Author Topic: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?  (Read 3918 times)

DeviousKiwi

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Hi Everyone

About 8 months ago I got a headache that still hasn't stopped. I am no longer working, but I am being covered by mortgage protection insurance and have really good heath care insurance so that isn't an issue. The doctors keep trying different medicine, but each takes at least 3 months to know if it will work or not and so far there has been no change, so I could be better in two months time, I could never get better, or somewhere in between, the doctors just don't know. I don't feel safe driving, so I am currently not using my car. It is a Nissan March 1997 with about 70Ks on it which doesn't use a lot of fuel. I have been the only owner since it was imported from Japan, so it has been well looked after mechanically but has a few scratches and dents from when I learned to drive, I've had it for about 10 years so far, and was planning on driving it until it died.

I am at the start of my FI journey, 26 years old and have about $25K($NZ) in investments other than my house, $15K in a retirement account and own a home with my partner where we are paying down our mortgage rapidly, with the aim to be mortgage free in 3.5 years time, other than the costs of running the house (food, electricity, mortgage etc), we keep our finances separate. We have part of the mortgage on revolving credit, which seems to be a cross between a transaction account and what you call a HELOC, so I have access to money if I need it urgently at an interest rate of about 5% (this is good for NZ, we don't seem to get the low% car loans that the US does).

If I keep the car I can put the registration on hold for no ongoing fee, during which time it wouldn't need a WOF, and I can start the registration again when I get better. If I do this I could either have it uninsured, and if there was a fire or it got stolen I would need to spend about $5,000 to get another car when I get better, or insure it for third party, fire and theft (No option for just fire and theft) for about $200 per year (it is currently on full cover).

If I sell the car it would probably go for about about $2,500. I live in a part of New Zealand where public transport is a joke and I wouldn't feel safe biking, so when I get better I will need a car to get to work again, and it would probably cost about $5,000 to get a similarly small and economical car with 80-100Ks but a bit newer, as you can't usually find cars this old with less than 150Ks. If I sell the car I could either keep the money in a savings account at around 2%, or invest it in the stock market which is what I am leaning towards.

My mother thinks I should keep the car and insure it, and her main arguments seem to be biased by the fact that she really hates buying and selling cars, and is overly hopeful that I will get better sooner rather than later. They are that it could take me awhile to find a suitable car, but it would probably take me longer than that to find a job again, so it probably isn't an issue. That it would cost me more to buy a car than I would get selling my car, even for a similar car, and that you don't know how careful the previous owners have been with their cars. None of my family are car people, so I have to pay a mechanic for repairs if anything goes wrong with the car.

If I look at the cost of keeping the car as $200/year + $175/year  (7% of $2500 as an average return of the stock market), then I would need to be sick for about 7 more years to justify selling the car as it would cost about $2,500 more for another one when I am better. However, this doesn't take into the fact that I would end up with a newer car or that my car is getting older and having it sit in the garage unused for years might cause issues with it. At some point I will sell the car if I don't get better, but I just don't know when I should draw the line.

I am leaning towards keeping the car for now, and having it insured but it seems silly to keep it indefinitely, and I need to decide on a time when I should sell the car. I would really like some other opinions, as I feel like a lot of the reasons for keeping the car are based in fear and there may be some points that I have overlooked.

ahoy

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2016, 02:35:48 AM »
Sorry to hear about your persistent headache.  Hope you get well soon.

I can't really give you any advice, but my DH and I had the same kind of problem with our car.   We decided to travel for two years and we seriously thought about selling the car before we left, our car was 11 yrs old at the time.   We are thankful that we did not sell prior to traveling.  Once we got back we didn't have to worry about buying a car.   

If your partner has a car, can you not just share this one?

Hopefully you well be okay to drive again soon.  Give yourself more time to get well.

deborah

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2016, 02:17:08 AM »
I would keep the car. Not for a financial reason, but because when you are well enough to do things again, you will find that you have an amazing amount that you will want to do in as short an amount of time as possible. Anything that reduces how much you have to do then will be a bonus.

