Tips on Buying Cars: Your Land Rover, leasing trade in financing

Question
QUESTION: Ok. I bought a 2000 Land Rover Discovery about 3 years ago and to this day i still owe around $5300 on it. Recently in the past three weeks it has been in the shop three times with leaks and a couple of electrical problems. As of now i have spent about $3000 trying to get it fixed. On top of the repairs, gas prices are killing my wallet. I really want to get out of this vehicle and into something more reliable and less costly on repairs and gas. The problem is, i am not sure how to go about doing this without really getting into a financial situation. Can you please help me and give me some pointers on how i should get out of this vehicular trap that i am in? Thanks for your time

ANSWER: Don't spend any more money on the Discovery! I liked your 'vehicular trap you're in'. You are. Find a vehicle you really like and won't mind driving for 3 years. Let me know exactly what your trade-in is(year, mileage, color, etc.) need this info to give you a value on your's and then I can try and give you a tad bit more advice about trading it in and not being totally screwed.
S Arnold

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So. It is a 2000 Land Rover Discovery SD. Has no sun roof or moon roof. The mileage is around 111,000, A lot i know! It is a burgundy color with very little outside damage, couple of scratches here and there. The interior is nice as well. There are a few little rips in the drivers seat. I guess the SD is the bottom of the line for land rover since there is no wood grain or sun roofs on it. I am looking at getting a Subaru, possibly the Forester or the Outback, used of coarse. It is in the shop as we speak and i have come to my wits end with this vehicle. I think if i trade it in i will be upside down on another car, but i feel that i have no choice but to trade it in. If you need any more info let me know. I just want to get out of this car!

ANSWER: Jonathan, Few things:
What color is it? Ever been in an accident? How is your credit? And where do you live (this does make a difference on the value of your car.)?
Why do you want a Subaru...do you like it? It does have great ratings.
Let me know.
s


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The Land Rover is a burgundy/red color. It has never been in an accident. My credit is great so far, but on top of that I had to resort to my credit card to pay for all of the repairs. I live in Atlanta, GA almost in the downtown area. The reason i want a subaru is for the fact that, yes it does have great ratings, I have checked that for myself, and the second reason is that it is AWD, which will help me out a bit when i plan on moving to Ohio next month.

Answer
Jonathan, Your Land Rover is worth about 3 to 4k.. have you considered leasing The Subaru? Keep your payment low and buy at the end if you decide you want to keep it. Sounds like you keep your vehicles a long time (until it falls apart!).
Keep in mind that there is about a 10% mark up on all new vehicles. Find out the invoice cost and start the offer from there. Consider a year old one, with a few miles.
Let me know if I can help further...good luck.
S