Looking to sell/trade in my '09 Nissan Versa SL with 19,000 miles on it. I bought it brand new in 2009. The cars I am looking at are older model Honda CR-V or Subaru Forester. Any thoughts or ideas? I mostly love my Versa but it was a purchase of neccessity as I needed a car with only a days notice when my old one died. Having it for almost 2 yrs I dont care for the bad weather situations and would prefer to have AWD/4WD and the additional storage, toting capacity that the two models im considering offer. Please tell me what sort of mileage, troubles, etc I should look for with these vehichles and I’m looking to not loose money on the deal. I currently owe just under $9000 on my loan and Kelly Blue book says my car is worth more than that. I want to trade it in to avoid the hastle of selling without owning the title. But if I cant get enough for it on trade in I may have to try. Thoughts?
Buying a new car and trading it in after 2 years is going to mean a big hit with depreciation. I don’t see how you can not loose money on the deal. Go to Edmunds.com for a realistic value of your car (KBB, Kelly Blue Book is inflated in their values IMO), is the trade value more than the amount you owe on your loan? Do you have money saved up for down payment on the next new car?
If you can handle the economics, then make a deal. If you decide the financial hit is just too much then you need to make your current car work better for you. Are you using winter tires on the Versa? If not, you should consider buying a set of winter tires if you are having issues dealing with snow and winter weather.
You may not need a new car. You might need to make some changes to your Versa to make it a better bad weather car.
If gas prices spike again you’ll wish you had your Versa back. Same thing if the AWD/4WD system on one of those older SUVs goes kablooey. I’d say, if at all possible, wait till you have your Versa paid off before you start looking.
Scrabbler
I agree. If you haven’t tried snow tires for winter if would be a good opportunity to sit on it while you pay it off. Too many people actually think that an AWD is a trade off for winter tires, they are not. Put a hitch on it for rear cargo rack, roof racks and expand your cargo carrying capacity while you pay it off. Make do. The gas you save will be well worth the slight inconvenience.