Help me decide if I should trade in my car
December 27, 2011 12:50 PM   Subscribe

Buying a new car. Should I trade in my old one or give it to family?

I decided to hit the reset button and treat myself to a new car (acura) that I can keep for another 10+ years.

I currently have a 99 Accord with 152k miles. The car is reliable and runs well. I've done a lot of preventive maintenance (timing belt, fluids/filters, new battery, new tires, etc). It would be much easier if I could just trade in the accord, but I feel like I have too much time/money into her so I'm considering giving her to my parents to use as a second-hand car. The downsides are 1) getting them the car, 2) transferring the title (I live three hours away), 3) losing trade-in money ($2,500-ish), 4) having to use 30-day tags and get a new license plate for the new car (prefer to keep my existing plate, etc)

Normally those cons would make it a no-brainer to trade in the accord, but I'm having trouble separating myself from the idea of the time/money spent on the vehicle..and the fact I think my parents would get more use of out of it than the amount I would receive.

Help me decide if I should just make this easy by cutting ties to the vehicle and trading it in, or should I go through the hassle of keeping it and transferring to my parents? Should I be this attached to a car I've had for 10+ years?
Thanks!
posted by Yunani to Shopping (10 answers total)
 
I'd say either give it to the parents, or sell it yourself. An Accord in good shape is an easy sale, even with 150k on it. You should easily be able to get more than $2,500 for it. Leave the dealership out of it.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:07 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


A well-maintained Honda with 150,000 miles on it will likely provide far more than $2500 worth of future use to your parents. I vote for keeping it.

Plus, I often suspect a trade-in just gives the dealer another variable for the little shell game they play to separate you from your money.
posted by jayder at 1:10 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


1 is easy--make your folks come to you.

2's no biggie--you might have to take a day off work to do the title stuff, but, since you're not only buying a new Acura but also considering giving away $2500, I imagine you can afford it.

4 might not be insurmountable either (it probably depends on your state, but, depending on how, and in what order, you do things, it may be possible to keep the plates).

That just leaves 3.
posted by box at 1:13 PM on December 27, 2011


Cars can be shipped for the low hundreds of dollars, for what it's worth. Does your state require you be involved in transferring the title other than just filling out the transferee information and signing it, then sending it in the mail (or the glovebox, if you're shipping the car)?
posted by wierdo at 1:17 PM on December 27, 2011


If your parents can use a '99 car with 150K miles on it (i.e. their financial situation is such that this would make a real difference to them) and you can afford it, I would give it to them.
posted by needs more cowbell at 2:10 PM on December 27, 2011


You can sell the car without a dealer. Heck, for 2.5 k I would buy your car.
posted by jadepearl at 3:39 PM on December 27, 2011


Best answer: My brother is flying out here (Detroit area) in a couple of weeks to take ownership of my '99 Outback wagon and drive it back to his home in Colorado. I could've traded it in, I suppose - except that the dealer I was working with didn't seem thrilled to get it and would've shipped it off to an auction. And since my husband and I both work full-time (and commute - it's not like we can drop by over lunch to meet potential buyers), getting through the whole sell-it-yourself process would've been a pain.

My brother, on the other hand, will be glad to have it for his family's use. I maintain my cars so despite high miles it's in good shape, and after spending so much time tooling around in it I'm glad to see it "go to a good home" (silly, I suppose).

I transferred my existing plates to the new car, and we're getting temporary plates/insurance for the Subie until my brother arrives. Not very expensive, not a huge logistical problem -- a couple of phone calls and visit to the DMV. Transferring the title is easy peasy too - directions should be at the State site, but pretty much you just sign the title over and keep a copy. Since my car's paid off I have the title in my files, no other effort needed to get a copy (though we've done that too, in the past, and it's not a big deal either).

Your parents are 3 hours away? That doesn't sound so bad - could they meet you halfway? Or come visit and drive it back?

Granted, it's a bit more work than driving to the dealer and handing it over when you pick up the new car. But if you decide you'd rather pass it down, it's really not that much hassle. We're proof - this is the 2nd time we've sent a Subaru on to my brother.
posted by hms71 at 6:31 PM on December 27, 2011


Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the answers. Very helpful.

If I decide to give the vehicle to my parents, how would I go about transferring my existing plates to the new vehicle? Really looking for a step by step guide as the dmv site is not helpful. Should I take the plates off my old car, bring them to the dealer to put on the new car (and they will do the paperwork to transfer the license plates, etc)? Then I have the old car with no plates. The correct process is confusing for me.
posted by Yunani at 7:04 PM on December 27, 2011


The only real downside is if you give the car to them and three months later it shits out the transmission, for example. With the best will in the world they may feel like it was a bit of a poisoned chalice at that point.
posted by rodgerd at 10:42 PM on December 27, 2011


What state are you in? I think the process is going to differ from state to state. For example, in Minnesota, most license plates stay with the car while in Wisconsin, most stay with the driver.
posted by soelo at 9:08 AM on December 28, 2011


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