Fix, lease, buy, certified pre-owned?

Question

My car's transmission died a week ago. Repair is $4500. I bought the car used for $5000 at 76,000 mi. It now has 118,000 mi and I've spent an average of $8000 in repairs and general maintenance in the past 5 years.

I'm a recent grad from a 4 yr. institution who is going on to a 3 year grad school program for physical therapy in 1 year. I make minimal money per month due to some pre-reqs I'm taking care of for grad school. And I'm not absolutely certain how challenging grad school will be and whether it is feasible to hold a job while in school. BUT - Where I live, I NEED a car.

So which is best? A 36 month lease, a 60 month car payment for a new car, another certified pre-owned car, or getting a new transmission for my old car?

Answer 1

I am in the same boat as you. I got approved to lease a car, but after your lease is up you must either buy the car or lease another one. SO I would def. research all your options.

Answer 2

That car cost too much already. You need a reliable and cheap car you won't have to dump a lot of money in, get a Corolla. It's common for them to go 200,000 miles, You can probably find a 10 year old one for what they're asking to fix your transmission, but you'll be able to drive it for 10 more years. After that you can get what a therapist should be driving, An Avalon or Solara or Prius.

If you made it this far through school and working, you'll probably be able to work a bit and still get the Dr. Degree.

Answer 3

This is for Lisa O......you better hope your owner/boss don't figure out who you are giving the advice that you're giving here, and bad or misinformed advice at that. Your days will be numbered at the dealership "work at" and derive your income from.

Answer 4

I personally would go with an inexpensive new car.  With gas prices as high as they are, I would recommend a Chev aveo or Ford Focus or the likes.  A Chev cobalt is a great car (I personally own one and am very happy with it) but it tends to run a little expensive brand new, so if you go with a cobalt type, then I would go with a certified used.  Another good idea for you is the rental car sales.  Places like Enterprise have rental car sales lots.  Their cars are taken care of METICULOUSLY and are sold at good prices.

My main philosophy on leasing a car though is that you spend all that money on a car with payments, and in the end, the car doesn't belong to you.  So why don't you take the same amount of money that you spend on your lease and actually BUY a car??

Answer 5

$8000 in 5 years, thats quite a bit.

Well it kind of depends what kind of car you need, if you need a basics car to get you from Point A to B then you can get a new car fairly reasonably under $12000. The basic hyundai Accent is under $11000 and comes with a 5 year warranty!!

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/accent...  

If you need something like a pick up truck, which are usually a bit more pricey, then i might search for a used car.  

In any case go with Japanese manufactures because they tend to be more reliable.

Answer 6

Okay... replacing the transmission for your car is pointless because that alone is worth less than the total of the car (if it was 5,000 when you bought it, its certainly worth less now). Certified pre-owned is the way to go. It will cost less total than buying a brand new car, and if I'm correct certified pre-owned will still come with some type of warranty. A 36 month lease is just throwing money away on a car you will never own, unless you plan on making the balloon payment at the end of  3 years.

Conclusion: CPO is your best bet

Good luck!

Answer 7

You should get another certified pre-owned car. I used to work for a dealership and they are a rip-off. If you purchase a car at least a year or two old, you will still qualify for factory warranties but you will save thousands of dollars. If you buy a warranty,, be sure to talk them down....these policies go for about 300.00 cost, but they will try to sell them to you for about $1500.00.....you can save here too if you are aggressive. Also, NEVER get your work done at the dealership unless it is a factory warranty repair or a recall.....even oil changes will cost you double at a dealership.....go where ever you feel cheapest, but hold onto all your receipts in case they try to say the dealership has no record of maintenance. You will be covered if you have receipts.