $4000 or less.
This is an easy debate. Frankly, you’ll get many opinions based on isolated examples of each owner and their own experience. “My uncle owned a 1954 Ford and the brakes weren’t too good. Don’t buy a Ford, they burn oil and have bad brakes”.
Edmunds.com is an great resource, as someone pointed out. To save you the trouble, other good resources have one common thread when recommending older cars: Honda… Model is irrelevant.
The other thing to consider is that there are more Hondas on the road than most other cars, so you can shop around. I’m sure if you are restricted to a Chevy S10 pickup with “x” engine and “y” transmission you won’t have much choice.
Honda. And this is from a guy who hates to admit that American is not the way to go.