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personally if there isn't major issues, I would drive it in the ground and go payment free for awhile to save up for a bigger down payment. That's our plan!

As long as there aren't any major issues with the car, I would definitely pay it off and enjoy some time without a car payment!

We just sold our '03 car last July and it was not having any problems but we needed a bigger vehicle after we had DD. Our other car is a 2010 and it has a ton of life left in it!

I have an '08 and the dealer said he would give me 13K for it which I didn't think was bad but in the end I decided its better to be payment free after its paid for ( 5 more months!!!)

We only buy used cars, so I guess that tells you where I stand on the issue

But our perspective: our cars are normally about 15 years old before we decide it's not worth it to keep them. When we calculated costs, it was going to cost at least $1000 a year extra to start with a new car vs. the used cars were were looking at, and $1000 a year buys ALOT of repairs. I would imagine your scenario would similarly favor sticking with the car you have, from a financial point of view. Of course, there's other stuff that may matter to you: the pleasure of having a new car, avoiding the hassle of repairs.

Are you able to pay it off? Are there any major issues with it? If you don't need to buy a new car and you are able to pay it off, I would pay it off and be car payment free.

As long as it isn't a money pit for repairs, I would pay it off and enjoy no car payment! If it starts breaking or becoming a hassle (i.e unreliable) then I would get a new car. I have anxiety about car issues, I'm always afraid I'll break down with LO or that it will be a $5000 repair bill.

I'm in the minority here, but I don't plan to drive anything more than a few years old for a while! My 2003 car is in that money pit phase where something goes wrong every few weeks and I'm so over it. I plan to lease, or buy a new car with plans to trade it on after a few years. Ugh. I'm so bitter right now!

If he likes it, I'd pay it off and drive it into the ground.

My husband and I differ greatly on this, I am of the mind that it's better to buy, pay it off and then hold onto it as long as you can. He is firmly team lease.

Mines an 05', paid off! Pay it off...

Pay it off, maintain it and drive it for a few more years if possible. My DH still has his old Nissan truck from 2000 and he still drives it to work. It's not kid friendly since it's a 2 door so we just got a new van recently. It was a nice feeling with no car payments for a few years though.

Pay it off and then continue to "pay" the monthly car payment on it, but just deposit that into savings (either general savings or a targeted car buying fund). That way you have money earmarked and on-hand for any repairs that come up, and also have additional to put down towards a new car when that one dies.

I just paid off my '07 Escape and plan to drive it for at least a year (with baby #2 we will probably want a van) and then try and sell it privately vs. trading it in.

If it's an '09 with decent mileage I'd drive it as long as possible; in the past I've traded in vehicles only once I felt they weren't going to last much longer (example: I had a dodge intrepid where I knew the transmission was going out). Save the $ you would be paying so you can pay more down on the new vehicle when that time comes.

I agree with @yoursilverlining:

Whenever possible, I try to get DH to pay ourselves instead of a bank.

Pay it off and keep driving it if the car still meets your needs. 09 isn't that old. My car is a 2010 and still feels very new to me!

It really depends on the car. DH and I are really into paying cash for newish used vehicles and driving them until we reach a repair that meets or exceeds the trade-in value of the car. But we are diligent about maintaining our cars and I still have my 02 Chevy Prism, if that tells you anything. She runs like a top. BUT my husband's 07 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I married into was my absolute nemesis! That car was just soooo expensive to own - every maintenance trip, every repair was a fortune and it had awful mileage. $1000 for tires. $1000 for brakes. Some light would come on and it would be $200. We had to maintain it perfectly because there's nothing worse than a huge repair on an AWD vehicle but I hated it so much. We kept it because it was paid off and ran fine blah blah blah but it was so stinking expensive. Thankfully we got pregnant with our second and I convinced Dh to trade it in for a minivan and even with a small loan (which we would typically not do) we are sooooo much happier and it's saving us a fortune every month. So I think if your car runs fine and it's not burdensome to maintain, keep it! But if it's a money pit that you hate, dump it! But try to find a car that will last you a long time next time!

Another vote for pay it off!! Not having a car payment is so nice!

I love not having a car payment but am constantly adding up how many "car payments" any given repair will be! I should have been more diligent about saving my car payment after it was done getting paid but, alas, things came up.

The only reason I would vote for trading it in is if you need something different, i.e. a larger car, different type of car. That's what were questioning now.