I want to tell you my car(s) saga and get some perspective on what I should consider for my car in the future. Beware of a lot of stupid decisions below. You can also skip to "6th car" below and everything else before it just a back story of bad decisions which is no longer relevant.
Husband and I have had numerous cars over the years and I feel that none of them turned out to be good purchases in the end. Now, that I am looking at divorce and needing a reliable transportation for myself and my two kids, I don’t know what to do.
Car history:
1st car: used SUV purchased for $5,000 cash. I think it was one of the older Nissan’s but I’m not sure at this point. It was a long time ago. This car was stolen about 5 months after we purchased it. Police found it two weeks later taken apart for parts. We got $4,000 back from insurance company and purchased
2nd car: it was a $5,000 used sedan. I can’t even remember the make of the car. But, I liked that car very much. We had it for few years and fully intended to drive it till it fell apart, but we were hit while on a long weekend trip and the car was totaled. We got $4,000 back from insurance company, but at this point needed car fast, no cash reserves, and somehow we ended up with
3rd car: leased 2005 Altima. I liked the car but hated the lease. Was counting months till I could get rid of this thing; probably my worst car owning experience ever. Anyway, this was over and in 2007 we went and purchased
4th car: 2002 Honda Odyssey. This was a cash purchase, but I don’t remember how much we paid for it, probably somewhere in the teens. Once again, I was happy with the car. It was good since we now had two kids and did a lot of weekend trips. In 2008, we moved from city to burbs and needed a second car, so we got
5th car: 1999 Ford Taurus for $3,000 cash. We needed something cheap, but reliable for our nanny to drive kids around between school and afterschool activities. Over the years we’ve put a fair amount of money into this Taurus keeping it running.
So between 2008 and 2011 we have two cars, the 2002 Odyssey and 1999 Taurus. In 2011 the transmission on the 2002 Odyssey goes, the repair tag we were quoted is north of $3,000 and we decide to get a new minivan. So we went and purchased
6th car: 2009 Honda Odyssey. We paid around $20K cash for this thing. We still have it. However, it is fairly beat up by now, both front and back bumpers are dented on all corners, huge scratch across one side of the car, some other minor dents and whatnot. Plus, the car has been making a noise related to transmission that nobody can identify and fix. We’ve had several people look at it, including Honda people, and they can’t figure it out. According to Kelley Blue Book this car is worth about $9,000 now, may be less due to the transmission noise.
A year ago, our 1999 Taurus was starting to act up a lot. We tried to keep it alive for a while longer, but at some point mechanics started to laugh at us and were suggesting to not bother fixing it. In November 2013 we had about $3,000 worth of work that was required on it including the fact that heat was not working in the car anymore and with our winters and this car mainly used for kids. The car no longer felt safe and we decided that car had to go. The best part of this was that we had absolutely no cash to buy another car. Husband was trying to convince to me get a lease, which I refused, but somehow agreed to get a new car with a car loan. So right now, we are proud owners of
7th car: 2014 Hyundai Elantra. We put $2,000 down and took a loan for remaining $19,000 at 1.9%. The payment is $316 per month. I like the car, I hate the loan, and I am not going to pay it off right now. Will explain below. Right now Blue Book on this car is $13,500 and we still have about $13,800 on the loan left.
Anyway, here is my dilemma. In about 8 months we husband and I will need to divide these two cars that we right now have (cars #6 and #7). One is aging Odyssey with unidentifiable transmission sounds and many dents. The other one is fairly new Elantra with still $11,000+ left on the $316/month loan and no equity to speak of.
I have 4 questions:
1) I have reservations with both cars. I’m concerned that transmission on Odyssey may go again, like on the previous Odyssey we had. I will be alone supporting myself and two kids, working full time and barely have any cash reserves to deal with the car issues. With Elantra, I’d be stuck with the loan and monthly payment, but would have a better piece of mind about the reliability of the car. I don’t know what would be the better option.
2) Also, right now, both cars are registered in husband’s name, and the loan is his name as well. What would be involved in reregistering one of the cars in my name? Would I need to refinance the loan if I end up with Elantra? Are there any additional costs involved in this?
3) Insurance has always been in husband’s name as well. I was always listed as a second driver. Would the fact that I’ve never “carried” an insurance increase my insurance premiums next year when I have to insure the car myself? Right now we are paying $1,000 every six months on both cars, the cheapest rate we could find. This includes adding our nanny to the insurance (there will be no nanny next year). Husband uses one car to commute to work, about 30+ min drive. I will be using the car to commute to the train station (about 7 to 15 min drive depending on where I will live) plus weekend driving (this will include driving kids to activities, grocery shopping, visiting friends anywhere from 10 to 30 miles away, plus occasional weekend trips 2 to 4 hours away). I think this should decrease the rate some, but I’m not sure.
4) In terms of what to do for car next year, is there another option that you could suggest that would not require huge cash outlay and will result in reliable car for me and kids.
You can smack me upsidedown, but the reality is, I will need a car and I don't know what would be the best option.
