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About to Make a Decision on Cars

February 28th, 2014 at 04:35 pm

So while I was leaning towards keeping my Cobalt instead of buying the Neon.

My mind has been changed again.

Father-in-Law inspected my car last night while trying to clean the throttle body. He found a cracked hose, and a couple other problems including needing to replace the thermostat. *sigh*

This on top of the new recall on Cobalt has pushed me just about over the edge.

Grandpa told me he was firm in price... then he said he might negotiate. The Neon is a 2004 not a 2002. I checked Kelly Blue Book, and it is listed as worth $3,800. He also just had the timing belt changed, which costs about $600-$800 so that is nice. I took it for a test drive, and had Father-in-Law look at the insides and drive it as well.

I like it okay. It is smaller than my car, which I do NOT like. But I can deal with it for a couple years.

We found the original receipt for it. He paid over $17,000! I am thinking I can talk him down to $3,300.

The problem with my car is that it is going to need several repairs before selling. New windshield, cleaning, new thermostat, a timing belt tensioner, and various smaller ticket ideas.

We are looking anywhere from $200 - $500 before I can put it up for sale. Even with the repairs I highly doubt I would even get $3,000 for it.

So getting the new car will cost me around $1,000 I am guessing.

Right now my car is in my moms name, and on her policy. If I changed it to my own my insurance I would be paying about double.

It is suppose to go down in August, which is also when my plates expire.

So the current plan is to get the Neon and park it in the garage, and continue driving my Cobalt until August. During this time I would get the necessary repairs. Then as soon as my insurance price drops, I will license and insure the Neon in my name and sell the Cobalt.

I will make some payments to Grandpa until I sell the car, then he said I can square up the rest then. He is loaded, so no big rush for the money.

Part of me is still clinging to my Cobalt. I love that car. But we just keep finding new bad news on it.

2 Responses to “About to Make a Decision on Cars”

  1. snafu Says:
    1393639208

    Since the Cobalt must be repaired in order to sell it, will you have that done nearly immediately to provide safe driving? Scary to think of suddenly being stranded in the dark, at the side of the road. Does the GM ignition recall have a role in the throttle problem DFIL has identified? How much mileage do you guess remains on the tires? Can you seek a replacment windshield in good condition from a wreckers to reduce costs?

  2. jewels3 Says:
    1393646890

    We bought my son an Neon a few years ago to drive. Never again. That car was constantly needing repairs and was way more trouble than it was worth.

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