When should you buy a new vehicle?

[Katrina]

At what point do you give up on your existing vehicle and buy a new one?

My current vehicle is a 2017 Chevy Equinox with 70,000 miles. It's like every 4 months something is breaking now but still less than what a monthly payment would be for a loan. My vehicle is in the shop now because it had the Check Engine Light come on and died at the dealership (glad it wasn't on the road). My husband wants to hang onto it for 2 more years.

When do you get a new vehicle?

 

[Allan]

70,000 miles is still considered fairly low miles by today's engines. I always judged getting a new car by the number of problems it has, like serious problems not just brakes or tires something like that. When major things start going it's time to look around and see what dealers would offer you as a trade in.

 

[zappaDPJ]

I tend to keep my cars on the road until something essential falls off

My current car, a VW Golf TDi which is 18 years old, has only failed me once due to a worn out alternator. If it ain't broke etc... and in addition, being a planet killing diesel it's dead cheap to run.

I do make a point of having my cars properly serviced once a year which I think helps keep them running smoothly. My pervious car, a Volvo estate, ran completely problem free for over 25 years.

 

[1stop]

When I decide to buy a new car depends on the conditions of the old one, the maintenance costs, and my personal choice. When repairs are becoming too common, then it is necessary to get a new one.

 

[Felly]

We had an old Ford F-150 that we kept for years. I mean, we had it since I was a kid. Grew up with it, learned to drive in it, occasionally took it out for drives on my own once I was able to. Eventually, we ended up donating it for parts because the amount going into it wasn't worth it anymore because it was just more and more problems. I wanna say it was an '85 Ford, but my memory's a little fuzzy on that. Ended up getting a Dodge Neon from a friend of my dad's who dealt in used cars for a solid deal; I forget what year it was, but eventually, the maintenance on it became too pricey, especially after we were no longer able to rely on my dad's friend after my dad passed, and we needed something more reliable from a more reputable dealer. (My dad's friend wasn't a bad person necessarily, but he was the kind of person who would band-aid a problem instead of actually fixing it if he could get away with it.)

One of the current vehicles we have now is a Ford Focus, I believe a 2010 model, that we got from a local, big name dealership. It was a used model, but the only major issue we've really had with it was when it broke down and we had to call a tow truck to take us home from a restaurant we stopped at for dinner. The dealership we got the car from deals in Toyotas but has used models of other manufacturers on site too, and when we took the car back to them, they were able to fix it enough to get it running, but it turns out there was also a part recalled on it that they were unable to deal with because it was a Ford and not a Toyota, so we ended up having to go to the Ford dealership to get that resolved too. Thankfully, both dealerships helped us out with a rental since it was our only vehicle at the time, and it wasn't financially feasible to pay for Uber to and from work where we lived at the time. (I think Toyota charged us for the rental, I can't remember, but I know Ford didn't due to it being their issue.) Everything else has just been general maintenance since we've had it. Mileage is high on it, but it runs perfectly fine; I don't drive it very often these days, but I wanna say it's about 130k+.

I ended up getting a 2020 Ford EcoSport from the Ford dealership about 5 years ago when we took the Focus in for service, and my mom was just seeing what the value was. My mom ended up not trading in the Focus, but she did co-sign for me on the EcoSport so that we wouldn't have to keep sharing a vehicle. Car hasn't given me any issues in the time I've had it, but I've also only put like 25k miles on it in the 5 years I've had it. I think the most I've paid into it is for alignment during one of the times I had it serviced (probably need to do it again because it's been a while lol), and I'll need to replace the right blinker light(s) soon too.

Eventually, I want to get a Jeep. That's low key the dream car that I've always wanted, but the EcoSport's treating me well and the monthly payments on a new Jeep are more expensive than the ones I'm making on a new (at the time of purchase) EcoSport. I could justify it financially, but I just don't think it's worth it right now when I have a car that's perfectly fine. Whenever I decide to do it, my mom's said she'll take over the remaining payments on the EcoSport and let me use the Focus as a trade in towards the Jeep (or whatever vehicle I decide to get if I change my mind lol) since it makes a lot more sense to keep the newer vehicle than the older one lol.

