Car situation.. What would you do?

[Moabxjeeper]

So here's my situation. I'm 25, getting married later this year and in the process of looking at houses.

I currently have a 2012 Mazdaspeed3 (basically a Mazda3 with a 2.3l turbo) and a very built 1992 Jeep Cherokee. I love having a fast car (even though not absolutely necessary) and I love having something 4x4 that I can go anywhere in.

As I'm sure most of you know, when you're on the verge of getting married, suddenly your priorities begin to change and you see things differently. Things that were once really important to you a few years ago begin to fade. Even before I met my fiance, I ended up getting a dirt bike and motocross started taking over Jeeping as my main hobby. I haven't been to Moab in almost two years now.

So here's what I know right now. I know I want to sell my Jeep since I hardly ever use it anymore and it's sad seeing it sit on the side of the house. I also want to get a truck as I feel it would fit my lifestyle better. I need something to haul my dirt bike and something that I can take hunting.

Here's where you hopefully come in. I've narrowed it down to 2 options that seem logical to me:

1) I can sell my Jeep and buy an older truck for around the same value and keep the Mazda.
2) I can sell both my Jeep and my Mazda and get into a much newer, nicer truck.

Something I forgot to mention is my fiance has a newer Corolla so as far as having a good dependable DD, we're taken care of.

This is mostly just me thinking out loud and if you've actually read up until this point I applaud you.

Well, there's my life. What would you do in my situation? I'm also open to suggestions as I imagine I'm not the only one that's been in this situation before.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

I say what ever you do avoid a car payment. Best way to get ahead is to not owe money to people.

 

[boogie_4wheel]

Personally, I like to keep 3 vehicles at the house (not counting the bikes). Had the water pump lock up on the Escape last week; brought it home on the flat bed and continued the week by driving the truck. If I'm out of town and something happens, my wife has a backup vehicle for her and the kids.
I must admit, our Escape isn't worth shit. It's got 240k on it and the A/C died, so it really isn't worth selling in my eyes. If I could get 4k for it I might consider selling and looking at the street bike as the back up vehicle... But if I've got the truck, the wife can't haul 2 nose pickers on the bike.

The most economical solution for you I think would be to sell both and buy a newer truck. You don't want to get rid of the Jeep just to get an old POS truck that you hope doesn't strand you half way to Moab. But I guess that depends on how much money you get from the Jeep and can bring to the table for the truck.

Back when we got married, we each had our vehicles. We got the street bike first. I then replaced the old truck when it had 244k on it and got a new truck. We decided to get a 3rd vehicle when the Escape got in to the 180k range, but sold the 3rd and bought a new car a couple years ago. So then the Escape became the primary for me since it is cheaper than the truck

Tough decision!

 

[locknloadfzj80]

I say what ever you do avoid a car payment. Best way to get ahead is to not owe money to people.

Totally agree with this.

However the one thing that would likely sway me one way or another would be mechanical ability. Personally, there isn't much I can't do with a socket set, some WD40 and a roll of gorilla tape lol. So I love getting a nice old vehicle that I know will need some loving.

If you don't know how to fix a vehicle though. Well then shop bills can add up fast and have the truck sitting longer then the Jeep.

 

[Moabxjeeper]

I say what ever you do avoid a car payment. Best way to get ahead is to not owe money to people.

Yeah that's definitely an important factor. I've got a payment on the Mazda right now. It's not an absurd payment but especially where we're looking at buying our first house, it would be very nice to get rid of it.

The difference in what I owe on my car right now and what I could probably get out of it, plus what I could sell my Jeep for, would give me roughly $13-14k. I'm sure I could find a good lower mileage truck for that price and get rid of my payment. That seems smart, right?

 

[mbryson]

Yeah that's definitely an important factor. I've got a payment on the Mazda right now. It's not an absurd payment but especially where we're looking at buying our first house, it would be very nice to get rid of it.

The difference in what I owe on my car right now and what I could probably get out of it, plus what I could sell my Jeep for, would give me roughly $13-14k. I'm sure I could find a good lower mileage truck for that price and get rid of my payment. That seems smart, right?

