Okay so then OP can find a different car that’s worth the $400-500 a month payment with rebates high enough that will allow him to roll his negative equity but if he can do so for a reasonably low interest rate then why not.
In my opinon It beats having to come up with $7,000 out of pocket ( which unless you have cash on hand then you’ll have to put on a credit card and pay interest on anyway).
I was making a suggestion based on the OP’s budget, situation and desired car payments.
He mentioned luxury so the first brand that comes to mind is Acura. He needs something with a good amount of rebates to eat up the negative hence why I chose the ILX.
Maybe he thinks its a nice car? Who knows. Just because you think its an outdated civic doesn’t mean everybody feels the same way lol
It might not be a $7,000 repair but even if it was a $2,000 repair. I could stomach the $500 a month payment on a brand new car easier then stomaching the fact that I have to dump $2,000 into a car thats going to be worth virtually nothing in the next couple years and can get totaled tomorrow.
Presumably the other option could be to just lease a new car and forget about rolling any negative equity in? If the OP doesn’t have the funds to pay off the loan now, could keep the Altima for a few more payments and then cut losses selling it later.
I don’t believe running 2 cars would present any kind of value vs just overpaying the current loan to get rid of it quicker but tbh I’d want out asap if I had to daily an Altima with that awful CVT but that’s just me.
You are in a better financial situation, so pay off the car sooner, drive while you do, then dump when paid off. You will have money in your pocket, a car you can sell free and clear, and no negative equity to deal with.
Time is your friend here. Take a year to pay it off, THEN get another.
No one can predict the future for leases or break downs. It’s much more likely OP will see a major life event changing their financial situation in the next 3 years than it is that an Altima will blow it’s motor. 100k miles is when most cars maintenance actually starts to flatline (not increase). That is, maintenance at 100k will be about the same as 200k, as 300k, etc.
All the (bad) advice to roll in 8k of negative equity (if it’s even possible), seems to be double counting the negative, or not accounting for the fact that it’s a drivable vehicle still.
For example, say the OP leases a new car that would normally be 300/month, bad trade-in ups that to $525. For the sake of argument, let’s ignore disposition fees and increased insurance costs. That would be equal to sticking with the Nissan for $270/mo and banking the extra $255. That’s almost double what edmunds says the maintenance and repairs will be. It’s unlikely the value of the car will depreciate much at this point.
If you add it all up. it means that, if OP keeps the car, then in less than 1.5 years, the equity and savings will zero out the loan balance. That would be good practice to see what life with a $600 car payment is, plus build a nice cushion, and avoid setting hard earned money on fire.
Alternatively, what I haven’t seen anyone suggest, if you really have to have a new car, then just lease the new car and put one (or both) up on Turo. That would offset the added insurance costs of two cars and help pay off the Nissan faster. It will also let you get a better lease, since you seem to drive above average miles.
Just make sure and research that thoroughly and know the risks involved. It’s more risk and work, but it’s surely better than unnecessarily burying yourself in 8k of debt.
The motor will (probably) be fine but that transmission is a ticking timebomb. Although I’m sure I read that Nissan were extending warranties on them so OP will (probably) be okay to eek out a year or two on it and therefore be in a much stronger position once the loan is reduced/paid off.
I agree with your point in principal and find the histrionics by some on here about used car maintenance hysterical, but it’s absolutely not true that maintenance flatlines after 100k. Maintenance and repairs will increase exponentially with miles as different components have different failure curves. Add up all of the possible things that could fail besides the engine and transmission, and you could buy an engine and a transmission. Suspension, exhaust, electrical, accessories, etc etc.
I have driven many used cars past 200k miles. It’s just not worth it to do so vs a lease if you 1) care about how your car drives and 2) can’t do the repairs yourself. For example in June we got an '05 Ody Touring with 210k miles for $2500. Since then it’s done about 12k miles and I’ve put around $600 of parts into it, dealer retail for all the work would easily be over $6000 but I work on it myself. It wasn’t even anything major or catastrophic just a lot of deferred maintenance, annoyances and driveability issues. That’s why high mileage used cars get dumped for dirt cheap at dealers - people get overhwelming quotes from the service department and head over to sales. But on a 2013 Altima with 100k miles? That thing is in for at least 50-100k miles of relatively low maintenance costs. Oil changes, brakes, tires, wiper blades, and maybe a wheel bearing or two.
I agree. I’m normally way on the other side of the lease vs used debate, just not when it involves putting yourself 8k in debt.
I just don’t think repair costs go up exponentially past 100k. Eventually the car sort of gets to a point where you’re sort of just always replacing (and re-replacing) things and that’s the monthly cost. Though I’ve seen many times where people will just not do basic maintenance and repairs which snowballs hard.
Interesting discussion (I’m now curious if there is any compiled data on it), but moot point really, as I think everyone agrees that the Nissan in question isn’t going to cost anywhere near 8k over the next couple years to maintain.
Guys he asked for car advice not financial advice.
The question is basically "what is the best car I can lease for ~$320.
The answer to that is probably one of those Infiniti QX60 pure
Neither a 3-series nor Infiniti is going to get him where he needs to be with $8k negative rolled into it.
The numbers still aren’t making sense. Original price is $16k and you have paid $270/mo for 32 mos but still owe $11k?? Even if all remaining payments were pure principal, that’s another 40
mos. Did you finance a $16k Altima for 7 yrs?!
I’m guessing it’s a 72 month loan with garbage amortization, so the interest is all that got paid off.
One would need 16% to 20% off a 50k car (before incentives) and/or a dealership finance guy that was willing to be “creative.” Then it would just go through as one more sucker paying MSRP.
But even with those, it’s still a bad idea.
