Last year I was looking at small cars and found a '16 Nissan Versa with 10K miles and a rebuilt title. I was able to buy the Versa for $5300. The repair on it was pretty good although you can tell it has been in a previous accident if you look closely. To me saving a few thousand dollars on one with a rebuilt title and only 10K miles was better than buying one with a clean title and 30-40K miles for $10K or so. I figure if I can keep the Versa going till it's got 100K miles or so I will easily have got my moneys worth out of it. My wife is currently saving for another car and is going to try to find another low mileage rebuilt car. I've bought a couple cars in the past with rebuilt titles and haven't yet been burned on one. The one thing I stay away from is one with rebuilt title because of water damage, too much chance of electrical problems down the road. I've got an '02 Ford Escort that I bought in 2008 with about 80K miles for $2K. It has a rebuilt title and now has about 204K, only things that have been done to it are regular wear items. Several years ago it was involved in an accident that was the other persons fault. The damage was more than I paid for the car so I pocketed the money and kept driving the car in the damaged condition. We're still using it as a knock around daily driver. It's a great car for going to the grocery or shopping center in where if it gets hit by another car or a shopping cart it doesn't hurt anything.I vote for purchasing a $12,795 truck and don't have a payment. This is an election year. The economy could go into the toilet in just a few months. IMHO, being 100% debt free and driving something not as nice is the way to go.
Guess you could see what Carmax would give you if you can’t live with it. They price higher and no reconditioning costs for them.So here is the story (kind of long)...
I was having problems with my 2018 XLT, way too many since bought new two and a half years ago. With trade-in values nuts right now, I traded it in on a new RAM 1500 Laramie. I test drove some locally, would have preferred the regular HEMI (non-etorque), but drove the etorque and thought I'd be OK with it. I worked many dealers against each other, ended up buying an etorque truck two and a half hours away. After driving the etorque locally on the roads I drive every day, I'm not liking how it drives. Also, the 20s are much more firm that I would prefer (but not a deal breaker) now that I'm on the roads I drive every day.
I am only considering changing it out because I got such a good deal, and the market is such, that I won't lose my @$$. It was $55,055 MSRP, I paid about $43,550 which is at least $2000 cheaper than most dealers were at, and I got $35,500 on my trade and most dealers were at least $1000 less (and those that were good on the new truck price were typically not good on trade, and vise versa).
For reference, my old F150 payment was $650.
So I have some options:
1. Keep it for probably 2-3 years and in the mean time not love how it drives.
After 2 years the RAM is expected to be worth 70%, so probably $30-32k on trade in a normal market. My loan would be down to about $18k by then if I went a 5 year (about $550/month) for a net positive equity of about $12-14k. This would be around $5k/yr ownership cost depreciation, which I like to be at or under $3500.
2. Trade it in and purchase a different one.
The in-town dealer has offered me $41,157 on trade (or just buying it from me). Without going into details on the math, I would lose about $2200 to purchase a vehicle that is much more what I want (no etorque, no 20s, has nav, 33 gal tank, anti spin diff). This includes paying doc fee twice, title twice, etc. This would be a comparable deal as to if I just went with this dealer to begin with, since they were at $33,500 on my F150 trade. I could also with another truck that is about $2300 cheaper MSRP that is bench seat, no nav or anti-spin, not my ideal color, but does have the 33 gal tank.
3. Sell it and lease.
Another local used car dealer has offered me $42,000 to just buy it from me. It would be a somewhat expensive lesson learned, but not too bad. I would lease either a RAM (still waiting on numbers) or Chevy ($615 per month for 15k mile lease, $32,400 residual). I would pocket the difference of about $12,700 between the loan and the $42,000 (maybe a slightly less pocketed amount than under scenario 1, but I wouldn't have that equity under scenario 1 for two years).
Then in three years I could reevaluate my needs or the truck. I like the flexibility of either just turning in the keys on the lease and being done with it, or trading it in (if the market is nuts like right now), or buying it out. The only thing is I may be changing careers in the next 18 months so I'm not sure of my commute distance after that, so I would probably go for the 15k/yr lease.
I like the RAM better than the Chevy, but the Chevy does seem like a better build quality (which is expressed in the resale value of the two brands: also I see quite a few older Chevys on the road but not many RAM or Ford).
I am leaning toward the lease option. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, and a lot depends on the RAM lease price. But just looking for thoughts.
You have never seen the green Eco light on? Here is a picture of mine from this afternoon.I have never noticed the eco button active, even on the highway.
You have never seen the green Eco light on? Here is a picture of mine from this afternoon.
Unless the Canadian vehicles are different, all Rams have the Eco light. There is a setting in the Uconnect system to turn it on or off.Mine doesn't have that light, but you two both have E-torque, so I assume that's the difference.
Unless the Canadian vehicles are different, all Rams have the Eco light. There is a setting in the Uconnect system to turn it on or off.
First, go to your Uconnect settings and make sure the “Fuel Saver Display in Cluster” box is checked. It is somewhat of a known issue that the Eco light does not always function properly. Some non-USA vehicles require a reflash to the latest calibration to resolve the issue; refer to the very recent service bulletin that I screenshot.I'll have to check, I know I never turned it off, so unless the dealer did?
First, go to your Uconnect settings and make sure the “Fuel Saver Display in Cluster” box is checked. It is somewhat of a known issue that the Eco light does not always function properly. Some non-USA vehicles require a reflash to the latest calibration to resolve the issue; refer to the very recent service bulletin that I screenshot.
Also, the eco light did not work properly when I first bought the truck. There would be times when the MDS was clearly active but the Eco light did not illuminate. I recently installed a trailer brake controller and part of the install process required adding a sales code to my configuration (in the FCA dealer connect portal) followed by performing a “restore vehicle configuration” in WiTech 2.0. After the vehicle configuration restore was performed, the Eco light has worked flawlessly.
First, go to your Uconnect settings and make sure the “Fuel Saver Display in Cluster” box is checked. It is somewhat of a known issue that the Eco light does not always function properly. Some non-USA vehicles require a reflash to the latest calibration to resolve the issue; refer to the very recent service bulletin that I screenshot.
Also, the eco light did not work properly when I first bought the truck. There would be times when the MDS was clearly active but the Eco light did not illuminate. I recently installed a trailer brake controller and part of the install process required adding a sales code to my configuration (in the FCA dealer connect portal) followed by performing a “restore vehicle configuration” in WiTech 2.0. After the vehicle configuration restore was performed, the Eco light has worked flawlessly.