2011 Maxima vs. 2010 Civic

[dochielomn]

So something my wife and I are going to have to figure out in the coming months is which car to keep and which car to sell. I have a 2011 fully loaded Maxima with approx. 74k miles on it (when I get home, i'll look at the registration to confirm if it's S or SV and/or what package the car is- Sports, Tech, etc). My wife has a standard 2011 Civic with also approx. 74k miles on it. Both cars are in a great condition (no dents, maybe a scratch here or there, interior is relatively clean and not torn up). The Maxima has about $7400 remaining on the loan while the Civic has been paid off for awhile now. My wife and I will be moving into NYC, most likely Manhattan. If we move into Manhattan, there is no chance we are taking a car with us. If we move into Brooklyn or parts of Queens, we may be able to keep 1 car. However, most likely, the car will choose to keep will remain at my in-laws house out on Long Island where they told us, they would use the car about once a week or so to make sure it gets used. It could also get used on weekends if my wife's siblings are out there and need a car.

So, the way I see it, if we chose to keep the Maxima, then we'd try to sell the Civic and use that money to either pay off the Maxima loan or mostly pay it off and then use our spare money to pay off the loan. Or, if we chose to sell the Maxima, I think I could get more than current $7400 for it and make a little money. However, to really play with the numbers, here's what I think the factors we first need to consider:

Insurance (what's the difference in insurance prices for each car, as well as what insurance company to use)
Gasoline (the Maxima uses premium while the Civic uses regular)
Maintenance (both cars have around the same mileage and I think Nissan and Honda are pretty reliable cars)
Gas Mileage (the Civic will win here but the Maxima has a larger gas tank so on a per tank basis, I wouldn't be surprised to see if they got the same amount of miles per tank)
Future Resale (guessing the Maxima might have better resale just because it's more of a luxury car over the Civic)
Features (Maxima wins here because it's fully loaded while the Civic is just the base option in terms of features, however, does anyone really need a built in Nav system when we all have smart phones these days?)
Where we move to (if we move to a place where it makes sense to have a car, then the Civic wins here because it's smaller and can fit into smaller spaces and maybe we don't worry as much if it gets dinged up or scratched, plus, maybe because it's not fully loaded it makes it less likely for a random stranger to want to "take it for a joy ride" or not return it).

The other factor (which could make this all null) is determining who is really the owner of the Civic. My wife's parents were the ones to buy the car for my wife when she moved back home to go to Medical School. Her parents were the ones to make the payments on the loan but I believe the car's title is under my wife's name. And while my wife was in med school, they were the ones to pay for all of the maintenance. Once my wife got into a residency program, I'm not entirely sure if she actually started to pick up the bills for basic maintenance (tough to tell because her parents were still helping her out as needed). However, I can say once we got married (last July), any maintenance on the car, we've paid for. So I guess the question is, who "owns" the car, my wife or her parents. And even if the answer is "my wife", from an ethical standpoint, if we sold the Civic, do we owe some or all of the money from that transaction to her parents since they were the ones to pay for it? Then again, if the car was a gift, then does that play into it. Ultimately, before we make a decision one way or the other, I'm going to have a conversation with her parents and hope that they are being completely honest with me if they'll feel a little angry if my wife and I sell the car and use the money to pay off the Maxima loan (which is a car that they clearly had nothing to do with from a financial standpoint).

So I guess the point of this thread is to just open a conversation up to some car enthusiasts and get your input into which car is the better option to keep out of the 2 and if there are any other factors that I'm not thinking of that I do need to take into consideration. Clearly, insurance cost is going to be a big part of the decision, but at this time, I don't have any info to add there. Once I do, i'll add that to this thread if there is an interest.

So, thoughts?

[kevm14]

I'd keep the Maxima and sell the Civic because if you are down to one car for trips out of state or whatever, it would be nice to keep the nice car. The Civic would be a great in-city car but you aren't going to use it like that.

I hear you on the issue of who gets the money or whatever. I think you just have a quick discussion with your in laws and say we are planning on selling the Civic and keeping the Maxima. Ask them if that is ok. See what they say.

