The End of an Era
Had a guy put a depisit on Greenie Saturday. He said he'd be out to pay him off and pick him up either Monday or Tuesday. After 17 years Chris will be parting with El Greenie Grande. He ordered the truck from the factory when he was still working for GM.
Chris ended up taking 4550 instead of the asking price of 4900, but $350 down isn't too bad, considering Greenie does need a new paint job. If all goes well we'll get the rest of the money in hand and be able to stash it in the joint account for use towards a new car.
The trade-in value for Silber is apparently less than $1400, which is pretty sad. The private party sale isn't much better so we are leaning towards trading in the little car for a combination of convenience and the amount you get off of the taxes by trading in.
Tomorrow we plan on going in and test driving both the Jeep Cherokee and the Grand Cherokee. Chris is leaning towards the Grand, but for cost and fuel economy I'm leaning the other way. It deoends on the deal we get I guess. Chris said it's only a $2k difference in price, but that's MSRP and there will be even more savings on the fuel side over time.
We are back down to two vehicles either way, which will be an adjustment. Come April we will have had the Lil Rig for four years and it has been very convenient to essentially leave it hooked to the horse trailer all the time. Chris will use the new vehicle for going to work, but on days I need to do errand running I'll have it and he'll get the truck. We will have to plan ahead for things, but having two newer vehicles that we don't realky have to worry about maintenance wise will be nice.
This past November marked 11 years for Silber and I. I bought her off the lot with manual everything, which is part of the reason it's trade-in value is so lack-luster. Not many people are looking for a manual transmission four-banger without power windows, seats, or locks (well, technically it has power locks, but it's after market using the key fob).
Poor Silber has a couple leaks. They started in November after our spectacular coolant explosion. I don't know if they didn't tighten up some things or if after 11 years things are just starting to leak. We'll take it into Oren and see. If it's a simple fix we'll do it, but something more we may hope it limps along until we can trade it in. The good news is it is running well!
So onward! The money from Greenie should take care of the first year of payments. The tax money this year should give us an even better buffer, maybe take us until the truck is paid off in March 2016 (hopefully sooner than that if I can help it...). Best case Chris finds a new job this year in which case he can either carry the house bills and I can take the vehicle bills or he can at least take over the newer vehicle payments. Heck he could make the same as now, but if health benefits cost half as much we'd be in awesome shape. Worst case we use Greenie and tax money this year and next to take care of it until the truck is paid off as mentioned earlier.
Chris ended up taking 4550 instead of the asking price of 4900, but $350 down isn't too bad, considering Greenie does need a new paint job. If all goes well we'll get the rest of the money in hand and be able to stash it in the joint account for use towards a new car.
The trade-in value for Silber is apparently less than $1400, which is pretty sad. The private party sale isn't much better so we are leaning towards trading in the little car for a combination of convenience and the amount you get off of the taxes by trading in.
Tomorrow we plan on going in and test driving both the Jeep Cherokee and the Grand Cherokee. Chris is leaning towards the Grand, but for cost and fuel economy I'm leaning the other way. It deoends on the deal we get I guess. Chris said it's only a $2k difference in price, but that's MSRP and there will be even more savings on the fuel side over time.
We are back down to two vehicles either way, which will be an adjustment. Come April we will have had the Lil Rig for four years and it has been very convenient to essentially leave it hooked to the horse trailer all the time. Chris will use the new vehicle for going to work, but on days I need to do errand running I'll have it and he'll get the truck. We will have to plan ahead for things, but having two newer vehicles that we don't realky have to worry about maintenance wise will be nice.
This past November marked 11 years for Silber and I. I bought her off the lot with manual everything, which is part of the reason it's trade-in value is so lack-luster. Not many people are looking for a manual transmission four-banger without power windows, seats, or locks (well, technically it has power locks, but it's after market using the key fob).
Poor Silber has a couple leaks. They started in November after our spectacular coolant explosion. I don't know if they didn't tighten up some things or if after 11 years things are just starting to leak. We'll take it into Oren and see. If it's a simple fix we'll do it, but something more we may hope it limps along until we can trade it in. The good news is it is running well!
So onward! The money from Greenie should take care of the first year of payments. The tax money this year should give us an even better buffer, maybe take us until the truck is paid off in March 2016 (hopefully sooner than that if I can help it...). Best case Chris finds a new job this year in which case he can either carry the house bills and I can take the vehicle bills or he can at least take over the newer vehicle payments. Heck he could make the same as now, but if health benefits cost half as much we'd be in awesome shape. Worst case we use Greenie and tax money this year and next to take care of it until the truck is paid off as mentioned earlier.