Wrecked my car! Need advice on another one.

[Hatton]

Last Sunday I was in a 3 car wreck on the interstate here. People were slowing down to look at a motorcycle wreck in the opposite lane.  A pickup truck hit from behind and forced me into the car in front of me.  I have some aches and pains but was not really hurt.  The body shop guy seems to think that my insurance may declare the car a total loss. Repair estimate $9600 so far on a 2012 Ford Edge worth about $12k.  I am waiting on the adjuster to either start repairs or give me a check.  I am looking around online for similar cars.  Anyone have an opinion on a Ford Escape?  I am looking at a one owner 2017 with 15k miles for 24000. Sticker one year ago $31000.  My husband thinks we should just get a new one.

[The White Coat Investor]

As I recall, money isn't an issue for you in this decision, but I'd give up the first 15K miles for $7K if the car was otherwise exactly what I wanted. My sister had an Escape she liked. Not big enough for me.

[Hatton]

I wrecked an edge so a little smaller.  I am test driving tomorrow.  Thanks

[Donnie]

This type of thing is always annoying because it can be really hard to replace the car you had (assuming you took care of it) with what insurance will give you for it.

The Escape depreciates about $5k in year 1 and $1.25k per year thereafter, so a 1 year old car sounds like a pretty good choice.

[StarTrekDoc]

Glad you came away with just lumps and bumps from a pickup coming on.

Ford only?  Escape is a great vehicle;  Cmax is an option if you want a plugin hybrid

[Hatton]

My husbands office is across the street from a Ford dealer so it is easy to service.  I really do not care about the brand.

[q-school]

Glad you are okay

[CM]

hatton1 wrote:

My husband thinks we should just get a new one.

Click to expand...

I agree with your husband.

A new car is just a nicer experience and the extra expense is trivial for you. The extra enjoyment might be trivial as well, but because you've owned exotic sports cars in the past I suspect you're enough of a car gal to make a new purchase worthwhile.

[StarTrekDoc]

Perhaps time for this:   https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/selective-extravagance-the-perfect-antidote-for-frugality/

I would vote for a new car too or CPO off the Ford lot.  I'm partial to environmental friendly, hence the Cmax 

[Hatton]

Thanks for the advice. I absolutely hate buying cars. I kept my last one 12 years.

[jfoxcpacfp]

So glad you're not hurt! I was in the middle of a car sandwich a couple of years ago and my car was totaled. The worst part of the whole experience was shopping for a new car. Totally agree with going for the convenience of a dealership near your hubby if you are brand neutral.

[Hatton]

We are test driving the potential car this morning.

[Kamban]

Sorry about the wreck and good luck on your purchase.

I would vote for a new car too.  I would vote for a new car and a good one. Maybe a new Acura or Lexus. My wife got an MDX and loves it.

[ACN]

We just got rid of my wife's Ford Escape with 220k miles on it. Test drove every compact and mod size SUV on the market (from Acura, Ford to Porsche, Mercedes).

For a budget around $50k, all these cars were within 5k of each other besides a few outliers (Cadillac xt5 was $70k...lol!). Wife's top two were Lexus and Mercedes, both had the best ride, quiet, features we wanted. (Ford edge was $2k less then the Mercedes GLC)

[ticker]

In 4 new car buying experiences (for myself and on behalf of friends/relatives), I have never failed to get a price better than the best price reported on Truecar (which is a total sham, but useful for this purpose).  As such, I would expect to get a new 2017 Escape 4wd Titanium, MSRP $31,900, for not more than $26,400.  If the difference between new (0 miles) and used (15k miles) is only $2400, I'd probably go new.  Alternatively, you could try to negotiate down the price of the used one.