<prompt> Human: There is a saying one lives and learns...I am living, learning and now regretting a stupid financial decision I made a few years ago, and would appreciate some help on how best to deal with my dilemma. The good side is I now realize that what I did was stupid and I surely wont make the same mistake again. Thats positive isnt it?Im 40, soon to be 41. Im married with 3 kids and have been a realtor for the past 2 years, working hard every day at building my business. My wide is at school working towards a social workers degree. We need two cars in our family, with 25-mile one way car pools, school etc. In May 2012, I was living in Chicago and purchased an overpriced 2009 VW EOS 2-door convertible from a dealer in Chicago. At the time, I had a nice 2005 Honda Accord that ran well and that I owned free and clear - it was a gift to me from a family member. I sold the Honda to Carmax for 8k and used 3,000 of the money I received as a down payment on the EOS. The rest was spent on living expenses etc. I took a 6-year car note with payments of 376 per month at 4.6 interest.I know, I know, I know...what I did was very stupid. I didnt think so then, but I absolutely realize that now. But thats why Im here...After spending some time and partaking of financial wisdom on this board and others, I decided that I should try and get out of this car note if at all possible. My payoff as of today is 12k and I have 34 months of payments left at 376 a month. The car has 50k miles. It is clean, but not in pristine condition - it has a few small door dings, a few small scratches, some normal signs of minor wear and tear. It lived in Chicago from 2009 to 2013 and was driven in the snow and salt. More problematic is the fact that the car was in a freeway accident a few years ago and the repair bill came to about 6k - honestly the damage was very minor overall, front fender, headlights, etc. No frame damage at all. It was repaired by the dealer. Looking at Craigslist, other cars of similar vintage are selling for between 5,000 - 10,000. My payoff is 12,000, but I dont believe I will get that for the car. Id be lucky to get 10,000, but a more realistic figure is in the 8,000 - 8,500 range. So, I will most likely have to pay in somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 to get out of this car note. The reason I havent put it up for sale yet is that I need the car on a daily basis and it may have to spend a day or two in a shop getting detailed buffed and polished. My plan going forward is to buy a cheap higher mileage, Japanese or Korean car for under 3,000 to use in my real estate business for the next couple of years. I have about 20,000 in savings invested in a Vanguard...accountAs I see it, I have three options:OPTION 1. Keep the EOS and keep making payments of 376 per month for the next 34 months. I will then have paid a total of 31k for the car by the time the note is paid off. Wow - thats a lot! I should be able to get about 3,500 if I sell it in 3 years time. I like the car - its fun to drive, although not practical as a family car and if I have more than 1 adult passenger, but it sure is nice when the roofs down!OPTION 2. Spend a few hundred dollars getting the car cleaned up nicely, buffed etc. and try to sell it for as much as I can get. If theres a shortfall, I will have to withdraw between 2,000 - 5,000 from my savings to pay off the car loan and pay for the stupid decision I made in 2012. OPTION 3.Try to leasebuy another car and roll the negative equity in the EOS into the new car. This is my least favorite option, as I am pretty gun-shy about getting into another car-payment deal right now. My wifes car is a 2001 Toyota Sienna mini van with 130,000 miles - she has to transport 8 kids in this car in a carpool arrangement every day. The Sienna is not doing well mechanically - we have to add 3 quarts of oil to it every week. But that is a discussion for another day - we do have car issues, Im sure youll agree! I would appreciate some input as to the best solution for me at this point.  <response>: Im trying to picture buying a house from a real estate agent who shows up in a 3,000 car.I guess it would show that they are frugal?Basically youre comparing spending 12K to keep this car, or 7K realistically for some car that is worth considerably less. That sounds like a wash, and it depends whether you want the cash or the car quality. 