I currently have a 5-year-old car which has been paid-off and maintenance has been relatively cheap. However, I will not be needing it soon. My brother will learn how to drive in 1.5 years.
Currently, I have two options:
- Selling the car and buying a cheaper new car when he needs it
- Keeping it until he needs it (buying a used car is out of the options)
Which one would make more economical sense?
Disadvantage of the first choice would be my brother would get a lower quality car (which might require more maintenance anyways), and you would instantly lose about 10% of the new car's value to depreciation.
However, the second choice has the similar issues - an older car needs more maintenance and the car would depreciate by staying idle under the hot tropical sun for 1.5 years (probably also about 10%).
In terms of convenience, both choice are similar - as my parents would have the convenience of an extra car (which they would rarely use), and my parents would have to drive it once a week to prevent it from falling apart, which is also an inconvenience.