Hello all, I am after some financial advice.....
Recently at work I won a biggish promotion that starts early next year. With my raise I was going to finally buy a house (in about august '08), so that extra salary has been spent in theory.
However, I am aware that my '05 is coming up to 3 yrs old and coming out of warranty, and there are plenty of new compacts on the market that are worth a look. As an example the 10th gen corolla, now available in OZ, is an excellent drive and has made huge leaps in quality, dynamics, fuel efficiency and safety. In addition the next-gen Mitsubishi Lancer and mazda2 have also been recently released.
I paid my '05 off early; this fortnightly payment was then diverted to a managed investment fund heavily biased towards australian and global shares. It is doing alright considering the turbulence of the financial markets. However, I have been considering over the last few days of cashing out this fund (has a few grand in it), trading in the '05 and using the fortnightly contribution to finance the rest of a possible new car purchase - would be enough for maybe a new mid-range corolla. ahh, heaven to drive...
The pros of a new car purchase is I can have a latest model whatever with up to the minute safety, fuel efficiency and dynamics and just something new, a change. I went to kick some tyres the other day, came away in love with a few different models. However, I am aware that in keeping my current '05 I have less exposure to debt (I feel good about owning the '05 outright), accumulating wealth in the managed fund, and an out of warranty car I am free to fix/tinker with that I have a history with.
I will say athat either options I can easily afford in an overall sense, won't induce and further fiscal strains for me. I will also add that the '05 is mechanically and cosmetically great, apart from a number of rattles, and has 51000km on it. and BTW main gripes about the '05 is the poor dynamics and a lack of ABS.
What should I do?