At what age do cars start being a PITA?

[Anonymous]

My parents have a 10-year-old Hyundai with 160,000 miles on it that keeps needing more and more repairs (and they are the type to do everything through the dealer). I think they’ve put in *at least* $3,000/year for the last several years. I keep telling them to just buy a new car (they won’t buy a slightly used car). At what age/mileage do you just throw in the towel on an old car?

[Anonymous]

I would've thrown it away after the 2nd consecutive year of spending $3,000. I have a pretty old car, spent about $3500 one year, another $1500 a couple years later and about $1000 a few months ago. I told myself if I have to put in another $2000-$3000 on the car, I'm throwing it away and buying a new one.

[Anonymous]

Tough call. $3000 for 2 years in a row is a lot. Depends on the repair work too. Some repairs are regular maintenance, like batteries, tires and brakes. Does the car ever break down and leave them stranded on the side of the road? I have ZERO tolerance for that.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the car. I had one that was non-stop problems after I drove it off the lot. What are the repairs? Things like tires and brakes are normal maintenance. Other things not so much but $3K a year is time to get a new one if they can afford it.

[Anonymous]

I think your parents will keep paying thousands if they insist on taking the car to the dealer. Each time I take my 15 year old car to a dealer for an oil change I get a list of strongly suggested repairs ranging from 2 to 5k. They fall into three categories: 1) completely unnecessary, 2) cosmetic things that don’t affect drivability or safety, 3) things that an independent mechanic can fix for a lot less. So, find a good independent mechanic if you want to keep the car. 10 years and 160k is not that old.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. You are paying extra three different ways when going to a dealer: higher labor rates, marked up prices for parts and a laundry list of unneeded repairs. But I get it; some folks are not going to find a good independent repair shop (some are terrible) and aren't confident in questioning "recommended repairs."

If that's the situation, I would recommend to a friend that they get rid of the car when the second big repair bill comes in.

[Anonymous]

My Ford, Buick and GMC vehicles started becoming a PITA at just 3-4 years.
My Honda, Toyota and Lexus vehicles never really became a PITA... a few repairs after ~7-8 years, but nothing that was a major or a PITA unlike the above.

This is why we simply won't buy American anymore - sadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents have a 10-year-old Hyundai with 160,000 miles on it that keeps needing more and more repairs (and they are the type to do everything through the dealer). I think they’ve put in *at least* $3,000/year for the last several years. I keep telling them to just buy a new car (they won’t buy a slightly used car). At what age/mileage do you just throw in the towel on an old car?

Who cares if your parents want to pay $3,000 per year to own a car. How much will they spend on a new car? It isn't cheaper to buy a new car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have a 10-year-old Hyundai with 160,000 miles on it that keeps needing more and more repairs (and they are the type to do everything through the dealer). I think they’ve put in *at least* $3,000/year for the last several years. I keep telling them to just buy a new car (they won’t buy a slightly used car). At what age/mileage do you just throw in the towel on an old car?

Who cares if your parents want to pay $3,000 per year to own a car. How much will they spend on a new car? It isn't cheaper to buy a new car.

I’m the OP. Of course they are free to do whatever they want – I just don’t think it makes sense to keep putting so much money in to a car that is constantly giving problems. Plus, they can afford a new car. And to answer other posters, it’s not just routine maintenance. Right now, the car is not starting reliably and they told them there is some fix they need to do.

The other thing that irritates me is I think these dealers are shady. As mentioned, every 6 to 12 months something needs to be done and my parents always just do it. But this time, they told the dealer they don’t want to move forward with the repairs due to the price. And then magically the dealer calls them up two days later saying that they made a mistake and the price is actually going to be $1,500, not $3,500 as originally quoted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Ford, Buick and GMC vehicles started becoming a PITA at just 3-4 years.
My Honda, Toyota and Lexus vehicles never really became a PITA... a few repairs after ~7-8 years, but nothing that was a major or a PITA unlike the above.

This is why we simply won't buy American anymore - sadly.

Not necessarily true. Our Ford is 20 years old and going strong. Its the luck of the vehicle you get off the lot.

[Anonymous]

I think the mileage matters most. I have a 10 y/o Subaru and DH has a 14 y/o Hyundai that barely have needed repairs (or dumb non-driving stuff like window won't roll down/AC not very cold) but neither have mileage over 100,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have a 10-year-old Hyundai with 160,000 miles on it that keeps needing more and more repairs (and they are the type to do everything through the dealer). I think they’ve put in *at least* $3,000/year for the last several years. I keep telling them to just buy a new car (they won’t buy a slightly used car). At what age/mileage do you just throw in the towel on an old car?

Who cares if your parents want to pay $3,000 per year to own a car. How much will they spend on a new car? It isn't cheaper to buy a new car.

I was thinking similar thoughts. Who cares when WE throw in the towel, OP’s parents aren’t there. If you can’t convince them, OP, the. We can’t either. Seems like they are fine with the status quo, and know what to do when they are no longer fine with it.

[Anonymous]

Think of it as you’re watching the average total cost/mile over the total period you have the car. You can predict a fair bit about the trade-in value and the cost of gas but those things can change. There’s a moment when paying to fix it starts to increase the average cost per mile overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have a 10-year-old Hyundai with 160,000 miles on it that keeps needing more and more repairs (and they are the type to do everything through the dealer). I think they’ve put in *at least* $3,000/year for the last several years. I keep telling them to just buy a new car (they won’t buy a slightly used car). At what age/mileage do you just throw in the towel on an old car?

Who cares if your parents want to pay $3,000 per year to own a car. How much will they spend on a new car? It isn't cheaper to buy a new car.

I’m the OP. Of course they are free to do whatever they want – I just don’t think it makes sense to keep putting so much money in to a car that is constantly giving problems. Plus, they can afford a new car. And to answer other posters, it’s not just routine maintenance. Right now, the car is not starting reliably and they told them there is some fix they need to do.

The other thing that irritates me is I think these dealers are shady. As mentioned, every 6 to 12 months something needs to be done and my parents always just do it. But this time, they told the dealer they don’t want to move forward with the repairs due to the price. And then magically the dealer calls them up two days later saying that they made a mistake and the price is actually going to be $1,500, not $3,500 as originally quoted.

Change the dealer, seriously, it shouldn’t be that hard. If you are in DC area use checkbook to find a good one. Otherwise, yelp, Google reviews, etc

[Anonymous]

Stop talking to your parents about it. It’s their choice, even if you don’t agree, even if it’s just an objectively bad choice.