Advice Needed: Keep the ED or Trade Up? - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

XRated · 05-08-2004, 09:27

Hello fellow ff.com addicts!

I am after some advice... Please read on and feel free to comment.

I'll firstly summarise, I don't know whether to keep my ED or sell and trade up to an AU II/III by getting a loan.

Okay, here is the rundown. My car at the moment is approaching 190,000 kms. There are several areas that need attention, namely small things such as power steering shudder, noisy lifters and squeaky slotted rotors. I realise these problems probably won't be that expensive to remedy, but being a Uni student I have a lot of other areas to cover too. As you can tell, they're not major dramas, but they do need attention.

Now I am quite worried that once they get fixed, other general problems will probably arise due to the age of the car.

I can get a loan of approx. $15k that doesn't need to be paid off until after I finish Uni. So by then I will hopefully have a decent income, but then I have interest to look forward to paying off as well. I was thinking of a stock AU II Falcon with low kms - preferably manual, and maybe on gas. With the leftover money I have from selling the ED, I could probably cover insurance, lowering and possibly wheels to tide me over a few months.

But I don't want to leave the E-Series club at the same time!! I wouldn't bother with anything older than an AU II either =( Convince me E-Series Club members, because I do love my car, but I am trying to think with my brain here. I guess I just want my car running like it did when I bought it at 154k kms. Maybe if I knew how to replace a stupid p/s belt!

I'd love to hear some sensible advice and opinions from all ages.

So, what do I DO? =(

THEONE · 05-08-2004, 10:25

id keep the ED no point in getting in 15k debt when u could borrow $1000 and fix the ed up

EBXR · 05-08-2004, 13:38

I doubt that by buying the AU you would "save" money - as little things will need repairs on that as well. Keep the ED. 190k is pretty good, and it would still have a lot of life left in it. The ED would not depreciate as much as the AU from here on.

Keep the ED - better the devil you know!

YOOT · 05-08-2004, 15:26

Mate I did the same thing through last year to this year. I had a 18 year old Subaru from Grade 12 till second year of uni. I wanted the car to last me through uni because it cost me nothing, and was reliable. However, repairs got the better of me, it started costing lots of money, and I was also sick of its gutless performance.

I was working two jobs while I studied and was earning around $400 a week after tax, so I decided to by the ED Fairmont that I used to own. I borrowed $6000 and saved up the other $3000 and purchased the car. The dept was small and I have just recently payed it off.

I finished my final year of study last year and have been working full time for about 8 months. I have chosen to sell the ED and purchase a BA XR6 Turbo ute because my income allows me to.

The point of this post was to do want you wanted to do. If you want to get a newer car and you can afford it, then do so. You only live once, and there is plenty of time to pay these things off. $15K isn't much, you coul dpay that back in 3 years no worries.

Ofcourse it would be cheaper to repair your ED, but if part of your motivation is because you've had enough of it, then by all means sell it and move on. Just don't do anything you don't want to do.

Supa R00 · 05-08-2004, 18:03

Oh no!!! u cant sell it!!! your ED looks unreal, uve done so much to it!! repair whatever needs fixing and save your money instead of buying an expensive newer car.

Quote:

I can get a loan of approx. $15k that doesn't need to be paid off until after I finish Uni. So by then I will hopefully have a decent income, but then I have interest to look forward to paying off as well.

What if you dont have the income coming in that u were hoping for and suddenly the intrest is huge and u have to sell the car and your back to square one wishing u still had the ED!!! think about it carefully but i say stick with the ED

WINGED · 05-08-2004, 18:24

Keep the ED. No point getting yourself into that kind of debt just yet. I own an AU and beleive me they are not trouble free and one on gas would not give me much confidence.

Stick with your ED untill you can afford to upgrade, the novelty of an AU will wear of prity quickly anyway.

blue fairy · 05-09-2004, 02:34

I was in the exact same situation September last year.
My ED was in need of some repairs, and was at the age were everything starts to die.. :(
I after much procrastinating, decided to upgrade to a AU II Futura.

I missed Ed (his name) like hell. No car is ever as good as your first, or an Ed.. But it was time to move on.

BLACK XR6-VCT · 05-09-2004, 02:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by WINGED

Keep the ED. No point getting yourself into that kind of debt just yet. I own an AU and beleive me they are not trouble free and one on gas would not give me much confidence.

Stick with your ED untill you can afford to upgrade, the novelty of an AU will wear of prity quickly anyway.

Winged: I have an AU1 on gas, and it has never missed a beat. Don't forget
that the Falcon 4L engine is specifically desined to also run well on gas (unlike the 3.8L Buick/Commodore engine) That's why there's so many Falcon
taxis. The newer LPG systems are also very good quality.

XRated: I came out of an XF, into an AUXR6, and all I can say is the
difference is amazing. No matter how much you love your car sometimes you
just have to let her go. My XF had 293,000kms on it, and even though I
loved it, I wanted something comfortable and reliable. Remember once it clicks over into the next 100,000kms it will be harder to sell.

As far as getting yourself into debt though, just make sure you think through
all the worst case senarios. Maybe the ED can last another 2 years with a
few bucks spent on repairs, by then you can try to save up a few more grand
and don't so much debt. You should get a part time job whilst at uni.

Good luck.

psycho chicken · 05-09-2004, 02:59

I'd keep the ED if I were you mate. $500 should easily fix those problems, give me a yell and I'll help you out with them to keep costs down.

GTP 320 · 05-09-2004, 04:38

The cheaper option would be to fixed the minor problems on the ED and not go into debt.
Cheers John