Trade-in now for the $1000 value or drive for a year until it is no longer drivable and sell it for $500? How much is a year’s use of the vehicle worth to the owner?
The trouble with delaying the replacement of a vehicle is that one year can turn into 5 years and the car dealer is denied $40,000 for the purchase of the new car.
I doubt a reputable dealer even wants a 24 year old vehicle in trade.
The rental sales said $500 fo4 anything you could get there. Then the dealer said they’d do the same. Usually it has been $200 and they just junk it., new tires and all.
Heh, remember the dealerships that guaranteed $■■■ for any vehicle that you can push, pull, or drag in?
If that worked without the money being added to the new car deal we would have traded our dead VW for 5x what we eventually sold it for as a project. Circa 1990 we saw $1,000 for any car push pull or drag.
Those dealerships make up the difference in different ways. Higher processing fees, less negotiation room, higher interest rates of financing, etc… And they do not get that many trade-ins of such low quality, so it really is more gimmick than a business tactic…
It’s like the business that offers a “Free Estimate” to mow your lawn, paint your house, install new windows, reroof your home, etc…
We have a business that says if they cannot match a competitor’s price, they’ll give you’re the item for Free… They will meet the competitor’s price… It’s all a Gimmick!
When we were thinking about getting rid of the wife’s 40-year old Toyota Corolla, the dealer who sold it to us really wanted the car. But the catch was the offer was $5,000 as a trade-in on a new Toyota. The only reason we were getting rid of the car was that we had three others cars already and the Toyota as our forth car only saw the sunlight about once a month…
So, we donated her (the '85… not the wife… 
) to Eggleston and she sold for $4,500 and went to new home…
Like the free lunch at a timeshare presentation.
Yes, at 20+ years old it’s obvious it’s time to begin searching but there’s no immediate need to be Buying.
Assuming that your current vehicle is running and if you’re happy with with it it’ it’s costing you zero on monthly payments. Guessing the the actual Trade In Value of a 20 year old car is basically zero, you’d be better off banking the future future “payments” on the old car as a down payment on the future New car.
More important, payments on a New Car loan are running between $700 and $800 per month.
That’s a whole lot of monthly repairs,