Back to Tips

Cost Effectiveness

According to Runzheimer International, a management consulting firm, a vehicle owner could save $12,477 over four years by keeping a four-year-old vehicle for another four years rather than buying a new one. Its “keep it or trade it in?” analysis is based on a four-year-old 2002 six cylinder, four door sedan that is currently owned and a 2006 six-cylinder, four-door sedan the consumer is considering buying.

“New car payments are the decisive factor,” Dave Friedlen, Director of New Product Development, Business Vehicle Services at Runzheimer, said when announcing the results of the analysis. “ Even though the new model vehicle has a much greater trade-in value after four years and you save on repairs and maintenance, the monthly car payments—which total slightly over $16,700 in principal and interest over four years—more than counterbalance these their factors.”

Back to Tips