I would think that should get a you a sub 100k mile half ton that's about 5-10 yrs old? Seems like the way to go to me in your situation? No payments are a good thing, IMHO


Nothing wrong with looking for a nicer, older rig in the 6-10k range and banking the difference for improvements to your new home or other things that might be worth having a few $k kicking around

 

[Jesser04]

My vote is don't get married and buy all the cool stuff you can afford. You will be money ahead in the long run.

 

[jeepvette1]

you can also sell everything and get your 10k truck and then buy a 3k xj project so you still have your jeep, because you will soon regret selling your built one

 

[N-Smooth]

Sold my Cummins and got a Bronco when we got married. Sold my crawler and trailer a few months later when we bought a house. Wouldn't change a thing, it was the smart thing to do. Car payments are for suckers anyways but besides that, houses are way cooler than cars/trucks/jeeps. Also, you can always get one later. If nothing else you should get rid of the Mazda because well, it's a Mazda

 

[nnnnnate]

Depending on what kind of home owner you're going to be a truck will help a ton. I put in a backyard, finished the basement, planted trees, and did a ton of other landscaping that all required having somewhere to put stuff. A trailer could work as well but hopping in a truck and heading out for supplies is pretty convenient. That said, it doesn't take much truck to do all that stuff. I bought a 1990 F150 single cab long bed for $1,200 6 months after moving in to start doing the work. The springs were shot and after a while it had idle issues but I could get it to the hardware store or the dump for mulch. I sold it a couple years after I bought it for $900 and wish I would have spent money to have the motor problems diagnosed by a real mechanic. I missed the truck almost immediately and ended up with a newer nicer truck that I also sold a year later. I'm convinced that if you plan to do any work at your house you need a truck, now I just need to convince my wife.

 

[TurboMinivan]

My suggestion: keep the Jeep since it is paid off. Sell the Mazda, then use whatever equity you have to buy a truck outright. Having no payment is definitely a good thing, and if you shop carefully you can find an inexpensive, durable truck. I'd rather spend $20k on five different vehicles, each specialized for my specific needs, than compromise and buy one $20k vehicle and try to make it do everything I need (which it would do poorly).

Full disclosure: I own five cars.

 

[skeptic]

Getting married? Sell all and buy a Minivan + $200 trailer.

Seriously, I wouldn't want only 1 vehicle per person to use. Even new cars break down from time to time. The real question is if you only had one vehicle and it was in the shop, would you and your wife-to-be get by with just her car for a week? Another question, how long is your daily commute and how important is mpg?

I hate to say it, but what I'd do is probably different from what I'd suggest you do. I'd sell both and buy a 4x4 truck and a small cheap fun rwd/awd car. I have a strong dislike for FWD cars, yet I really like sporty older "crappy" rwd/awd cars. Give me a Fiero or an 80's supra or a 240/260/280z or an 80's Corvette or a 90's Camaro/Firebird or early WRX or AWD Talon/Eclipse/Laser... Get the idea? Cheap, fun, and used as a weekend or emergency car. Then find a 4x4 truck in budget and call it a day. As a new home owner, you will want a truck bed and from the sounds of things you also want 4wd for hunting.

One last thing, I wouldn't be afraid of financing as long as you keep the payments low. Interest rates and way down, it's cheap money. For buying a house you are better off with a low car payment and some cash on hand than no cash and no debt. This of course assumes you stay below the magic 43% debt to income ratio (inclusive of all debt including expected mortgage payments).

FWIW, like TurboMinivan I also have 5 vehicles.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I'm in the 5 car owner club as well, when we got married I had 2 and she had 1, ten days after we got married we closed on our house. But, we were also a bit older and more 'established' than you are currently, had time to pay off and accumulate more 'stuff' which isn't always a good thing. If I were you I would certainly look at selling the MS3 and the Jeep to pay cash for a truck, it's safer than the MS3 and more useful than the Jeep, buying a truck was one of the smartest things I ever did. Although it's nothing fancy we can take the truck camping, hunting, tow 10k pounds, and it will go 75% of the places a Jeep will. We are about to sell our remaining Jeep, not only because it doesn't get used much but because I recently bought a fairly large boat and owning three 4wd vehicles doesn't make sense. Your interests WILL change over time, best to not carry debt over when they do. I'm very fortunate that my wife trusts my knowledge and judgement when it comes to cars, I research extensively and buy smart.

 

[Moabxjeeper]

Thanks everyone for your insight! I really appreciate it.