In conclusion, I wouldn't worry at all about which one may be financially cheaper to keep/own or even better to sell later. If I was down to a single car, I'd want it to be a nice car. More space, too.

Besides, if you sell the Maxima, then technically you have no cars, except one that is sort of on loan from her parents or something. I'd want my own car.

[dochielomn]

Slight update, the Maxima is an SV trim. Haven't found out quite yet if it's the sports package, technology package, or something combination of other packages.

[dochielomn]

So, after thinking this over, I've come to the conclusion to sell the Maxima. I just paid off the car loan recently and waiting to receive the title to the car. What I'm now curious about is, anyone with a suggestion on how to go about selling the car? Craigslist? A different website? Obviously, I know I should be able to get more money for the car from a private seller as oppose to a dealership. Do I dare use the LetGo app to try to sell the car? Thoughts/opinions/suggestions?

[kevm14]

So the Civic ownership thing was just too sticky to deal with?

[dochielomn]

It just came down to money. If the goal was to try to save some money here and there, then the Civic ownership is the cheaper option. In addition, knowing that I should be able to turn a profit on selling the Maxima (combined with not having to have a discussion about who technically owns the Civic and should that car just be given to a family member instead of selling it), it just made it the logical choice.

So now, since I've never sold a car before, just soliciting opinions on how to go about selling it.

[kevm14]

Well...

Carmax is the easiest and they will also give you the lowest offer.

Private will net the highest profit but will also require the most time/effort.

As far as private, CL is fine. You could try Autotrader as your car may be new enough and low enough mileage for it to be competitive there, and priced better than the dealer listings next to it.

[Adam]

I've bought and sold cars on Craigslist and bought cars on eBay.

Craigslist offers no protection for anything but is free. eBay focuses on protecting the buyer, but they provide options for electronically securing a deposit and the whole payment if you want in exchange for a fee.

If you do decide to sell private party, put some officer into the ad and presenting a clean car. Both of those are required if you want to get anything close to top dollar for the car. Look at various current ads for that car to get an idea of what they sell for in the real world (compared to whatever "book value" is).

And of course, if you decide you don't want to deal with any of that I will make my obligatory $100 offer for the car.

[dochielomn]

"And of course, if you decide you don't want to deal with any of that I will make my obligatory $100 offer for the car."

Haha, thanks Adam, I'll think about that. Of course, if you want to add a few more 0's at the end of that offer (before a decimal point that is), then we might strike a deal.

Let me ask this to the group, when you've sold a car or gone to buy it off of craigslist, do you take the car for a test drive? Does the owner go with you? Do you have to show any sort of proof that you have insurance before taking the car for a ride? Do you ask to check out the car (like a mechanic would)?

I know for me, I'd ask for a certified check, not taking a personal check. Of course, i'd accept cash but I don't expect most people to walk around with thousands of dollars of cash on them. I want to say when I was doing a price check on Edmunds, it had an option to list my car there and allow people (or dealers) to send me an email if interested, so I'm tempted to check that out and see what happens.

[bill25]

do you take the car for a test drive? Does the owner go with you? Do you have to show any sort of proof that you have insurance before taking the car for a ride? Do you ask to check out the car (like a mechanic would)?

Definitly test drive, and yes, the owner goes along. If you are in the car and you have insurance, I wouldn't worry much past that...

I would think if they wanted to bring it to a mechanic, they would bring it up before meeting, but who knows what goes through people's thought processes...

I know for me, I'd ask for a certified check, not taking a personal check. Of course, i'd accept cash but I don't expect most people to walk around with thousands of dollars of cash on them. I want to say when I was doing a price check on Edmunds, it had an option to list my car there and allow people (or dealers) to send me an email if interested, so I'm tempted to check that out and see what happens.

That is what I thought until I was informed by a legit Craigslist seller that there are scams with certified bank checks going around. I definitly wouldn't take a personal check. I would say, if they insist on cash, meet at you bank, so you can deposit it right there. If they are paying with a certified check meet at their bank and insist to be there for the process. I don't know what the details of the scam are though. Best case is you both have the same bank...