6 Signs it is Time to Get a New Car

If you are like me, then you hold onto your car for what seems like forever. After all, is it largely a tool – through an expensive one – and while you could trade it in earlier, it’s better to save the payments. However, this also means that your car, or truck, might not be roadworthy and this could come back to bite you if you happen to have a truck accident injury.

While not having to make car, payments means more money in your bank account, having an insurance claim denied because your car wasn’t safe is not where you want to be. With that in mind, here are six signs that it is time to get a new car.

• Your Car Has a Regular Appointment with your Local Mechanic

You gave up going to the dealer years ago but the sheer amount of electronics in today’s cars means that you need a qualified mechanic to help keep your car on the road. If your car is starting to show its age, then it probably means that you are regularly going back to your local mechanic.

Maybe it is a ball joint this week, but next week it could the power windows. Either way, your car is slowly bleeding you to death as you need to spend $100 or more every week just to keep it on the road.

• Your Car is Literally Falling Apart

This can be a tricky one but imagine that your car’s engine and mechanical components are working fine but either the exterior or the interior are falling apart. It doesn’t matter if it is rust or worn our seats, your car looks terrible and it’s only a matter of time before the body rust leads to bigger problems.

• No One Wants to Ride with You

Is your car so old and ratty that none of your friends want to be seen in it? Well, guess what your hooptie isn’t cool – it’s sad. Maybe it is that your car is so decrepit that it is embarrassing or maybe it is dirty or even unsafe. Either way, the better option is to put your car out of its misery by letting it go.

Sure, this might cost you some money but stop looking at the 2017 Ford lineup, pick one to ride home with. Not only will you feel better about yourself but your friends will want to ride along with you again.

• Your Car Can’t Pass Inspection

The exact inspections will depend on the state where you live but it might be a full vehicle inspection or it might be an emissions test. Either way, you can’t get your car certified – even by an unscrupulous mechanic.

As such, you really have no choice but to fix an old car or to ditch it and get a new vehicle. Sure, there are pros and cons, but is it worth continuing to spend good money on a car that isn’t even worth it?

• Just Filling the Tank is Pushing You into Bankruptcy

It’s no secret that old cars are by and large less fuel efficient than new cars.   While the difference from model year to model year is negligible if you go five or 10-years then you can really begin to feel it where it hurts – your bank account.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you are driving around in a car that gulps gasoline, then you are wasting your hard-earned cash for no real value at all. In fact, the money you are wasting on gas could be used to help offset your car payments.

• Then There’s Insurance

While you might have tweaked your policy, you can’t outrun insurance companies. They know that older cars are more likely to be in accidents and as such, they boost the liability insurance premiums for them.

Sure, this might not seem like a lot of money but it bleeds into something which is known as the total cost of ownership. This is how much it not only costs to own and operate something but also your maintenance and insurance costs.

As you can see it all adds up and the added insurance costs may well be the straw which breaks the camel’s back. Don’t let this happen to you. Sure, you want to bank a few years without needing to make a car payment but when this turns out to be a decade, then you might want to rethink your strategy as the odds are that you are paying for a new car in other ways.