Background:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/another-car-advice-thread/Had a 2008 Audi A4 and was losing sleep worrying about maintenance costs in the future, gas, insurance and depreciation. Bought the car CPO for 25K in 2011. Was financed originally but paid it off early this year.
On Friday, sold it to Carmax for 17K (KBB was 15.5 trade in and 17.5 private party) which was way more than I expected. I could have got a bit more if I'd listed it on Craigslist but the prospect looked intimidating which is why I'd been subconsciously justifying keeping it.
Replaced it with a 2006 Prius with 75K miles for 12K (this is lower than what most similar cars were listed for in the Bay - used Prii seem to be in a bubble).
Savings:
~ 3.8K cash because of the trade down - tax and DMV costs accounted for about $ 1200. Put it straight in the car replacement fund for when my wife's 2004 Mercedes with 150k miles gives up.
Maintenance on the car: The Prius has been maintained immaculately by the previous owner with service records for every 5K. And with Toyota reliability, I'm anticipating about 200-300 in maintenance per year as opposed to $ 1200 for the Audi.
Gas: been getting 60 mpg (!!) as opposed to 23 in the Audi. Between myself and my wife, we drive about 800 miles per month for work so about $ 50 per month in gas as opposed to $ 146 in the Audi! And this is not counting the gas we spend on shopping, travelling and other errands which could be easily another 20-30 in savings per month.
Insurance: Went down by 15 $ per month. Waiting to get our emergency stash up so that we can self insure and save another $ 50.