What would you do, fix or trade in?

[Esoterikk]

What would you do? Fix or trade in...

Fix current car or Trade in for new?

I have a 2015 Fiesta ST that I use as a summer car with rust damage in the seams of both rear doors and the entire underside of the hood, after months of back and forth with Ford of Canada they agreed to give me 30% (500$) towards the cost of repairs and I'm too exhausted to pursue that further.

Ford only authorized this as a refinish aka grind visible rust and repaint. Body shop manager assured me they won't warranty the work and the rust will be back within two years which he's right about.

The Ford body shop is willing to do a full warranty priced repair (replace two full doors and the hood plus paint and blending) at warranty price costing me 4500$ and invoicing Ford the 500$ for the repair as a refinish. (5000$ job total).

Now my options are

* Fix the FiST for 4500$. The vehicle has 15,000 miles. I find it a bit slow because I live where all the roads are straight so I can't use the FiST for what it's best at. 4500$ into the FiST is completely lost money on any future sale. Plus the extra money on modifications to make it fast in a straight line in the future. The FiST will also need a new flywheel in the next year so that adds roughly 1000+$. I also still owe 8000$ on the FiST which will be absorbed if I trade it in as the dealerships takes the lien.

* Trade the FiST in and get a different car. I've been able to stretch my budget to afford payments on a Veloster N/GTI by haggling the payments down but in the end each car would be ~38,000$ CAD after taxes, delivery and factoring in the interest over the 84 months.

I won't sell the FiST on the used car market as I would feel scummy pawning my rust problem off on another person for a marked up price whereas a dealership can repair it cheaply if I trade in and the trade in value is way below used market value.

I would personally prefer a Velo N over the FiST simply due to the higher power and LSD since I don't live near any twisty roads or tracks so straight line speed is a bigger part of the equation but then I'm putting myself back into a car loan, albeit one I can *just* afford while being financially responsible without affecting my savings/emergency money and other expenses.

What are your thoughts on the best course of action here?

 

[RubenZZZ]

Do all cars rust in your area? I’d trade it in for another car and keep my loss at a minimum.


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[Ford ST]

Personal opinion you should keep driving it until you pay it off I wouldn't fix it nor would I get rid of it. If they offered to grind off the rust and paint for free I would take that and work on paying the car off.
I wouldn't pay $5,000 to fix rust.


Please think about your financial future. Financing a car for 7 years is not smart financially.



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[Esoterikk]

Do all cars rust in your area? I’d trade it in for another car and keep my loss at a minimum.


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All winter driven cars can develop rust but I used my ST as a summer car.

 

[Esoterikk]

Personal opinion you should keep driving it until you pay it off I wouldn't fix it nor would I get rid of it. If they offered to grind off the rust and paint for free I would take that and work on paying the car off.
I wouldn't pay $5,000 to fix rust.


Please think about your financial future. Financing a car for 7 years is not smart financially.



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The seven year financing is a cushion. I would likely pay it off sooner but at 1.9% financing having low monthly payments gets me a safety net in case of financial emergencies allowing to continue to make payments. If I got a lower term I could afford it however if something happened and I had a financial emergency it would be tough to make payments and deal with that at the same time.

There's the option to continue driving it until it's payed off but then what, now I'm stuck with a car that has rusted worse than it already is and will be nearly impossible to get any money for due to cancer rust on two doors and the entire hood.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Please think about your financial future. Financing a car for 7 years is not smart financially.

IF you can somehow get a 0% interest loan (from a manufacturer looking to 'move product', obviously) it is not too bad, as a car (even the 'rare'/desirable ones nowadays) is a totally depreciating 'asset', anyway you look at it.

 

[Ford ST]

The seven year financing is a cushion. I would likely pay it off sooner but at 1.9% financing having low monthly payments gets me a safety net in case of financial emergencies allowing to continue to make payments. If I got a lower term I could afford it however if something happened and I had a financial emergency it would be tough to make payments and deal with that at the same time.

There's the option to continue driving it until it's payed off but then what, now I'm stuck with a car that has rusted worse than it already is and will be nearly impossible to get any money for due to cancer rust on two doors and the entire hood.

You asked what would you do. Well that's what I would do. I drive my cars into the ground. I have never sold nor traded in a car. I highly doubt the dealership will fix that car once you trade it in. They will probably sell it at a auction well that's what they would do in America.

It's your life you have to do what works for you.

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[Esoterikk]

IF you can somehow get a 0% interest loan (from a manufacturer looking to 'move product', obviously) it is not too bad, as a car (even the 'rare'/desirable ones nowadays) is a totally depreciating 'asset', anyway you look at it.

The best loan I can get is 1.9%. prime lending rate in Canada is 2.5% right now.

 

[DangerMouse]

Sounds like you are ready to move on to something else. Will the replacement car be a summer only car as well? If so you have so many more options than a gti or veloster n. I would get something rear wheel drive. If it will be your only car, i would go veloster n over the gti, if those are my only options. What about a used? I’ve seen some very low mileage veloster n for cheap, golf r maybe? If you are set on sticking with a hatch.

 

[Esoterikk]

It will be a summer car only. The main reason i chose a Veloster N is because it's similar to the ST. A rowdy hot hatch but with significantly more power and an LSD.

Used car prices are insane right now, the only used VNs I could find were only 5000$ less than MSRP but with 15k+ miles. Golf Rs are going for Veloster N prices but with 30k miles

As far as something RWD my budget is no more than 38,000$ CAD and there's nothing particularly fast and RWD in that range. Plus the Veloster pretty much checks all the my boxes and the interest rate is extremely low.

My only concern is it's a new platform so reliability isn't fully flushed out.

 

[Ford ST]

If you hold off on the Veloster N it will probably get an engine upgrade soon.
Hyundai, Kia and Genesis are moving to a 2.5 turbo.
Who knows maybe they will stick with the 2.0 but I believe that would be nuts, because it would be the only vehicle in their lineup that didn't move to the 2.5 turbo.

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[Esoterikk]

If you hold off on the Veloster N it will probably get an engine upgrade soon.
Hyundai, Kia and Genesis are moving to a 2.5 turbo.
Who knows maybe they will stick with the 2.0 but I believe that would be nuts, because it would be the only vehicle in their lineup that didn't move to the 2.5 turbo.

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Well I know so far the 2021 model will use the same 2.0 and I'm likely going to try and either fix the FiST or trade it in before 2022. Hopefully there's not a major Mid model overhaul.

 

[EnthusiaST]

I would NOT fix it, keep driving it for now and wait until you can afford a VN/trade it in for a VN in a little bit. That car is the tits.


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[Esoterikk]

I think I've decided to fix it, spray Krown, drive it for a few more years until its fully payed off and then look for a used car around that time with all the new models in coming in 2021/2022 it might be worth waiting.

Keep in mind the repair is 4500$ CAD so it's a little different than USD

 

[AlexMetah]

Esoterikk, I totally get your dilemma, and it's a tough call. On the other hand, trading in for a Veloster N or GTI sounds appealing too, given your driving preferences. Just be mindful of the new car loan and the long-term financial impact. If you can manage the payments responsibly without affecting your savings and other expenses, it might be worth considering.