Well Im trading in my truck for an Infiniti G35. I love my truck but really dont need it anymore. I used to live in northern Michigan and needed it for the snow, well though I still live in Michigan im near detroit and the winters arent as bad down here. So Im trading in my truck for probably a 2003 or 2004 Infiniti G35. My warranty is out on my truck and if it does break down I wont be able to afford to fix it, its getting up in mileage and I live further away from my job so the commute is alittle longer therefore more gas and its getting old putting in $50 and only getting half a tank. Plus my payment will be lower when I finance the G35, so all in all im saving money and getting more mpg.

My fiance has an AWD cherokee so we still have a vehicle that can go through some snow if needed, so im not left high and dry in that area.

Im looking at a 2003 G35 with 44,000 miles for $12,995. Going to go look at it this weekend and give her a test drive. Im sure everyone is going to throw in their opinions about why I should stay but just dont see it happening.

I will post up some pics when and if I get one.

 

If you think maintenance costs on a truck are bad, wait until you start paying for non-warranty repairs on a "vanity marque" like an Infiniti. I suspect the thing you're trying to avoid may be the very thing you're about to walk face first into.....

 

Good little cars and fun to drive. Also pretty reliable

BUT - very small inside.. and mpg isnt thaht great for its size. Bet you get low 20s

Best of luck.

 

is your truck paid off? if you trying to save money just buy some daily driver with cash for cheap coz you will be paying twice for that infiniti, at the end dealer will make maney twice from you 1-for your truck 2-for new car and dont fall for lower payment focus on totall ballance

 

Really......really.....really you live in or around Detroit and you can't even buy an American made car or truck...even the new f150 said to get 22 mpg on the highway.

 

No my truck is not paid off, I still owe $11k on it and my payment is $310 and im hoping with the G35 it will drop down in the 200's.

And low 20 mpg is better than 13-14 mpg. I cant afford a new F150, I bought my current one used 2 years ago put just over 30k miles on it and had the IWE's done twice, the rear axle seals, rear seals and bearings in the dif, brakes (normal), cam phasers and the CV shafts, rear brake caliper, and I have had the clunking from the drive shaft since I bought it and just now found out what it was. I also have some paint chipping on the front bumper and along the bed rails (annoying) and Im going to be needing new tires soon, and we all know they arent cheap.

And my reasoning on maintenance for the G35 is that it has lower miles (44k)and I have been on the G35 forum checking out what is common with repairs for it and there isnt much with the model and year im looking at.

As for living in detroit and buying foreign, this is my first non-american car and its not brand new, so the dealership that is selling it is a Cadillac dealer so they get the profit not nissan or infiniti. I used to drive a Cadillac CTS and a guy I work with says the interior space is about the same as that so I should be good.

I havent bought it yet nor have I driven it, that is just a car I have been looking at getting. I may not like it at all and will be searching for something different, but will most likely be a car.

 

Check the cost of insurance on the Infiniti. I had a friend who was badly shocked when he found out the cost after he bought his.

 

I was gonna trade my truck in, almost the same reason. Gas and don't need it.

I owe $11,000 on my truck. It books for $13,500 according to NADA trade in.

Look at this, you are going to a lower payment, that means you are likely going to a longer payment.
Longer payment + % interest = you owe more.

What ever money you put in the truck, you might as well have threw in the garbage can and burnt it.

You are going to end up paying fees and taxes again, and title.


Even if you save $30 a week on gas, how much more do you owe in the long run? Opposed to how long until the truck is paid off?

Example
13MPG (my truck)
240 miles a week (M-F work and back)
18.5 gallons a week.
$57 a week.

