I'll try to keep this short. Looking for input on my decision making process.
I've been mulling over this decision for 3 weeks. I'm mainly considering upgrading because I'm still in college and I anticipate to be moving all over for the next decade. Last year's internship was 10 hours from home and this year's internship is 24 hours from home. This year, I'll be in AZ for the summer and it's going to be hot. My current 1993 Geo Metro doesn't have A/C and it's questionable if it'll even make it out to AZ in one piece. I make frequent long trips to see my girlfriend and it would really be nice to travel more comfortably. I really like my current car in terms of driving experience, it just sucks for road trips. Especially in 90+ degree weather. Also, parts are probably going to start becoming hard to find and it's somewhat of a death trap relative to modern vehicles.
I planned on someday purchasing a used mirage to replace my current geo metro but these recent rebates are enticing. From my point of view, I'm seeing a new car for $10k vs some other used car for $5k with 100,000 miles on the clock.
Basically, Mitsubishi is offering $3,500 rebates on their 2015 mirages to make room for the 2017 version.
This means I can walk away with the bottom of the line trim(manual transmission, no cruise control basically) for $8900+tax&tags.
I can walk away with the top of the line trim(CVT and cruise control among some other fancy stuff) for 10,600+tax&tags.
My insurance would probably increase a lot from the current $600/yr to something like $1200/yr?
I can get financing through my credit union at 3% for 72 months or 2.5% for 60 months.
My overall financial picture:
$9500 in my Roth IRA
$4200 in savings
no debt
I've projected my net worth to be $30k when I graduate from college. Purchasing a new car would make that number closer to $20k. I've been having trouble determining if that's worth it or not. I certainly don't need a new car. Just considering if I really want a new car.
I don't currently see a point to purchasing a $3k-$6k used car because then I'll still be on the hook for maintenance like I am with my current geo. I like working on cars, but it's not something I have a ton of time for these days.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks.