downgrading to an Insight

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

True true... debt cutting isn't everything though... if all I wanted to do was cut debt I would resurrect the the FrankenCivic, or buy a cheap VX somewhere. The Insight is desirable for a number of reasons though, including that it's my dream car.

Anyway... saving the $2k would be nice, especially since I don't need a sedan for the next few years.

Here's what I do for big decisions I did this before I paid for a class to teach me the official name and how to do it properly In any case....

Write a list of wants - like:

FE
Insight (or Prius - whichever you prefer)
Warranties
Miles (may have to break up into power train and chassis miles)
etc. -- these don't need a unit

To the right of your wants, weight all of your wants relative to each other. For example

FE 10
Insight 6
Prius 7
Warranties 5
Miles 6

Now, make this a table by writing each potential vehicle Above everything.

Now score each vehicle.

Multiply all the scores by their respective weights - and add all of that together. The highest number wins. Remember that your taking all of your research into consideration (this should help dictate your wants) - not just blindly putting numbers on paper

--------
A less subjective method is to write your cars and wants - then just rank with a -1, 0 or 1 against each other and the highest score wins. But car buying is subjective, so you really need a more subjective method

[lovemysan]

Sorry, but dream car or no the VX will cost you less. If your going to have to get some type of financing to get the insight, forget about it. Stay with what you have.

I would not buy wrecked or broken car. If someone is so cheap that they won't properly maintain there car, you can bet they skimped on everything else. I'll pay slightly more for a properly maintained car any day. Salvage titles are very nearly worthless. Financial institutions do not like loaning on salvage titles. Economically its rare that an ST'd car is a bargain unless you can repair it yourself.

As for the car with the blown engine. If you can blow a honda engine in 90k, what were you doing! What kind of shape is the IMA system in? If the engine was rode HARD so was the rest of the car. IMHO, its not worth the risk! What difference does it make that it will have a 27k mile engine if the original was blown up jumping sand dunes. Who wants an engine thats been sitting in a salvage yard 3-4 years anyway. I would never go with the cheapest bidder it rarely goes well. You'll end up with stupid little things not repaired properly like, not having the flywheel resurfaced, reusing the old clutch, not replacing a questionable rear main seal, not replacing the pilot bearing, ETC!

Lastly, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings but it sounds like "debt reduction" is just an excuse to by a new or different car. You made a mistake buying the Fit, it was an impetuous decision. You should have put a deposit down and then waited a week to think about. If you really want to make the best financial decision now I recommend a VX, civic, Crx, s-series, etc.

[rh77]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

Lastly, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings but it sounds like "debt reduction" is just an excuse to by a new or different car. You made a mistake buying the Fit, it was an impetuous decision. You should have put a deposit down and then waited a week to think about. If you really want to make the best financial decision now I recommend a VX, civic, Crx, s-series, etc.

Not to hurt your feelings, but the paragraph above just jumps to a lot of conclusions.

If he wants the Insight, by all means he should get one.

I thought about this thread on my drive this morning. As the 'Teg wears out, it becomes increasingly difficult to find time fix the "little things" like the hatch not opening without the key, a squeaky seat, or a leaky valve cover. Something newer and more efficient (vs. an older VX) may fit the bill for increased "Trouble Free Operation" as well as driving a car you actually want.

No offense to the "VX-Nation", but that's all I hear around here anymore: VX this and VX that, "you should trade that for a VX". It IS a good car, efficient, etc. It's not the answer to every question, however.

RH77

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by rh77

Not to hurt your feelings, but the paragraph above just jumps to a lot of conclusions.

If he wants the Insight, by all means he should get one.

I thought about this thread on my drive this morning. As the 'Teg wears out, it becomes increasingly difficult to find time fix the "little things" like the hatch not opening without the key, a squeaky seat, or a leaky valve cover. Something newer and more efficient (vs. an older VX) may fit the bill for increased "Trouble Free Operation" as well as driving a car you actually want.

