WHY do I want one so bad?

[tomato]

Originally Posted by YarisOwnersDad

At the end of the six years, I will have a seven year old Cobalt with 126,000 miles on it, if I don't trade, or I will have a six year old Yaris with 108,000 miles on it, it I do trade. Not sure how much difference there would be in the value of those cars.

We haven't brought insurance into this equation yet, either. I need to find out how much it will go up, but I doubt it will be very much.

Tom

I doubt if insurance will go up that much, maybe not at all, but you'll only know that after you call them up.

So now, according to your calculations, you're looking at adding an approx. $5K to drive the Toyota?

Hmmm... indeed.

You forgot something, though. Estimated maintenance and repair costs?

As far as depreciation goes, we don't know what will happen, of course, but we all bought the Yaris thinking (hoping) it would hold its value better than other cars.

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by tomato

I doubt if insurance will go up that much, maybe not at all, but you'll only know that after you call them up.

So now, according to your calculations, you're looking at adding an approx. $5K to drive the Toyota?

Hmmm... indeed.

You forgot something, though. Estimated maintenance and repair costs?

As far as depreciation goes, we don't know what will happen, of course, but we all bought the Yaris thinking (hoping) it would hold its value better than other cars.

Mater, I checked with my insurance company and posted that the cost will only be $13.82 per six month premium higher. I made that post within just a few minutes of the one you saw, so I guess you missed that second one.

Tom

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by ryank

I would suggest to see if your son will switch you cars for a week, and make sure you absolutely love it before you decide to spend the $7K more.

i'd second that. you havent spent enough time in one to have much more than infatuation w/ the yaris. IMO, the cobalt is a boring looking sedan, but the yaris sedan is a boring looking sedan also. the cobalt is quieter on acceleration and at cruise. the cobalt has quite a bit better torque/acceleration. the interior of the yaris is a little different, but to be honest it is pretty cheap looking. the one real advantage is the gas mileage of the yaris, but as you noted you will never come very close to recovering the extra costs of this transaction. remeber, after 53 months, you could drop your full coverage insurance on the cobalt, a reasonable proposition since a 5+ yr old cobalt with 100k+ miles would not be worth much even if totalled.

a week in the yaris would insure that these differences wouldnt wear on you after a while, especially important if you are going to take on an extra 1 1/2 yrs of payments (and higher payments at that).

[YarisOwnersDad]

Yeah, Roxy, you and the others who offer that same advice make sense. I think I am starting to "see the light."

I simply LOVE to trade cars, and I am suffering today because of my past "sins." I will be able to get over this, if I just ride it out.

I have been asking myself, and anyone else who would listen, WHY would I want to go from a compact to a subcompact, giving up front seat room and trunk room? Why would I want to give up almost 150 HP for just over 100 HP and lose all that acceleration? Why would I want to give up a pretty fair sound system for one of lower quality? The extra gas mileage would be great, but that in itself does not begin to justify the trade. When the "new" wears off in a few months, am I going to regret having made this trade?

I get like this every so often, and I have too often gone ahead and traded. Car salesmen have been injured as they all try to be the first one to get through the door when I pull up on the lot. Many car salesmen were able to send their kids to college because of me. Many have named their children after me. The dealers have cubicles reserved for me. OK, that might be a SLIGHT exaggeration.

I said somewhere up this thread that I have never made a trade that I regretted, and that is true of each deal individually. Collectively, however, there have been way too many trades, and I regret having made so many.

Thanks for letting me use you guys for a sounding board. I STILL don't know which way this will end up. I go back and forth, as you guys can see from this thread.

At the bare minimum, I should wait a while, until I am SURE about this.

Tom

[tomato]

"I simply LOVE to trade cars, and I am suffering today because of my past "sins." I will be able to get over this, if I just ride it out..."


Sounds like you know your way around a dealership, then !

Well, even if you don't buy the Yaris... Maybe you could start a new thread (or a blog on this forum) designed to give those of us who are pretty green at this, some basic advice? What's MSRP? Invoice? How do you get the dealer to meet you half way? How to find out the real value of a car? When does it make sense to trade in? Stuff like that.

These may be real basic questions to you and some of the forum members, but the Yaris is the first new car purchase of many, so it might be very useful info, plus you can continue to talk about what you love ... without having to spend any money on a new car you don't really need Just a thought!

[tomato]

PS. "Why would I want to give up almost 150 HP for just over 100 HP and lose all that acceleration?"

That's a damn good question. I miss the little extra power my last car had almost erery time I drive the Yaris! (I had an old Honda CRX, may she rest in peace )

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by tomato

"I simply LOVE to trade cars, and I am suffering today because of my past "sins." I will be able to get over this, if I just ride it out..."


Sounds like you know your way around a dealership, then !

Well, even if you don't buy the Yaris... Maybe you could start a new thread (or a blog on this forum) designed to give those of us who are pretty green at this, some basic advice? What's MSRP? Invoice? How do you get the dealer to meet you half way? How to find out the real value of a car? When does it make sense to trade in? Stuff like that.

These may be real basic questions to you and some of the forum members, but the Yaris is the first new car purchase of many, so it might be very useful info, plus you can continue to talk about what you love ... without having to spend any money on a new car you don't really need Just a thought!

