3 Signs It’s Time to Sell Your Car Your car isn’t going to last forever. From the moment you drive it off the lot, it begins depreciating in value. It doesn’t matter how well you take care of it, the sad truth of a vehicle is that every mile puts it just that much farther away from your purchase price. That being said, a car is invaluable to a family. It can get you across 300 miles in just five and a half hours. That in and of itself, makes it worth the investment. The key is knowing when it’s time to sell your car. Your car shows signs of its expiration date will. Learning some of these signs will help you make the hard decision to sell at the right time. The following are three clues to help you decide if it’s time to sell your vehicle.
More to fix than it’s worth First, your car costs more to repair than to sell. This can be a major sign that it’s time to sell a car. If your car needs an engine, torque converter, and injection pump replaced for $6,000 of repairs, for example, and your car is only worth $4,500 when it’s fully functioning, then what’s the point in fixing it? If you have $6,000 lying around you could easily use that towards the purchase of a better, newer vehicle. Unless you are attached to the car there usually isn’t much reason to keep it around. You can find out a good estimate of the market value of your car by visiting Kelly Blue Book’s website. Fill out its questionnaire and determine the overall quality of your vehicle: fair, good, great. Kelly Blue Book will give you prices for each. This should give you a good idea of what your car is worth.
Gas Guzzler Second, your car is a gas guzzler and you just can’t afford it anymore. Gas prices may drop for a winter, but what are the odds that they won’t continue to rise during the summer? Each summer, you see higher and higher gas prices. One or two tanks of this expensive grade gasoline won’t hurt you too hard, but the coming years will.
Sell your gas guzzler and put that money towards a better, more fuel efficient car. Many of the newer sedans get between 35 and 40 miles to the gallon. Saving money on your gas is an excellent reason to sell your gas guzzler of a vehicle now. Start looking around.
Burning excessive oil Third, your car is burning excessive oil in the engine. If you’re having to almost completely refill your oil between oil changes, either you have a really bad leak, or your engine is burning an extreme amount of oil. If it’s the first, that is usually cheap enough for you to fix. If your engine is just burning through it though, it could be the first sign of a bigger problem to come. It could mean a future engine replacement in the future, which is never cheap. Consult with your trusted mechanic on this issue should you notice a problem with your oil levels. CNR Insurance Brokerage provides auto insurance to Frisco residents. CNR wants you to make the best decision on your car purchases and sales for your family. They will be there to protect it for as long as it’s in your care. Find affordable auto insurance in Frisco here. Photo credit: Stephen Poff, Robert Couse-Baker