I want to buy a new car, but I can't bring myself to do it

(warning, long-winded post ahead)

Most of my life, I've been broke. My automotive history is a whole bunch of beaters, driven until repairs became insurmountable, rinse, repeat.

By 2008, my career finally took off, zooming. I celebrated by buying a 2005 Scion xB, 22k miles, in 2009.

Now it's 2015. The Scion is 10 years old, but only has 86k. There's essentially nothing wrong with it. OTOH, the automotive ADD is kicking in. Six years is a long time for me to have kept a car.

I can afford a new car. I've found a screaming deal on a leftover 2014 Hyundai Elantra GT, which seems like a suitable upgrade/replacement for the xB. The car is halfway across the country, but it's the only one left in the color I want, and a fly/drive is not insurmountable.

But I just can not bring myself to get rid of a perfectly good car. It's not something I've ever done before. At 86k, the Scion has an easy 4-5 years left in it, and costs me virtually nothing to own/operate. Neither does it seem to be depreciating much.

I guess I don't even know what sort of help I'm reaching out for from you folks. I suspect what I really need is psychological help!

Are you a car guy?

If so, get something new. If its your passion, then do it. Its what us auto guys dream of!

At the same time, you could take half the money of the new car and outright buy a toy instead (which is what I would do)

I live in VA where we pay personal property taxes on our vehicles annually. And new cars are still worth a lot. And there's also the insurance on a new car. Therefore I declare buying a new car berkeleying sucks, and we are never doing that again.

YMMV.

I just got tired of my 5 year old car that I bought new and I bought a "new-to-me" 6 year old car with 50k less miles to replace it.

If you don't want the Scion, you do want the EGT, and you can make the switch without negatively impacting other aspects of your life, just do it. Stop overthinking. Someone else would happily purchase that xB.

I can relate to the difficulty of buying a new car - there has to be some emotional bonus to doing it because it logically doesn't make much sense. In the first few years of ownership it will bleed off a ton of value for no longer being a shiny new thing. So you have to look at it as treating yourself to a new-car experience and making a long-term investment - a new car driven until it hits the bottom of its depreciation curve isn't so bad from a logical perspective. That's how I'd justify buying myself a Toyobaru if I could afford one, anyway

As for selling the old car, unless you have some emotional attachment to it I think you're suffering from the same "can't throw out a good thing" syndrome that people who lived through the Great Depression had - and that really is a form of emotional attachment. Do you think the street value of the car isn't worth what's left in it?

Can you keep the Scion and buy yourself a "fun" car?

An 05 Scion xB with only 86K miles? At least you won't have any problems selling that.

If you have a short commute, it seems like the Hyundai wouldn't be enough of an upgrade. If an extra car is feasible, I'm inclined to agree with others to find yourself something fun, and keep the Scion. It's just too good of a car to walk away from just due to AADD. Then again, if you think you'd be inclined to keep the Hyundai as long as you've kept the xB, then at least you'll own it long enough to spread out the cost of depreciation of a new car...

GameboyRMH wrote: ...I think you're suffering from the same "can't throw out a good thing" syndrome that people who lived through the Great Depression had - and that really is a form of emotional attachment. Do you think the street value of the car isn't worth what's left in it?

Nailed it! I'm the child of my father, who was a child of The Depression. That may be part of it.

As for the value... It should be an easy sale at $5500. I see them on CL with lots more miles at $6kOBO. I paid $11.7k in '09. I guess if it cost me $6k to drive for almost 6 years, that's pretty good, right?

I sold my '06 xB with about another 100k for $5k, and if I had waited until after winter I probably could have done better.

I just celebrated one year with my first new car, at age 47. I don't regret it one bit. Do it.

Keep the scion. It's a perfectly functional appliance that will serve that role for essentially forever.

Buy a used Miata. Enjoy the roadsterness of it, enjoy the sun all summer and when winter comes the Scion will be waiting for you and will feel like a new to you car again. Repeat in the spring.

Unless you truly need to buy a new car I wouldn't ever recommend it. The depreciation sucks.

Only reason I don't own newer cars is because most of them don't have many improvements over older cars.

