116: Fix the Car or Buy a New One?

Published: July 25, 2019, 4:30 a.m.

I received a couple of questions about cars in the Facebook group https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/facebookgroup and thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast them. The first one was from a soon to be resident who wanted to know if he should ship his car across the country because he wasn't sure it would survive the cross country drive. It is worth $2000 but needs some repairs to survive residency. There comes a time when you have to admit that a car is "totaled." If it costs more to repair than it is worth, it is totaled. It is time to get rid of it, getting whatever you can out of it. The second question came from someone who is expecting a baby and wants a car with a third row. But he has a lease on a car until February and wanted to know if he should buy the new car anyway and just pay out the lease. Stop leasing cars first off. If you don't have the cash to buy the car, buy a less expensive car. If you don't have the cash to buy a less expensive car, and you have to borrow for it, it ought to be a $5,000 car or less. We get more into the details of these car questions in this episode and hopefully help you make that decision on when to fix the old car or buy a new one. See the show notes for more information at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

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