I have too much emotion and family issues tied up in a decision to be able to clearly see what the most logical financial play is, so I came here for help. The basic question is, should I "loan" our vehicle to my Father-in-Law for a year+, or should we sell it?
My wife and I are moving from VT to Manhattan for 1 year minimum, so she can attend surgery fellowship. We currently have a pickup that we love. We sleep in the back for ski/bike vacations. It is a special model year, not made anymore, and with NO options which kept the price down and makes maintenance much cheaper (no electrical doodads). We own it outright. We could sell it for about $12k. It would be pretty hard to find another like it, it took us many months to find this one, and if we don't luck out in the future and have to buy a newer model year with more usual package options it will cost $16-$25k, ugh.
My FatherInLaw is under-employed, but drives long distances in northern rural Vermont to work everyday of the summer. He *needs* very reliable transportation. His vehicle is dying and he's trying to scrape together money for a new one. We are considering "loaning" him our truck for however long we'll be gone. This will give him a vehicle, and enable us to keep our favorite truck so after we leave the big city we can get it back.
The other side-benefit of this deal is that my wife has never lived without a car and she wants to bring the truck to Manhattan!!! This is obviously a bad idea, so I'm looking for wife-friendly ways to not bring a vehicle to NYC. The loan-to-dad plan is OK with her, the sell-it plan will be a bitter pill for her.
So...Is there any value in keeping a paid-for vehicle around so we (maybe) don't need to pay more for a vehicle in a year+? Or, are we wasting a chance to liquidate a depreciating asset? Am I setting all of us for bad family tensions by involving lots of money in a family loaner? I really want this "leave the truck in VT" plan to work, but the voice in my head is nagging me that I should just sell it, and if I still want to help my FatherInLaw out I can do it with cash and not worry about possibly trashing a truck I was planning on getting back.
thanks for all thoughts! Peter