English isn't my first language, please bear with me.
My 08 Civic, bought used 3 years ago with 87k miles on it, has an engine crack and leaks coolant. The car is very well-maintained and the first owner passed down all the maintenance documents to me. It now has about 101k miles on it. (All of these are not relevant anymore, I know.)
The car overheated yesterday and that's how I found out there's a crack on the engine block. The car is 3 years past Honda's extended warranty (they know their engines have defects), and from what I've researched online, it's going to cost at least $5-7k to replace the engine block. By "replace", it probably means the dealership is going to swap my engine with another used engine from a newer model that doesn't have the defect. My car's current mileage will then become irrelevant.
The good thing is, I'm working from home and I'm in no rush to get another car, or get my car fixed. I can wait for good deals for months, and I can drive my gf's car during the weekend. I'm planning to buy a Toyota Corolla/Prius Prime, unless it is more reasonable to fix the car.
I looked at some options last night, and these numbers are from the dealerships in my area. There aren't much on craigslist:
| Car Type | Cost |
|---|---|
| (Used) 3-4 years old Corolla (30-70k miles) | $15-19K |
| (New) Corolla base model | $20k |
| (New) Corolla Hybrid | $24K |
| (New) Prius Prime | $26-28k |
A used Corolla is so expensive it makes me wonder if a used car is even worth it.
Here's my situation:
- I can work from home. I don't need a car until COVID is under control and the company starts requiring people back to the office for meetings.
- I've always preferred used cars not just because they're cheaper, but because I feel like no matter how good my car is, someone is gonna ruin it for me anyway - by crashing into me, or breaking into my car. My few years of driving experience have taught me that I can't trust other drivers, at all.
- I'm 25, don't have a house, but I planned to get married and buy a house with at least 20% down payment in 3-4 years. This was before I thought my car would last me another 6-7 years.
- There's still a Federal tax credit of about $4500 for the Prius Prime. I don't own a house yet so I don't have a place to charge my car. My plan was to buy a house, drive my Civic till it can't be driven anymore, and then get a Prius Prime.
- I preferred plug-in hybrids as I believe this is where our society is moving towards. And of course, for its fuel economy. In fact, I was pretty sure I will get a plug-in hybrid as my next car as I expected my Civic to last me another 6-7 years. Now that these plans obviously need to change.
- I have no other monthly payments - rent and car insurance are the only thing I have to pay, and since I'm living with relatives, the rent is cheap ($300-600 depending on utilities bills). I pay my car insurance in full every 6 months.
- I will drive my car until it can't be driven or when it becomes a money pit. Reliability is everything and I will only consider Toyota.
- I recently started investing for retirement, I put half of my "savings" on mostly index funds. I don't foresee myself pulling money from those investments. But if I need to take loans, that will affect my budgeting for these investments, which I don't prefer.
- I have enough savings in my bank to buy a used/new car with cash (and have money left for emergency). Not a fan of taking loans for car payments, but I will pay off my car in 2-4 months if I do need to take loans.
- I have less than 5 years of credit history but my credit score is very high, if that matters.
- I haven't taken car insurance into my consideration - my current insurance is cheap because the Civic is old.
Getting married, buying a house, and not trusting other drivers are my main issues - I do really want to have a place for myself, and this is the worst time for my car to fail me as it heavily affects my budgeting. Hell, I don't even have a place to store my tools or work on cars, I literally had to work on my car in front of the house on the road...but a used Toyota is too damn expensive I really don't know if that 5-10k is worth saving.
Submitted May 03, 2021 at 04:29PM by Pam-pa-ram https://ift.tt/3vxOhfc
