Hi everyone, new here to website. I currently have a dilemma. I am currently a college student driving a Hummer H3 5 days a week. 32 miles each way totaling 320 miles a week, including my job, brings me to about 340 miles a week. My truck currently has 180,000 miles on it. It is paid for, but I’m considering selling it for a more fuel efficient car. I used the trucks capabilities mostly in the first 3 years I had it. This marks 5 years. My main question is should I keep my truck a few more years and deal with paying with the gas or should I get one of these cars instead? I am considering a 2015 Ford Mustang V6 or 2015 Acura TLX. Found both under 16,000$ and I’m hoping I can sell my truck for around $10k. What are your personal opinions on each vehicle. And should I keep my truck or get something different.
As a college student you should be able to do a spread sheet to see if this makes financial sense.
Now for my opinion : there are plenty of new vehicles out there for around 16000 that get good gas mileage - you will need full coverage insurance and at your age that is expensive - I seriously doubt you can get 10000 for a H3 with 180000 miles.
I have checked insurance rates and still under insurance policy with older siblings and parents. Insurance isn’t issue, however, two mentioned cars are lower in insurance costs than current vehicle
As many miles as you drive a cheap economy vehicle new with warranty and lower loan rates than a used vehicle is what I would do. Do a search for cars under 20000 and see what you find. You can buy a Mustang to impress people after college.
Hummer to a sedan makes sense to me. I expect you’ll appreciate a sedan’s better handling and ride. The better mpg is a bonus. I can’t speak to either of those two cars you mention, no experience w / either. I haven’t heard anything negative about either of them either, other than certain Acuras and Hondas seemed to have a problem with their automatic transmission at one point. Suggest you see what Consumer Reports says about them. Whenever purchasing a used car, the advice here is to get a pre-purchase inspection by your own shop before writing any checks. Best of luck.
This should be #1 on your list of considerations, your goal being reduction of commuting costs. An H3, while not a true Hummer, is still a vey poor choice for commuting, but the Acura isn’t the most economic vehicle in the Honda stable, and a used Ford Mustang may have been beat on… even though it’s only a V6.
Try spending a few bucks for the latest Consumer Reports New Car Preview, and perhaps one or two other consumer guide magazines, and I think you’ll find some that’ll be far better investments. Ignore anything by JD Power, because their business is leasing awards for advertising purposes, not evaluating cars. Thus, their awards are deigned to generate leasing revenue rather than compare cars.
likely is available in magazine section at local library
Depending on condition, that H3 would be worth around $5000-$7000 trade in.
It’s hard to say. What engine does the HUMMER have? Is it auto or manual? What engine does the TLX have? Do you need a loan to buy the next car? You could save as much as $5700 in four years at $3.40/gal if you compare the V8 HUMMER to the 4-cyl TLX, but that doesn’t include interest, maintenance, or repairs. Without knowing anything else, I’d be inclined to keep the HUMMER even after you graduate, assuming it is still a reliable ride for you. Then get a new car after you settle into the new job, say two years after graduation.
5cyl hummer. Open to either 4 cyl or 6 cyl TLX or mustang.
It seems you have made up your mind so further discussion is not needed.
I’m highly suspicious that you found a TLX for 16 grand. The bottom end for 2015’s seems to be 20 thousand if you get the 4 cylinder. The 6’s are 10k higher at least.
Oftentimes when a price is too low to be true it’s because someone’s getting ready to scam you.
Several on (TLX) CarGurus, clean Carfax, 15,500-17000 with less than 40k miles. I never buy new. Still open to options, just two cars caught my eye. Have considered Cadenza but insurance is too high even with lost cost. In addition to daily commute I do 2 roadtrips a year that is 890 miles roundtrip. If in fact I do get another vehicle, I will only be taking out a 5000 loan. I do have job to afford 20000 car but I don’t want to pay that much for a vehicle.
Personally, given your circumstances…I’d be hunting for a good Honda Civic/Accord or Toyota Corolla/Camry. Any of those would be perfect for your commuting and carrying your college buddies/stuff around, as well as reliable, easy on gas, and probably cheaper to insure.
But that’s just me. Good luck to you.
I don’t see how buying a new/used vehicle is going to save you money…unless you get a lot of money for the H3 (which is highly unlikely). The money you spend on another vehicle is going to offset any gas savings. This shouldn’t be difficult to figure out.
That doesn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t even look at a Carfax. If I were in your shoes I’d be doing what @ledhed75 mentioned and shoot for a Civic/Accord or Corolla/Camry. I’ve made 1,000 mile trips in a Corolla and a Solara, both were just fine 
(I miss that Solara…)
Carfax presents itself as having a comprehensive report on any used car. They imply that they have access to an in-depth reporting system of cars’ histories. In truth, no such database exists. They have only what they’ve been told, and I’d be surprised if that were more than 1% of 1% of everything about all used cars.
In addition, Carfax will often post “112 complaints about this car” (or similar wording) and require that you pay a fee to see them. When you do, they’re meaningless and often extremely inaccurate. I have no proof, but I suspect that they “populate” the reports with “created” data just to sell the reports. Try getting a Carfax on your own car and you may find it peppered with inaccuracies. In my friend’s case, the model, options, and even he drivetrain were wrong… and the data was so far from accurate as to be laughable. The make, year, and VIN were right, but that was it.
I do not recommend that you use Carfax as a source of information. If a dealer gives you one, use it to light your fireplace.
The one thing that Carfax will do is give you an idea of where the vehicle has been and sometimes you can see it has changed hand more quickly than it should.
You have been given good advice.
Now it seems like you want an Acura or a Mustang.
If you only want to know the $$ on gas savings, go to fueleconomy.gov and put the cars and compare them. You have to adjust for the miles you drive and the percentage of city/hwy, and also your local gas price. These options are on their calculator too.
the selection of OP’s replacement vehicles suggest that budgetary reasons are not top on the list, as otherwise Toyota/Honda/Mazda/Nissan would bubble up as likely candidates.