So, this might be a silly question, but we are in the market for a bigger car, but can't really afford something we'd really like (lowish mileage, etc.) We can squeeze the kids into my current car, especially if we invested in new, narrower car seats. I bought my current car new in 2007 and have never had any problems with it, only money put into it is basic maintenence. However, I still owe 4000 on it with a managable monthly payment. it is worth about 8000 minimum in a trade-in, maybe up to 10,000 private sale.  We are struggling a bit financially at this point. So, my question:
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Is it smarter to just keep my reliable car until it is paid off? Or to trade it in and buy something ~4000 dollars (the remainder of the trade-in value after paying off the original loan) that has more miles than I would really like and that has the possibilty of not being as reliable, i.e. might end up costing me more money in repairs, etc.?
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FWIW I work from home and will be homschooling, so while it would be inconvenient to deal with a car being out of service, it is not the end of the world should something happen to a less reliable car. Plus I would get a van that would actually fit all of us comfortably and no car payment. Is there something I am not considering here? Dp really would prefer to buy newer for the reliability factor, but it is just not making sense to me in our financial situation and seems worth the gamble? Would appreciate any advice-I am just now starting to pull my head out of the sand and deal with our finances, so not just saying "let's take another 10,000 loan to get the car we want" is new to me :)