No offense to the "VX-Nation", but that's all I hear around here anymore: VX this and VX that, "you should trade that for a VX". It IS a good car, efficient, etc. It's not the answer to every question, however.

RH77

Okay, I apologize for making assumptions. Perhaps matt put a lot of time into his decision to buy the fit. I guess it was a little early in the morning for me to be posting. I still feel that many people go to financial extremes when purchasing a car. I make very little money which forces me to evaluate all my purchase decisions very carefully.

[OdieTurbo]

Hey Matt! I've missed ya! Anyhoo, just started catching up and caught this thread. I live in PA if ya need someone to look at it. Well, where in PA is it though, it's a big state

But if you'd like, I could look at it, take some pics, etc.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by lovemysan

Lastly, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings but it sounds like "debt reduction" is just an excuse to by a new or different car. You made a mistake buying the Fit, it was an impetuous decision. You should have put a deposit down and then waited a week to think about. If you really want to make the best financial decision now I recommend a VX, civic, Crx, s-series, etc.

I can see where you might think that... so I'll give you some more info.

The Fit costs me $360/mo in car payments plus full insurance. So let's just be conservative and say $400/mo.

I have four years left on the Fit before it's paid off. That's $19200 over the next four years assuming I don't pay anything early.

The Fit was purchased for a number of reasons, but mainly b/c at the time we were fostering 3 kids and it appeared as though we would be adopting all three. Circumstances changed and we only adopted 1. Now more circumstances have changed and I don't need to have the "family car" that will fit three people. I only need a car that will fit two.

I also hate debt, and I try to plan for the day that I lose my job and will still be able to afford my lifestyle if I need to work at Home Depot for a while. It's all about planning.

So, I buy the Insight for approx $7000. My $400/mo car payment is gone. This also means that i save approx $12000 over the next 4 years, or $3000/year. It also gives me the security of paying off other debts sooner, or saving a little.

Concerning the VX, I seriously considered just buying one, and I probably would still be open to it if the right one showed up at my doorstep right now. HOWEVER, as rare as the Insights are, they are still easier to find than a nice VX. There is also the factor of the Insight being safer for my son (newer, better crash ratings, etc.). Oh, I also would get free parking with an Insight in Salt Lake City, and there is a real likelihood I would receive some sort of tax credit for buying a hybrid. So remove that from the cost of the vehicle.

Not that I have to justify everything to everyone, but I feel it's only fair to let you know that I've thought about it a lot.

I also really don't have the time to work on a 12+ year old car any more, now that I'm back in school. There is a much lower chance of the Insight having day-to-day issues than the VX.

[Matt Timion]

so after some thought the idea of purchasing an insight with a blown engine seems like a bad idea... unless I could purchase it for $2000. I'm leaning more towards the one in PA now... wish it were a bit closer however. I could ship it here for $890, but that puts me over my budget.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by theclencher

since i get 'em for dang near free, resale value means nothing. i'll either drive 'em til the wheels fall off or sell 'em for break even or sometimes a modest profit.

Fer sure! Especially if it's a choice between sitting in front of the b00b/intern3tz or workin' on a beater. I figure the rate at which I've "saved" has been ~$20/hr, and the best thing is, the more ya know, the faster that rate goes up. While it may require a slightly larger initial investment sumtimes, it'll usually be worthwhile in the long run, even in terms of time.

[Sigifrith]

Matt if you are planning on an extended Honda warranty for the Insight batteries, I'm not sure a wrecked one will qualify. Might want to check that thru Honda.

[Matt Timion]

as if I didn't have enough things to consider... another one jumped on the market.

2001 Insight, $4950, 190k miles. The miles scare me, but I also know that this engine could have more than enough life in it than I need... on top of that, I could always get a spare and swap it in eventually if need be.

The price is right, the location is right, the mileage is a bit high, but as long as the battery doesn't have any issues (it holds the charge, etc.) I think I'll go for it.