I need some advice on a big decision I have been tossing around for the past few months. Given the bad economy and sketchy situations with jobs these days, I am trying to make a sound financial decision about a car that I have. My Dad passed away in 2008 and I inherited a 2004 Infiniti FX35 from his estate. The car was given to me in excellent condition, fully paid off, and right now it just hit 50,000 miles coming into the end of 2010. I have another vehicle that we own outright which is a 2000 Mitsubishi Galant....it drives perfectly fine but we know it’s on it’s way out the door soon as it just hit 100K miles and the interior of the car is deteriorating rapidly. I probably wouldn’t get two cents for the Mitsubishi even on a good day! My 16 year old will be getting that car for starters until we know that she is doing really well on the roads. It seems like the best thing to do with a new driver. Here's the dilemma.....the Infiniti that I inherited is gorgeous and does have sentimental value but it is costing me a fortune in insurance, gas, and general upkeep because it is a high-priced luxury SUV. If you were me, would you keep this car or take the equity I have from it and try to buy a more affordable used car outright? Our house also needs a third car ASAP because we now have more drivers than cars when our 16 year old gets her license in 30 days and will be allowed to use the Mitsubishi to get to places she needs to go. We need a third car for my husband and we can’t take on whopper car payments. Would you keep the paid-off Infiniti FX35 or get rid of it on a trade to cut expenses? Would you sell the Infiniti and try to get 2 cars out of it that would have low loans and low payments so we could have 2 somewhat newer cars? Our overall credit right now is not good. I was laid off from 2 jobs in the past 6 years and we went through some financial hardships. Things are fine now and have been for the past year and a half but not good enough to give us our stellar credit rating back just yet. Can anyone give me some guidance? I would appreciate the help.
No car payments--ever! Sell the Infiniti and buy 2 cash cars.
I got rid of my Caddy for the same reason--maintenance was a BEAR!
I'd hold off on providing a full time car for the 16 yr old.
When times are tough, teens don't get gift cars.
She needs to be working/saving till she can chip in on the upkeep, insurance and gas for it.
Drive the Mitsubishi till it falls apart (or the cost of repairing is too expensive. A single $500 repair is cheaper than a $13000 used car).
I'd sell the expensive SUV and use the money to get something used you can rely on.
Save anything that's left over for when the Mitsubishi dies, then replace it.
A bad credit rating means you are going to have a hard time getting a loan with a low interest rate so avoid it till your rating is better.
First off - I'm sorry for the loss of your father.
None of us have walked in your shoes so I don't know what to tell you to do. I can tell you what I would do.
Shop around for insurance to make sure you are getting what you need and at the right price. The insurance costs MIGHT be high because you have a 16 year old driver not necessarily because you have an Infinity on your policy.
My question would be WHY does your 16 year NEED a car? It's a privilege NOT A RIGHT...if you or your husband commute a long distance to work - the Infinity may do better on long hikes rather than short around town commutes.
Before doing errands during the day - make sure you are doing it right and not skipping all over town. Make a list of what you need and where you need to go and do it in a circle or square - but in order not, far from home, close to home, medium from home - etc. people don't realize how much time and gas this wastes - make a list....
Just like with this situation - make a list - find out what you can afford - in order to do that -
find out what the Infinity is worth...
then shop around for car insurance -
make a decision about whether or not your 16 year MUST have a car
find out what you can do to make the Infinity work better for you...
There are things you can do to make the Mitsubishi last longer - seat covers, keeping the maintenance up, etc. just because it has 100k on it - doesn't mean it won't last much longer - negative attitudes bring negative back.
Go to your local Car Max and see what they would pay you for the car. Make the decision from there as well as getting all the information on the insurance front - find out what it would cost to have your 16 year old ONLY on the Mitsubishi....
do what is right for your family. not what other people think. If you have the opportunity to purchase two cars outright for what you could get for the Infinity - make sure the insurance costs won't be higher - look at the big picture.
