Should I Sell My Car or Hold onto It?

LDongas1 on 16/07/2018 - 16:08

Hi Ozbargainers,

I am a student and I currently own a 2007 Kia Magentis. It's in good mechanical condition, sits at 137,000 kms, and has never let me down. I drive a fair bit to work maybe 3 times a week (about 20kms away), and once to training (also 20kms away). Additionally there are short trips during the weekend.

My main desire at the moment is to maybe switch to a car with a smaller engine for fuel costs. The Kia has a 6 cyl, 2.7L engine so it guzzles a fair bit. However given the model, its very difficult to sell.

My budget is around the 2k mark, of which I have been looking at smaller MANUAL Japanese cars (Corolla, Pulsar, Jazz etc.).

The Rego on the Kia is due for a refresh at the beginning of October (I usually do 6 months at a time / $600 ish). I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what to think about, and whether I should keep the kia or sell it to grab a smaller car. (If I do buy a smaller car, should I purchase it straight away or wait for the Kia to sell first?)

Thank you in advance for your help!

Poll Options

  • 2
    Sell my current car
  • 42
    Keep my current car
Automotive

Comments

  • boomramada on 16/07/2018 - 16:20
    +1

    You are a student, car is getting old, and it consume lots of fuel. Time to upgrade it! But you need to save for bigger budget.

  • Ocker on 16/07/2018 - 16:23
    +23

    Do the numbers:

    4 round trips of 40km a week plus (say) 40km misc trips = 200km a week.
    Present car probably around 13l per 100 km so that's 26l of petrol a week @ (say) $1.40 = $36.40 a week for petrol.

    Smaller car uses 9l per 100 km so that's 22.2l of petrol a week, cost of $31.10 a week.

    So, you are going to save, at best, $5.30 a week on petrol

    Do really think it is worth the effort, and risk, of changing cars for just $5.30 a week. I don't !!

    • Dongas1 on 16/07/2018 - 16:52
      -1

      This is great! Thank you for your sound advice.

    • ihbh on 16/07/2018 - 19:55

      Isn't 9L x 2 (lots of 100kms) = 18L?

    • SPCTRE on 16/07/2018 - 19:58
      +2

      9L per 100 so that’s 22.2L of petrol a week??

      Shouldn’t it be 18L? 18L of petrol a week cost is $25.2. Difference of $11.4/week.

      Any car that drinks 9L/100km is not a small car more like a mid size car like lancer, mazda3, Honda Accord etc.

      Small cars like Yaris, mazda2, Corolla would drink 6-7L/100km.

      Using 6L/100km = 12L of petrol a week cost is $16.8. Difference of $19.6/week.

      Using 7L/100km = 14L of petrol a week cost is $19.6. Difference of $16.8/week.

      Driving manual will net you about 0.5-1L/100km better fuel ecomany over autos.

    • [Deactivated] on 18/07/2018 - 19:01

      9L/100km? Tell him he's dreaming!

      My (recently sold) Honda Jazz cost $1500, was fun as hell, had 1 service for 200 bucks and gave me 15,000km over a year never getting over 6.5L/100km. More like 5.5L/100km on the highway. Sold it after a year for $1100.

  • HKS on 16/07/2018 - 16:47
    +4

    cost of buying a more fuel efficient car vs paying less for fuel for your current car doesn't add up. keep your current car until the wheels fall off.

    • Dongas1 on 16/07/2018 - 16:53

      Thank you! will keep that in mind!

      • ego22 on 16/07/2018 - 17:57
        +3

        Dont keep that in mind. Its best to regularly check the nuts on your wheels to prevent the wheels from falling off.

  • plmko on 16/07/2018 - 16:48
    +8

    Keeping a car you trust is worth more than gambling on a cheap car down the line. You might be bargaining for more than you think.

    • Dongas1 on 16/07/2018 - 16:53

      Definitely one of the factors I was considering and maybe had me leaning toward keeping. thank you!

  • AutomationGuy on 16/07/2018 - 17:36
    +4

    Buying any car under $5k is asking for trouble, you are much better off with the devil you know than the many you don’t.

    • mskeggs on 16/07/2018 - 18:34
      +4

      I don’t think cheap cars are asking for trouble, but I certainly wouldn’t swap one where I knew the history for one where I didn’t for the possible tiny savings op is considering.

  • HighAndDry on 16/07/2018 - 18:11
    +2

    Yeah, with a $2k budget it's going to be hit-or-miss whether you get a car that's more reliable than your current ride. Once you have maybe $15k saved up - and so also about 2-3 years down the line - you can consider upgrading from your then 10 year old Kia to a new (or 1-2 yrs old and still within warranty), smaller, more fuel-efficient (maybe even hybrid), Japanese hatchback.

  • Euphemistic on 16/07/2018 - 20:45

    Keep the current one until either:
    1. It dies
    2. You can afford a newer car, maybe $8-10k budget

  • [Deactivated] on 16/07/2018 - 23:25
    +2

    A car that has never let you down…

    Unless this car is a v12 and you're in stop start traffic all day, don't ever sell it.

  • Klevakiwi on 18/07/2018 - 09:18
    +1

    Some sound advice here. Replacing a known quantity with an unknown would be a poor decision. The first time your 2K replacement car breaks down , and you wont have to wait long, you will have lost any financial gain you were hoping to achieve.
    While you may be forking out a few extra dollars in fuel a week, it is a known cost, and you can budget for it. Repairs to your 2K s/box, will not have been budgeted for, will be a grudge spend, without adding any value to the car, you are just maintaining the status quo, at your cost.
    Bottom line, keep your current car.

  • [Deactivated] on 18/07/2018 - 19:03

    What's the L/100km on your current car? That's the only way we can settle this. As I commented earlier, my $1500 Honda Jazz got 5.5-6.5L/100km. Much more storage room than your car too. They are known for reliability if there is a half decent service record. Hundreds of them for sale for sub $2k. Very unlikely anything will go wrong, if it does, it'll be cheaper than fixing yours due to more part availability.

    • Euphemistic on 19/07/2018 - 10:16
      +1

      Alternatively, if something goes wrong with a $2k car and it's going to cost over $1k you can always buy another $2k car.

  • Euphemistic on 25/07/2018 - 07:35

    Want to save fuel money? $200 will get you a pretty decent 2nd hand bicycle.

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