 

[Katrina]

We had an old Ford F-150 that we kept for years. I mean, we had it since I was a kid. Grew up with it, learned to drive in it, occasionally took it out for drives on my own once I was able to. Eventually, we ended up donating it for parts because the amount going into it wasn't worth it anymore because it was just more and more problems. I wanna say it was an '85 Ford, but my memory's a little fuzzy on that. Ended up getting a Dodge Neon from a friend of my dad's who dealt in used cars for a solid deal; I forget what year it was, but eventually, the maintenance on it became too pricey, especially after we were no longer able to rely on my dad's friend after my dad passed, and we needed something more reliable from a more reputable dealer. (My dad's friend wasn't a bad person necessarily, but he was the kind of person who would band-aid a problem instead of actually fixing it if he could get away with it.)

One of the current vehicles we have now is a Ford Focus, I believe a 2010 model, that we got from a local, big name dealership. It was a used model, but the only major issue we've really had with it was when it broke down and we had to call a tow truck to take us home from a restaurant we stopped at for dinner. The dealership we got the car from deals in Toyotas but has used models of other manufacturers on site too, and when we took the car back to them, they were able to fix it enough to get it running, but it turns out there was also a part recalled on it that they were unable to deal with because it was a Ford and not a Toyota, so we ended up having to go to the Ford dealership to get that resolved too. Thankfully, both dealerships helped us out with a rental since it was our only vehicle at the time, and it wasn't financially feasible to pay for Uber to and from work where we lived at the time. (I think Toyota charged us for the rental, I can't remember, but I know Ford didn't due to it being their issue.) Everything else has just been general maintenance since we've had it. Mileage is high on it, but it runs perfectly fine; I don't drive it very often these days, but I wanna say it's about 130k+.

I ended up getting a 2020 Ford EcoSport from the Ford dealership about 5 years ago when we took the Focus in for service, and my mom was just seeing what the value was. My mom ended up not trading in the Focus, but she did co-sign for me on the EcoSport so that we wouldn't have to keep sharing a vehicle. Car hasn't given me any issues in the time I've had it, but I've also only put like 25k miles on it in the 5 years I've had it. I think the most I've paid into it is for alignment during one of the times I had it serviced (probably need to do it again because it's been a while lol), and I'll need to replace the right blinker light(s) soon too.

Eventually, I want to get a Jeep. That's low key the dream car that I've always wanted, but the EcoSport's treating me well and the monthly payments on a new Jeep are more expensive than the ones I'm making on a new (at the time of purchase) EcoSport. I could justify it financially, but I just don't think it's worth it right now when I have a car that's perfectly fine. Whenever I decide to do it, my mom's said she'll take over the remaining payments on the EcoSport and let me use the Focus as a trade in towards the Jeep (or whatever vehicle I decide to get if I change my mind lol) since it makes a lot more sense to keep the newer vehicle than the older one lol.

Ooh be careful with Jeeps...they're mostly made with plastic parts. Ours was such garbage we had to sue 🙁

 

[Felly]

Ooh be careful with Jeeps...they're mostly made with plastic parts. Ours was such garbage we had to sue 🙁

That's what a couple of my coworkers told me when I told them it was what I was considering when I was ready! I'll definitely be doing some research before I actually make my purchase, but that'll be in the future when I'm feeling more ready to get something new.

 

[MrDawn]

When you need a whole new engine.

 

[dojo]

I drive beaters (my Mercedes is 19 years old, husband's Outback is 14 years old). We usually drive them until we cannot anymore and then look for another cheap second hand car.

 

[Cam]

At what point do you give up on your existing vehicle and buy a new one?

My current vehicle is a 2017 Chevy Equinox with 70,000 miles. It's like every 4 months something is breaking now but still less than what a monthly payment would be for a loan. My vehicle is in the shop now because it had the Check Engine Light come on and died at the dealership (glad it wasn't on the road). My husband wants to hang onto it for 2 more years.

When do you get a new vehicle?

Hopefully interest rates will continue to decrease and make getting a car note less intimidating. The monthly payment on your average $20k-25k car with 20% down is insane now.

For me, I'm not sure when it is time to give up on my existing vehicle. I would hope to get a decade of driving out of it, but you never know if you can make it that far without something happening. With my last vehicle, I made the mistake of waiting too long to replace it. My car would break down on a regular basis, and I kept putting more and more money into it. I genuinely put somewhere around $10k into it those last couple of years.