Another car dilemma: how old is too old? When to scrap an older car?

[klader]

Hey everyone,

I currently drive a 2001 Mercury Sable with 128k miles on it that I bought used in 2011 (76k miles for $5,000. Got me through a year of high school and four years of college, which was my goal). I'll be moving about 300 miles away to start my MA program, though, and I'm wondering if it's finally time to get a newer used car? There's a 2013 Ford Fusion with 23k miles for $15,500 in my area (which is a good deal), so I'm feeling a little pressured to make a decision here.

Here's the thing: once I'm at my grad school, I don't even know how much driving I'll have to do - campus is 1.5 miles away and there's a bus stop stop right by my apartment complex, which also runs to some of the shopping areas nearby. I know shorter trips are harder on a car's engine, so if I kept my car, I'd try to only use it for making longer trips outside of town/back home. And if I got the newer car, I know that I'd feel safer driving it around more, both long and shorter distances. I do plan on going home at least 4 times a year or so, in addition to living at home for a couple months during the summer.

I love my car and I bought it from an older woman who took great take care of it, and I've been keeping it maintained (I recently spent $500 on it to check every nook and cranny and replace anything that needed to be replaced). I feel like it's still reliable (even though there's some rust on the quarter panels and it's not as fast as it used to be), but a part of me also feels like I should buy a newer used car. I guess I could afford it (I have some money saved and a good credit score for taking out a loan), but I don't know how much money I'll need since this will be my first time living away from home, so I'd like having a safety net of cash during this adjustment period.

What do you all recommend? What did you do? I'd appreciate any insight! 

ETA: I could sell my current car privately and hopefully get around $1500 for it, which I could put into my loan payments. I also have $5000 available from a relative as a graduation/early inheritance gift that I could put on the downpayment, which makes the financial burden a little less burdening.

Edited May 30, 2016 by klader

[sjoh197]

My car is currently a decade old and has 275,000 miles on it. I take very good care of it and it still runs very well.

My philosophy is that I will continue to drive it until it becomes unreliable or incurs repairs that cost more than the car's worth.

Does your new city have any form of public transport as a backup? I know that at least if my car broke down, I could ride the train/bus to get to school until I found a new used car to buy. That makes a huge difference.

[CBclone]

I have a '99 pickup with a tad over 135,000 miles that I bought in late 2012. As long as there aren't any safety issues, I'd say keep your current vehicle. Use the money you save for a long weekend trip with friends, a fun and fancy night out, or just straight up save it and buy a newer car when you graduate and land your first career job. 

 

[klader]

Thank you both for the input! The public transit isn't anything too fancy since my new school will be in a small town, but there is a bus route I could take to the university and my apartment is within walking distance.

I'm definitely leaning toward keeping my car, but I'm also curious how others have handled this situation.

[rising_star]

Honestly, when I lived about 1.5 miles (really, .75-2.5 miles depending on the year) from grad school, I rarely drove my car. Instead, I commuted to campus by walking or biking (or taking the bus, if that was easier) and only used my car when necessary. I found that a tank of gas would last 4-8 weeks depending on how often I left town. During my MA, I drove more on trips because my family was a few hours away but, during my PhD, I'd fly back and forth to home. If you really aren't sure about how much you'll use the car, I'd hold off on purchasing a new one. FWIW, my car is a 2001 that I purchased in 2006 and I have about 119K miles on it (many of which came from 4 cross-country road trips). This car has lasted me through a MA, PhD, and now the first few years of my post-PhD career. I'm not planning to replace it until I absolutely have to because I'd prefer to save up as much money as I can.

[runjackrun]

I echo what folks on here have already said--if you can hold off, hold off. My first car got me through high school and college, but the transmission went as soon as I graduated. I bought a nice, new-ish (but still used) Ford and during my time away from school while I am working, I will say, I love having a more reliable car with a warranty. It's a huge burden lifted. But financially, it's also a huge burden added. I will use my car in grad school because I have it and it will be convenient (though I'll still try to minimize use to reduce gas consumption and parking costs), but I will not enjoy paying $170/month in car payments. It sounds like you haven't encountered severe maintenance issues yet, so I say it's not worth going for the new car just yet.