20MPG (what ever car here)
240 miles a week
12 gallons a week
$38 a week.
A massive $19 a week, $76 a month saved.
I am sure you can save $76 a month else where and keep the truck.

you owe $11,000 on truck, call it $11,200.
36 months you are paid off. 3 years.

if you go to $200 a month you are going to be back at 5/6 years again likely, and thats assuming you refinance and swap even. (not gonna happen)
You are looking at best getting pay off and owing about $12,000 over 5 years.

if you end up getting pay off for that truck, you are still looking at I bet about $13,500 for the G35 on the road. 5 more years.

the only way you can come out good here is if you get the G35 for the same amount you owe on the truck.


The best thing to do if you want to SAVE money is save some money and buy a beater and keep the truck.

You are going to OWE MORE then you do now to save about $80 a month assuming you travel 240 miles a week.

Just stop and take a step back and see where you can cut something and save money.

$12,995+ 8%=$14034, thats just the rate on the loan, no taxes or title.
assuming you can get a 8% rate on a 04 G35 at 5 years.

you are going to owe almost $3,000 or $4,000 more over more time to save a bit of money every month.

I think its a bad move. Don't do it. Find some place to cut some costs save a little and buy a beater to drive to work and back.
Truck>car.

Notice,
My math could be wrong.
But I figure in 36 months you be having a paid for truck, faster if you pitch in a extra $50/$100 here and there every payment.
VS
Paying for 5/6 more years and owing more.

 

Holy number crunching right there, haha. It's nice to have a car that can save on gas but you don't need to buy an expensive one. I say keep the truck and buy something around the price of 3-4k and beat it up. That's why I'm keeping my Altima just so I save on the mileage on my truck and gas money. It's all paid off and I drive it during the winter so I don't rust up my truck or have a chance of some idiot driver that wants to speed and do dumb things and hit me. I won't be as mad as if the hit my truck then if they hit my car.

 

So far I have put 30K miles since I bought my 93 Toyota V6 Camry beater about a year & 1/2 ago! It saves me a ton of $$$ on gas, & wear & tear on the truck! It has been also very reliable, my truck has not been exposed to road salt for two winters now! It has the old R12 air conditioning refrigerant & is cold as a popsicle in the summer months to boot! ....Get a beater! I do not even worry about what gas $$$ does anymore, I get 30 MPG's highway! That is a good thing!

 

 

Listen to these guys. This is why people get into financial trouble. Keep what you have and pay it off and get a beater. You will love your truck even more if you drive a beater M-F. Drive that nice rig on the weekends

 

Your a wise man!.......

 

I have a 2011 F-150 Platinum Echoboost that i absolutely love to death. But yes in turns it doesn't get that great of gas mileage an i commute i at least 85 miles to work round trip. I'm thinking about trading it in for a 2013 branch new dodge avenger r/t model. That would get better fuel economy on the highway an save me more money in gas. My truck issn't paid off & i still owe 31,000 for it. The car on the other hand is only 25,700 an hopefully with good credit i can get 0% interest for 60 months. Any advice or opinion on what i should do? I thought about buying a junker but then i wont' get to drive my truck that much an i think about the quality of life rather then just getting by with something cheap.

 

DON'T do it!

Paying over $12,000 for a car that is possibly over 10 years old (non-collector)? If you want to actually SAVE money, get a beater Honda Civic. I know it may not be "American" but no other manufacturer makes a more bullet proof car. Before it closed down in the late 90s due to emerging digital camera technology, there was a photo developing company that would develop photos for all of the supermarkets and drugstores in the area. They used Honda Civics for pick-up and delivery and would put over 500,000 miles on them before they would sell them (still going strong). A guy my father knows bought one, and he put over 150,000 miles on it before he got rid of it (still running). Don't know what happened to it after.

Me personally, I'd keep the truck. You are going to lose your a$$ trading in a truck you still owe money on. The salesman will know that he has you by the ***** when he sees you trading in for a 10 year old car. Clearly reads financial distress. Just pay the truck off ASAP. The gas and tires and brakes and pinion seals, etc. get a lot cheaper when you don't have a payment. If you have to get rid of it, sell it outright on Craigslist or Autotrader. Toss style out the window and get the Civic. 90s up to 2006 are low maintenance and bulletproof!