Letj

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2016, 06:06:05 AM »
So sorry to hear about your headaches. Why wouldn't you want to keep your car? It is a good car with 70K miles. I can't imagine you have headaches 24/7. Sounds like you have migraines and nowadays there are amazing treatments for migraines including Botox, at least in the United States. Have you explored all of your options? Just curious; is there a medical reason why you should not be driving? Did you have a seizure? My DH has horrible migraines and he drives everyday.

kiwigirls

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2016, 09:06:39 AM »
I say keep the car. If you would only get 2.5k for it that is not too much money tied up in a vehicle and as others have said when/if you finally get rid of your headache you don't want the hassle of having to find another car especially as you indicated that you will likely spend 5k on a new one.  I probably wouldn't insure it if you are not driving it - save the money but do make sure its locked up so it doesn't get stolen.  I would also google search what to do if you are storing the car for a while - you may need to do something with the battery - put is on charge or at least run the car every month.

How awful it must be to have a permanent headache.  I hope you feel better soon.

Prairie Stash

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2016, 12:37:23 PM »
For a few months its worth keeping, for a few years its a sell. Only you and your doctor really know how likely the time frames are.

If you want to sell, sell it for $3000-3500. Since you don't need the cash and you're not in a hurry you can sell it for a full value and just ignore low offers. When you get your price then you put the money away, in your revolving credit. Then when you want a car again you buy another, you'll probably have a month to select a great deal.

I sat on a car for 2 years thinking I would need it again, went without a car for that time. By the time I sold the car it needed a new battery ($100), oil change ($40) and new tire ($100) from sitting too long, luckily it wasn't much more. Some things wear out with time, all vehicles require a little TLC every year.

Do you feel up to caring for a car that you don't use regularly?

DeviousKiwi

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2016, 02:02:24 PM »
Thanks for the replies everyone. I was worried I was being silly wanting to keep my car, but thanks to you I can store my car without worrying. For anyone in a similar situation who comes across this thread, I found that this link had helpful instructions on what to do when storing a car long term; http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

Letj; It's been diagnosed as an A-typical migraine and is unfortunately 24/7. It significantly impacts my ability to concentrate, so I don't feel safe driving and my Dr has recommended that I don't drive. I've been trying pretty much everything, including acupuncture and severe diet modification. None of the painkillers so far have worked and they have given up trying to prescribe me pain relief. At the moment we are going through all of the migraine stabilizing drugs, but they only have me on one at a time and it takes three months to rule each one out. Botox is a last resort after I have tried all of those drugs, it isn't currently covered for migraines by our government or any of the insurance companies, so it would cost over half of my take home pay every month until it gets covered, which isn't guaranteed to happen. If nothing else works then it will be worth it, but I'm really hoping that it doesn't come to that, not that the Botox is guaranteed to work either.

Ahoy; I looked into this back when my partner had a job near mine so I was only using the car twice a week, but it still made financial sense to have the car just for those two trips a week, as the public transport doesn't even cover that area, let alone at the times I would want, so I would have to use a taxi. Now he has a new job that is further away and in a different direction so we can't carpool anymore, but he did get a big raise so it made sense to take the new job. It's likely that any job I get when I am better will be close to where my old job was so we still wouldn't be able to carpool.

HipGnosis

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2016, 09:24:32 AM »
Can you rent the car to a trusted friend or via P2P?

FiftyIsTheNewTwenty

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2016, 02:57:57 PM »
Hope you are well and back up to speed soon!

I would keep the car.  Your car has way more miles in it than dollars.

When you're ready to roll again, you won't be faced with the obstacle of getting another one, the costs and hassle of transfer, inspection and registration fees, etc.

If it's parked in a safe place, you might consider cacellling the insurance for now, or dialing it back to a low-mileage or occasional use policy, or comprehensive-only as part of your homeowners/renters insurance.

ptgearguy

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2016, 11:06:05 PM »
Have you tried physiotherapy and an active based approach? Sometimes cervical strengthening and shoulder girdle work can really help.

steviesterno

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2016, 05:35:23 AM »
try going to a Chiropractor. I am one and teach at a chiro school in Texas, and we treat people with similar conditions all the time. The good news is, you find out if it's something that works for you after a few days, not a few months. It's pretty cheap to try. If you want, PM me and I'll find a good one near you. I currently work with the old President of the NZ chiropractic college, so I'm sure we can find you someone great!

RobFIRE

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Re: Unable to drive for an undetermined amount of time, should I sell my car?
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2016, 09:48:55 AM »
If you say the retaining costs are << the transaction cost to sell then buy, and you hope to need it again fairly soon, I would keep the car.