Should I get rid of my SUV?

I'm currently a sophomore in college and drive a 2007 Honda CR-V. I've been thinking about trading it down to a civic or accord because I'm a commuter student and have to drive thirty minutes one way to get to school. However my crv isn't in the best shape. The car drives fine but the bumper got ripped off and I just zip tied back on so I'm sure that would decrease the value a lot. It's a solid car, it has 102,000 miles on it and drives fine, but I always think about something with better fuel economy. I think it's worth like 5,000 so I would just trading it in for an older civic (2004-2007) with higher miles on it would be worth it? Or should I just keep my car and deal with the worse gas mileage. I would really like to be able to just trade in the car and replace it so I don't have to pay too much out of pocket

Most people should not switch cars because you almost always lose a ton of value in the process.
Particularly if dealers are involved.

Plus, the fuel economy argument is weak. (Believe me, when I had a gas guzzler, I wanted to lease a new civic for $99 a month. My dad told me to sit down & do the math and get back to him. (He meant insurance, and the actual lease payment was more than $99) I never would have qualified without him cosigning and he never would have cosigned but he wanted me to figure out on my own that it was a bad deal. And I did. But it wasn't initially apparent.

Its not a good idea to spend thousands more to get a car that might get 3-4 mpg more.

Plus, the newer car may be worse than your current car unless you spend a lot more.

Depends on what you want in vehicle.

The CR-V is a compact station wagon, giving about 23 mpg average -- http://www.fuelly.com/car/honda/cr-v/2007
Roomy, you can carry a lot of stuff, you could lay down and sleep in the car.

I have a Fortwo -- under 9 feet long, parks just about anywhere, can carry one other in the car (date,) is "cute" (which is good for getting girls,) and mine only gets 34 mpg but it is a convertible (bad air drag on freeway) and I drive "frisky" which kills fuel mileage. I have slept in the car, sitting up in the passenger seat with feet in the driver space.

Unless you get ridiculously small, there's no reason for swapping out the CR-V. IMHO.

I would fix the bumper or at least take some time to resecure it properly. I wouldn't get a new car. A dealer will rip you off if you trade it in. Do you want more debt with a lease or loan?

Its not a good idea to spend thousands more to get a car that might get 3-4 mpg more.

But it wasn't initially apparent.

Maybe

No. I'm a college student and have been through a few cars these last few years. I think I'm getting a good deal on a car but I'm not. I end spending more in a car than what I paid for it. I've spent about $20,000 now in the last two years on cars and car repairs. Every time I buy a car immediately it needs work and that's because I can only afford cars with 160,000 miles on them which is around the time they start to fall apart or the owner doesn't want to take care of it anymore. If your car run and drives fine keep it. I bought a car earlier this year for $4600 and unexpectedly paid $1200 for repairs. Then two months later the motor unexpectedly went out right before I was going to sell it to offset the cost of the new car I bought for fear of this. Then the new car needed $2000 in repairs. It never ends. I should have kept my truck from earlier this year. Now I'm just gonna wait till I graduate and get a decent job and then all I'm gonna do is lease cars.

Not for an older 2004 vehicle with so many miles as such an old car will leave you stranded on the road sooner than you think. The Honda CRV does not burn much fuel. Keep it for now if you do not owe to a loaner/bank.

Trade it in for a Mitsubishi Mirage if you want high gas mileage and best value for the dollar. The Mirage gets the highest gas mileage of any non-hybrid car on the market today. And it comes with Apple Car Play or Android Auto.