If you're making a car payment, you're paying interest. Just the interest put away every month could make a nice repair fund.

I had paid off my Beetle about 5 months before it got hit. I now have a payment on the Element. The Element is now 11 months old, and I already have 34,000 miles on it, mostly because I took two 5,000 mile trips this year. I hate having the payment, and I will pay it off long before the terms. I expect this car to go much much longer than the financing (although for me that's not so many years as miles).

I can't think of a better vehicle for bikes! The CRVs we looked at when we were shopping for the E didn't have near the cargo space, and there was carpet to get greasy. I love the E. I would have liked a Fit but my hubby doesn't FIT in a Fit. lol.

The only other thing is, once you drive it off the lot, you're driving a used car anyway. Go with the one you know.

Karen