NatesMamma
New member
DH and I both drive slightly aging vehicles that lack many safety features. Both cars are well maintained, have 70K or fewer miles, and should last for a good long time yet with minimal maintenance/repair costs.
I have an '04 CR-V. It got great crash test ratings its MY. It has side air bags for the driver and front passenger but nothing for the back seat passengers and no curtain airbags for anyone. It also lacks other features, such as a back-up camera and has some pretty bad blind spots. (I have the blind spots pretty well figured out and can work around them. They give DH fits.) We've owned the car for 4 years, and the original loan is paid off. However, we consolidated the CRV loan and my student loans and rolled them into a very low interest (2%) loan, so we are, technically, still paying it off.
DH has an '06 Corolla. It got good safety ratings from NHTSA, mostly 5 stars and 4 stars for side impact crashes. IIHS flagged it for a high likelihood of skull fracture and/or brain injuries for the driver in a side impact. It does not have any optional air bags, just the standard ones in front for the driver and passenger. We've had this car for only 3 years, still owe $5K on the loan, and will pay it off in June with the bonus DH is guaranteed to get at work. This is the first car we would replace, possibly just with a newer Corolla.
It's not that we can't afford new vehicles. Over a couple of years, we could replace both cars without much trouble. My question is, at what point would you consider upgrading to newer and safer vehicles, despite that what we already have suits our needs perfectly well?
I have an '04 CR-V. It got great crash test ratings its MY. It has side air bags for the driver and front passenger but nothing for the back seat passengers and no curtain airbags for anyone. It also lacks other features, such as a back-up camera and has some pretty bad blind spots. (I have the blind spots pretty well figured out and can work around them. They give DH fits.) We've owned the car for 4 years, and the original loan is paid off. However, we consolidated the CRV loan and my student loans and rolled them into a very low interest (2%) loan, so we are, technically, still paying it off.
DH has an '06 Corolla. It got good safety ratings from NHTSA, mostly 5 stars and 4 stars for side impact crashes. IIHS flagged it for a high likelihood of skull fracture and/or brain injuries for the driver in a side impact. It does not have any optional air bags, just the standard ones in front for the driver and passenger. We've had this car for only 3 years, still owe $5K on the loan, and will pay it off in June with the bonus DH is guaranteed to get at work. This is the first car we would replace, possibly just with a newer Corolla.
It's not that we can't afford new vehicles. Over a couple of years, we could replace both cars without much trouble. My question is, at what point would you consider upgrading to newer and safer vehicles, despite that what we already have suits our needs perfectly well?