On 5/30/2016 at 10:48 AM, sjoh197 said:

My philosophy is that I will continue to drive it until it becomes unreliable or incurs repairs that cost more than the car's worth.

I strongly agree with this. I've always heard that you "drive cars into the ground" and I think this sums up nicely what that means. At 128k miles on your Mercury, it wouldn't be impossible to get another couple years out of it. If you get to grad school and it breaks down, then you weigh whether or not your new grad school lifestyle requires a car. If it does, you get a new one, just like you are pondering now. If you decide you can make it work without one, you've just saved yourself considerable cost for the years you are going to be in school. 

[juilletmercredi]

$15K for a 2013 Ford Fusion isn't such a screaming deal that you should make a rash decision based on its availability. A quick Cars.com search found me 38 Ford Fusions, model year 2012 and later within 30 miles of my ZIP code (a higher cost-of-living area) that cost less than $15,000. Most of them had a few more miles than the one at home, but nothing completely out of the ordinary for the age of the car. That's not even including all of the other low-cost makes and models you can get if you have $15,000 to spend on a car.

Unless you're afraid your car won't even make it to Grad City without sputtering and dying, why not wait until you are in Grad City to make a decision? Then you can see how much you drive around and whether it's necessary to purchase a new-to-you car or whether the Mercury will satisfy your needs.

And even if you do buy a newer car, you may not need to buy a $15,500 car - you can buy a lower cost car. If you're currently driving around a 2001 Sable with 128k miles, even a car in the $8-12k range will be a huge improvement over that, and many financers like Capital One will finance a car that costs as little as $7,500. Keep your monthly payments low, and/or pay off the car a lot more quickly. 

[maelia8]

I also rarely use my car since I've been in grad school - once a week for heavy grocery shopping, plus maybe one night a week for a weekend excursion - and I think I'm going to keep my car until it sputters and dies (1998 Toyota Corolla with 250,000 miles on it). I don't think it's worth investing in a new car at any price unless you are going to become a commuter driving 30+ minutes to campus every day such that an unreliable car could be a problem.

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I would keep it until it dies or close to it. But I'm not a huge car nerd, all I need is something with ac that will get me from point A to point B.

[Sigaba]

IIRC, there's a rule of thumb for owning a car. "Would you buy your car today?" If the answer is "no," then it is time to get another car.

I would sell the car. New car parts for vehicles older than ten years become harder to find and your fuel efficiency is going to cost you. The rust is going to decrease the vehicle's resale value

I would use the money from the sale and the money saved from not owning a car to pay for transpo (metro passes, uber/lyft, car rentals, taxi rides) and delivery services. (You can also attempt to negotiate a lease in an apartment with the parking 'unbundled'.)

(FWIW, I haven't owned a car for some time. My annual transportation costs are $1,200 for monthly metro passes [paid with pre tax earnings] +$400ish for car rentals [including gas and insurance] + $100 for Amazon Prime.)

[rising_star]

8 hours ago, Sigaba said:

IIRC, there's a rule of thumb for owning a car. "Would you buy your car today?" If the answer is "no," then it is time to get another car.

...

I would use the money from the sale and the money saved from not owning a car to pay for transpo (metro passes, uber/lyft, car rentals, taxi rides) and delivery services. (You can also attempt to negotiate a lease in an apartment with the parking 'unbundled'.)

I've never heard of this rule before and, to be quite honest, I don't entirely trust it but that's because it assumes we all have the financial means to upgrade to another vehicle whenever we may want.