Mater:

I don't claim to be an "expert" at making car deals, but I HAVE been around the block a few times. I have learned how to get cars at pretty darn near the lowest possible price, but I have traded way too often. Have you ever heard the expression, "There's no such thing as a good deal on something that you don't need?"

I would be glad to share the benefit of my experience with anyone who has questions about trading cars.

Tomster

[mr9865]

Just thought I would add that I went to a local dealer and was quoted there "best price" of 12295 for a 07 yaris sedan with 30,000 miles, auto, power package, they seem to hold there value quite well. They offered $3000 for my focus as trade, figure I could get $1000 more off of craigslist, so I am going that route.

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by mr9865

Just thought I would add that I went to a local dealer and was quoted there "best price" of 12295 for a 07 yaris sedan with 30,000 miles, auto, power package, they seem to hold there value quite well. They offered $3000 for my focus as trade, figure I could get $1000 more off of craigslist, so I am going that route.

Now that is pretty impressive, if it is representative. What does kbb.com or Edmunds.com say about the retail price for such a vehicle?

Tom

[mr9865]

for my area kbb.com says retail $13020, private party $11,020 in excellent conditon (it was perfect too, even smelled new) trade in is $9,075.

[Yaris Hilton]

Sounds like you know what to do.

On the color question, the three Yaris sedans in my family are Barcelona Red metallic, Flint/Mica Gray metallic, and black. They all look great.

[YarisOwnersDad]

for my area kbb.com says retail $13020, private party $11,020 in excellent conditon (it was perfect too, even smelled new) trade in is $9,075.


Well, that is definitely some nice value retention.

[mr9865]

I think I want one as bad as you do too. that test drive hooked me

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by YarisOwnersDad

for my area kbb.com says retail $13020, private party $11,020 in excellent conditon (it was perfect too, even smelled new) trade in is $9,075.


Well, that is definitely some nice value retention.

if you want to know about yaris resale, get this: i bought the yaris new in june 2007 for $12800 which was pretty much retail (3 dr hatch, 5 speed, conv package). 1 year and 3 months later (sept '08) and 21k miles and i got $11,100 trade in value. this was not in lieu of fiddling with the corolla price, which i got for $300 over invoice. i may have sold it for more privately, but not by much. for me it was worth avoiding the hassle.

that is a 13% loss in 15 months and 20,000 miles. i was impressed.

so, yes, i had the itch for a different car after barely more than one year. without the awesome reslae value of the yaris, i would not have done it.

[AlexNet0]

if your 72 month payment calc is correct, you are still paying less than me in the end, I bought mine with 25 miles on it in may 07 for $12.9k? for 72mo, no down payment, no previous credit history, no co-signer 14.5% interest. for 289 and some change per month. Its still worth it to me. lol

[YarisOwnersDad]

Originally Posted by AlexNet0

if your 72 month payment calc is correct, you are still paying less than me in the end, I bought mine with 25 miles on it in may 07 for $12.9k? for 72mo, no down payment, no previous credit history, no co-signer 14.5% interest. for 289 and some change per month. Its still worth it to me. lol

Well, congrats on your first new car. It sounds like you are still very enthusiastic about your Yaris, even though you have had it for almost two years now. Sounds like the "honeymoon" is still on.

Thanks for your contribution to this thread.

Tom

[YarisOwnersDad]

You know, Peeps, even though the cold hard economics plainly show that the cost of the extra gas that I am burning with the Cobalt is far less than the cost of trading for the Yaris, I just cannot help but think about how GOOD it would feel to put that gas nozzle back on the gas pump, tighten my gas cap, get back in my car, take note of the miles accumulated on the trip odometer since the last fill-up, divide that number by the number of gallons I just bought, and come up with a figure in the neighborhood of 40 MPG.

Brainless Twit said she got 42 MPG on each of her last two tanks, and her commute is somewhat similar to mine, although she drives further each way. If anything, she woud encounter more traffic than I would. She actually goes through a couple little towns before getting to the town she works in. Now that I think about it, I definitely should be able to get at least as many MPG as she does.

Hmmmmmmmm. Here we go again. The pendulum is swinging back in the direction of buying the Yaris again.

I know you guys must think I am nuts. Trust me, I have never agonized over a car purchase decision to this extent before. I usually just get the urge and go do it.

I think part of this is that even though the Cobalt performs so well and is such a good car, I don't have that special "connection" with it that I like to have with the car or truck that I drive daily. Someone earlier in this thread said something along those lines, and I think they hit the nail on the head.

I'm going to suck up to the wife and take her out for a steak dinner this afternoon over at Owensboro, and I think we might just swing by Don Moore Toyota for my first look at a Flint Mica Yaris. If I trade again, that woman ain't gonna be happy. (Can you blame her?)

Tom

[YarisOwnersDad]

I really appreciate the help from all of you Yaris folks. Your comments are truly helping me make this decision. I know that in a lot of cases, people have their minds made up, and when they solicit advice, they are really only looking for confirmation for the decision that they have already made. I have been guilty of that myself.

Things that have been said in this thread have truly caused me to think. Regardless of which way I go on this, and regardless of which way your advice was pointing me, I thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts on this.

Keep the posts coming. Help me get through this.

Thanks, my friends.

Tomster