Should I Sell My Car?

Uncle Long

Alright, so, I've got a 2000 Honda Accord, Vtech V6. I bought it over the summer because I was working for a beer/wine distributor and had to drive all over the place every day and needed something reliable with decent gas mileage. I bought the car for around 7500 and I'm currently making payments of ~200/month plus ~100 in insurance (full coverage).

Now, I moved to an island out in Alaska where the main business district is about half the size of my college campus. I've been here for two weeks and used less than a quarter tank of gas, and that's only because I took a few logging roads out into the woods to go exploring on the weekends. I walk to work, I walk to the store, I walk pretty much everywhere. The only reason I really would want to keep my car is if I want to drive out to a hiking trail head or do something out of doors and away from town. But I could make most of these places on a bike if I really needed to.

I think I want to sell the car if I can and just walk everywhere as I'm doing. The only problems I can see is if I want to drive out to these trail heads. I don't know however, if because I just got the car a few months ago, if selling it is going to hurt my credit score.

I've got student loans coming up and while, according to my budget I shouldn't have any problem making all of my payments, including rent, car, insurance, food, utilities and student loans, but given that I am on schedule to use less than a tank of gas a month, is it worth it to shell out that extra 300 a month for the car?

scootch

seems like you don't need it.

I my self love driving and an accord is a pretty sweet car to kick around in.

Uncle Long

It is a pretty sweet car, that's one of the reasons I'd like to keep it, but I get the feeling that, seeing as there really is nowhere to go with it and no roads over 50 mph on the island that it'll just sit in the driveway most of the time and rust out (or I'm paranoid, but we get around 110" a year in these parts).

And an extra 3-400 a month would be nice to have in my pocket instead of going towards something I don't use too often.

Still...

Lord Yod

Those cars are incredibly reliable. Not the best Honda has produced but still way up there. It'll definitely rust out if it isn't garaged.

One concern, though, is that you said you live in Alaska now. Doesn't it snow a lot? Won't you need a car then?

Uncle Long

Lord Yod wrote: »

Those cars are incredibly reliable. Not the best Honda has produced but still way up there. It'll definitely rust out if it isn't garaged.

One concern, though, is that you said you live in Alaska now. Doesn't it snow a lot? Won't you need a car then?

No, actually, where I live is way in the southeast so think Seattle but a few degrees colder. It rains a lot but there's relatively little snow. In fact, I come from Michigan, and we get substantially more snow there than here. Even if there was a lot of snow everything that I have to go do is within about a 3 square mile radius at max. I live about a half mile away from anything like work or the grocery store.

Lord Yod

You sound like the perfect candidate for a bicyclist. And if you don't have a desperate need for trunk room, you definitely don't need a car. Hell you can just rent one for a day if you want to go hiking, you'll still wind up ahead. Sell it to that other guy.

Pheezer

You're not just spending $300 a month for something you're not using, you're spending it on something you're not using that's rapidly becoming worth less and less. Just sell the car and re-route that money to a bond or anything. Hell even a savings account.

You really don't want to keep this car.

Thanatos

DrDizaster wrote: »

You're not just spending $300 a month for something you're not using, you're spending it on something you're not using that's rapidly becoming worth less and less. Just sell the car and re-route that money to a bond or anything. Hell even a savings account.

You really don't want to keep this car.

This. If you could put it up on cement blocks in the garage, it might be a different story, but it's just going to get fucked up sitting in a driveway.

Pheezer

Thinatos wrote: »

DrDizaster wrote: »

You're not just spending $300 a month for something you're not using, you're spending it on something you're not using that's rapidly becoming worth less and less. Just sell the car and re-route that money to a bond or anything. Hell even a savings account.

You really don't want to keep this car.

This. If you could put it up on cement blocks in the garage, it might be a different story, but it's just going to get fucked up sitting in a driveway.

Well that, and it's also depreciating because that's what cars do.

AtomBomb

Agreed on selling it now. Currently it is worth the most that it will ever be worth. If you need to buy a similar one in a couple of years it will be cheaper. Plus, you can probably rent a car or truck whenever the fancy strikes you and still spend less than $300 a month. Sell it.

Uncle Long

Yeah, alright, so this is the plan:

Sell the car; there's no reason for me to really have it except for getting out to trails.

Don't have a car in the winter; roads to said trails are not maintained and are usually closed in the winter and the trails that stay open are close enough to walk to.

Save that cash; I actually enjoy saving cash.

Get a bike; I think it's about the best way to get around and anyone I'm going to go kayaking or fishing or multi-day hiking with has a car/truck. I didn't bring mine because it broke and would have taken up too much car space on the ride up here.

Alright, I think about straightens things out.

Unless anyone has any really good reason for me to keep this car that I'm just not seeing, of course. I think this thread has reaffirmed my logic.

Zeon

Sell the car while its worth something. Wont hurt your credit score, unless you dont pay off the loan for some reason.

If you feel like you need a vehicle, im sure you can find an old beater truck or something up there, especially if you enjoy driving offroad... a big 4x4 is way better for exploring trails in alaska than an accord is. You could probably pick up an old bronco or something for under 1500 dollars, and just put liability coverage on it, would probably cost around 25 bucks a month. At least then you have the option of driving somewhere if you want/need to.