Keeping the Cost of a New Car From Getting into Your Wallet

The thought of getting a new car so often sounds like a great idea until the reality of that new car payment comes home to roost. It's ok at first then after that new car feel is gone it can feel burdensome. Almost like having a big payment for a used car for the next however many more months or years. According to edmunds.com the average new car payment is $483.00 per month. That's almost $6,000 a year out of your pocket.

There is a lot of thought nowadays that if your car is paid for why would you pay for a $1,000 - $3,500 repair on an “older car” instead of just buying a new car. Well the new way of thinking is that cars made in the last 20 years are far superior than their predecessors. (my car is 6 years old and has 293,000 miles on it.) My 2011 Scion XB runs good and I plan to keep it at least another 3 - 5 years.

So let's get back to the idea of fixing your older car or going with another option.

Do you want 48 - 72 months of car payments ? Buying a new car is nice however is it the best option ? Do you want car payments ?

Do you want to buy a used car ? Always a certain amount of risk

Fix up the car you have ? Costs money

The thought on fixing up the car you have can be a very positive thing because you know the history of your vehicle and most importantly the repair history. Let's say you spend $2500 on a 15 year old car that you own with a good running history. If you think of it this way what kind of car can you buy for $2500 or more that you know nothing about ? That can be a scary proposition and now days it is hard to find a decent used vehicle for under $10,000.

We think if the vehicle is in good shape other than the needed repair your best option most of the time is to get your car repaired. If the vehicle has had a lot of problems though it might be time to get rid of it. If the car has been a good vehicle there should not be any fears on keeping it for another 2 - 4 years.

Yes we want to repair your vehicle however the reality is it makes good financial sense in the long run for most people when you figure how much money you will save that can go to house payments, vacations, medical bills, retirement or your children's education.

It’s can be a very appealing thought to have that extra money coming in and not going out in car payments. Yes there are repair bills however the repair bills are almost always much less than new car payments. It is fun and it feels good to have a new car. The question is it practical ?

As a point of note we sometimes will buy our customers old cars when they don’t want to repair the vehicle. So always keep that in min

Hopefully this article will help give you a little thought on repairing your old vehicle or not