Why not sell the vehicle you inherited and buy more economical car(s) outright or with only taking a small amount out for a car loan. Keep in mind that if you have a car loan you may be required to keep full coverage on the car until it is paid off. The other thing that our family found is your insurance is going to go up by adding a new driver. When our oldest son got his DL we had 2 car loans and he was added as a third driver but it was 2 full coverage cars. He bought an older car that we only added liability on and our ins. went down in cost due to it being less expensive to insure him on liability only car. It may be more economical to just buy one car outright and start saving for the 3rd car that the family needs. The other thing to keep in mind that your 16 y.o. may not need access to a car 24/7. When I was in HS my Dad and I shared a car. He worked 6-3 while I was in school 8-2, when I got a job, I did not have to be at work until 4-5 in the evening. We had another car that Mom used to run kids whereever they needed to be and if they needed to go somewhere while I was at work. Really sit down and decide if a 3rd car is a necessity or a want. Good Luck.
This is what I would consider doing if I were in your situation:
I would sell the infiniti outright, you will get more money...use that money to buy a less expensive but newer vehicle. Call your insurance & get rate quotes to see what's the least expensive.
If your husband really needs a car he should be the one to use the galant & your DD should use either vehicle when they are not in use. If DD really needs a vehicle for some reason then use a portion of the money to buy another used car but only pay cash, no car loans.
Sorry for your loss
OMG! I am really, really sorry about this..... but I am going to apologize agead of time if I offend you in any way. I am sorry for your loss, really I am. That being said, the post is about WHAT TO DO WITH THE CAR THAT WAS INHERITED, NOT IF HER KID SHOULD GET TO HAVE A CAR!!!!
Ok, sorry. I was just reading the answers..... and I was totally blown away by the 2 posts that went to the point about why did your 16 yr old NEED a car or think they SHOULD get their OWN car when "times are tough" kids can't just get "gift" cars, etc, etc etc. OMG! You are in a hard situation. I don't know what I would do about the vehicle, other than look around, see if dealers would give you much in trade, see what you could possibly sell it for, etc. I Can tell you that you will not get much in the way of buying a vehicle these days for less than a thousand bucks. We just bought both of our teenage daughters their first vehicles in the last 3 years, and for anything under 2500 you won't really get much. (yes, I said WE bought THEM their first cars) Here is the thing about teenagers and cars.............
A lot of people like to say that kids today think they should have everything handed to them on a silver platter, and don't want to work for anything, well that is not my experience. They CAN'T work. NOBODY will hire them until they are older than 16! Now with jobs the way they are, and there are so many people out of work, employers are going to hire adults way before they hire a teen. Good luck finding a part time job, especially if you need one that will work around any extra curricular activities at school. (and those are important for college apps) Both of my girls WANTED to work from the moment they were old enough. They couldn't find jobs. They did finally get jobs, but would never have had enough time to save money for a car. They do usually help pay their insurance, but if they can't, oh well. We pay it. They go to school, pay for their clothes, and try to pay for their fees, and extra curricular activities when they can. We work TOGETHER to get things paid. I always make sure they have the money they need to pay for whatever they are doing. Did my kids NEED a car and to be out driving? Absolutly, YES!!! With the school hours, all the afterschool activities that they are in (again looks great on a college app), their part time jobs which I was very tired of driving them to, their very little social time with friends, (because of the dmeanding school and activity schedules) ,and helping me out with their younger brother and sister picking up and dropping off, etc we did need them to be driving. I could NOT be everywhere at once. It was crazy! Until you have run the schedule with teens and younger kids, doctor appts, and jobs, you have NO IDEA! Life is so much easier when they can drive themselves, and can help out with the younger kids too. I hope you can make a decision about your inherited car, but please don't let other people make you feel guilty about providing a vehicle for your teenager. It is sometimes a much needed thing. Good luck!
What I am going to say is counter to everyone else but here you go. My husband has a 2003 FX45 (same car, bigger engine). It has about 105K miles on it. It has been a great car. Honestly, we do keep it well maintained but we have really not spent much on this car other than routine maintenance (oil changes, tires, etc.) We just replaced the original battery this year. Since it is paid for, I would try to get cheaper insurance and keep it. It will last a long time.
Good luck!
I am so sorry for your loss.
