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lease dilema advice

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  • lease dilema advice

    My current car is 5 years old, 4 cylinder 2012 Equinox LTZ...bought it as a returned lease. Gorgeous car. Still have 3 years to pay on it. My house will be paid off in two years. Lease a new truck for 3 years. Planning on buying the truck when the lease is up as we won't have a house payment and can pay it off fast. In 3 years, my current car would have 90,000+ miles on it, the truck 30,000+ miles on it. The car needs brakes and tires and is beginning to have little spots of rust in some places. I dunno...is this smart? This truck is big and the car is a perfect fit for our lifestyle, or are we just scared of the truck. The reason we went with a truck is to tow a medium sized fishing boat and we worry about the 4 cylinder 2012 Equinox LTZ towing a boat, motor and trailer Any advice please? Is this truck the right decison?

  • #2
    1. Never lease.
    2. You car payment should be for no more than 10% of your monthly income for no longer than 3 years.
    3. You should keep your cars as long as possible.

    Brakes and tires are routine maintenance. They are certainly not any reason to consider replacing a vehicle. The rust is of concern. Why is a 5-year-old car rusting? Has it been in any accidents? I would get that checked out for sure.
    Steve

    * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
    * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
    * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

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    • #3
      How often do you need to tow the boat? Can you just rent a truck when you need it? Googling shows several rust complaints on your car. It looks like the warranty is for 3 years for corrosion and 6 years for rust-through. If it is rusted through, you are probably covered so just your warranty.

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      • #4
        Since you are making payments on the one vehicle you have, you definitely can't afford two vehicles. If you really need a truck, get rid of the car and just drive the truck as your primary vehicle. Why insure and maintain two?

        If you have some equity in your present vehicle, see if you can trade for a truck without getting beat up too bad. My guess is that it will increase your debt considerably which probably isn't a good idea.

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        • #5
          why is the equinox not towable?
          LivingAlmostLarge Blog

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          • #6
            If you take 5 trips to the lake per year, you might be better off renting you a AWD SUV.

            Any time I'm going to rawhide a car, I rent someone else's to do so.

            Most years, I drive to Lincoln Nebraska to see at least one football game. That's a 1400 mile round trip in 3 days.

            I rent a car for $150 for that purpose, set the cruise on 80, and fugget about it.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by LivingAlmostLarge View Post
              why is the equinox not towable?
              I don't know what the tow rating is for a Equinox, but if the boat is heavy it can be unsafe to tow it. It can cause stress on the frame and suspension and could cause the transmission to fail. Definitely not worth chancing it if it doesn't have the proper tow rating.
              Brian

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              • #8
                I looked it up when I posted before. I'm pretty sure it said 1,000 lbs, which I don't think is enough for a boat. My Outback can pull 2,700 and it feels a bit iffy just pulling our trailer with our camping gear and kayaks.

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                • #9
                  1,000 lbs is definitely not enough to tow a boat, especially since the trailer weight counts in that too.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by siggy_freud View Post
                    1,000 lbs is definitely not enough to tow a boat, especially since the trailer weight counts in that too.
                    Also don't forget to include the weight of your wife if her rear end is equal or more to the width of a jet ski.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by mbrjz View Post
                      My current car is 5 years old, 4 cylinder 2012 Equinox LTZ...bought it as a returned lease. Gorgeous car. Still have 3 years to pay on it. My house will be paid off in two years. Lease a new truck for 3 years. Planning on buying the truck when the lease is up as we won't have a house payment and can pay it off fast. In 3 years, my current car would have 90,000+ miles on it, the truck 30,000+ miles on it. The car needs brakes and tires and is beginning to have little spots of rust in some places. I dunno...is this smart? This truck is big and the car is a perfect fit for our lifestyle, or are we just scared of the truck. The reason we went with a truck is to tow a medium sized fishing boat and we worry about the 4 cylinder 2012 Equinox LTZ towing a boat, motor and trailer Any advice please? Is this truck the right decison?
                      Based on the feedback you received what do you think you'll do?
                      ~ Eagle

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