Car was totaled. Buy used, rent as needed? I want do just buy new car.

[Anonymous]

Our second car was totaled after a driver fell asleep and ran into our parked car. (Luckily he wasn’t hurt.) Our situation is that this is our second car (actually basically given us my ILs) that we use sometimes as little as once a week. (It’s needed for school
pick up, kid sport practice so it’s not an Uber = solution.) The payout will be around $6500. Back in the olden times of two years ago it would almost make sense to just rent a car once a week when you could get a daily rate of $35. But now rates are high and the rental location that was walkable closed down so it just seems like such a hassle to imagine weekly doing, but buying a car that’s going to be reliable for $6500 with the scarcity of used cars and their inflated value seems like a bad plan. We’ve been so busy since this has all happened truly haven’t had a moment to talk but am I crazy that I think we should just buy a new car? My thinking is we use the payout for the first while of payments on the zero down/0% interest and then we’re pretty much leveraged time to where we would likely have been replacing this second car anyway (or regulating the first car as the spare.)

Talk me out of this !

[Anonymous]

never cite interest rates as a reason to buy new..lifetime of the car thats a $600 dollar savings. Have you priced new lately? Many cases, dealer dependent, make dependent you could very easily pay sticker price or even over sticker.. welcome to COVID. You said this is a 2nd car which pushes me to say buy used which is not cheap either. A used Honda or Camry can be bought for less than $10K

[Anonymous]

Are you sure the car isn't salvageable? "Totaled" means different things for the insurance company and the end user. You could take the money and fix only what needs to be fixed, nothing cosmetic, just to avoid having to pay pandemic prices. Re-evaluate in a couple of years.

If that's not possible, I would consider the age/condition of the first car, and whether any of your children will be of age to drive soon. A new car with modern safety features would be my preference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Are you sure the car isn't salvageable? "Totaled" means different things for the insurance company and the end user. You could take the money and fix only what needs to be fixed, nothing cosmetic, just to avoid having to pay pandemic prices. Re-evaluate in a couple of years.

If that's not possible, I would consider the age/condition of the first car, and whether any of your children will be of age to drive soon. A new car with modern safety features would be my preference.

Absolutely totaled! We did indeed keep a totaled car at one point but this wasn’t an option. Our first car is actually pretty new-and while I’m truly not a car snob I just think with the inflated prices buying a used car is buying years of repairs. I’m very unhappy feeling pushed into an unplanned expense through no fault of our own but feel like it’s a better choice buying new (and we have a friend in the business that gives us fair pricing if not deals.) My DH may not agree and I was hoping to get responses here that I could confidently argue. Sigh. I guess it’ll be my fall-back ‘financial feeling’ not facts. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Is there a density of car2go or free2 move car options in your neighborhood? I do that for my once a week-ish 2nd car needs. If not and you can afford it, get the car you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Are you sure the car isn't salvageable? "Totaled" means different things for the insurance company and the end user. You could take the money and fix only what needs to be fixed, nothing cosmetic, just to avoid having to pay pandemic prices. Re-evaluate in a couple of years.

If that's not possible, I would consider the age/condition of the first car, and whether any of your children will be of age to drive soon. A new car with modern safety features would be my preference.

Absolutely totaled! We did indeed keep a totaled car at one point but this wasn’t an option. Our first car is actually pretty new-and while I’m truly not a car snob I just think with the inflated prices buying a used car is buying years of repairs. I’m very unhappy feeling pushed into an unplanned expense through no fault of our own but feel like it’s a better choice buying new (and we have a friend in the business that gives us fair pricing if not deals.) My DH may not agree and I was hoping to get responses here that I could confidently argue. Sigh. I guess it’ll be my fall-back ‘financial feeling’ not facts. Thanks

In your case, I really don't think one option is better than the other. You just have to research the heck out of the used car and seller if you go that route, because as you said, some cars have hidden flaws and some sellers intentionally hide damage. Other used cars work wonderfully for years, so if you can get a good price on a used car that's a reliable brand and the seller is honest, then it could be the better option.

[Anonymous]

Cheap lease for 3 years. At these prices, I think buying a new car to use just once a week is foolish.