Ok, I have a dilemma and I need the advice of the AZ team...

The wife and I just bought a new house. We close on April 28th. The house is decently pricey, but qualifies as a dream house and we will never want to move (unless to the ocean).

Here is the dilemma- Do I trade the 05 TL in on a 06 Civic or an 05 Accord w/10k miles. The Honda's are both LX's. I am trying to decide if I should take the equity out of the car and drive a decent (not luxury) car and lower my house payment.

My wife traded her 05 Yukon XL for a Honda Odyssey yesterday. This was due to gas usage, insurance cost, and overall size was a waste for us. We got an 04 Odyssey EX, with 20k, rear entertainment, certified, etc. They gave us a check for 4k. Not too bad. They are willing to give me 9,500 for the Civic or accord deal.

Thoughts?

 

Get the Accord, the civic might be too much of a step back-plus it's only a differnece of $300 less back. Good choices though, they all hold their value. Good luck on the house.

 

i'd get the 06 civic. 05 accord is ugly.

 

$9200 won't do much to your house payment considering your house is probably hundreds of thousands of dollars.

How comfortable are you with the payments on the current TL? It does make more sense to get the cheapest possible payment with the best bang for the buck. However you have to weigh in if you really want to part with the TL.

Economic decision: Get the Accord since the depreciation already hit it. But risk maintenance issues from a used car.

Lust decision: Keep the TL since it's the nicest and only one with leather. Only of course if you can afford it.

I applaud you for getting the house that you want for the rest of your life instead of settling for a dump just to push a ride that'll look good for a few years only.

 

 

The TL is paid for. It is not a decision of if we can afford both. The dilemma is more around what do we value now...1.5 years ago I valued a nice car, now it is a nicer house. It will drop the payment by 60 a month. It is not a make or break situation, it is just the thought of cheaper gas, insurance, tires, etc. plus the whole, do I really need a car like this.

'Oh yeah- I have a 72 TR6 and a 76 911s in the garage.

 

What would help make your decision between the Accord and Civic?

 

you probably like the TL right?
since the wife cut back fuel by going to the Odyssey. You can swing the extra bucks for fuel in the TL.

this my opinion so don't take this the wrong way:I rarely buy used cars. The reason why is sometimes people unload cars due to problems with them. yes the Accord only has 10k on it but it doesn't mean in 3 years something won't pop up,
I admit I buy used cars occassionally. I bought 2 from my parents. (94 Accord and 00 Odyssey) however I know their car care records, I know how they drive them. I've drove the car plenty of times. so I know if the car been wrecked.(which the Accord has a couple times but i was "at fault"). So I'd keep the TL since you know the history behind it.

I hate going onto used car lots. I have friends who work at used car lots they take in cars that they said "they'd NEVER BUY" not due to being nasty but just cause people drive them like their stolen for 2-3 years trade them and get a new car and start over.

 

Well, the deal is done.

I sold my TL to a private party for 29,000. They were offering employee pricing on the 06 Civic for today only. (They "said" that new civis arrive on Monday and will be marked up $400 MSRP.) The sticker on the civic LX was 18,145. I paid 17,823 out the door. The guy told me that he could not buy used 05 Civics at auction for that price. (I am not sure how much of that I believe)

Sold TL: 29,000
Civic LX: 17,823

I now have 11,177 extra for the new house. I got the Dark blue civic, same as my TL. First impressions are that I like it. It is underpowered, considering what I just got out of. (I always have the 911s for the days I need power) It is very roomy, for a Civic, much more so than the 05's. The exterior and interior styling are wonderful. There are NO RATTLES (unlike the TL).