I'm in the 5 car owner club as well, when we got married I had 2 and she had 1, ten days after we got married we closed on our house. But, we were also a bit older and more 'established' than you are currently, had time to pay off and accumulate more 'stuff' which isn't always a good thing. If I were you I would certainly look at selling the MS3 and the Jeep to pay cash for a truck, it's safer than the MS3 and more useful than the Jeep, buying a truck was one of the smartest things I ever did. Although it's nothing fancy we can take the truck camping, hunting, tow 10k pounds, and it will go 75% of the places a Jeep will. We are about to sell our remaining Jeep, not only because it doesn't get used much but because I recently bought a fairly large boat and owning three 4wd vehicles doesn't make sense. Your interests WILL change over time, best to not carry debt over when they do. I'm very fortunate that my wife trusts my knowledge and judgement when it comes to cars, I research extensively and buy smart.

This is some solid advice, thank you very much.

 

[Moabxjeeper]

That's exactly the thing, it's fun having a fast car but motocross more than satisfies my need for speed. I'm a big fan. I just need an easier way to get my dirt bike to the track, which again, is where the truck comes in handy.

The Jeep is going for sure, that much I know right now. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the car and what makes most sense. I want to definitely sell the Jeep first and then see where I'm at financially. This is starting to make more sense though. We would get much more use out of a truck than anything else.

 

[johngottfredson]

This is my eternal quest - to find the perfect car setup. I've played musical cars over the last 10 years to the tune of about 25 vehicles. Mostly trucks and suv's. I say get a smaller truck that will haul your bikes and do other life projects but not kill you on gas. You may not be into jeeping nearly as much but you will feel handicapped as soon as you don't own a 4wd vehicle, or a utility vehicle of some type. After owning up to 6 vehicles at one point I finally decided I love the two car situation best. I have a low mileage 1st gen tundra that I love, big enough yet small enough. Hauls my motorcycles and gear to Moab or whatever, hauls full sheets of plywood, easy on the gas, but plenty of power for me. Get a small truck as a daily driver, your life will be better than having 3 cars, and you won't sacrifice all the things you like. I spent too many years trying to have the specialized vehicle for every occasion, now I just say get the Swiss Army knife of vehicles - the small 4wd truck

 

[jeep-N-montero]

This is my eternal quest - to find the perfect car setup. I've played musical cars over the last 10 years to the tune of about 25 vehicles. Mostly trucks and suv's. I say get a smaller truck that will haul your bikes and do other life projects but not kill you on gas. You may not be into jeeping nearly as much but you will feel handicapped as soon as you don't own a 4wd vehicle, or a utility vehicle of some type. After owning up to 6 vehicles at one point I finally decided I love the two car situation best. I have a low mileage 1st gen tundra that I love, big enough yet small enough. Hauls my motorcycles and gear to Moab or whatever, hauls full sheets of plywood, easy on the gas, but plenty of power for me. Get a small truck as a daily driver, your life will be better than having 3 cars, and you won't sacrifice all the things you like. I spent too many years trying to have the specialized vehicle for every occasion, now I just say get the Swiss Army knife of vehicles - the small 4wd truck

If we didn't need the diesel to tow our big boat I would totally drive a smaller truck like an early 2000's Ranger with the 4.0 and call it good, but I will say that we will never be without a truck after owning one.

 

[Maverick]

If you are dead set on selling the Jeep, sell them both and do what mbryson said. If I didn't really enjoy my jeep, I could be pretty satisfied having only an '08 F150 Supercrew. Super easy to live with.

In fact, if I were starting over, a Supercrew and a rzr would probably do the trick.

 

[Moabxjeeper]

I will have to think long and hard about what truck to actually get when the time comes but I believe that's what I'm going to do; Start by selling the Jeep and eventually sell the Mazda in the next couple months and then get into a truck.

Depending on how much truck I decide I end up needing, I think a late 2000's Chevy/GMC 1500 would fit the bill very well. If I decide even that might be too much truck, I think a double cab long bed Tacoma would be pretty sweet.

I'll have to get to that point as this is all speculation at this point but it feels like I'm going to make a good decision by doing this. Even if I needed to take a small loan (5k or less) to get into something nicer, that wouldn't be a bad way to go.