Car considerations amid commuter woes
With gas hovering around $3/gallon up here in CT (and my 450 mile weekly commute), I really need to ditch my LandRover Freelander with it’s 20 miles/gallon for something with more. I tossed around the idea of a new car like the Honda Fit for $15K that’s sporty and new and gets 38 miles to the gallon. But now, considering the costs I’m about to incur with the new house, I’m thinking of going used.
I’m currently leaning towards a Honda Civic circa 2001/2002. Looks like I can get something with around 40K-75K miles for $8K-$11K. It’s on the lower end if I use CraigsList.com postings, or at the higher end if I buy through a dealer at TraderOnline.com. With a dealer I have the option of trading in my car. But with the private sale, I then have to privately sell my car.
This is a bit of a hassle because if I were selling to a person, I might feel more inclined to fix the blown speaker (which means hassling with the dealer to get this warrantied item fixed). This is a hassle because LandRover Milford’s service hours are from 9 to 5. Since I have to drive 45 minutes to East Hartford to be there at 9am, this is extremely inconvenient. Not to mention leaving work at 3:30 to get there in time before they close. Also, I haven’t been overjoyed with the level of service I’ve had there. I guess I could perhaps use LandRover Guilford…..
Anyway, this is all a bit of a hassle, when I can just trade it in at a dealer and be done with it. I guess that’s what most people do for the same reasons. Edmunds.com says my car is worth about $14,400 if I sell it privately, and $12K if trading in. I owe $11K on it. So, the question is whether the extra hassle of getting it spiffed up, and sold privately is worth $2K- the difference. I guess it might depend on how high I can get the dealer to go for the trade-in. Edmunds.com further says that dealers can charge $16-$17K for this same car.