New or Used? : The Unwelcomed Gift Edition

I've written before for "New or Used?" regarding my '04 Scion xB 5MT that I (mistakenly) ended up trading in towards my family's 2013 Outback 3.6R last year. Since then I've been driving my wife's '06 Accord EX-L V6, now at 105k. It's a nice enough car to drive, but was never "my" car, if you know what I mean (and I'm sure you do).

Due to my recently starting a new job, the wife has given the go-ahead to look for something new that's modestly priced. I became smitten with a 2013 VW GTI 6MT and was mere seconds away from signing the lease agreement. I had completed the credit application, indicated the radio stations I like, and then started examining the P&S contract, but got that funny feeling you can get and pulled the plug. I don't know what it was. Dealer shenanigans. Fee overload. Slight indecision perhaps, as I'm only driving a grand total of 8 miles per day for my new commute. (Do I really need to change cars??) Or perhaps it was the X factor.

The X factor is my father-in-law. Due to age and health he is no longer driving. My mother-in-law recently traded his minty 1986 928S4 to their contractor for some money owed. She is offering to give me his 2006 Cayenne S with 75k miles. I'm feeling pressure from the wife to accept it. I've offered to take it and sell it for them, but my wife feels that there is a sentimental thing going on, and they want to see us drive it. I really would have preferred that 928.

Sure the Cayenne a nice car, but again it's not really "me." Although I'm 6′ 3″ I like small cars with stick shifts that I can throw around, not heavy pseudo-SUVs that get 12 MPG city/. However, am I crazy to turn down a free Cayenne?? I have concerns because (A) it's not my kind of car, (B) the Carfax has 3 accidents on it, (C) maintenance costs are going to be crazy. Supposedly the frame is fine, but I know he had more than 3 fender-benders (he should have stopped driving years ago), and we have two small children so I would want to verify that. Also the car has been immaculately maintained. He did pretty much whatever the dealer's service department told him to do.

Part of me thinks I should drive it for 1-2 years and then trade it towards something I want, while the other part of me would be worried about being stuck with a 10 year old SUV with a bad Carfax. And of course the third part of me (if that's possible) is sick of driving an automatic.

I'm getting some serious pressure to act on this soon. Any advice from you, along with the best and brightest, would be greatly appreciated.

All best,

Steve Says:

Any gift that comes with strings attached is not a gift. Ever. When family members give you something that you must absolutely positively keep under the penalty of (insert snubbing method here), then what you end up with is a family tie that will bind and gag you and your family. 

I'll give you a personal example. My MIL is a truly generous person and, one day, she decided to give me and my wife a doghouse. The only problem was that we didn't have a dog. So about a year later, we have a garage sale. The kid down the street just got a puppy and it just so happened that they were the same folks who Freecycled a trampoline to us the year before.

So what did I do? Well of course! I gave them the doghouse!

My wife goes outside about an hour later, and invariably asks where the doghouse is. I tell her what happened and she tells me in no uncertain terms that my MIL is going to be ticked off to the nth degree.

My response was, "And??? This is our house! Just tell her we exchanged it for the trampoline. If she complains then we know it wasn't a gift "

Is your wife an only child? Then take the car if, and only if, it is truly a gift with no strings attached. Thank your in-laws profusely for their generosity either way it turns out, and consider yourself a lucky man. Don't complain. Not even if it isn't 'your' type of car. Just be a mensch, and when this isn't such a hot button issue, you can sell it and set up a fund to handle any health issues for your in-law's. By that time you will also have a better perspective on the security of your new job.

If your wife has siblings, then you can't keep this car. Don't even try. Let them know that you hope your father-in-law will live for a long, long time. Then you can do the right thing for everyone.

Research the true market value of the vehicle. Post the vehicle for sale online.  Handle the transaction for your in-law's. and then finally, thank them for thinking of you and your wife.

As for your desire to buy a stickshift, I'll let the folks here sort that part of your life out.

from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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