Was Paying Off My Car Early Worth It?

I sat in my cubicle in Tupelo, MS, blissfully unaware of the predicament that had befallen my poor wife in Memphis. Despite her continuous phone calls that failed to connect, I would only learn of the situation hours later.

Nothing quite focuses the mind like your vehicle suddenly stopping and turning off in the middle of four lanes of traffic on I-240 in Memphis, TN. And that’s exactly what happened to my wife. And that’s exactly what prompted the following realization.

We had to get a new vehicle.

Okay, so maybe this wasn’t the immediate thought. After eventually getting the vehicle to start back up and removed from the busy road and subsequently repaired (“failed sensor”), we were warned that this older car was beginning its death throes and that it would be only a short matter of time before we would experience more devastating issues.

Though shortly after the beginning of our marriage we had decided that we would only visit the possibility of purchasing a newer vehicle once the previous one had completely died, this situation was less than ideal. We didn’t expect this reality to come so quickly. But we both had stable jobs and we were prepared to make our first big adult purchase as a married couple: a new vehicle.

Auto sales negotiations were an unfamiliar territory for me. I tried to familiarize myself with terms like MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price), Dealer’s/Wholesale Price, Dealer’s Hold-Back Price. We had somewhat settled on a type of vehicle; my wife had always wanted a Jeep Wrangler; so I familiarized myself with the various trim-levels and used different online resources to estimate prices and scour nearby listings (TrueCar and CarGurus, respectively).

We visited several dealerships. Probed their salespeople with questions. Eventually, at one point, I decided to actually go as far as sit down and proceed with price negotiations. Frankly, it went nowhere.

The vehicle was a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport, I don’t remember the model’s year but I’m guessing it was around 2013–2014. It had no power windows. It cost >$30,000.

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