My car is worth ~ $5,000 - options for a new one?

Why sell it? Keep it and enjoy it, do the routine maintenance and washes, and it will last you another 10+ years. Put your $ into something that can grow.

Respectfully, I didn't post for car maintenance advice. The car runs well, and I do routine maintenance on it. I am just tired of it after driving it for seven years and over 50k miles. I'm also spending a small % of my money on this endeavor so that it really doesn't impact my finances. You are right, though. The most financially sound move is to keep my current car as it has no issues. I'm simply exploring any options and seeking the car-geeks who know a lot about cars, to see if within this price range I have any options for a new car and a nice change of pace.

Outlaw wrote:

Why sell it? Keep it and enjoy it, do the routine maintenance and washes, and it will last you another 10+ years. Put your $ into something that can grow.

At 50k miles, the car is like new. Just keep driving it.

A mini cooper is very pricey, expect to pay a lot for a decent one.

Ford Focus is a pretty fun to drive car in the same price range. Mazda 3 is good, too. I don't think you'll find a mini that cheap without some issues.

Get an ultragauge, learn to hypermile, max out your mpg and then look for a better cost effective car on that basis.

no lol

J.R. wrote:

Get an ultragauge, learn to hypermile, max out your mpg and then look for a better cost effective car on that basis.

for about 3-4,000 more, you can get a Honda Accord of the same model year.

Honestly, keep your car. From what I've seen, the best deals are for 1-2 year old cars (cars seem to lose value the most rapidly the first two years and then level off at about $1k/year until they are about 6-8 years old and then seem to lose value much less rapidly), but a six year old car with only 50k miles and limited maintenance issues should be solid for another ten years.

If you are a man, please for the love of god do not buy a mini cooper.

Pretty sure common knowledge is that men in big trucks are "Compensating" anyway, friend.

dial it up wrote:

If you are a man, please for the love of god do not buy a mini cooper.

Who mentioned a large truck? Go to bed you're drunk.

Mazda 3. Basically no better car on the road.

'but a six year old car with only 50k miles and limited maintenance issues should be solid for another ten years.[/quote]

Do we even know what make it is?

Once the car is over 10 years old regardless of mileage you are looking at increased maintenance costs

he said it was a cobalt sedan. If it is the case that he actually has a working American car at that age, that is gold. To have driven only 50,000 miles in six years, about 8,000 miles per year, means that he only figures to be at about 130,000-140,000 miles after another ten years. Most engines today should last to 200,000 miles. The one major worry is the timing belt, which he should probably get replaced around 70,000 miles. I recently had a car with an interference motor and 218,000 miles on it. The timing belt came off and the engine destroyed a rod. So, I sold it for $300. Previous owners had never replaced the timing belt. By the way, what you drive doesn't make you a man. A man is a man because he has reason, age, and certain chromosomes. That reason is telling you that the purpose of a car is to get reliably, safely, and reasonably quickly from point A to point B. Anything else is you displaying for the ladies.

Picking up another car payment makes no sense. By keeping your car, and having it run well without high cost to maintain it , you are keeping that money.

Two more years could make a difference.

A mini cooper is a bit more geared towards impressing the men, not ladies. Or these new lady-boys I've been hearing about.

BTW a car can be much more than just a machine to get from point A to point B.

Go to Auto Trader, Craigslist or anywhere online and look at cars in the $5,000 range.

Then pick one you like.

dial it up wrote:

A mini cooper is a bit more geared towards impressing the men, not ladies. Or these new lady-boys I've been hearing about.

Test drive a used VW Golf from 2007-present (was also called the rabbit in the late 2000's) from with manual transmission. Make sure you drive this car, or the mini, with a manual transmission as the automatic takes away half the fun in my opinion. I had a VW Rabbit and loved driving it and had no major issues with it up to 90,000 miles. I sold it only because a new job allowed me to go car free.

I've also driven the cobalt and mini cooper. I thought the the golf/rabbit and mini cooper were far, far superior cars to the cobalt/cruze. The VW is about 20% cheaper than the mini. The mini I drove was quicker than the VW and handled really well.

If you are buying a car for the fun of driving it? Why on earth would you consider any of those cars? How about an audi S5 if you want fun? Or a Cadillac ATS? A BMW 3 series will give you one of the most enjoyable driving experiences you can get without spending 50k.

You won't get these for 5k obviously, but if we are talking about having fun driving, a cobalt or golf arent going to get it done.