The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: jennifers on October 26, 2014, 10:54:55 AM
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I have been driving my parents' 2012 Ford Fusion on and off for the past 2 years. They want to sell it to me for $8,000. This is a really great price and it seems really fair that I should have to buy it instead of driving it for free. However, I don't like the idea of owning a car. Can someone help me decide what the best way to think about this is? Should I encourage my parents to sell the car to someone else and buy my own car if I decide I need one?
Facts:
2012 Ford Fusion SE with 20,000 miles KBB.com private party value $13,100.
Costs if I buy the car: maintenance (200$/year guess?), parking (85$/month), insurance (60$/month), registration? (Am I missing any costs?)
Where I drive: I visit my parents 1 hour away twice a month. I also use the car for shopping trips and anywhere my boyfriend and I go that's out of town. We were considering using this car for our next few vacations to drive to national parks. This would save a lot of money on car rentals and flights.
My boyfriend lives with me and has his own 2003 Toyota Camry with 160,000 miles. His car is starting to get rusty, but he doesn't want to get rid of it and share the Fusion.
Boyfriend takes bus to work. I walk to work.
We have no debt and enough cash to buy the car easily.
I hate driving in winter (snow), so pretty much don't drive at all from Dec - March. When it's snowy I only visit my parents for holidays.
I live in a condo downtown, and it seems insane that we are paying 170$ a month to park 2 cars here that we hardly ever use. Not to mention all the insurance / maintenance costs. However, it is nice to have a reliable car that we can both use that will last 10+ more years.
Do I need a facepunch? Please don't tell me to buy the car from my parents and then resell it myself. That would be a dick move. heh.
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As long as the 2003 Toyota Camry is running well which appears to be the case there is no need for you to buy the Fusion from your parents.
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Seems like the biggest motivator for you to buying that car are upcoming trips and stuff and the camry is getting unreliable.
I agree that you cant expect to take your parent's car, put miles on it, lower the value, etc just because you dont want to buy a second car.
Having said that, I dont think that you need an $8000 car. Yes, they are giving you a good deal but it doesnt seem to fit your needs at the moment (unless you were planning to keep it for 10+ years and use it enough to get a good ROI).
My personal experience:
I am on my 3rd car in 11 years. The first was a Ford Focus with totaled title. I bought it for cheap ($2500) and ended up investing close to $2000 the first 1.5 that I owned it but it actually ended up being worth it because I drove it for 7 years. Second car was a Camry that I got when the focus started breaking down down again anf I knew it wasnt worth the investment to fix. Bought the Camry for $700 from my now father in law and drove it for 3.5 years. (Should be noted I drove A LOT all those years). It broke down about 6 months ago and then I purchased my current car for $3500, a cavalier.
I think for your needs, you should try to stick to buying cash for no more than $5000, if you take your time you do find good ones out there.