Automobile Decisions.....

So, sometimes you get to the point where you know what is a responsible decision, and sometimes it's not what you want to do.

Here's my situation. I've owned my truck for many years, and it's paid off. Big honkin' 2004 Dodge 2500 quad cab 4x4 with a snowplow. It has served me very well over the years, has been my "daily driver" for a long time and I've always liked the truck. Good thing I only live 3.5 miles from work because it struggles to get 11 mpg under normal use. I also use it to haul our PA equipment when needed, and a lot of the drummer's stuff goes in it as well (yes, I get compensated for the gas). It is now starting to show it's age, and I'm just about done with the extended-extended warranties I've purchased. The body is starting to rot, things are starting to wear out and break, etc..., as you expect with a 10 year old truck that's gotten plow duty. In the last 6 months it's broken a fair amount. Pretty soon it will be questionable for inspection because of rust. A body shop told me I'm looking at somewhere around $5K to clean it up and fix the rust, including some paint work.

Last year I went out and bought a "summer car". I traded and sold off all of my other toys (ATV's, snowmobiles, and motorcycles) to get the car, a lovely 2012 Dodge Challenger R/T that I had wanted to buy since I saw the 2009 models. I absolutely love this car, I bought it planning to keep it for a long, long time. I got exactly the one I wanted, right down to every detail. But I did have to take a loan on it for about half of the purchase price. The downside is that it's a summer-only car, and in owning it for 15 months I've put roughly 4K miles on it. Heck, I don't even drive it in the rain, to be honest.

I really didn't think this one through very well, although I have no regrets about buying the car. I love it, my kids feel uber-cool when they get to ride in it, and it's been a great "date night" vehicle for me and my wife. She was totally supportive of me buying it when I did.

Problem is....I can't afford to take on another car payment for a new truck if I keep the car. The local dealer has offered to take in both my truck and my car toward a new truck, the result would be that I would actually be paying less per month for the new truck than I am for the car alone, which I can use about 6 months a year here.

The responsible decision would be to dump the toy and buy the more practical vehicle. The fun decision would be to keep the toy and take my chances with the truck, which could get expensive real fast.

Thoughts?

 

When I bought the Ram I kinda had a need for the larger truck. I was towing as many as 4 sleds (or 5 with one in the bed), sometimes 4 ATV's, and had planned to get a travel trailer. Plus I had a regular snowplow route. Now I have none of that. I gave up the snowplow route because I had a hard time doing it with my regular job, and it got harder and harder as I got busier. Now I have this mammoth truck that I really don't need because all it does is drive around town and plow my own driveway (which is 300' long). Really, I could get by easily with a smaller truck.

I live on a dirt road. Once the snow flies the town typically either does not plow the road or they do a crap job, so when the white stuff comes down (usually in early December), the car is useless. When the spring thaw comes, my road becomes a giant mud puddle and often times I will need the 4x4 to get out up until mid-April. So, essentially, I could use the car for about 7 months a year regularly. I just have to get a leash on my OCD .

I'm going to stop off at the dealer today. I really like these guys, they've always been good to me and I've bought multiple vehicles from them. The salesman said he'll give me numbers on what they are willing to do and I guess I would have to make a decision from there.

Thanks for the input, all good ideas!