You can sell it outright on Craigslist and get more money for it than if you trade it in. If it has sentimental value, then you can take lots of pictures and make a nice scrapbook of it. =)
HTH!
as others have said, seriously think about selling the infiniti; however, try as hard as you can not to trade it in- if you or your husband want to get the most for it, sell it privately. craigslist works really well. i've sold 3 cars that way and you can get about 10-15% more than trading it in.
it isn't easy selling a car because of negotiating, making appointments for potential buyers, etc. so some people eat the 10% and just trade it in for less. you should be able to get about 17-18K for it if you trade it in and around 19-20K if you sell it yourself.
just remember how when you trade it in, the dealer has many tactics to 'fool' you to give you little for it when you think you're getting a good deal. just flat out ask them what they would give you for your infiniti and then shop around for cars at that dealer. too many times they hike the price of the car you want to buy so in turn they are not giving you as much for your trade-in.
and i agree with others regarding the car for your daughter. of course it would be nice for her to have her own car, but not sure of her situation and if she needs a car. maybe she works 10 miles away and needs it or is taking classes at an off-site location where you or your husband can't drop her off. or maybe it's just you want to give her everything she wants.
newer cars are of course nice to have but i suggest running the mits into the ground- especially since you can't get much for it now anyway. if you do decide to give it to your daughter, maybe have her pay maintenance- that's always a good learning experience and lesson with what it takes to maintain a car- especially a free one for her.
good luck!
Sell the car (private sale, *not* at a dealership) and get one or two cars (preferably private sale and not at a dealership). Just because you have three drivers doesn't mean you need three cars! It will be convenient for her to be able to drive herself places she wants/needs to go, but it is not a necessity (plus three car insurance payments, including a newly driving teenager will be expensive).
Get something you can afford, whether that's one car or two, depending on the prices. You need a car for your husband, and you need a car for yourself; a car for your daughter is not a necessity. You can probably sell the Infiniti for about $15,000 (perhaps more since it's got such low miles and is a luxury vehicle), which will allow you to buy a $10,000 and a $5,000 car, which should satisfy your needs and then some.
Having not been in your situation and just looking from outside here.......
I'd shop insurance companies. We own 2 higher end Mercedes, 1 is a sport 2007 and one is a luxury sedan 2010. We only pay $900 every 6 months for full insurance on these cars, through Farmers.
We are discounted due to defensive driving, we have our house, jewlery rider and business insurance with the same agent. We work from our home and these cars are not high mileage. We also have a $1000 deductible on each car in case of a claim. No one wants to make a claim on insurance so we keep our deductibles high, (same with homeowners insurance.....high deductible)
Granted, my situation will soon change because I also have a 16 yr old daughter who will begin driving the 2007 some so she has to be listed on our insurance. I understand that my $900/6 months will roughly go to $2000 due to her inexperience. However, she is in a specific driver training which is supposed to get us 10% off that rate and if she has no tickets or issues, we might maintain a decent rate.
Yes, she will help pay for the extra insurance we must take out due to her.
I would keep the Mit car for the 16 yr old and see what you can do about the insurance costs of the SUV. Is the SUV still under full warranty? That is another thing to consider.
It is a tough decision, especially if you have sentimental feelings about it. You have to do what is right for you... just take the opinions as just that, an opinion and maybe a piece of information you gather to help you make the best decision for your family.
Best wishes.
I just looked up the Infiniti on Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) and you would get a NICE trade in value for that car as well as resale if you decide to sell it on your own. I would probably go ahead and try to sell it or take it to CarMax. If priced right, you could probably get two nice nused cars.
M.
Be careful! If your credit has taken a hit, you might find it difficult to get a loan at all, or at least a loan with favorable rates. If you really want to go that route, find out what you'd be charged for the cars you want. You may want to keep the car (no payments) and only loan the Mitsubishi to your daughter when she needs it. Does your 16 year old REALLY need her own car? You are likely to get a lot more than 100k miles on those cars if you maintain them properly- my Lexus has 130k miles and seems like it's new outside of where my kids have left their mark! Just a thought!
Maybe you can do an internet search for your Infiniti and see what they are going for, then use that to decide if it would be worth it to sell it.
