Need advice...car related

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Need advice...car related
7
Mon, 08-17-2009 - 9:27am

I've complained about this once or twice on here, but here's some background before I ask for advice. We have a car that is dieing. It's to the point now that I can only drive it if I absolutely have to. It is a 2001 Toyota Corolla and it has 180,000 miles on it. According to the mechanic we need a new clutch, we'll need a new catalytic converter or it won't pass inspection in November and with so many miles and how often we have to put oil in it (weekly) the mechanic said that it sounds as if the engine is getting old. We just finished paying it off. We had a 3 year loan on it (although it actually took us 4 years to pay it off because of financial problems). We originally payed $7000 for it 4 years ago. The reason it has so many miles is because my husband spent 18 months with a 1 1/2 hour commute one way and also I drive it a lot for piano lessons.

We need a reliable car. We currently have 2 cars. Mine being the one that is practically dead and our other one is my husbands car, a 1996 toyota corolla which is falling apart but still runs well. DH's car has 186,000 miles on it and my husband really hates having to rely on it as our primary car. DH has a 30 minute commute to work now but it's all highway and he has to be at work by 2 am in the morning so if he broke down on the side of the road that early with me having no car to come get him. We'd be SH*t out of luck! My car will not go up any hills and there's a hill to get on the highway so I couldn't get him. So we're stuck and we have a limited number of options. There's only so long we can rely on DH's car. We keep asking ourselves what we would do if it broke down as well. DH's job may be in jeopary and I wouldn't be able to make it to lessons either. So it's obvious to us that we need a reliable car fast! Some of you may ask though...why don't we get the car fixed...Well, our mechanic...who we trust...he's a family mechanic, has said that it's not worth fixing. If he fixes the clutch and the Cat converter, the engine may go. We don't have the kind of money it takes to sink it into this car. We'd need thousands of dollars to fix this car and we just put $700 into it last year. We need a better car.

My husband is going to be working some overtime 4 days this month. He will make an extra $500 dollars or so. We currently have about $150 in savings, but that will be up to $300 by the time DH gets payed for the overtime. We're not quite sure what to do with this extra money. We have a couple options.

1. Use it as a downpayment so we can finance a car...not an expensive one. A simple one, around $7K

2. Use it to get our mortgage payment back on track because it's been about 2 weeks late for the past 3 months. This would save us 50 dollars a month

3. Use it to pay off our last credit card (250), the dentist (175) and put the remainder on our last debt, our condo association ($1000). This would save us $100 dollars a month.

My decision would be to put it towards a car because of how desperately we need one. I use a car for my business and if something happens to our one remaining car, I will lose $200 a week and DH could jeopardize his job.

DH did some research on car loans. He found a place called autoloan.com that offers decent loans for cars. Our credit is not great but I don't think it's the lowest of the low either and according to everything I've heard, you can get a great deal on a car nowadays. We need something reliable.

But what do you guys think? I trust your opinions and I'm sure there's some of you out there that know a heck of a lot more than me about buying cars. I've never had good luck buying a car. And if you don't think we should use the money towards a car, let me know the reasons so I can make an educated choice.

THANK!!!!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Mon, 08-17-2009 - 8:48pm

I guess I would choose #3 and get rid of the debt and those expenses first.




iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Mon, 08-17-2009 - 9:34pm

BUT...and I'm just trying to be the devil's advocate to my own problems here...If our '96 corolla dies before we can get everything settled and be ready to get a new car, which is a good possibility with as many miles as it has and how old it is, and how much it will get used as our primary car. We drive a lot! Then DH won't be able to get to work and neither will I. We'd have to get taxi's or rent a car while the old one is fixed. Then DH could be looking at losing his job and that won't help us pay our remaining debt off or get our mortgage current.It's kind of like a catch 22. We could definitely afford a car payment of about $200 a month without a problem. The reason our mortgage is late is because I really haven't been paying much attention to our budget lately and once the mortgage is late, it's hard to catch up! I'm not looking at an expensive car either. I'm just so tired of always having to fix old cars! I would like a 3 year loan at $200 dollars a month.

I have so many people telling me different things. I have a good friend of ours saying that getting a used car for a few thousand dollars won't be much better than the one we have now. I have people telling me to look at auctions and others saying I'd get a crappy car there. I just don't know. I'm going to have to take your advice and think about it! I agree that I need to get more financially stable before I add in a new car payment. I just don't know if I have much of a choice. We rely heavily on our cars, as everyone does, to bring home the bacon! I guess if I payed off my debt and got my mortgage current, there's $150 a month extra right there for a car payment.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
Tue, 08-18-2009 - 8:43am

I think I would tend to agree with Marie.


Get yourself as current as you can as fast as you can. By using the third option, you are freeing up $150 a month right off the bat that will help off set the cost of the new payment and make it hurt a little bit less.


You mentioned that you haven't been paying much attention to finances lately, and thats why you are behind on the mortgage. Any chance you can really focus in September and squeeze that budget? Try to come up with as much extra as you can and apply that to the car downpayment. Any chance of selling anything to make some extra money?


If it were me, I would use the money to clear up as much outstanding debt as possible and free up a monthly cashflow. By getting rid of that $150 a month AND getting your mortgage caught up, you free up $200 a month which should be enough to get


Bex -

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Tue, 08-18-2009 - 8:53am

I agree with Bex & Marie.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Tue, 08-18-2009 - 9:12am

Here is what I would do. I would take whatever money extra you have and get the mortgage on time first. Mortgage payments that are always late will kill you credit wise.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Tue, 08-18-2009 - 9:27am

Any time you get a used car there are no guarentees on what you will get.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Tue, 08-18-2009 - 9:36am

I just wanted to add that if you finance a used car, the bank or credit union will require full coverage insurance.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus