Driving older cars

I recently bought a new car and then inherited two older cars, each about 10 years old and with 100K miles. I would like to “use up” the old cars. Should I just drive one till it drops then the other, or alternate them perhaps monthly. And what about the new car. Just let it sit? Drive it once in awhile?? Thanks for your advice.

Two Are Company, Three Are A Crowd. If You’re The Only Driver Then You Need To Narrow This Down To Just 2 Cars That You Can Alternate. Letting One Car Sit Until 2 Others Are Used Up Is No Good For The Sitting Car. Own 2 At A Time.

CSA

Good idea with keeping two cars. Select the one you want to keep from the two old ones, and sell the other. THis will give you cash for any repairs you may need in the future.

Is there any reason you insist on keeping those two older cars? Sentimental value? The sensible thing to do would be to sell off those two. Act soon and get maximum return. They will only depreciate further.

In addition to the revenue you get from the sale, note that you no longer need to pay the ongoing expenses of car ownership. License and registration, annual taxes, insurance, routine maintenance, replacement parts such as tires and battery, and car washes. It makes perfect sense to shed the extra cars.

If you insist on keeping them all, I recommend you spend nearly all your driving time in the new car. It’s the most satisfying, yes? That’s why you chose it.

10 years old is not my concept of an older car.

I would sell the two older cars…Use the money to pay down your new car loan…In a perfect world, you should unload the not needed new car, but that would cost you a fortune as it is depreciating very fast and you are probably upside-down on it…

Where Does It Say Anything About A Loan ? I Have Never Taken A Loan To Buy A Car. I Save, First And Then Pay Cash. To Me The Whole Idea Of Taking the Car And Then Paying, Is Backwards.

We have more cars than drivers and alternate. It works just fine for us.

CSA

It may be backwards to you, but 90% of the new cars sold are financed…

If you live in a winter road salt then you could drive one old but good car in the winter, drive the other old but good car that you don’t want to rust in the summer for casual use and save your best car for long trips and special occasions. That is what we do with three cars. Two of them do not see road salt.

You might consider commuting in the older cars. That would save on insurance for the new one. If you keep both old cars, drive them frequently. I’d drive them both every week. Also drive the new car at least once each week in the evening or on the weekend. Make sure that the new car gets at least 20 minutes on the road when you drive it since it won’t be driven much. It should be fully warmed up before you park it.

Keep the better of the two old cars, or the one you like the best if both are about equal. Put your new car in the garage when the weather’s nasty and use the old car you kept as a ‘winter beater’, especially if you live in the rust belt.

I once heard a wise man say that you don’t own anything, everything you have owns you.

OK, back on the satellite in order to post the whole thing.

I once heard a wise man say that you don’t own anything, everything you have owns you. You have to feed it, house it, protect it and care for it. You should only keep the things that serve you and get rid of the rest.

Will three cars serve you better than one?

If one of these were a standard cab truck that you have use for, and you have to carry more than one other person from time to time, then two vehicles might serve you better than one.

It has been to my advantage to pay cash and drive old(?) automobiles. Of course I don’t commute long distance. And I am able to do most any repair that would be necessary. And I have always owned at least 2 vehicles and with taxes/tags costing less than $25 each year and insurance on 2d, 3d, etc vehicles being very minimum the cost is insignificant. In fact, in recent years, the total cost to own and operate vehicles has been less than $200 per month including gasoline, and at times there were 4 vehicles. In fact, if I were to subtract the profit that I made from selling several of the trucks the monthly cost would be greatly reduced. But situations vary. Friends and relatives in metropolitan areas who have long commutes, face expensive costs for repairs and the responsibility of young families are much better off buying the newest and most reliable vehicles they can afford to finance. And someone must buy new cars in order for me to buy them used.

Just switch cars each day.
Be glad you don’t have 5000 cars to take care of:

http://www.autozine.org/Misc/Article/brunei/Sultan_garage.html

Depending on how many miles you put on the cars, it may take you years to “use up the old cars”. Meanwhile, you new car will be aging and depreciating in value, without your enjoyng it. Depending on the makes, models, and histories of the “old cars” you may end up paying for repairs as you go. Repairs that you could have avoided had you sold them.

Driving cars instead of letting them sit accomplishes a few good things.
It uses up the gas. Old gas that’s been sitting in the tank has a life span.
It keeps things that should be lubricated lubricated. It tends to prevent brake parts from corroding in ways that make them no longer functional. A friend of mine stored a car under some trees (his house is in the woods) and the discs’ vanes rotted so bad the opposing surfaces actually splayed out. It does no good to let cars sit.

A few other factors not described are the makes and models of the respective vehicles, their condition, how well you like them, and whether they meet your needs. Frankly, if I had a brand new car that I wasn;t that fond of and inherited one that I really enjoyed that was in good shape, I’d keep the one I really enjoyed and sell the others.

You also don’t say whether the new car is paid for.

If I were the Sultan, I would accept Prince Jefri’s offer to return the money he stole and let him return to the country. It’s sooo much easier to hang Jefri once he returns.

I’d pick the better of the two ‘older’ vehicles, and sell the other. Then, do what my dad did. Drive the older car for your weekly commute, and take the newer car out for the weekend and road trips. The weekly commute in daily rush-hour is more prone to accident damage than the weekend and road trip drives. The majority of miles and wear-n-tear will occur with the ‘older’ car, and save the newer car for the less damaging freeway and extended driving. Once the ‘older’ car is used up and becomes unreliable, hopefully the new car will be paid off, and become the ‘older’ car. My dad worked this scenario for years, and only purchased 3 new cars over the last 40 years. He kept the maintenance up on all the cars, and kept each one for over 10 years and 170,000 miles.

I’d keep at least one of the older cars to use as a daily driver and leave the new car in the garage except for special occasions or going on road trips. When I bought my '97 I kept my old '88 Ford Escort which had about 250K miles on it instead of trading it in, it along with other cars I have serve the purpose of everyday use and the '97 is kept in the garage and is basically used for long distance driving. It’s 15 years old, looks like new and only has 32K miles. The '88 that I didn’t trade in is still running 15 years later with 518K miles.

Thanks for all the great ideas. I feel that the two older cars are in great shape and are running very well. I just hate to sell older cars which run much better than the blue book suggests. I can keep the new car (about half paid for), using mostly for longer drives when concerned about break downs in theolder cars. I also agree the liscense and insurance on the older cars is pretty small. I will keep the older cars and alternate weekly. When they break their gone. Driving the older cars in the winter is a great idea.