Should I sell my vehicle?

[garagedoormomma]

I've a 99' Saturn with 40,000 miles that we haven't driven in 3 years (too small for family in addition I never learned how to drive a stick). It's paid in full & we pay $55 monthly for insurance on it. It's listed at $3,000 through Kellys blue book. Although they couldn't even give me an accurate estimate because the milage is so low.

I'm torn between canceling the insurance, storing it at my brothers, to save for my 13 year old daughter until she's old enough to drive. She wouldn't actually need it until college (4 years away) ! It seems like such a long time from now but I know when she goes off to college she'll need a vehicle. At this time it will be 11 years old but the milage will still be only 40,000 miles.

Am I out of my mind? We own a 2001 windstar that's also paid in full so we have no need for the Saturn. We have no credit cards, but do have a high interest rate mortgage (which we'll be refinancing within the year). If we sold it we'd either prepay our childrens tuition ( saving about $150 for the year) or fix up the house.

I'd love to hear your suggestions. I've been banging my head over what to do with this car.

[Puffy]

I would definitely sell it. If it's in good shape you should be able to get a good $$ for it with such low mileage. I would also immediately drop the insurance and save yourself the $55 each month.

[celina]

by parking it it will essentiall just rot..sell it...save the 600/yr and take the money

[FreesiaE]

Agree; you may not be paying any more insurance by just parking it but you still have to pay taxes and you will still "pay" via depreciation.

[Valerie in WA]

Alternatively, you could sell and invest the money - it would grow and could be used to buy her a different car later. If that idea doesn't sound good because you really want the money for something else, then PITCH THE CAR because you truely want the money now.

[canadian gardener]

I agree. Valerie has a great point, sell and invest.

Dd parked her car one year, for a few months and one of the engine parts kind of died because the oil wasn't circulating or some such thing.

Ds has his jeep parked at our place without plates, and the battery is now dead, the thing won't start, and it was in reasonable shape when he parked it this summer.

Cars don't age gracefully. They don't just sit there, they sit there sulking and rusting away, letting the battery acid dribble where it likes, leaking all the oil out of their oil pans, and seizing up in strange places.

[dwallyfam]

Sell it. I would start out by asking a bank or a lending institution how much they would lend for it. Add a litle bit and there is your price. Then take that money and invest it.

Kellie

[kmsinsa]

Agreed...sell it...and save the extra 600/year..

[AmyBoz]

Buh-bye Saturn!!!

[brainyblonde]

I agree with everyone else. Sell it now.

I have a friend that purchased a low mileage vehicle that had been sitting. Repairs so far have exceeded $2,000, and you can't exactly call it reliable. I think cars need to be driven regularly to keep all the parts lubricated.

[PrairieRose]

Yeah I'd sell it as well. There's no point in keeping it when it needs to be driven...not sitting in a barn falling apart. You can invest that money and then buy dd a car with it, comparable to what you have now. There are great deals to be had on cars if you're patient and willing to search them out.

[garagedoormomma]

Thanks for the great advice. We've decided to list it for sale after the holidays (still needs to be cleaned, maybe a new battery ). I have to get over the sadness of selling it. I feel like we paid $14,000 for this vehicle & never got our moneys worth. At the time of purchase there were only 4 of us & we wanted a new vehicle asap. We jumped into the saturn because it was in our price range. Well 2 kids later it was useless to us.

What we should have done was sell it when it was originally paid off & saved the $600 on insurance & not let it depreciation another year. Oh well, live & learn (I hope ).

Thanks Shannon