Should I get rid of my car debt?

[Thomas Branson]

I bought a car about 4 months ago, thinking it was the right decision, and I'm still thinking it may be. I drive about 3,000 miles per month for work. It works out because I get paid twice as much from my tax breaks for living over 50 miles away. And I actually enjoy the drive because it gives me more time to listen to books. I know it sounds odd, but I make a lot more money living the distance, and I'm okay with it. It's between 45 mins to an hour.

My concern is I'm trying to get rid of my debts to pay myself more, but I obviously need a reliable car for the distance I'm driving. We're talking almost 40,000 miles a year being put on a vehicle.

I bought a Dodge with 10,000 miles for $13,000. Practically new, good on gas (33 mpg average), and reliable. I've already put $3,000 down and I owe right at $9,000 currently.

I'd like to think this was still a good purchase. For $5,000, I could've gotten something reliable but with 150,000 miles and putting 36k+ on it per year would make me think I'd need another vehicle after a year and a half.

I thought just spending the extra money and paying it off ASAP was the right idea for my specific situation, but now I'm thinking maybe not. Opinions?

[Kevin Childers]

If you have other debts at a higher interest rate (credit cards), I would eliminate those first using the snowball method. Once they are all paid, tackle the car payments.