How to convince missus to make car changes

[hybrid]

The missus and I have plucked a lot of low hanging fruit in our Mustachian quest the past six months and I am happy with the results.  The pattern so far has been I suggest a big change, missus resists at first, missus finally gets on board, we implement the change, and a few weeks later we are in our new norm.  We've had a lot of success.  Even though I have done much of the financial heavy lifting in regards to identifying and implementing cuts, she has been a trooper for the most part.

Now I want to make a vehicle change.  We have three vehicles.  She drives a 2005 Mazda 3 (120,000 miles), I drive a 2010 Mazda 3 (40,000 miles), and we also have a 1996 Mazda B2300 truck (170,000 miles) that runs well but is kind of beat up.  She commutes to work, her work is the opposite direction of my work.  I am now biking more to work but still drive about half the time.  The 2010 Mazda 3 came with a 0%, 60 month loan and the remaining balance is about $5700.  Until recently our 18 year old son was living with us and it was assumed he would use the truck for work purposes, but he has moved across the country and the truck mostly sits now.  We do need a truck several times a year for tasks that cannot be accomplished with a hatchback (like hauling wood, mulch, etc.) so I do want to keep a truck.  The missus has knee issues and prefers to only drive her vehicle which is AT, the other vehicles are MT.

What I would like to do is sell the 2010 Mazda 3 and the 1996 Mazda B2300 for about 12K (conservatively).  This would pay off the loan and leave me a pool of at least $6300 with which to purchase a newer used truck with AT that would become my primary vehicle but also suitable for the missus to use.  It would also get rid of the last 17 months of the car payment, money which I would then throw at the rental mortgage.  It also frees up several hundred dollars a year in taxes, tags, state inspection, insurance, etc.  Simple enough, right?

The missus is reluctant to make the change.  Having a spare vehicle is convenient.  An older truck would surely be in the shop more than my Mazda 3, which has never needed a non-maintenance visit.  The newer Mazda 3 is a very nice ride (even if I am the one doing the driving).  The Mazda 3 has been in an accident and won't fetch top dollar.  And we have almost always bought our primary vehicles new and driven them until they have dropped.  Those are her aguments.  How do I get her out of her mode of thinking?     

[oldtoyota]

To get her out of her mode of thinking, take the acorn of a maple tree and go deep into the forest. There, you will meet a witch. She will pound the acorn and add eye of newt to make a paste. You then feed this paste to your wife.

Seriously, I would take a step back and not make her make more changes. Change is hard on humans. My advice is to revisit this topic in a few months. Who knows? Maybe one will stop working by then and then you won't have to force it on her.

[Kazimieras]

Instead of going for the larger option of a used truck, why not get a smaller car (like a Fit - they hold a TON) and when you need to, rent a truck? It will likely be a lot cheaper. Another option is depending where you live is to look into a car sharing service, like Zipcar. It costs very little to have the "option" to drive a car, and it will be significantly cheaper than keeping an unused car at your place.

[lackofstache]

Why not sell the 3, keep your current truck & run it into the ground. Once it's dead, maybe you buy an AT model if it suits ya.

[brand new stash]

How many times a year do you really use a truck?  Do you know someone with a truck that you could borrow for those few times a year?   Is there another way to get access to a truck. 
We need a truck about once a year, and go to Home Depot and they rent a truck for $20 an hour, and we use that.

It seems to me that getting rid of the truck might make more sense for your situation and be an easier sell for your wife.

[hybrid]

How many times a year do you really use a truck?

A lot more than you might think.  Mulch, firewood, projects, etc.  Plus it's there for family and the occasional friend as well.  I've done the cost analysis and if we do absolutely nothing different it's still worth it to hang onto the truck vs. renting one.  Insurance, tags, and taxes are about $250 a year, add another generic $250 for maintenance.  I would spend close to or more than $500 renting I am confident, and the nearest Home Depot is a good 15 miles and 20 minutes away, so you have to factor in all the trips to and from there in terms of gas and wear and tear on the vehicle to get there and back and (often as important) time.   The truck really is very utilitarian for us.

To the person who suggested just selling the 3 and driving the truck, I'm with you.  Wife won't go for that option either, can't get her head around the notion of paying for a vehicle for 3.5 years and not paying off the last 1.5 and owning the vehicle outright.  So for now I am still making payments and hanging onto three vehicles, which is rather inefficient but not the end of the world.

To oldtoyota, she would actually take the witch's advice I would think.  Sometimes she needs to hear it from a third party rather than her gung ho husband.

[StarryC]

I don't know what the gas mileage on a Mazda truck is, but I assume that truck MPG is always worse than non-truck MPG.  I don't think you should buy a used, older, truck, for frequent use for that reason. 

It seems like you could sell the 2010 Mazda for about $10,000 or so, pay off the loan, and then buy a $5,000 similar but older vehicle.  Maybe an automatic so you could both drive it.  It would eliminate the monthly payments. 

Could either of your vehicles haul a trailer that would be suitable for wood and mulch?  (the older Mazda, or the newer one, or another vehicle you buy?)  It looks like those are available for about $1,000 and would not require much in maintenance, licensing etc. It would be a little bit of a hassle, but my guess is that you truly need one fewer than 6 times a year. In 2 years you would be making a profit, and since trailers are way less likely to "break down" than a truck with an engine, I bet you could make it last for the next 25 years. 

[hybrid]

I like the trailer idea, I will need to mull that over....  My Mazda B2300 typically gets 20-22 MPG, it's a four cylinder.  Good by truck standards.  The 2010 3 gets between 25-30 (mostly city driving hurts the MPG).  Older Mazdas sacrifice a bit of MPG for Zoom Zoom unlike the newest models, and I bought this before finding MMM.  It really is a fun car.  A fun car I could live without.

So perhaps I ditch the truck for a trailer and come out ahead in the long run.  It would be an improvement over what I am doing now. 

[TygerTung]

Yeah, just use a trailer, they're actually easier to use as they are much lower, and you can put a lot more stuff on them. Thats what everyone does in New Zealand.

[kendallf]

I am preparing  to sell my truck and go to a trailer only.  I've actually had the trailer for years and it will often haul things that would be a problem in a truck (very heavy, dirty, things that need to be tied down well).  I currently tow mine with a paid for, 202,000 mile Lexus SC300.  :-)