To sell or not to sell...is that the question?

Aren't you asking others whether it is worth it to you to "lose a little" or "lose a little more" in order to have a slightly nicer car?
How could we know that?

Mike

 

You're putting a false time constraint in the numbers. Financing will always cost more than a lease during the terms of the finance. That's why people lease, it costs less monthly... or does it?

I can go either way on a $1500 repair gamble for a 64k mile vehicle. You may have an expensive repair that exceeds that in 14 months or you may not. But what happens after you pay off your 2011? What happens month 24 from now? Assuming you can pick up another trouble free $220 lease for 10 months. Now the delta is ~$3500 in favor of keeping the 2011 because you have no more monthly payments after month 14 and depreciation is pretty low in a car's 4th year. Now you say, what are the chances that a 5 year old car with 80k miles have a $3500 repair? Pretty low, I'd take the bet that it doesn't.

Now let's go out another year. Will your car with a little under 100k miles have a $6500 repair within the next 3 years? Not at all likely. And I'm not advocating driving an unreliable car. As soon as you have that expensive 4 digit repair or the car leaves you stranded, ditch it if you like. If the car experiences a $1500 repair during the next 3 years (very likely), you're still $4000 ahead of leasing. But if the car is otherwise working reliably, keep it as long as you can. The longer you keep it, the more money stays in your pocket. More equity, if you will.

 

It is almost always cheaper to keep an older car for a longer time. It costs extra for "newness."
My point was that you have to decide how much you want to pay extra for the newer car.

Mike