you view it as wasting it, I view it as enjoyable spending, as long as my bills are paid each month what does it matter if buy stuff off ebay and such. Or go to a Reds game, or Pacers game and such. Live life now, enjoy it now don’t worry about down the road…
I told you guys we’re being trolled. This OP is dead set on spending $1,000 to save $100, and there is nothing you can say to change that.
I’m tempted to quote Ron White, but I don’t want to cross a line. Let’s just say there are some character flaws that can’t be corrected, and leave it at that.
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How am I spending $1000? I am not and won’t be spending anything on this new car outside of the plates and title cost which won’t be more then my monthly car payment would have been, so there is zero extra out of pocket for me this month, heck if they can get my payments lower then the present $160 I spend less. Where is this $1000 you are coming up with.
Is the local dealership offering you a reliable car for absolutely nothing? That’s what you have now, isn’t it? How can he possibly beat that? 
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Well actually I still owe about $4700 on the impala which was to much for the dealership to overcome and keep my payments where I requested so no newer car till I get more paid down on the impala
$160 per month may not be enough to buy a car better than the one you have now, you will get another old car to fix up just like this one and you will need to pay this one off first. Since you have already repaired the steering, suspension and brakes you should get some use out of the car before giving it to someone else.
You should be paying cash for your cars, these cars can be found for $1500 to $2500.
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You’re spending more than that on an extended warranty.
Here is my point, and if you ignore it, you do so at your own peril:
Extended warranties are almost always a waste of money. The only time an extended warranty is not a waste of money is when someone who has more money than sense gets peace of mind from knowing it is there (and even that is debatable). What makes this the right choice for these people is that they won’t miss the money spent on an extended warranty. You aren’t in that position.
If you do the math, you’ll realize that you would come out ahead financially by spending $100 on a pre-purchase inspection of a used car and putting what you currently spend on an extended warranty in a savings account just for car repairs.
This is similar to spending money on a certified financial planner. People often scoff at having to pay a service fee to consult with a CFP, but it’s a similar case where spending $100 now can save you thousands of dollars later, and being stingy about that $100 is penny wise and pound foolish.
You’re not only making payments on an extended warranty, you’re also paying interest on the initial cost of the extended warranty. Had those payments been put in an interest-bearing account instead of being put in the warranty company’s profits, you’d have enough to cover repairs (not maintenance, but strictly repairs) and have money left over.
Companies that sell extended warranties are very profitable. Think about that for a minute. That means they’re making money off your purchase, not saving you money.
Wealthy people don’t buy their paper products like toilet tissue and paper towels in small packages at the convenience store. They buy in bulk at a warehouse store like Sam’s, BJ’s, or Costco, because when they look at their annual budgets, they would rather pay $.03 per paper towel than $0.10 per paper towel. The price of one roll of paper towels isn’t that different between convenience stores and warehouse stores, but it adds up over time.
If you’re only concerned about your monthly cashflow, you buy the cheaper package of paper towels from a corner store rather than a giant pack of paper towels at a higher price, but you end up spending more per paper towel by going to the convenience store. When you consider how many paper towels you use each year, you realize how paying more than you have to adds up.
You would benefit from changing your mindset on issues related to finance.
I’m not much of a fan of Suze Orman, but her first book The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom might shed some like on this issue and help you look at your spending habits from a different perspective.
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People who plan for the future have kids or family or believe they have a long future ahead. I have none of those do don’t worry about it.
Can’t she’ll out that kind of money, don’t have it…
Then why even ask the original question about which is more important: mileage vs. age? Why plan for the future in one respect but not another?
This is why I think you’re trolling us. Your initial question indicates you do think about the future. Similarly, your position on extended warranties indicates you think about the future, so now when you tell me that you don’t think that far ahead, I don’t believe you, because you already have and you already are.
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If your extended warranty is still in effect . . .
Why don’t you try to get them to cover the replacement of the struts?
Pay the deductible, at least try to get close to breaking even on the cost of the extended warranty
The worst they can do is say no
No, just asked if you had to pick between two cars which would you go with, mileage vs age. Has nothing to do with future, just about choice at time of purchase.
Dealership said they are not bad enough to replace at this time and warranty only covers items needing replaced now, not what might be done the road.
When does that warranty expire?
End of the year
In my experience, “If this is a new car dealer, they tend to cherry pick the best cars and sell the other trade-ins at auction” is the key point. That and a Carfax report that shows regular oil changes and other maintenance.
On the other hand, when my son’s car was wiped out by Katrina and there were no good used cars within hundreds of miles, I bought him a 10-year-old Camry with 150,000 miles on it, of course not from a new car dealer’s lot. It ran another 100,000 miles before he traded it in. I did take the car to a mechanic first, but about all I saw him do was put it on a lift and look for leaks. Of which there were none. With 150K the car drove great. It’s not an exact science.
Oldtimer_11, I couldn’t have said it any better. (Just having my 70th birthday, I guess I’m one, too.)
I paid cash for my first car ($75 in 1963 for a 1950 Chevy). Two weeks pay back then for a kid, but then the car was MINE. Liked the feeling so much, I’ve paid cash for every car I’ve ever bought since then.
Bertrand, you’re not asking for it but I’m offering my best wishes and sympathy. Sounds to me like you’re a hard-working guy who’s facing reality squarely and trying to make the best of it. Some of us forget how some of us don’t have it so good. Hang in there.
That said, it looks to me, from a distance, that keeping your 2003 Chevy and setting aside money every month for repairs is the best way to go. Once it’s paid off, you’re that much closer to being debt-free.
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With a student loan debt at $200000+ the odds of me being debt free is never going to happen…