Author Topic: Looking for advice about selling a car...  (Read 1941 times)

pachipres

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Looking for advice about selling a car...
« on: August 28, 2016, 12:38:38 PM »
Hello there, I am posting this message for my daughter who is in a real dilemma about her car. I hope someone can help her. Please see below:

I have currently had my car parked in my parents' garage for the last 2 years and have driven it about approximately five months within these two years. It is a 2004 Nissan Sentra. I live in a different city now and am living on campus completing my master's degree and consequently, do not have my car here because a) parking is expensive and a car is expensive and b) because I live on campus, there is not much need for a car, and I have access to transit.

I am trying to decide whether I should sell my car now, or keep it in the garage for a minimum of 8 more months because I may be moving off campus next May and might need one then. However, I am concerned that it may require quite a few repairs next year as it has been sitting for so long (a solid year at this point - I drove it summer of 2015 and then parked it again).

Should I sell my car now and revisit getting another car next year, or should I hang on to it and put in the necessary repairs? Unfortunately, I haven't done much to care for it in the past two years like replacing all the fluids, blocking exhaust pipes, taking out the battery because I did not have the foresight at the time to consider these things.

Any input would be helpful, thanks!

RosieTR

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Re: Looking for advice about selling a car...
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2016, 12:38:42 PM »
If you're pretty sure you'll need it in May, and your parents are OK leaving it parked in a garage, it seems better to keep for now. You'll likely have to get a new battery and replace fluids anyway to sell it, so the thing you're out for the next 8 months is registration and insurance. You might see if your insurance company can put some sort of suspension on coverage for now, and if it's not parked on the street there's no need to register until you plan to drive it.

If you were considering selling it and buying something even cheaper then I suppose you could do that; but it seems like the devil you know is better than the devil you don't, unless there's some major problem with the car that you didn't discuss in your post. A cheaper vehicle is probably going to need more repairs than this one.

If your parents are getting annoyed with it in the garage, then you have a different situation. You could offer to pay to store it there, negotiate some other trade for the car being in their garage (which would be considerate anyway), or sell it soon and deal with transportation issues in May. If you aren't likely to need a car in May and keeping it is just a hedge, you might be better off selling it soon and keeping the money in reserve for later or for other things.

HipGnosis

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Re: Looking for advice about selling a car...
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2016, 02:16:16 PM »
I agree.  You should not sell it now - in fact, how would you since you're on campus? 
I also agree that you will probably need a new battery.
Unless...  you drive the car when you go home to visit.  Have you?  I see that's a loaded question, but I stand by it.
Or have one of your parents drive the car every couple of months; to keep the battery charged, the condensation evaporated and the fluids circulated.   
I also agree that you should ask about suspending your insurance - it's probably covered under your parents ins. if/when they drive it.
Depending where you are makes a lot of difference in suspending and re-activating registration.
A car sitting in a garage doesn't 'age' all that much.  Gas does go 'flat'.  You may need starting fluid.