Topic: Hmm looked at trading in the Civic and Yaris for a new Yaris or Matrix...

[Zoo]

My wife and I are looking at all options as I have a company vehicle coming (Chevy HHR) and two people do not need 4 vehicles (2001 Civic, 2007 Yaris hatch, 1969 Chevelle, and now a 2008 HHR).

Went to a Toyota dealership and after the trade ins were factored in we would over roughly $5400 towards a new Yaris LE hatch which has a couple of upgrades over our hatch, and over $7000 owed if we went with an essentially base Matrix.

I thought with today's economy that we might get a better offer than this. We might put up a few thousand to get a newer vehicle and do our bit to put some $ back into the economy.

With this sort of offer though I am better off selling the Civic for less than I originally meant to and putting our savings by not doing this "deal" into getting some hardwood installed in our place.

Am I out of line?

[dorin]

I'm not sure what to make of the "out of line" comment.  IMO it would be out of line to go for such a bad deal.  A new Yaris is certainly not worth the Civic + the current Yaris + $5400 and a new base Matrix is also not worth the Civic + the current Yaris + $7000.  That's just insane!

Why not sell the Civic and just keep the money?  Or else go for the hardwood in the house.

[Schmengie]

Why would you trade in a 2-year-old Yaris for an almost identical new one with 'a couple of upgrades'?  Call me crazy, but that makes no sense to me in the first place. With the numbers you quoted, well, let's just say that's the last thing I'd do. Just sell the Civic - good used ones are in demand right now.

[Cord]

Care to tell us the mileage, trim level, and equipment on these trades? How anyone can make any kind of judgment without knowing this stuff is beyond me.

[dorin]

Care to tell us the mileage, trim level, and equipment on these trades? How anyone can make any kind of judgment without knowing this stuff is beyond me.

Because in this case the mileage and equipment are such small considerations as to be irrelevant to the decision.  Zoo has two reliable cars in good condition, one is 8 years old and the other one is only 2 years old, and trading both of them and paying an extra $5400 just to get a newer version of the 2 year old car is bad value.  Period or even exclamation mark, end of discussion.

Now, were it some marginal value then wondering about mileage and equipment might make sense. But that's not the case here at all.

[tpl]

Me, I'd negotiate for a car allowance instead of the HHR and keep my own cars.

The bad things about company cars are:
The company owns it and if you quit/get fired its gone ( unless you have a management type deal)
You get to drive something bought by an accountant that you didn't get to choose yourself.

[Cord]

Zoo has two reliable cars in good condition, one is 8 years old and the other one is only 2 years old, and trading both of them and paying an extra $5400 just to get a newer version of the 2 year old car is bad value.  Period or even exclamation mark, end of discussion.

The OP stated that he was already willing to pay a "few" (3?) thousand but was confronted with $5400. Based on his expectations he is questioning the difference ($2400?). Wondering about that relatively small sum of money is hardly the out of this world crazy thinking you make it out to be. Rather than taking your word for it, I'd prefer to hear from the OP about the condition of his cars so I can try to answer his question.

[articsteve]

What would I do 

Well I certainly would not trade a Yaris in on a Yaris.

Hard to give advise when you don't know the trade numbers and the model, and mileage of the Yaris.

Is a new Matrix a tad safer drive than a basic 07 Yaris?  I would think that would be the only rational for trading up into a new Matrix and the fact that you will get 0% financing over 3 years.

[Cortina]

Aready want rid of the Yaris for another Yaris. Didn't you just buy the Yaris less than 7 months ago.

Sounds like me when I was a teen i was addicted to buying a new car every couple months. But not for the same car LOL.   

[mmret]

This is just

2007 Yaris traded for a 2009 Yaris? I wouldn't give them $5400 OR the Civic for that let alone both. Its the same car, a few extra do-dads won't make a difference.

And from your own perspective, whether the car was 0 km on it or 40k on it (all of which you drove) shouldn't matter that much. Its still "newish" and I wouldn't voluntarily take the hit on it.

Just imho, but:
1. Sell the Civic for cash.
2. Negotiate the HHR into a car allowance, then lease whatever you want.
3. Keep the 2007 Yaris.
4. Do hardwood if you want with the Civic monies.

[dorin]

Me, I'd negotiate for a car allowance instead of the HHR and keep my own cars.

The bad things about company cars are:
The company owns it and if you quit/get fired its gone ( unless you have a management type deal)
You get to drive something bought by an accountant that you didn't get to choose yourself.

