Would you buy this car? (Updated with Pic).

My mother in law, who lives in Fla. has a 2011 Nissan Altima 4 door S series lease car that she can return in September or buy out the lease. The buy out is $14,500. The car ha 8K miles on it. We were thinking of getting it for our son who will be getting his license. He wants a pickkup, and for that price, I don't think I'll get an equal truck.
Do you think it is worth it to buy an almost mileage free car for that price?
I would have to fly to FLA and drive it back. Kelley Blue Book is around $16K for those car with the same option.


I finally was able to get a picture taken of the Altima. The car now has 11K miles and I take my son driving as much as possible. It's always an adventure. I have to keep him away from major towns with shopping malls as the lanes start/end very quickly and he is not used to that yet. I also found out he does much better with just me in the car and not with his older brother who is a bad back seat driver.

I've always liked the Altima, so you have my vote. With that mileage, it's basically a new car. Sounds good.

Leaving my personal preference of non-domestic vehicles out of the equation, with 8k miles it would seem like a relatively decent deal.

Vehicle is practically new. What kind of new car could you buy with $14,500? May be a couple, but not much of a vehicle.

KBB indicates a S model with no added options on the trim is worth an average of $12,846 on dealer trade in very good condition.

Same vehicle as selling to a private party KBB indicates $14,394 in very good or $14,854 in excellent condition.

The car is likely weighs on the end of financially smart long term, considering cost to operate outside of component/system failure. Give you an idea near the same price range, I sold my '02 Silverado for $15,200 if memory serves me correct.

joemac wrote:

Leaving my personal preference of non-domestic vehicles out of the equation, with 8k miles it would seem like a relatively decent deal.  

Vehicle is practically new.  What kind of new car could you buy with $14,500?  May be a couple, but not much of a vehicle.

KBB indicates a S model with no added options on the trim is worth an average of $12,846 on dealer trade in very good condition.

Same vehicle as selling to a private party KBB indicates $14,394 in very good or $14,854 in excellent condition.

The car is likely weighs on the end of financially smart long term, considering cost to operate outside of component/system failure.  Give you an idea near the same price range, I sold my '02 Silverado for $15,200 if memory serves me correct.

Not sure which way we will go on this. We know it was well taken care of, but the flight to Fla., and the drive back make me wonder if I shouldn't buy something local when the time is right. Right now my son is 16 and can't get his permit until he takes drivers Ed. in school this fall, which means it could be February until he can get his permit. I would like to get my 53 Dodge up and running then sell it so I don't have to use up too much cash.
IIRC, I got $13K from the dealer in Jan 2011 for my 02 Silverado which had 120,000 miles at the time.
I don't want to take out a loan as we have college loans out for another 2 years and I don't want my credit stressed.

TheQuig wrote:

Not sure which way we will go on this. We know it was well taken care of, but the flight to Fla., and the drive back make me wonder if I shouldn't buy something local when the time is right.

Knowing the true vehicle history is valuable as you mentioned.
Plus coming from FL means it has seen 3 less winters than a local one.

A good son-in-law would buy the car back and let his MIL "borrow" the car until junior needs it.  

A good mother in law would give her grandson the car . She wants one with certain options, or she would keep this one. It is in good shape seeing less winters as you said is certainly a benefit. I would drive the car to work and save some money on gas until he gets his license. Having said that, we have a Honda Civic sit for most of the winter when my son goes away to school. We won't let him keep it at school as the insurance goes up and parking in the city would beat the car up, plus he would have to pay $600 for a parking permit.

My vote is yes if you absolutely need it. But I'd let little guy drive big brothers car when he's not around and work around swapping vehicles when he is.

I think for now we are going to have to pass on this deal. I was joking when I said maybe my mother in law would give him the car, but she actually just paid the college for his older brother. Between my father in law paying for half the year, and her paying the second half, the end result will save my son about $46 K in college loans when he is done. Now over 15 years, he will only owe $140K.
When he gets his license, until I sell the Dodge, he will be able to drive my truck or the Yukon.

Today my mother in law asked if we want the car. She said it's she can afford to give a "loan" (read free) since when my wife was a child she couldn't afford to do things like that. I'll most likely fly to Fla. one Friday night in the next month or so and take the weekend to drive it back. I should be able to do two 10 hour days and get home on a Sunday night.

"We were thinking of getting it for our son who will be getting his license"

Okay, I've been there; bought a Mazda pickup to get a son to leave, so I can relate.

Problem number one is: does he want it? How much of it and the operating costs will he be paying for? Is having a car necessary? Are you looking forward to your increased insurance costs?

He is your typical kid, wants a new full size pickup. He claims he can't fit into a regular size car as he is 6'2" and still growing. At first he didn't want the car, but he respects whatever his older brother says, and his brother told him it is bigger than his car (not by much) and gas will be reasonable for him. We will help pay for his insurance but in the summer he has to work and help pay his expenses. Living where we do, there is only 1 bus that travels the main highway, north/south and nothing else. A car/truck is a necessity. This fall he has drivers education, and that helps a little with insurance. Currently with 3 drivers (1 20yrs. old) we pay $2800 per year. I can expect that to go up $600-$700, but next year at 21 the older boys insurance drops. He pays 1/2 his insurance since he is still in college and we are helping him out. He's a good son so we gladly help him out. NJ I believe has either the highest or the top 5 highest insurance in the country.

TheQuig wrote:

NJ I believe has either the highest or the top 5 highest insurance in the country.

Nope, Michigan holds that title thanks to its catastrophic claims process.    That is one thing I'm glad I don't pay now.
NJ is #9 and Ohio is #51
auto insurance rates by state

Well the car is here, I'll post pictures in a couple of days. My mother-in-law took the car train from Florida to Virginia and then drove it the rest of the way up to NJ. Even though it is officially our car, she is staying until 11/11 so I haven't taken it our for a ride yet. There will be a small fee, she paid the 6% sales tax in Florida and we will have to pay 1% NJ sales tax on the $14,500 when we put NJ plates on it. The car is nice! I bet my son that has a 2010 Civic that we bought new wishes he took it when we first knew we were getting it we offered to give him it and hand down his car to his brother.

Hope it works well for you all.