Considering Selling...

We just bought a 2001 LR Disco SE II roughly 6 months ago and it was (and still is) in beautiful condition. It was originally a corporate leased vehicle and only one other owner between them and us. Perfect running condition and we love it...here's where it gets painful. I heard on NPR this morning that gas expected to reach $4/gal by this spring...I am required to fill up once a week (about every 8 days) because of my commute. That being said, I don't know if we love it enough to pay around $90 per fill-up in a couple of months. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach selling it? Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with some of the sites like cars.com or autotrader.com? We appreciate any advice/warnings anyone might be able to give us.

01 Disco SE II
74k miles

The problem with selling it during this time, is that people wont pay as much for the same reason you are selling it... gas. You wont get what the truck is worth and most people wont even consider it during this time. You might get lucky and find someone who really wants a disco, but you never know how long that might take.

What my plan is, I am going to start setting aside some money each month, maybe give up going out to eat a little, and buying less. That way I have a little money built up JUST for gas over that summer. Trust me, we all feel your pain and it sucks. My biggest problem is, I am in love with the car and I could put a for sale sign in her window. It would be like selling my child... i cant do it. So I am going to make a little lifestyle change and deal with as best I can.

But if you have to sell it, I have heard that most people get good results with autotrader.com. Depending where you live thats a good choice. Cars.com is good as well. Another option is craigslist, if you live in or near a big city. Dont trade it in, you wont get anything for it right now, sell it on your own. I hope you can think of a way to not sell it, but I completly understand what you guys are feeling right now...

quote:

ORIGINAL: jdelp

Between the money you'll lose on the sale and the money you'll spend on a new car along w/ taxes and tags, it'll take you years to recoup that money that you want to "save" on gas.  Keep your truck well maintained and drive reasonably. 

 
I second this statement perfectly. When you stop and think, you would actually loosed by selling it.
 
But if it makes you feel any better, up here in Canada, where our dollard is worth just as much as yours since last automn, I pay anywhere from $4.60 to $4.80 for the amount of gas that in liters equals your gallon. And you know what for the amount of gas I use ( 3 thanks a month), gas would have to go up to some $12.00 a gallon to reflect the monthly payment of a vehicle that I would enjoy as much as my Disco. And that is the monthly payment alone. To that you have to add the higher insurance, and although it would cost less in gas, I'd have to put some in there too.
 
Just remember that you have to compare apples with apples. You can't compare a, 7 passenger, all wheel drive ''luxury s.u.v'', with anything less, or the comparison doesn't make sense.
 
On top of that, even if you find an s.u.v that cost 60% what the Disco is costing you, which is virtually impossible, you'd be saving what ???? $120.00 a month!!!!  Does this offset the cost of a new vehicle ???? I don't think so.
 
Sorry if I'm long, but I've done all that brainstorming when gas went up here not too long ago. But then again my Disco being paid for helps a lot.

Don't forget the added safety of driving in a Disco compared with that of a sub compact.  In an accident I would gladly give many times the difference in fuel to be in something built like these things are.  I know that it sounds like I'm rationalizing, and maybe I am to a degree, but I think safety is really an important thing to consider. 

All good things to consider. We barely have a car payment because of the trade-in we got on our Toyota Tacoma and I'm certain we'd get more out of it than what we owe. I'm not considering even trying to get something comparable to a Disco though; how could I when I've driven the best? I'm literally thinking of buying anything that can get 50 mpgs. I don't know; I'm sure I'll just end up adjusting to whatever price gas ends up spiking to like I have every other time. 

The only thing that you can get thet gets close to 50mpg is a Prius and what is that going to cost you per month? Even IF you could find one and because of the demand they wont negotiate on price.
Pay off the trk and use that money to pay for gas.

I would just figure out what type of payment you would be paying if you traded/sold the disco and got a new car.  Then take the difference with the Disco payment and get something a little cheeper that would put you into the same payment amount but get better gas milage.  (Do you need a brand new car????)  Drive the cheeper car to work, store, ect..... and drive the Disco on a need/want to basis only.  That way you get to keep the car you love and maybe get into something with a little better gas milage.  Yes you would have taxes and insurance but hey your not putting miles on the car you love and maybe get a few more years out of it as well!!!!  Just my $.02.  This is what we have done with a 2002 Ford ZX2, and it is a little fun driving the ZX2 as I feel like I am in a gocart when I am in it!  Plus when it snows we have a GREAT 4x4!

