They are making these offers to everyone in their database in order to sell cars.

If you're able to make the payments without problem, I like the deal. Newer vehicle, no upkeep costs, and a lower rate.

> which is roughly equal to the payments I am currently making.

Gahhh... I die a little inside when I read this. Yeah, it's equal to the payments you're currently making, but how many months of current payments remain vs. the sixty months on the newly issued loan?

This is what's also pushing on me: My current CR-V is a 2015 model, and while Honda's are typically pretty good, it's more likely that I'll have more maintenance expenses hitting sooner than later. I take good care of my car, but there's an appeal to having everything you said: newer vehicle, no upkeep costs, and the lower rate

It's not the WORST deal but the part you are missing is that while it's equal to your current payments, you're also extending your loan to 5 years compared to whatever it is now. Make sure you consider that extra money when thinking about it.

sold a 2010 CR-V in 2020 at around 85000 miles and got rid of it right before the big expenses hit

​

you have to do your research, check autotrader for selling prices around you

Meh, to me a 2015 Honda with 72k is a new car. I usually buy them between 50 and 100k. My daily is a 2008 with 185k and I autocross it. So while it does get frequent fluid changes it doesn't have an easy life. If u want a new car ok but the personal finance answer is keep your car. Upgrading is profitable for the dealer, not you.

>got rid of it right before the big expenses hit

Had an '08 Civic that I sold 2 years ago when it had 178,000 mi on it. The only non-routine maintenance thing I had to fix on that car was a $200 sensor. It made it another year before the kid I sold it two totaled it.

i would have had to do the brakes again soon, then new tires and the shocks were wearing out. my AC broke once and had it fixed by pep boys

​

the high mileage routine maintenance can add up

Dealer wants to make a sale, and you're about to bite despite having a perfectly good nearly paid off car.

My car before this was a 1995 Toyota Tercel that I ran up to 155k miles before buying the 2015. The maintenance on the car was becoming too much for me to take on, especially with having a salvage title (dad was a mechanic and did the rebuild + all maintenance which I definitely didn't do upkeep on when I moved...). Car ended up being given to a friend that was in a situation and he put another ~50k on it before finally calling it quits. RIP Tercel.

The CR-V is doing pretty well, but I know the brakes need to be done soon and it needs new tires, which are light fixes. $19k for a rebuy for it is pretty common in my area for it with a clean title and no damage besides regular wear. Private sales seem to be looking at $15-23k depending on all factors, but I don't want the hassle of dealing with a private sale, even if that meant potentially getting more than what the current offer is on it.

Understandable, it would add several years of payments under the new loan and cost a lot more money, but that's expected. Most my usage is leisure, which would make sense to keep it. I'm not overly concerned about the additional 3 years (5 years on the new one, but I still have 2 years on my current anyway) of payments that would need to be made and have additional funds in my current situation that would allow me to overpay towards the principle of my loan, which may not be as likely in the mid-future (~5 years out) as I anticipate larger life decisions to come into play (which would also make upgrading a car unreasonable at that time).

Instead of minor repair costs you take on the most significant portion of the depreciation curve and have 5 more years of payments. It's not a financially advantageous decision spending a dollar to save a nickel, but potentially OP will have a nicer ride

Those are all nice to have but you're paying for them. Some maintaince on the older car is still much cheaper than another 5 years of payments plus interest plus higher insurance etc. Bottom line is new cars are nice but usually cost more so the financial answer is buy one when you need it. Not when u want it. You don't need one now but I think you have enough info to make an informed decision. I totally understand the appeal of the deal but this is r/personalfinance not r/Cars.

>Ideally, this would be the last vehicle I purchase for the foreseeable future

This is what literally everyone says, and then 3 years later they're back at the dealership eyeing the newest cars and all their cool features.

Just some notes of interest:

We are at the waning end of a unique point in history where used cars are worth far more than their typical depreciation rate would otherwise indicate they should be. This is not expected to continue. The new car will not hold its value like your current one has, but if you plan to keep it indefinitely, that's not a concern. However, any increase in your trade-in value is probably going to be offset by extras the dealer throws on the new vehicle. In the past, it wouldn't be unreasonable to negotiate $4-5K off the MSRP (although probably not that much on CRVs). That hasn't been the case the last couple years, so the numbers are probably working out more or less the same.

Something you could try, is to price out the new vehicle you want, do all the math considering trade in value, loan payoff, TT&L, cost of interest over the life of the loan, and figure out how much that would be, and then knock $3K off that total and insist to the dealer that's what it needs to be out the door or you're not interested. It's highly unlikely that they'll accept, but you might get lucky and it might make the whole transaction worth it. They're getting some amount of profit baked into this deal, so it's just a matter of how much of it they're willing to give up. It hasn't been a buyer's market for the last couple years, but the waters are a bit murkier right now. Again, probably not going to work to your benefit, but worst case you're right back where you are now, so no loss there.

Unless you are having problems with the current car. Pay it off and keep it until you do