Car Dilemma- Please help Hello everyone,
I've been doing some research on one of my cars,for the past couple of weeks. The final picture didn't make me happy,hence this thread. I'd love for anyone living in the US (or who has lived here ) to pool in with your inputs.
Here's the senario:
In May '07, my wife got her license and we decided to get a 2nd car.My car being a manual tranny,we had to get an AT. Cost was the main issue,and after looking around a whole lot,we found a good 2004 Kia Optima LX at Carmax.It had just 22k miles on the odo,and was in good condition.It had leather seats,alloys..etc.The cost was $13K,and we liked the car in all aspects. So we went ahead and bought the car, getting it financed through a credit union. Since I had a whole lot of stuff that I was paying up for,they cranked the % rates to 9.5%. The prevailing rates were around 7-8% for used cars.
Recently,I tried to refinance the loan and when I applied to a few places,I got to know that the current value of the car is just $7k-8K. I was shocked to hear that.It meant that I was paying close to $14k for a car that was worth $7K,that too within the 1st 6 months of having the car.
Anyway,moving forward with the situation- I was wondering if it would make sense in trying to sell this car,or trade it in for something new. My wife got on a payroll,and I guess it would make sense in getting a newer car for the same monthly payments we make.
The flip side- Would I lose heavily in the process of trading my car in? Since I have already paid close to $1,800 in montly payments, would this value be reflected anywhere when I look at another car?
I'm really not sure if this is something we could discuss, or is it the case of 'bad luck..keep the car and try to pay it off in 5yrs'.
Given the fact that my wife has 6 months of driving experience,I wouldn't be scared to look at a new car. The main feeling I have at this point of time is that I'm paying way more for a used car,than what it is originally worth. If it was a new car,I wouldn't have thought much since I know that the minute a car is driven out of the dealership,its value drops a straight $3-5k.
Do give me your ideas,since I'd like to get going and fix this ASAP.
Regards
Nitin |