erictm
Ricky Sunnyvale
erictm

I don’t agree with a lot of Dave Ramsey’s advice but you’re wrong here. They made stupid decisions and while $90k household income before taxes might be considered good money it’s not $1,200/month car payment money. They can’t afford to stick with it, which is why they called in the first place.

Have you ever tried to private party sell a late-model commodity car in that price bracket? It’s nearly impossible. Someone ready to drop $50k on a car doesn’t want to deal with an individual. Too much money is at stake and the individual can’t help with financing. Totally different situation from a $5k car you throw

If dealers aren’t willing to give them more than $40,000, where exactly does Ramsey think a buyer will come from that will give them $10,000 over what’s presumably the market value”

You don’t like to click three times to go one slide forward?

These were terrible cars. The ergonomics sucked, the top sucked, the engine sucked, the transmission really, really, really sucked. They did handle quite well though.

Looking at the interior of that car is a great reminder of how far we’ve come since the late 90s/early 2000s. 

Also, the Car Wizard’s favorite engine!

You can stop me from whoring myself out when you take my phone from my cold dead hands!

Then it would be your fault for whoring about elsewhere.

I’ve been saying the same thing about my 2010 since about 2018.

Broken down car out there might be a good point (although again, preventative maintenance might go a long way without knowing anything about the car other than it being an ‘08 Taurus). But as the delta in fuel economy between smaller and larger cars tends to be smaller on the highway versus in town, I’m still not sure

This is the right answer, imo. If the Taurus is “long in the tooth” but still reliable, keep on driving that sucker. The used car market is so hot right now, despite recent (very slight) cooling off, that $10k isn’t going to get you a vast improvement on the Taurus, I fear. Like, I’m driving a 2009 Pontiac right now.

This. Unless it is having mechanical issues keep the old car.

I miss the stupid but awesome option.

Yep.  10k buys a lot of gas.

the devil you know...

Tree-fiddy.

Fuel economy is for sissies. You want to overland some shit, or something.  $3250, spend the rest on weed and ski passes. 

I’ll sell you my 2007 Honda Accord EX-L V6. Like the one above but newer and a few more miles (105k). New brakes, tires have a lot of life left. 6 DISC CD CHANGER!

ANY Honda Accord or Civic, 10-20 years old, with four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual. It will be, by far, the cheapest to own over the years. I would avoid automatics, as well as the V6 engines that have cylinder management (bad ones from around 2008 - 2012).