I NEED ADVICE!!! I have a dilemma. I have a 2004 Honda Pilot with 90,000 on it with no payments and a Nissan Sentra 2016 with only 7,000 on it with 5 more years of payments. I have to get rid of one of them. I am the only bread winner in my home. I have to make an intelligent decision on which one to get rid of. Now, I understand the Pilot with proper maintenance will last for years to come if it is taken care of which I have. The Nissan, I read in several reviews has problems down the road with engine problems. If YOU had to make a choice, which one would you get rid of. I do a lot of driving to and from work. I need to make the right decision that will benefit me in the long run. Any thoughts? I have asked several friends and they say with the history of mechanical problems with the Nissan, they would keep the Pilot. What do you think?
I know nothing of Nissan’s faults. I personally like the dependability of Honda. But my opinion is that if you do diligent maintenance on the Nissan it will give you the better vehicle as long as there is nothing wrong with it now.
Karen , this is a place where you can get so many different opinions that I don’t know if it will help. With out seeing your pilot in person no one con say if you should keep it. We also don’t know the value of your Nissan or loan balance. If you have a Credit Councilor office near you they might have better options.
The one thing I would do is if you have a Carmax near you see what they will pay for your Nissan as they usually do offer more than most firms.
Hi Karen. No car expertise here, just expense expertise. 
Sounds like you’re in a tight position. True, you might get a lot of opinions here. But as @tcmichnorth sort of alluded to, I would consider short, medium, and long term benefit and weigh it against the current state of the cars. Have each of them been checked out lately? If the Pilot is well maintained and has no issues, maybe getting out from under the Nissan will free up more money in your cash flow if you need it to. (Provided you’re not under water on the loan and you’d have to deal with that, la la la.)
But if the Nissan is well maintained and in better shape, it may save you more money down the road if you take very good care of it and get rid of the Pilot, which might be old enough to start having problems. If you anticipate your financial situation might change in the medium term, where you could handle different/more expenses, that might affect your decision as well.
As a mechanic, which in no small part, does shape my opinions on well, basically, everything. I would go with the Pilot. The Nissan has two things going against it imho, one is that it is a Nissan (they are not what they used to be integrity wise) and two…it has 5 yrs of payments left on it. For me the choice here is an easy one. Honda all the way.
Freedom from debt is a goal ALL should attempt. Sell the Nissan, save 1/2 the monthly payment in a “car repair savings account” so when the Pilot actually needs some service, the money is there.
As for selling the Nissan the question is the loan balance and if it will not sell for that amount can this person pay the difference .
My suggestion would be to consider your needs in a vehicle for now and the immediate future.
Seems to me the Pilot would be the better choice if you have kids/stuff, or both to haul around. If you commute a lot, the Sentra might be better in terms of gas.
But for overall money… I think your best best is to keep the Pilot and sell the Sentra. Although having 5 years left on a 2016 car makes me think you may have purchased it recently, which could be a big hit financially if you sell it. But I speculate there.
Good luck.
Which vehicle better meets your needs?
How much do you owe? How much will you get? Can you afford the payoff?
A 15 year old anything is a risk, Honda included. I might go for the Nissan because of this.
People need car loans/car payments like I need tap-dance lessons. If you need to be in debt for something then purchase real estate, wisely. Borrowing money to buy a vehicle is not a good move.
Just pick one of your 2 vehicles, either one, doesn’t matter (go with your gut instincts… you drive them and know what suits your needs). You must like operating one more than the other, right?
Keep the one and get rid of the other and dispatch that silly loan. Sell the Honda and pay off the Nissan or sell the Nissan and pay off the loan. Feel the magic!
Now continue saving at a rate and frequency equivalent to that former nasty loan payment in a dedicated account or set aside in an existing account. Use that money only for car maintenance/repairs expenses. Let the money continue to build in the account and drive the remaining vehicle until “the wheels fall off” or a mechanic finds the vehicle unsafe and not worth fixing any longer. Going into the future, as your earnings increase, you should also increase your contribution to the car account (to adjust for inflated costs of vehicles and associated expenses).
At that point take whatever money is in your “car account” and purchase a replacement vehicle, at a cost not to exceed the dollars in dedicated savings. Rinse and repeat until you can purchase brand new cars and pay cash for them.
You don’t have to have a loan. You don’t have to be in debt. Pay yourself! I practice what I preach and can afford to cash out on practically any new car I could desire… “Could” desire. However, I prefer buying used (pre-owned vehicles, ha, ha…). That’s why I am 100% debt free!
You can thank me later. They don’t call me common sense for nothing!
CSA
You are investing in depreciation or repairs. I would keep the newer car and keep making payments. The older car is in more probable of needing repairs, and less probably of being dependable over the next few years, imhop
If you sell the Nissan, it will almost certainly be for less than you owe. How would you afford the probable extra couple thousand dollars to pay off the loan? If you can’t afford to keep both, I doubt you can afford to pay off the Nissan debt when you sell. This decision seems easy. Sell the Pilot.