Should I sell my van ?

I bought my van a year ago when my work was a lot closer to home. About a month ago I got a great opportunity and accepted this new job - though it is now 50 miles one way so 100 miles round trip. Needless to say, my van gets on aveage 23mpg (I do a lot of highway travel). My husband drives a cobalt and gets in the mid 30's mpg - I would save a boatload of money each year if I were to drive a car with better gas mileage. I owe 7700 on my van loan and know if I sold privately I could get very close to that. The dealer (where I am approved to get a car) could take it on trade in but only able to offer about 5500-6000. I'm not having trouble making the payments or the gas, but have done some fuel savings calculators and there is a BIG savings opportunity there - I could definitely put that savings to better use! What are your thoughts?Should I sell my van ?
um how far does ur husband drive???? cas if hes closer swap vehicles......new vehicle doesn't really save u money in the long run........they money u save on gas will b eaten up in higher taxes insurance and more payments.......i would honestly suggest looking for an older car with decent mileage and buy that if u do want out of ur van.......Should I sell my van ?
What kind of van is it?Should I sell my van ?
23 for the convenience of a van isn't all that bad. Since you are doing "what if" calculations, what if you lived closer to your job by either moving, or finding something where you didn't have to drive 100 miles a day to and from work? That would work also. How much did your insurance jump with that drive to work? Factor that in also.
Should I sell my van ?





NO.



Any savings that you would realize at the gas pump would be eliminated by the additional costs of buying a new car.



Even if you bought an older, cheaper used car your savings over a 2 year period will be minimal.



Any trade or sale of your current vehicle will more than likely result in a monetary lose. If you accepted the dealers offer you'd be losing between $1700 - $2200 ($7700 owed vs $5500/$6000 trade offer) and this is before you even take into consideration the added costs of higher monthly car payments and longer loan terms.



$2200 buys a lot of gas for that van.



The facts are that if you compare a car getting 23 MPG to a car that gets 33 MPG the savings over 15,000 miles driven is only $486. Using that figure and the possible $2200 cash lost out of your pocket it would take you over 4.5 years just to break even. FOUR and a HALF years before you begin to save your first dime. And that is assuming there is no difference in cost between the two vehicles.



Now there are a thousand ways to calculate these variables but the only way to accurately estimate total costs is to include cost of the car into your estimate. And you need to run these numbers out several years to get an idea of any actual savings over time.