Why not just buy yourself a $1000 beater Corolla,Sunfire etc.. for traveling to work,thats what I did.Use the Discovery in the evenings and on weekends.You will save a lot of wear and tear on your Rover,save fuel and plus you will have a cool truck to look forward to driving when you get home.

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ORIGINAL: Newfoundlandrover

Why not just buy yourself a $1000 beater Corolla,Sunfire etc.. for traveling to work,thats what I did.Use the Discovery in the evenings and on weekends.You will save a lot of wear and tear on your Rover,save fuel and plus you will have a cool truck to look forward to driving when you get home.

 
Thats just what I was going to say, buy a cheap pay cash for it VW, Toyota, Honda etc, it will get 30mpg or so and put cheap insurance on it, no payment and it saves you on gas.
If it breaks down then you can drive the trk until you get it fixed. Drive the trk on the weekends and drive the car for everything else.
If it gets a dent, who cares.

I agree with spike and newfound. buy a cheap Honda or Toyota or a vw diesel. I know that the vw diesels get redicously good gas millage.

I purchased a 1991 Corolla for $400 at a used car dealers trade in lot, spent less than $200 on a few odds and ends getting it up to scratch and have been driving it for almost 4 years now. I had to put a muffler on it last year and a battery this winter.My Insurance Company didn't charge me a dime to add it to my policy because I told them it was to save wear and tear on my Discovery.Every time I do use the Rover its like driving a new truck...its great!

Could work !!! But I'll be damn if after dreaming of owning a Discovery for years and finally getting one, I'll be driving a ****box 75% of the time. No way!!

I saw a Disco I 1998 in the paper with 105K for $3,500.
 
I just picked up a long block for $4,000.
 
I'm going to start to buy old Rovers for the parts so I say
sell it only helps me at least I will keep them alive.

That's actually a really good idea to buy a beater outright and keep the Disco. We really don't want to get rid of it but being an average middle class couple we also can't imagine spending almost $400 a month for gas for only one of our autos. Thanks for the ideas!

With the money you will save on gas and repairs you don't need to buy a beater. You could spend $4k or so and get a very nice Toyota, Honda etc and still save money. I personally don't think a Disco makes a good commuting car unless you have a short drive, too expensive to run.

quote:

ORIGINAL: catsman72

I agree with spike and newfound. buy a cheap Honda or Toyota or a vw diesel. I know that the vw diesels get redicously good gas millage.

 
No such thing as a cheap VW diesel now.

Here is my take on this subject. Since I have 3 Rovers, I'm feeling the pinch just like everyone else. I have been considering getting a cheap older economy car for me to drive to work, but I do like climbing in my Disco. I may sell my RR Classic to do that however. The gas may get that high but history has told us in the past that it won't last that long, especially when we get rid of the president we have, and maybe finally end the war. I'm not going to get into a political debate, but look back in history we will have to mess around with these high prices for awhile. There was a report on the Today show this morning buying a new less expensive car may actually cost more over 5 years than a quality automobile. This is taking under consideration insurance, maintenance, and of course the payment and believe me my insurance is far less on my Land Rovers than most American cars especially the ones I've owned. Consider all of your options before trying to save a few $ on fuel costs. Here is something to consider, if your vehicle gets 14 mph and you drive the national average of 15000 miles per year the difference in fuel cost between $3/ gal and $4/ gal is about $90 more per month at the $4 /gal. Think about it, don't stop at Starbucks 4 times a week and you just about covered it. Like someone said lifestyle change. Good Luck

I heard a lady on the Dave Ramsey (personal finance) radio show on this very topic the other day. Dave said gas mileage is one of the worst justifications for buying a (new) car, especially if your current one is close to or paid for. The "hit" for getting the extra MPGs literally take years to pay for. If you have the means, I'd tough it out. (Unless you're selling cheap, wink wink!)

I don't own any Rovers (yet).

My 2¢
--Loyd