Why do most people try to sell their cars when they have a baby?, Is that really a good business decision? Options

[yarik83]

We have all heard about them or seen them or have them as members of our families and in some cases you are the kind of person that decided to sell his or her car when your baby (and or theirs) was born.

The question is why?

Overwhelming majority of people that I know that had a newborn decided to sell their perfectly fine 4 door trucks or 4 door sedans that they purchased in past 3 years for something "cheaper". I think I need help understanding this because its too mind boggling for me.

Lets say a 2010 toyota tacoma truck costs 27500 out the door. Ok.. family buys it and come 9 months later they are looking to sell their car because baby is born and they need something cheaper. At best that truck could be sold for 25000 but family that wants to sell that truck would be upside down on a car loan... therefore selling the car (at least according to my math) would leave them with 2500 left to pay for car they no longer own. On top of that... same family makes a decision to purchase something cheaper... at which point they are taking out another loan to pay for an older less reliable, less safe, less advanced car. Even if they spend 6000.. thats still 6000 to pay for + remaining balance from old car... which will put them into a monthly payment of about 400 which is more than what it would cost to keep paying off their loan on their now sold 2010 toyota tacoma.

It does not have to be a tacoma but that exact topic has come up on my tacoma forums where one guy sold his perfectly fine 2007 double cab (thats 5 seats) with a lockable tonneau cover so that he could purchase a 2001 dodge dacota for 6000.

I see similar scenario play out across all kinds of cars and across all kinds of circumstances such as selling a car so they could afford monthly payments on their mortgage.

Either I am not understanding it or I am really not understanding it....

To me it seems like people are trading perfectly fine newer reliable cars onto something more "family oriented" but rarely a minivan and in either case old, high miles and with all kinds of gremlins that they have to fix.

I figure.. if you are in a position of wanting to bring a child into this world and you are planning to buy a house and the RIGHT kind of car... should not you do all of those things BEFORE having a child? How easy would it be to just buy a minivan, sell irrelevant cars, buy 1-2 commuter cars for both parents, buy a house and THEN have a child with all of those issues squared away...

I just dont get people these days...

This post has been edited by yarik83: Aug 11, 2010 - 11:34 PM

[Hanyo]

Most married couples own there own cars before getting married. These cars they have are called the bachelors car, meaning the car they used when they where a single person (bachelor). After marriage the couples lives essential remain the same, they can go out late and hang out with makes or go to the bar and drink with friends. However when they have children; their lives change dramatically. Their personal lives and routine no longer work and have to take on a whole new roll as a parent. Along with this whole new role, they view there marriage as a unit, and feel the must make sacrifices to support the family. This includes getting rid of their "personal car" and getting a "shared" vehicle AKA family car.


Most new parents get hit with a sudden realization that they have hit a whole new stage in life. What they did before becoming a parent no longer can continue. This paradigm shift is the reason people sell there cars right after the kid comes.