selling SUV and will have $6k ish for new car

[warmastoast]

Divorcing and sorting out finances.
6 months ago we bought a brand new Toyota 4runner,  all the bells and whistles of course.  We traded in my lovely little honda fit  which was 4 years old with only 36k miles on it.  This was preMMM and pre-this is the end of my marriage decision.  So, please be gentle with the face punches.

Situation now is that we still owe $31k on the car and it's now worth $37,500 as a trade in, so $6k to play with.

I have 3 kids with activities and although I have drastically reduced my mileage in suburban US it's plateauing at about 300 miles a week.  I don't have a commute since I don't have a job right now but I am starting a business which MAY require a less than 4 yrs old sedan since I will have to ferry people about.

At  first I thought a used Leaf would be a great idea and maybe I could rent a car for those times when I need a sedan for work.  The leaf would be almost free to run and obviously this frees up more money for me to live on/save.

ideas?  thoughts?

thankyou

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Note that the Leaf's range will be reduced by running the A/C, which you'll obviously do in Austin. They do seem like a great deal, though.

[tobitonic]

If you're doing 300 miles a week of driving with 3 kids, there's no way I'd downgrade to anything with fewer than 3 rows. To me, that means minivan (preferably) or mid-sized SUV. In your shoes, I'd sell the 4Runner for 37k, add 1k in savings to the 6k and buy an '05 Honda Odyssey, which I'd drive until the wheels fell off.

[JLee]

What is it worth through a private party sale? Trading in is a good way to lose a lot of money.

[warmastoast]

What is it worth through a private party sale? Trading in is a good way to lose a lot of money.

KBB says a shade under $38k for private sale.  Can I sell it privately with an outstanding loan on it?  With that amount of money at stake,  I'd also be pretty scared of anything going awry.

My kids are big teenagers now, very rarely in the car all together so I don't need 3 rows of seats just to keep them separate.  Also when we are in the car together en famille,  one of them can sit in the front.

There are loads of Leafs in Austin,  the electric company makes it v cheap to charge them up and there are chargingstations all over the place.  Take your point about the a/c running down the battery so I will ask about that on the local Austin forum.

The other thing that leaves me slightly concerned about the leaf though is that it won't be my second family car it will be the main one and so even going to visit one of the local state parks may be beyond it's return range.

Hybrid?  Not especially cheap...

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

In some states, it's possible to sell privately with an outstanding loan using something like escrow.com. Protects buyer and seller; I think they receive the title from the state and send it to the buyer after the money clears, something like that. It did not work for us in PA; we wound up selling to webuyanycar.com, which gave us very close to the private party value.

You MIGHT be starting a business that MIGHT need a newer car? Do you really want to take out a car loan on a "might?" Why not get an '08 Fit or something similar that you could pay cash for? You're starting a new life--why not do it on the right foot? I can't evaluate your "mights" from a distance, obviously, but I think it's worth poking at them before you make expensive decisions based on them.

[JLee]

You can always sell privately with an outstanding loan. If you're unsure how to do it, call the financial institution and they'll walk you through it.

[Villanelle]

Why must your car be <4 years old just because you'll be driving people around?  There are tons of cars that are older--even much older--than 2012 that are reliable, clean, and comfortable.

[warmastoast]

Yes, my work may mean having to use my own car for business use - as an international executive relocation consultant.   However, until I start to really build up the business I think renting a car is the way to go there.

[neo von retorch]

KBB gives you the $37.5k value for trade-in? It's shocking that private party is only showing as $500 more. In that case, in some states, you'll save the $500 in taxes if you buy a used car at the same dealership that you trade in (assuming you buy a house for $8.3k or more).

(But I doubt that you'll get only $500 less trading in than you'd get private party...)

[rothwem]

In some states, it's possible to sell privately with an outstanding loan using something like escrow.com. Protects buyer and seller; I think they receive the title from the state and send it to the buyer after the money clears, something like that. It did not work for us in PA; we wound up selling to webuyanycar.com, which gave us very close to the private party value.

You MIGHT be starting a business that MIGHT need a newer car? Do you really want to take out a car loan on a "might?" Why not get an '08 Fit or something similar that you could pay cash for? You're starting a new life--why not do it on the right foot? I can't evaluate your "mights" from a distance, obviously, but I think it's worth poking at them before you make expensive decisions based on them.

I sold my last truck private party with a loan.  It wasn't overly difficult, however, the bank I had the loan with was a pain in the ass, and if it weren't for the buyer's credit union talking me through the process, I would've given up. 

It helps a lot if you've got the loan with a bank that has a branch local to you.  Its much harder for them to blow you off in person than on the phone. 

As for the leaf--no.  Just no.  I think that electric cars will become the norm at some point, but they will be a "second car" for a loong time until charging times and range issues are rectified. 

I'd go with a Honda fit or a Civic, or you can try to get a killer deal on a Prius right now with the low gas prices.   

[warmastoast]

Prius sounds good to me.  Craigslist has one at the moment for about $8500 2010 with 130K miles though.  Can anyone point me in the direction of a site that lists potential problems/things that need replacing?  Should I keep an eye out for a lower mileage car even if slightly more expensive? 

[rothwem]

Prius sounds good to me.  Craigslist has one at the moment for about $8500 2010 with 130K miles though.  Can anyone point me in the direction of a site that lists potential problems/things that need replacing?  Should I keep an eye out for a lower mileage car even if slightly more expensive?

Check out Priuschat.com.  I've never owned a Prius, but I've got a couple friends that do.  They're pretty reliable vehicles despite the complex drive system.  The newer generations are better, that 2010 sounds like its a nice vehicle.  Take it to a garage you trust to do a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) to check it out before you buy, it should be about $100.

[pagoconcheques]

KBB tends to be high; I find nada.com (use the "consumer" tab choice) more accurate. 

Since your Escape is a pretty common vehicle, you can also go to ebaymotors and run a search for the same year and mileage range Escape within a couple hundred miles of your ZIP Code.  Then select the option to view completed auctions and sold items to find out what private buyers actually paid recently in your market.