heck... you have a 2002 protege... that's is still a brand new car...
that puppy will run for a good 10 years - most cars do now a days as long as you maintain it.
having 8K left to pay is really excellent and I'd suggest you keep what you have, pay off the car and just drive it till it pukes and dies! you can get a ton of miles out of it and payment free - to be able to spend on other more important things...
fact is - it may look like ford is offering a good deal, but most car companies usually get that money back somehow... from what i've heard, maybe 1 or 2% actually qualify (or what they call "qualify" by their standards) for the 0% financing... and offering 10K off of the MSRP might as well be the actual invoice price for the car in which case, they're still ripping you off... because when you go to haggle, your going for less than invoice price and most likely, they'll tell you that your getting an EXCELLENT deal with 10K off of MSRP and "possibly" qualifying for 0% which is totally false...
their job is to make money and they will make back the money, you just won't notice it... usually, they'll say you don't "qualify" for 0%, so they'll tell you 2% or 5% in which case, they get back money that way... if you trade your car in, then they will find a way to add that cost back into the cost of the car - that's their job....
and the last thing you should ever do (at least now a days) is lease a car (of course, it depends on the lease terms) - because more and more people are getting caught in the "miles scam"... now a days, they only give you maybe 10,500 miles in a year... for me, that's not even my 30 minute, 2x per day commute!! that adds up fast and if you go past that mileage, then your just literally screwed for cash!! i've known some people who were so screwed, they had to buy the car for way more than it was worth and what a bad deal that is!
so i say stick with your car and save those pennies for another rainy day, when you'll really need them while working your way up to "professional" pilot!
2002 is practically brand new and you can't find a lot of 2002 cars for 8K now a days unless there's a problem with it...
Heck, i drove a 1993 toyota corolla until just a few months ago - i had planned or thought to get a new car about 5 years ago when i finally paid her off... but after putting the extra money (per month) that i was paying onthe car into an investment account for a good 5 years, i was able to afford downpayment for a BMW X5.... getting rid of debt is really quite difficult now a days and if you can manage it and stay debt free - then that's the way to live!! cuz otherwise, someone else has you by the - quote on quote - uh hummm (excuse my french here) balls...
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spend your money on flying. That MIGHT pay off in the long run. A car never will.
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That is also a very good point - there is absolutely zero investment in a car... you get nothing out of it in the end....definately not like home equity!
just my 0.02!!