  Getting a car allowance and using the Civic as the work car would likely make the most financial sense.

[airbalancer]

Car allowance can be pain if you do not keep the car allowance just for the car
I would use whatever car the company gave me
Put a for sale sign on the Civic , if it sells it sells if not you have another car kicking around

[Zoo]

Wow, great discussion!

Okay to clarify some points:

1. I had no say in the matter. I have been on a car allowance but my company is doing some restructuring due to the tough economic climate. One of the outside sales guys has become an inside sales guy with multiple roles. Other have had their roles changed as well. This guy was driving the decaled out HHR and with him inside now the company wants this vehicle out on the road getting exposure (advertising). I am all over the place with my job so they wanted me to drive the HHR. I would have preferred to stay on the car allowance but this was pretty much a fait accompli for me.

2. We have had no response to our overtures to sell the Civic. Adds posted around town, word of mouth, and on-line ads like here on Canadian Driver. So my wife was curious if we could just trade in both vehicles for something newer. My plan was to sell the Civic and let her keep the Yaris. She thought it might be easier to simply trade both vehicles and snag a new one.

3. The cars in question are:

Toyota Yaris Hatch LE 5 Door with 38,400 kms, 2007

About the only thing it is missing is cruise and alloys. It even has a 6 disc CD player which is pretty cool!



The Honda Civic can be seen in the Classified section here. It only has 92500 kms and it is a DX-G, so auto, air, CD player, 4 Speed auto but do it yourself windows and no keyless entry.

Don't worry! I don't drive around with my Nephew. He wanted to sit in the car so I let him.

We bought the Civic new in 2001 and it was my wife's car until 7-8 months ago when I got my present job and we needed another vehicle so we bought the Yaris. We owe about $6800 still on the 2007 Yaris (quickly paying it down as you can tell).

If it had of worked out it would have been a nice option to not have the headache of selling a car or both cars.

Oh...

I got the HHR today. 2.2L engine equiped LS model with the 4 speed auto. Not badly put together and very efficient use of space. I still prefer a PT cruiser and rented one for a few weeks last year but the HHR is much more practical with oodles of space.

[Zoo]

I'm not sure what to make of the "out of line" comment.  IMO it would be out of line to go for such a bad deal.  A new Yaris is certainly not worth the Civic + the current Yaris + $5400 and a new base Matrix is also not worth the Civic + the current Yaris + $7000.  That's just insane!

Why not sell the Civic and just keep the money?  Or else go for the hardwood in the house.

My "out of line" comment was if I was out of line to think this was a bad deal and that I was expecting more. I thought this option might have become essentially a wash.

they basically gave me the following trade in values:
Civic $5000
Yaris $9500

Jeesh! We still owe $6800 on the Yaris, can you imagine adding another $5400 on top of that? Crazy

What's wild though is that I have seen people enter into these sort of arrangements on that King Of Cars show! Small wonder so many down in the U.S.A. have such whacked out debt loads.

If it were a wash we might have just gone for it to avoid the hassles of selling a vehicle or two. We now have 4 vehicles for 2 people which is getting a bit nuts. At least one of the Civic or Yaris needs to be sold and the Chevelle needs to get driven as well!

[johngenx]

You're having trouble selling a Civic with <100K km's?  Wow, things must be in the dumper where you are.  Those are usually gone in a day cars...

[Zoo]

I know weird eh?

I was shocked they only wanted to offer me $5000 for it. It is not a new vehicle but it is no basket case either. I have all the maintenance records from new and I was using synthetic the past two years.

The thing is amazing on gas, reliable, and with roll up windows you will never have to worry about fixing power windows!

It has been a great little car for us and I am shocked that no one has even come to look at it. Perfect car for a young person off to University or starting out. Cheap wheels with 200000kms left on it easily if you maintain it.

[Cord]

Blackbook on your Civic is $4650. On the Yaris it is $13300 assuming it has auto and air ($11450 if it doesn't).

Based on this and the fact that you're asking $6450 an offer of $5000 doesn't sound too shocking to me.

[dr_spock]

You could give the Civic to your nephew. 

[rrocket]

You can have a cruise control installed and find a great set of alloys for next to nil compared to what they want you to shell out (I know someone in TO selling a set of 15" Yaris RS wheels).  Heck..you could even buy these amazing Yaris Clazzio leather seat covers for a mere $399.  I saw some in person and could not believe they were seat covers.  These are better than some high end seat covers I've seen.

[initial_D]

Even just getting $5000 for the Civic is better than trading the two cars in for a new Yaris.