MinnesotaNice

Hey guys and gals, new to the community at least to posting, so bare with me here.

I am currently trying to decide whether or not I should sell my 2007 Acura TL-S. This car has been my baby since July of 2010 and have been fortunate enough to drive it since then. My reasons for wanting to sell are times have gotten a little tighter for me, with school and everything else, I feel as though if something big were to go wrong, tranny, big engine problem etc. I would be shit outta luck. My TL has 125k miles on it as I am typing this. I can no longer afford to even have full coverage on my car.

with all that being said however, i have meticulously maintained my car and there is no reason for any big problem but you just never know. The way the market sits I figure i could get anywhere from 10-11 k for my car.

Just wanted to see what you guys think, it is fully paid off, would selling it now almost be pointless? Should i just drive it to the ground?

The thing that scares me most about keeping it is i know these cars have had transmission problems in the past, also after looking over much of the inter web it is very scary to see almost 0 tl type s with over 200k miles. what do you guys think?

Thanks!

Texas325

If it's paid off, I would keep it. If you're in a pinch for money, eat out less, go out less or cut out something that is not a necessity. Are you on a phone contract? Switch to a non-contract monthly. There tons of ways to save money especially when you're still in school.

So if you sell your car, are you planning to buy another? Can you afford another vehicle payment/different insurance payment? Or are you buying a cheap eco car paid in full with the money from your sale?

MinnesotaNice

I would be buying a cheap eco car with money from the sale and hope to have about 6 to 7 k left to start saving for the next after school

SiClone

How much longer for school??

MinnesotaNice

2-3 years

foxriderar77

Honestly unless you can get like 17K for it, its not worth it. I have a 07 Type-S that I was gonna sell so we could get a new car for my wife to drive, but I decided against it. You are better off keeping it until it is dead. I have 160K on mine and it is still running strong. Not trying to be your parents, but I would make a budget and figure out everywhere you can cut costs. I know in school I spent way too much money eating out all the time and what not. also to pay for actual tuition I would look at some student loans, you wont have to pay them back until you are graduated and as long as you get a job you should be ok. Maybe look at getting a part time job, even just working a few nights a week can make you some decent money.

csmeance

Best you can get Trade-in-wise is 11,600. You can get up to 14500 if you private sell.

In all honesty, I see your dilemma but the best thing you can do is save up for an emergency fund. Plan to be able to live for 1-3-6 months with 0 income for your savings at first and increase as you can. If you end up needing a new transmission, that's around 2500. That's money that you can either borrow from family, friends, or a credit car if it comes down to it. Save up now so you won't run into problems in the future.

Doing maintenance like the trans flushes, etc will lower costs immensely. Pick up some jack stands and tools and start doing it yourself. After a few times you can probably help out friends and family and make some $$$ on the side.

Buying a 6-7K car will only hurt you. You'll end up loosing money on tax, plus you'll end up in a car that you don't like with no history. And it'll be more than likely that the 6-7K car will break compared to yours. Have you done the 105K service? You'll realistically need to spend around $1700 to keep the car running great until 220K, and that includes tires, brakes and other misc. stuff. If you need a trans that's another 2500 and the car will only need a 220K service to go until 330K.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

too be honest, i'd get you a little $1-2k beater.

if you cant even afford insurance on the TL, it's a no brainer. sell the car and get something that you can afford.
there are great $2k beaters out there.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Solid plan, mate!

Majofo

Justn has a beater car.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

In all serious OP, I agree with Justn.. Get a beater car and drive it until you're done with school.

Majofo

They don't call it a beater for nuttin

quanaman

iTrader: (4)

This. Drive it til the wheels fall off, keep/save the money from the TL. If you can't afford full coverage and you wreck your TL, you'll REALLY be SOL. A $2500 car will last you those few years, somethign like an old accord, corolla, civic, whatever. Even if you wreck it and or somethign goes wrong, its only $1000-2500. Your undervaluing your car a little bit. If stock, depending on color and all that, it could be worth up to $14k to the right buyer.

I did basically the same thing. Sold my TL for took the money to pay for a few things and bought a beater. Drove that for a bit, wrecked it, got anothe beater. Now I bought another TL and still have a beater Celica with 220k that I paid $750 for. leaks oil like a bitch but runs like a champ.

Acura93

Are you sure if you buy an other car, it won't give you any issue?

dezymond

You can definitely save in other areas, but getting a more eco friendly car will probably save you the most. You don't have full insurance coverage on it and the TL doesn't get the greatest gas mileage in the world, so you'd be saving on a ton on gas alone. If you got an eco friendly car then you can probably get full coverage and for pretty cheap too I bet.

Your call though, if you want to make it work I'm sure you can, you'll just have to save some pennies in other areas of your life. If I were you, maybe I'd try cutting out some other things before the car, especially since you've taken such good care of it and don't anticipate any major problems (and there really shouldn't be). If down the line you still need to sell it, then go for it.

TonyN923

cant afford full coverage insurance means you know your answer already. Sell it and buy a 2-3k civic and drive that until school is done or your situation change, things will hopefully get better sooner rather than later.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

for what its worth, there are TL's here on this forum that have gone past 200k miles. It's just not common because these cars aren't that old yet, but its definitely been done.

tristann616

Going off on that^

I've read on the 3G mileage thread that there are some TLs well over 300k. Honestly, it's up to you. See if it's possible to save money elsewhere, if you want to keep your TL. If it seems impossible, then go for a cheap accord or something.

zubi23

Honestly, I kind of agree with you. I have an 08 type S and just this year I've put up about 2500 which includes the timing belt package. Mine has 105k and I still need to fix a potential oil leak issue and the motor mounts because my car is so uncomfortable. I have a love hate relationship with my car right now.

With 125k you can easily get 15k if you sell by owner. The problem is finding that person and making sure that you don't get ripped off. If you do sell for 15k and assuming you might have some big issue that'll cost 2k, that's 17k right there. You can use that as a down payment on a new car, or just purchase an economical car like you want. You will miss your TL though because I know people that have sold and switched cars and have regretted it.

Have you replaced the 3rd / 4th gear switches?

If you're not upgrading, I would keep it.

MinnesotaNice

Thanks for all the feedback guys, from what I've gathered I am going to keep my car until the death worse case scenario I figure I will sell it around 200k miles or so and still try to get some decent value. @zubi23 regarding the 3rd and 4th gear switches is that the D4 and D5 light flashing? Going to budget more effectively and opt in for full coverage if possible.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I'd feel better replacing a transmission on your car than a 2003 toyota yaris. I'd feel stupid repairing that.

There's a balance between being young and foolish (read: yolo) with your money and being penny wise and pound foolish. An 8 year old paid off Honda is a good car to be in no matter how you slice and dice it. The TL has left me stranded exactly zero times in over 6 years of ownership.

JTYankFan

iTrader: (3)

You better talk nice about your car and not think about selling it. Once you do, that's when the car Gods like to F around and send you repairs. Worse, they'll have you get into an accident with someone who also doesn't have full coverage.. lol

Acuramon

With your current financial situation, I would recommend selling it and getting something known for needing very little maintenance like a used Toyota. Put the rest of the money in your bank for other emergencies. If you never need it then it will be there for a good down payment on a new car later after you graduate.