To Buy or Not To Buy - THAT is the question!

We have been considering an automobile purchase for the past several months...

Eric is planning on attending university in Winnipeg next year and the rest of us will be in Kenora - so we will need somewhat to get him to and from, without leaving the rest of us stranded.

So, we looked at small cars to save on gas and fulfill Eric's need for the smallest possible piece of tin to drive around. (I am sure there is some sort of psychological rationale for this - but perhaps it is just his Scottish roots coming out). We checked out the Smart Car and perused the Autotrader on line for Firefly-like vehicles.

Then we thought about the growing family - now at 5 - and Haaken and Liam are getting bigger by the day. It is becoming more and more challenging to have a peaceful 5 hour drive to/from Thunder Bay - not to mention going on a summer trip... so perhaps something larger, leaving the 626 for Eric to drive (sniff - that is suppose to be my mid-life crisis car...)

We started looking at hybrid SUVs... then quickly realized that the cost far outweighs the gas advantages - and fuel efficiency disappears on the highway. So we switched to small SUVs with 7 passenger options - such as the Rav4 and Santa Fe. These seem to be reasonable options and the aren't, groan, mini-vans! But they also lack and reasonable luggage space if you actually use the 7 passenger option...

Now we are looking at a Kia Sedona - one of only 4 highly regarded mini-vans by the Lemonade guide - and with one of the roomiest interiors and best safety ratings around... but, still, its a mini-van - a mom and pop and the kids mini-van. I just don't know if I want to go there. It is so - uncool!

But - how can we even consider buying with Eric going to school in the fall and currently being on one income (mine)... what other options are there.

Well there is the bus going back and forth between Kenora and Winnipeg AND we could rent a mini-van when we need it (thereby not selling out to the mini-van consortium)... That would reduce Eric's driving time at night, and give us a newer vehicle whenever we rent one.

So, what do we do... well really, what do I do to make this decision easier? I do what any reasonable red-blooded accountant would do - a cost analysis!

Over the next 5 years, if we rent a mini-van once a month for a weekend, plus a full month in the summer, and if Eric takes the bus to and from school, our total additional costs will be $29,000.

If we buy a prior year model car at 0% financing, and factor in the additional gas for traveling back and forth, additional insurance and maintenance - we are looking at a cash outflow over the next 5 years of $39,000.

But, we have to consider that, in the process, we are actually purchasing an asset...

So if, instead of cash outflow, we use depreciation in the second evaluation, we come to $35,000.

(Note: all the above options are fully supported by an Excel Workbook)

However, I am left with the difficulty of factoring in the financial cost of getting up at 1 AM to pick up Eric from the bus depot over the next 3 years... Is that worth $6,000? Or what about the freedom of not having another vehicle to maintain... or the freedom of having a second vehicle on those days when Eric and I are going in separate directions?

It seems that a simple financial analysis just doesn't do the trick.

I think we are going to resort to flipping a coin.

Heads?