I have now decided whether to keep my '99 Sentra or go for a brand new Protege ES Sedan.

My Sentra has a GA16DE which is a DOHC 1.6 liter inline 4 cylinder making 115 hp and 110 lb. ft. of torque.

Is it worth it trading my Nissan for the Mazda?

 

Is the Nissan paid for?

 

Nope. It will be paid off on 2/05.
I currently owe about $6500 still on my loan.

 

I would just keep the nissan until its paid... then in 2005 buy something new. .... who knows, maybe the proteges will have a facelift by then ar even better engines.

patient.......

 

From a financial standpoint, it think depends on your interest rate. On the surface, it doesn't look good because $6,500 is close to blue book value on a 99 Sentra, so you won't get much out of the trade- you'll probably break even, but that's about it. It would make more sense to keep your car longer and get more value out of it.

If your interest rate is high and you'll get lower interest on a brand new car (which is likely b/c it's near the end of the model year) you may wind up paying a lot more than $6,500 out of pocket on your current car, and your monthly payments will be higher. [I assume that it's used because most companies won't float you a loan on a new car for more than 5 or 6 years; 99 model + 5 years = 2004 payoff date.] However, you will almost always pay more for a new car in the end. It would probably make more sense to keep the one you've got.

Some math...
$6,500 for 20 months at 13% interest (typ. used car rate) = $363.23 per month * 20 months = $7,265 total
$14,000 for 60 months at 2.9% interest (typ. new car promo rate) = $250.94 per month * 60 months = $15,056