The last car I purchased was a new 2005 Ford Escape. Its now 2013 and I still have it. I really wanted one of these and finally got one. Now I do not want to let it go. I still like it and its not gotten old to me yet. Its got two little dings in it. One where I backed into a car that was illegally parked behind me and the other is from a bicycle incident. Neither place is easy to spot unless you look directly at it. Its been a really good car. While under warranty, the computer went out and that was a pretty big deal but its all good now. I was planning on keeping it until my daughter graduated college. Well, she's graduated and I still want to hold on to this one. It's broken in. I do not have to worry about little nicks and dings. I'm comfortable with it and don't feel like I have to be so careful with it all the time anymore. It's just a part of me.
But.......
Things are starting to go wrong with it like, it needs new tires, shocks, a tune up or down, The seat is starting to split a little, etc.... I need to trade it in now before it gets to the point its going to start costing me or to the point where it will not bring a good trade in. It still has under 100k miles on it.
Oh, but what to do.... Do I make enough money for a new car? Not really. It will take everything I make to pay for one. I will still have to make payments even if its a used one.
What I drive now
 What I really want |
What I'm thinking about getting
What I can really only afford.
Do I want another SUV? or A sedan? After all, its just me, my husband and occasionally my daughter. But we want something that's comfortable to take on our beach trips. The payments will be about the same but I do not think Ill be real happy with a car now that I'm spoiled on an SUV.
I wish I could just keep the one I have now and buy something else. I'm gonna have to make a move soon though. I can just pay for it with a wing and a prayer.
Decisions, decisions.
UPDATE: Its July again but one year later than this original post. I finally did it. I purchased a brand new 2014 Ford Escape (black). Like the one pictured above that I was thinking about getting. This one is newer than the photo and has shiny chrome wheels. Man this car has everything! It even talks to me.
My advice would be to go with the car you can afford. I try not to take out more debt than I can reasonably afford. We have a Toyota and we love it :)
ReplyDeleteTrue. I want something iI can pay off within 3 years.
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