Thinking About Getting A "new" car.
By dismalgrin
@dismalgrin (2604)
United States
March 31, 2011 10:35pm CST
I have an awesome little '01 Chevy Cavalier. I really would not want to part with it except for a few things. When I lived in a homeless shelter it was very far away from all the places that I normally needed to go, so I ended up putting a lot of miles on it. I got my car one year ago and when I got it I believe the mileage was about 140k now it it 155k That is a huge jump to be putting on my car, and I have at least 2 more years of school left. Also, when I was living with my mother my little sister were getting into arguments about whether or not I should give her cigarettes. I said no way in heck would I give a 15 year old a cigarette... she whined and complained about how HARD life is as a 15 year old and I have NO IDEA! Lol. So anyhow, she ended up breaking into my car one night and now the lock on the driver's side door doesn't work. I was going to give the car to her when I no longer had use for it so she could live with the consequences and know how much it sucks to go around with a car door that is missing a lock. But, now I'm having second thoughts.
Back when I was looking into buying this car that I have now I ran into an '04 Chevy Cobalt with 86k miles on it for 4,000 dollars! I bought my car for 3,000 dollars. So, now I'm wondering if I might be able to find a deal like that again and if maybe I could just trade in my car for part of the payment and save up the other half maybe? I don't know, but I want to make sure that I have somewhat of a reliable car to get me through school and beyond. I want to make sure that I will have some time working after school to save up for a house before I have to worry about saving for a car. I love Chevrolet cars, so no one can sway me away from them. Sorry. I've tried Ford, Buick, Mercury... no thanks. Chevy rocks. I don't like purchasing brand new vehicles because it costs so much more to get the features that I want.
But even so, I'm hurting for some clothes that fit me correctly, and I still need furniture for my place before I jump into the commitment of looking for a new car. But, I don't know. If your car was in the shape mine is in, would you be looking for a new car just yet? Or would you wait it out a little.
1 person likes this
2 responses
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
1 Apr 11
Well, as long as the motor is running good and it is not having problems or costing money to get things fixed all the time then I'd keep it longer. My thing is if a car is not costing money to fix it all the time then why get rid of it? A lock can be fixed.
MIles on one is no big deal, as long as you take care of them they can keep going. My Suzuki had just under 300,000 miles on it before I bought a new motor and had it put in it and just kept driving it. It cost me $650 for the motor and $850 for the guy to put it in. So I still had my beloved Suzuki Sidekick and she had a new motor with 0 miles and all it cost me for basically a new car was under $2000.
How cool is that?
Weight your options. You are still in school and need all the money you can get. If you hang onto your car a little longer and save your money you can get a better car later. Or keep looking and find a good car for a decent price later while you are waiting without hurrying to find something.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do.
1 person likes this
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
1 Apr 11
What you say is very true... I just worry about not having any value left in my car when I'm ready to get a new one. I don't have the best credit in the world so I do want to beat the problem before it happens. But, I'm very poor right now too.
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
1 Apr 11
I don't know about there but here it takes at least 6 months to a year to build your credit up or back up to being good or better. Paying your bills on time or building some new credit in that time will help you and your car should not lose any value in that length of time.
@angelsavie (61)
• Philippines
1 Apr 11
I've always wanted to have my own car. I want to get the Mazda 3. Simple as it is. But when I get to watch the movie transformers, I loved Bumblebee. Now I want to get the Chevy Camaro. But how much will it cost me. I guess I have to work very very hard to be able to save up for that car of my dreams.
1 person likes this
