Which is better keep a paid for car that gets poor milage, or buy new car that gets good milage?

Answer 1

Economically, keep the older car with poor mileage. Takes an awful lot of gas savings to make up for the extra cost of buying the new car.
Depends on what is important for you, the economics or the buzz of a new car. Personally, I'd never buy a new car as they lose so much value as you drive them out the car showroom. Can you get the same car with very low mileage but 2 years old? It'll save you some money on gas but will also not break the bank so much. Still won't be the economical decision, but will be a whole lot better than the economics of buying a new car..

Answer 2

Depends really, as they both probably equal out to the same thing. Why not keep the paid for car for a while longer and try and save up a good amount for a deposit on the new one. Then get the new one at lower monthly payments. Although with gas going up a couple of cents almost every day it may be more beneficial to get the new car now and start saving on the gas. I would weigh the pros and cons of both such as how long of a commute you have. I have an hour commute so I would probably get the new one to start saving on the gas mileage now.

Answer 3

Not enough info.
What year is your car?
How many miles on it?
How many miles do you drive per year?
What is the value?
What is your MPG?

What can you afford in a new car?
How many years will you finance?
What will be payments?
What would be the increase in MPG on the new car.

Then calculate the difference in MPG times the cost of gas.

Compare the payments on a new car to the savings in gas cost, over the time financed.
Will the savings in gas cost outweigh the cost/payments on a new car?
We can expect an increase in gas.

Answer 4

Buy a $2500 used-but-good car that gets good mileage. Then it will be paid for, and it will often be less than 10 years old.

Answer 5

Get the new one. If you buy the Prius, you can drive it in the carpool lane alone.