Advice re second car

will56

Wife and I currently have the following cars

132 Mazda 3 Diesel 132,000 KM Approx
08 VW Polo 1.2 Petrol 85,000 KM Approx

There is about 6 months left on the loan for the Mazda.

Wife is looking to sell the Polo and get a 132+ car (likely to be a crossover, Kaptur or similar)
Not looking to spend a lot on the new car, hopefull < €20k

Wife is currently on maternity leave so we need to have 2 cars.
The dilemma is that when she returns to work, we both work in the same building and work the same hours.

So in about 6 months time the newer car will likely be parked up most of the week and be relegated to a second car.
Or the Mazda will become a second car that sits at home 80% of the time

Her argument is that we should sell the Polo now while there is still some trade in value left and before it needs an NCT every year, needs more servicing due to age.

Are we mad looking to trade in the Polo and incur the cost of buying a newer car ?
Should we just keep the Polo for when we're both can't travel together ?
Or are we better off having 2 cars that are around 5 years old ?

Hitman3000

Personally I'd drive the Polo till it falls asunder. Very little trade in value in a near 10 year Polo. You get a better discount for cash with no trade in.

bazz26

The Polo will do the same thing in 6 months time as a newer car except the newer car will be costing you more in both loan repayments and depreciation sitting there parked up. If your looking for a financial reason to trade up the Polo then there isn't one.

ourheritage

will56 wrote: »

Wife and I currently have the following cars

132 Mazda 3 Diesel 132,000 KM Approx
08 VW Polo 1.2 Petrol 85,000 KM Approx

There is about 6 months left on the loan for the Mazda.

Wife is looking to sell the Polo and get a 132+ car (likely to be a crossover, Kaptur or similar)
Not looking to spend a lot on the new car, hopefull < €20k

Wife is currently on maternity leave so we need to have 2 cars.
The dilemma is that when she returns to work, we both work in the same building and work the same hours.

So in about 6 months time the newer car will likely be parked up most of the week and be relegated to a second car.
Or the Mazda will become a second car that sits at home 80% of the time

Her argument is that we should sell the Polo now while there is still some trade in value left and before it needs an NCT every year, needs more servicing due to age.

Are we mad looking to trade in the Polo and incur the cost of buying a newer car ?
Should we just keep the Polo for when we're both can't travel together ?
Or are we better off having 2 cars that are around 5 years old ?

Okay you've got two good cars. You needn't worry about the NCT and value as Polos will go on for a very long time. I did a search on Done Deal, and put in the years 1997 to 2002, and got up 130 cars dating back to 1997. This means that if well looked after, and serviced regularly you should get another 10 years, and then sell her on. With that I would go with your second question out of the three questions at the end of your post, and keep her for when your not travelling together, and even if circumstances change whereby a newer car might be needed, I would get something that is around 8 years old, and keep it for 4 years as that's where the best value can be had.

Cee-Jay-Cee

So your wife wants to spend €20k in order to maybe gain €1000 in trade value...yep that's sound logic.

Keep the Polo, servicing and NCT'ing it will cost a fraction of what the repayments on a €20k car would be. Servicing and NCT'ing the car will cost less than €400 a year, it seem ridiculous to spend money on a car that will sit in a driveway when you have a perfectly good car that will do the exact same thing and cost you virtually nothing.

will56

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

So your wife wants to spend €20k in order to maybe gain €1000 in trade value...yep that's sound logic.

Keep the Polo, servicing and NCT'ing it will cost a fraction of what the repayments on a €20k car would be. Servicing and NCT'ing the car will cost less than €400 a year, it seem ridiculous to spend money on a car that will sit in a driveway when you have a perfectly good car that will do the exact same thing and cost you virtually nothing.

Thats been my thinking on it the whole time.

Just thought I put it up here in case I was missing something

Lantus

Looks like it's best to keep the polo. Costs are low and as you say it will be a very cheap second run around for you when she's back in work. In the future as your circumstances change then you can revisit.

Can't see any sense in two new cars when only one will be used.

PGE1970

If you really want a crossover, I'd wait until the new year and see what CX5s are traded into your Mazda dealer and then see what it will cost to move to a newer CX5 from your Mazda 3.