QuestionI own a 1996 car that runs good and with no problems at ALL, but I see the new models and feel like I want a new car, should I chnage my car, or keep driving this one until it start giving problems? by the way I have enough money for the switching, and I know that by keeping the current car I save a lot. Please give input on this. Thankx.
AnswerHi Jo,
Its hard to fight new car fever, isn't it? I lost the fight when I bought my pristine new 1998 XCab 4WD Tacoma in 1998. :-) But I've been happy with it for 4 years and now its paid for. And I've been eyeballing the new 2002 4-door double-cab Tacoma, so I can relate to your dilemma.
You just have to weigh the "I want it" factor against the money its going to cost you for the next 4-5 years. Look up the book value for your 1996, subtract that from the MSRP of your dream car, and decide if its worth it. Here are a couple of good places to look up values: http://www.kbb.com and http://www.edmunds.com Most dealerships use NADA low wholesale values for trade-ins, you can see what that is at http://www3.nadaguides.com/
Is being under warranty important to you? That's another major advantage of a new car, if anything *at all* goes wrong, then you just take it to the service shop for free. If your current car is a Toyota, then those trips to the service shop have probably been rare. Our 1996 Tercel has only been in for routine maintance, same thing for the 1998 Tacoma. So warranty is not that important for us.
Is your 1996 missing any particular feature that you want? Would it be more economical to add that to your current car? Would adding a new cosmetic feature make your car look&feel new to you? For example, I added cruise control to my 1995.5 Tacoma and that kept me happy with it for 2 more years. I added a sunroof and new rims to my 1998 Tacoma and it made a huge difference in how much I liked driving it.
Does your current car meet your transportation needs as far as passenger capacity, gas mileage, cargo space, etc, or have your needs changed since 1996? For example, the thing that makes me want a quad-cab is the fact that we have a really hard time taking another couple out to dinner, etc. The 2-door Tercel is too small and inconvenient for 4 and the Tacoma's XCab is just not big enough for passengers. It would make sense for us to upgrade.
Also look at your past buying habits. If you tend to get the new car fever every 2-4 years, maybe leasing would make more sense for you financially. We tend to hang onto our vehicles until they fall apart, so ownership works best for us.
Just weigh your personal preferences. And if you decide to keep yours, don't drive past the dealerships if you can avoid it ;-).
Happy shopping,
SherryB
