To trade in or not to trade in

[wheelman]

I'm considering trading in my 2011 WRX on a newer lower mileage car. Probably a VW golf or jetta with under 70k miles. My subie has 195k on it. We signed up with a group of shop owners and we meet every 3 months. It's about a 6 hour drive one way. The subie has been decent. I recently did the clutch, radiator hoses and thermostat. I noticed it's using some oil about 1qt every 1k miles. Reading on the Internet scares a person half to death with all the issues the ej255 engine supposedly has. I have looked around for an engine replacement when this one quits and they aren't cheap. Pretty much the value of the car in just buying an engine.
All the Subaru pages make it sound like they don't last all that long? What's your take? Trade it and have a car payment or keep it and hope for the best?

 

[joegreen]

I would get rid of it.

 

[dogememe]

Either trade it in while everything still works fine or set aside a few hundred bucks a month toward a car replacement fund and drive the WRX til something expensive goes wrong. Both are perfectly valid strategies.

 

[fisher83]

Sell it privately. With that mileage, a dealer is just going to take it to auction so you won't get nearly as much as you would by selling it yourself.

 

[addyguy]

Repairs are still cheaper than a car loan these days

 

[supton]

Not enough info, IMO. I mean, to me, I'd trade. As I get older, I want to work less on my cars--and my driving just ticked up to 500+ miles a week. Dead reliable is what I'm more interested in, and I have to say, I don't mind the newer tech like I thought I would.

BUT if you are driving like 50 miles a week, don't have vehicle inspections, don't have emissions to meet... a lot of money to avoid an issue that might not pop up for another 5 years (engine issues). You could drive until it dies, saving money in an account for replacement, then buy then. Maybe you'd lose some money in the process, losing out on a valuable trade-in, maybe you'd be forced into buying something on the spot, but you might be 5 years into the future too.

In the meantime, have you done any vehicle shopping? new or used? Prices on either aren't exactly cheap either... the old thinking of, if a repair equals the value of the car, it's time to move on... was never great advice. It really should be, when the repair exceeds the price to replace the car. Usually one is not met with replacing the engine one month, the trans the next, then diffs the following, followed by repairing rustholes... usually it's one and done for a bit. And in today's market, $5k isn't much.

 

[skyactiv]

What happens if you put an engine in it and someone smashes into a week later totaling the car?

 

[buster]

I would get rid of it but not for a VW of any kind.

 

[wheelman]

What happens if you put an engine in it and someone smashes into a week later totaling the car?

Well I'd probably cry and I'd be out quite a few pennies.

 

[dogememe]

What happens if you put an engine in it and someone smashes into a week later totaling the car?

Valid point for sure. But the current engine is not broken, just consuming oil, which is typical for Subarus and isn't a problem til it kills the cat. Best to drive it like that til you get a P0420 then clear the light and trade it in IMO?

 

[atikovi]

If the body and interior is nice, sell it online. Some Subaru modder would swap in a 500 hp built motor. Dealer won't give you much.

 

[supton]

What happens if you put an engine in it and someone smashes into a week later totaling the car?

Valid point. But might as well ask, why exercise today, I might get hit by a bus tomorrow? All of us are gambling with our cars (and everything else), running the odds, hoping for the best. A few actually plan for the worse, and are sitting on enough money to walk away when when losing a hand, and have to pay cash to replace whatever the gamble was on (house, car, old computer).

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I'm considering trading in my 2011 WRX on a newer lower mileage car.

Good resale on these. Say by by, NOW.
Private sale only or you will loose 2 to 3 Gs on a dealer trade,
Do check a Carvana value though for an easy button move to get a baseline

I would absolutely skip the FolksVogan.

That's fryingpan into the fire.

 

[Kira]

That's fryingpan into the fire.

All VWs are garbage? The Taos seems like a good car (shrugging shoulders emoji)

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Seek out a WRX owners board and and advertise it on there.

 

[wheelman]

All VWs are garbage? The Taos seems like a good car (shrugging shoulders emoji)

I've owned a few always had good luck overall. Joy to drive to.

 

[DuckRyder]

All VWs are garbage?

Hes a one man automotive wrecking crew.....

 

[Allaned]

Easy WRX to GTI

 

[Exhaustgases]

What happens if you put an engine in it and someone smashes into a week later totaling the car?

The same thing that happens with any car on the road. It could be right off the show room floor.

 

[DuckRyder]

at ~200,000 i feel it is about time to move any car you depend on for daily transportation on or to the second string...

However, i'd much rather have my used car than someone else's ... I generally buy a new one when something moves to the second string...

Id like a Golf, but they are going to be harder to find than a Jetta, our jetta has been excellent...