Should You Keep Your Old Car?

If you want to save money and reduce expenses, keep driving it until it drops. A decently cared-for vehicle that is less than 10 years old and has less than 200,000 miles on it, will last for a long time. You must take care of deferred maintenance and faithfully service it.  Also, the car has to be the right size to accommodate your family needs. If so, it will be smart to keep it instead of buying a new car. Loan payments stack the deck against a new car. You could encounter much higher repair cost than assumed and still come out ahead by keeping the old one. An old car is almost always cheaper to own than a new one. Insurance premiums and registration fees are less and no payments are a big cash flow advantage.

Trading your used car for another used car is usually a bad move. You have to sell the current used car at a wholesale price and buy the “new” used car at retail price. Also, warrantee plans on used cars are not worth their cost and have fine print exclusions. My wife and I both have 10 year old cars with 150,000 miles and we self insure for collision and physical damage. This is another big saving but does entail some risk. So far, we have been lucky!