Back in 2006 I found out that my old “beater” was worth more than I thought.
My “beater” that I bought from a friend three years ago (almost) owes me nothing. I keep saying this because it doesn’t really owe me anything. It was astounding that it was still on the road. I don’t take it on long trips, it is a city car, but mostly highway stuff. I managed to get it for $2500.00 from a very good friend, who was going to trade it in on a new car she was buying. The dealership only offered her $2500 as a trade-in. I said I’d pay that amount. I then proceeded to not pay her in full for 6 months. Needless to say, she was a very kind and patient friend too. I ended up with a car that I know well. My mechanic knows it too because he has done most of the repairs on it for at least 8 years. So, it was really a no lose choice for me.
I have wondered how much this car is actually worth. A friend pointed me to the VMR Canada Car Value Calculator web site. It is a pretty easy website to use. I figured that the car couldn’t be worth any more than $1500.00. I was surprised that this site values my car around $2600.00 ? Holy cow, that is a lot of money.
Now another way to think of the value of this car to me is that I need it right now. I need it to get my kids shuttled around to all the events they want to go to. The car may actually be worth more than $2600. If I had to replace it, it would cost me a lot more money!
What's your car worth?
I figure my ’95 Dakota is worth what it would cost me to replace it, less the costs of repair and the additional costs to operate over it’s replacement. As such, it has a value of about $700 – $800/mo. As for what the dealer would offer me on a trade…… that’s a whole other story.I guess I’m not that great a participant in the economy.David