Sell a vehicle or not? Sell other stuff or not?

[big_slacker]

Hey all, I wanted to pose this one to the group and get some opinions.

Fairly recently I became 100% debt free, the last debt being a car loan that I paid off. However, that debt free state was short lived as my wife is going back to (trade) school so she can re-enter the workforce. Debt for a good cause, but debt nonetheless. So the current situation is:

School Debt-$10k@12% APR (Credit card)

Vehicle #1: 2009 VW Tiguan-65k miles-$11k est value
Vehicle #2: 2013 Jeep Wrangler-14k miles-$20k est value

Current non-401k or stock based savings is $1000-1500 a month. So I could pay it off in 7-10 months which is the current plan. However I was thinking about possibly doing something with the vehicles. Such as:

Sell Jeep, pay off school immediately. Take remaining $10k and buy a cheaper 2nd vehicle. I do love the jeep and do use it for work transpo (when I don't ride my bike), bike hauling, offroading, kayak hauling and 4wd to get to the mountains for snowboarding. However I'm sure I could find something to do most of that save offroading which is fun but not a true passion.

Sell Jeep and go single vehicle? Get some nice investment $$. This would be doable but remove a ton of flexibility from our life. Shuttling kids places almost every day would strand either my spouse or I. I'd be locked into bike commute or very slow bus commute. Weekend activities would require a lot more planning, for instance I take the vehicle for mountain biking and she's stuck at home for half the day.

Scour the house for stuff to sell. Off the top of my head I have around $6k in a couple of watches (put on flameproof suit), some guns, maybe some of the wifey's shoes and so on. This plus burning some stocks (capital gains tax) and savings could wipe out almost all the debt. I'd still have vehicles but would be pretty tapped out on savings and non-401k investments. One of the watches holds some sentimental value though and I hate thinking of selling it. The other not so much so maybe the more expensive one could go.

401k loan? Better interest rates than 12% but that $$ not earning interest while paying it off. Kind of want to avoid this.

Some other combo? Suggestions are welcome, because I'm on the fence when it comes to the jeep. I love driving it, it's paid for, I know it'll last a decade or more. OTOH it gets crap mileage and I hate debt.

[AZDude]

If you could lower the interest rate, it would make paying it off over time less egregious. Home equity loan?

Does the Wrangler work hauling the family places or is it a two seater that is purely for fun? If the latter, then it should probably go...

[therethere]

What about a 0% Balance Transfer offer? 3% for fees beats 12%. Only if you are positive you could pay it off in time.

[DaveR]

A secured loan (one of the cars as collateral) would also give you a better rate than a 12% credit card. Rate dependent on loan amount and duration. Basically, you are taking out a car loan again.

[lbmustache]

I do love the jeep and do use it for work transpo (when I don't ride my bike), bike hauling, offroading, kayak hauling and 4wd to get to the mountains for snowboarding. However I'm sure I could find something to do most of that save offroading which is fun but not a true passion.

Is the VW your wife's car? My brother has one, and I'm going to guess yours isn't AWD either, but it seems plenty capable?

Maybe sell the Jeep, pay off the loan, and buy a used Forester or something similar? You could even get something a bit more than $10k, I am 99.9% sure you could finance a small loan for less than 12%.

[big_slacker]

Is the VW your wife's car? My brother has one, and I'm going to guess yours isn't AWD either, but it seems plenty capable?

Maybe sell the Jeep, pay off the loan, and buy a used Forester or something similar? You could even get something a bit more than $10k, I am 99.9% sure you could finance a small loan for less than 12%.

If you could lower the interest rate, it would make paying it off over time less egregious. Home equity loan?

Does the Wrangler work hauling the family places or is it a two seater that is purely for fun? If the latter, then it should probably go...

The wrangler is a 2 door, but has 2 booster seats and is what *I* use to haul the kids around. The tiguan is the wife's car and FWD like you guessed. It's capable but might need chains for traction depending on the weather at the pass and chains as most know are a PITA.

But certainly I've thought quite a bit about something like an outback wagon, forester, or maybe even an older 4runner which would do everything the jeep does for half as much.

[slappy]

You could get another auto loan. Take the title of one of the vehicles to your local credit union. The rate should be around 2%. You could probably even set whatever term you want, so you could set a 12 or 24 month term and pay it off ASAP.