I'm an econobox kinda guy, and I feel like most newest econoboxes have gotten less fun and more expensive. Yea, they may have a nicer interior, but personally that's a minor thing for me.

I can't see spending all that money on something only marginally better than what I've got.

I want the true reincarnation of the AE86, but with modern fuel efficiency of 40mpg highway. Something the size of a 235is but with a liftback versus a trunk. Yea, that might convince me. Nissan idX, you listening?

If the old car is what is stopping you, get the new one. It wont take long until you understand that your old car should have something better than just sit around doing nothing.

Then you can sell it.

Bear in mind, you are not just getting rid of it- you are passing it's usefulness onto someone else. It's not being thrown away. And you get money for doing that.

Heck, giving a car to the right charity (who actually recycle the car) means you are not just throwing a car away.

z31maniac wrote: Can you keep the Scion and buy yourself a "fun" car?

+1

...or in my case, a second... then a third... and a fourth... and...

"I want to buy a new car, but I can't bring myself to do it"

That seems like you contradicted yourself before you even got past the subject.

If you have to force your self to do it, it's not "WANT".

You do have a garage to keep the new car in right? If no, get one before you get a new car.

I think everyone who is financially able should buy a brand new car at least once. Yes, payments suck, and tags and taxes, and depreciation...and....and...

But every car guyorgal should know the feeling of driving away in a car that you are the first one to hoon. It really is special.

Don't go stupid in debt, but I'd buy something that you want and either trade in the xB or keep it around as a dirty jobs mobile if you have storage space.

I had a new car twice in my 25 years of driving. It's nice for about a month and it's just becomes another car. I won't ever buy a new car again and haven't in 15 years. Used cars from now on however I will likely lose that fight because my wife wants a new vehicle for the family. She has never had a new car

ultraclyde wrote: I think everyone who is financially able should buy a brand new car at least once. Yes, payments suck, and tags and taxes, and depreciation...and....and... But every car guyorgal should know the feeling of driving away in a car that you are the first one to hoon. It really is special. Don't go stupid in debt, but I'd buy something that you want and either trade in the xB or keep it around as a dirty jobs mobile if you have storage space.

This!

It was awesome all 3 times. '10 MazdaSpeed 3, '13 GT Mustang, '15 BRZ

I've got 2 bits of advice:

1) If you can afford to buy, insure, and house 2 cars - do as suggested and get a weekend / nice day toy, while keeping the Scion for doing what it does best. That scratches the ADD itch and keeps an extremely useful and cost-effective car in your fleet. I tried to have my E46 do it all - be a toy and a commuter. The E46 is a fine commuter but not overfun as a toy, so I wound up buying the Manic Miata to play with. If you can swing it without adding too much stress, I am a firm believer in having the right tool for the right job.

2) If you can't swing 2 cars without adding stress, then don't hesitate to sell the Scion and buy something new that you really like and will enjoy. You've already demonstrated that you keep cars a while. Buy something that you'll like for 6-8 years and don't worry about depreciation. That's for "new every 2" suckers. Yes, you still get hit with depreciation, but it's very front-loaded. 6, 8, 10 years from now, it won't matter at all.

Bonus advice) If you're enthused about buying a leftover Elantra, then you can probably afford something a little nicer than you think. If it helps, stretch the budget a bit more than you normally would, and get something you're really going to love driving for a while. We did that with my wife's TSX in 2004 and 10-1/2 years later we still have no real interest in replacing it.

Thanks, folks. What you all helped me realize is that the void in my life has nothing to do with vehicles and I was diverting my BS into car stuff because that's easiest for me to cope with.

If you would need to finance the new car, keep driving what you have. I came from your financial background, now I buy new for cash, drive 10 years and then scrap what is left. (Ontario is rough on cars) Repeat.

Gives me ten years to make car payments to myself rather than the bank. Also means that I won't ever own an expensive car like a Porsche or Jag cause I cant scrape up that much spare coin in 10 years!

Dang, and here I thought a fly and drive for the xB might be in the cards for me.

bastomatic wrote: Dang, and here I thought a fly and drive for the xB might be in the cards for me.

Shoot me a PM. One of the things that always keeps me from replacing a car is the hassle of getting rid of the old one :)

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