Sooo now that I've sold my FD, I'm faced with a difficult decision. For the past year and a half, my daily driver has been my S2000. And that's gotta stop. I've put 25k miles on it since September 2010...and it shows. It's got road rash on the front bumper and hood, some door dings, and paint flaking on the rear bumper (someone bumped into me and didn't leave a note). As a result I'm now upside down in my loan due to the value of the car going down by about $5000 since I've owned it. Oops. The thing is, it's now my only car. Having a small sporty car as my only car is entirely impractical for my lifestyle, not to mention winter is particularly harsh on a convertible.

Currently I have around $10k cash saved up...and I'm debating what to do with it. I really want to keep the S2000...daily driving this car has totally spoiled me. There aren't any inexpensive cars that I can think of (< $6000) that would be practical, yet give me the same build quality, economy, reliability, and overall enjoyment as the S2000 does. But at the same time, being upside down in a loan is bad news, haha.

Here are my options as I see them. If you were in my situation, what would you do?

1) Keep S2000, make higher payments, use the $10k cash to buy a new daily driver. If I do this, and if I don't drive the S2000 much, in 6 months it'll be at a break even point, where my loan balance would be the same as the value of the car. It would be fully paid off in 2 years.

2) Keep S2000, make higher payments, use some of the cash to buy a more practical (but cheap) daily driver, and the rest of it to fix the cosmetic issues with the S2000. Maybe even modify it a bit (I've been wanting coilovers for a long time now).

3) Keep S2000, put cash into the loan, use the rest to buy a cheap daily driver, make higher payments anyway. This way I'm not upside down anymore, and it'll be paid off faster.

4) Sell / trade S2000, pay off the loan, get a new loan for a nicer car that's more practical. Something like an E46 M3, or a newer WRX. This way I've got a newer car that's still fun, but far more practical than the S2000.

5) Sell / trade S2000 for something of equal value that is more practical. This way my monthly payments won't change. Then I could use the remaining cash I have to buy a "fun" car, like a Miata or something.

6) Sell / trade S2000, pay off the loan, use the remaining cash to buy a cheap daily driver. I'd have about $6000 leftover to use on a new car...and not having a loan would save me $400 a month.

I would go with 2

#2 for sure if those are the choices.

If you have enough to pay the loan then pay it. That way what ever you where paying a month is now free-cash-flow. I just made almost the same decision and I do like not paying for my wife's and saving that money for my Maggie(2011 ms3) lol

#6, whee!

I am for paying off the car then save up to buy whatever you decide or can afford. If you buy now you will have to pay another car insurance and that just throwing money that you can save away. This way you'll save that much faster.

Now that I said 2, I really think #6 is the way to go.

RX-7 Chris wrote:Now that I said 2, I really think #6 is the way to go.

I was wondering why you didn't choose #6 to begin with:D

kingtut wrote:I was wondering why you didn't choose #6 to begin with:D

I didn't read through the choices all that well, lol.

kingtut wrote:#6, whee!

ur a dick!

edit...so is chris

your words:
"there aren't any inexpensive cars that I can think of (< $6000) that would be practical, yet give me the same build quality, economy, reliability, and overall enjoyment as the S2000 does"

I don't see how you can have it both ways dude. In regards to the wear and tear of the car this is the side effect of enjoying your car on a regular basis. I just don't see the point of buying a vehicle and then only taking it out on weekends or when the weather is nice.

Thanks for the input Yeah, I'm debating between 2 and 6. On one hand, it'd be realllly nice not having to worry about a car payment. There's a lot I could use that money for. On the other hand, I'd truly miss having a convertible

Ranger wrote:Thanks for the input Yeah, I'm debating between 2 and 6. On one hand, it'd be realllly nice not having to worry about a car payment. There's a lot I could use that money for. On the other hand, I'd truly miss having a convertible

Why dont you take like 5k and refinance loan to get a lower payment.

I thought about it, but I don't want to extend the loan really...the sooner it's paid off the better. Plus I think it may be too old to refinance, it's a 2002, I had a hard time finding a loan in the first place. The difference between what I owe and what I could sell it for is only around $1500...so I'd have $8000-ish leftover to buy something else. That's not too bad.

busy thread, 2 posts before i could finish my edits...

Do you no longer have the Explorer listed in your sig?

Personally, if the car isn't practical for you to have as a primary vehicle, sell it. It's a rather expensive 2nd car. Your sub $6k car will need work eventually, but I doubt you'll need to put $4800/yr into it.

Me, I'd realllllly like a new car, although for no reason other than I'd like a new car. But with the 3k miles/yr (if that) I put on the car, it's not worth having a car payment, + higher insurance + higher registration fees.

Option #6 is the most fiscally responsible. If the car payment isn't cramping your style, heck, go with #1. Ha.