Should I swap my new car for a beater?

walkerj3_177721
Sun, 17 Oct 2021 17:01:34 +0000
Buying/Selling

Greetings:
I am looking for some advice. About three years ago, I bought my first new car–a 2018 Nissan Sentra . When I bought it, I had a fairly less than ideal situation. My credit score was very low (in the high 500s), and I, admittedly, didn’t have a lot of experience, or “game” . with regards to buying a new car. Looking back, I feel like I got fleeced . The interest rate was nearly 20%, and there was very little wiggle room in negotiating the price. All in all, I was paying about $440 in payments on the car–while making around $45000 a year. This high payment had a profound impact on my life–as you can likely imagine. My situation has improved some what since then . I am making more money (around $52000/year), my credit has improved substantially (now in the mid 600s), and I was recently able to refinance the loan . The payments are now around $270/month . This is still pretty high for my situation, and my insurance payments are high as well . Recently, I’ve been contemplating selling the car (Still worth around $13-14k), paying off what I owe on the car ( Roughly $14,500 ) and replacing the car with an older, reliable car or truck --a beater if you will. Would this be a wise decision? This will probably be my last new car–regardless. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

62 posts - 29 participants