Also, just want to say that depending on where you live, uber/lyft, car rentals (whether traditional or Zipcar), and taxi rides may not really be an option... I currently live in a place which has a total of 3 taxi vehicles and none of those other services. People do live here without owning a vehicle but it presents a set of complications and involves frequent vehicle rentals from a major car company (of which there is only one in town so you pay whatever they want to charge you).

[Sigaba]

4 hours ago, rising_star said:

I've never heard of this rule before and, to be quite honest, I don't entirely trust it but that's because it assumes we all have the financial means to upgrade to another vehicle whenever we may want.

When I first heard this rule of thumb, my thoughts were along the same lines as yours. It wasn't until after I junked a car I drove into the ground that I gave some thought into how much good money I threw after bad.

 

[rising_star]

On 6/10/2016 at 11:44 AM, Sigaba said:

When I first heard this rule of thumb, my thoughts were along the same lines as yours. It wasn't until after I junked a car I drove into the ground that I gave some thought into how much good money I threw after bad.

There's a difference between not being willing to buy your car today and throwing good money after bad. As stated above, my car is a 2001. Would I buy it today? No. But am I throwing good money after bad? Nope. My car hasn't needed much other than routine maintenance in the almost ten years I've owned it. That does mean I've done things like have the oil changed, purchased new tires when needed, had the timing belt changed around 75K as the owner's manual specifies, etc. There have been a couple of other repairs related to the age of the car (links that rusted, a thermometer that got stuck and wouldn't work, etc.) but none of those repairs has been more than $300. The main reason I wouldn't buy my car today is because I have more money now and would want something newer. That said, my mechanic is confident I could put another 50-75K miles on the car with nothing other than routine maintenance between now and then. I spend less on my car in a year than I'd spend on car payments for 3-4 months. To me, that means it doesn't make sense to buy a new car even though I wouldn't buy this exact car today (even though I love my car).

[sjoh197]

My owners manual maintenance schedule ended like 100,000 miles ago so I've been winging the estimated replacement times since. Lol.

[spectastic]

if you're not using it, it's a liability. sell it while it still holds decent value. do consider the alternatives though. i buy food weekly in bulk, so if i sell my car, I'd have to get a bicycle trailer to hold the 40-50 lbs of goodies.

but I'm heavily biased against cars in general, because bicycles and scooters/motorcycles are so much more efficient, cheaper, and convenient. 

[biotechie]

I also live about 1.5 miles from my school, and I nearly always ride the bus or walk in. The only times I drive are to get groceries, go to rehearsals for my community band, and occasionally somewhere fun on the weekends.

I currently have a 2002 Saturn that I bought in 2011 at 97,000 miles, and have barely put 20k miles on it since. I keep the maintenance up on it, getting oil changed, etc. My city also requires a yearly safety inspection, and my mechanic doesn't think it is in any danger of not passing if I keep it up.

Right now, my opinion is not to buy a new car, but that's because I myself don't want to buy a car. I'm at a point where I have no car payment, and I'm making enough that I'm able to put some back each month. I would rather save that money for when I move in a couple of years, to put toward my wedding, for a down-payment on a newer car when this one finally dies, and as a "just in case" for if I have some emergency. Graduate school also tends to include the age where many people start to see medical problems start to arise, from simple things like requiring new glasses when you don't have optical insurance to more severe things.

I think it would be wise to save your nest egg in case of emergency. That way, you won't have the added stress of worrying about money on top of your coursework. Just keep up the maintenance on your car, and then if it comes down to it, you may be able to swing something later if your car dies.

[klader]

Thank you all for the advice and input!!

I still have my Mercury, but I'm keeping my eyes open for any good deals I might find (better than the Fusion, anyway!). I think I am going to keep it for hopefully another year. It needs new tires and such, but that's a normal expense of vehicles. 

While the idea of going car-less is very enticing, I don't think that's very feasible in my situation since both my grad town and hometown are very rural areas in the Midwest. I may not need to drive often to campus, but grocery shopping and such might be difficult without my car, and I do plan on driving home a few times a year. 

Thanks again! I hope this is the right decision.