What expensive repair did your older car need and what did you decide to do

[Anonymous]

What kind of older car and how old?
How much was the repair?
Did you pay for the expensive repair and keep the car?
or did you decide to just buy a replacement?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

How about you go first

[Anonymous]

I buy cheap new cars and drive them until they are very old. The last car I sold was 15 years old. It lived about a year after I sold it, then needed an engine overhaul. It was an amateur's project car at that point. A Subaru with about 120K miles.

I would say each car gets one $2-3K major component replacement (catalytic converter, timing belt) and after that, I'm done because I must have a reliable car for safety reasons (mom of two kids).

We have 2x sunk too much money into cars right before they died. In one case, a radiator replacement was poorly done, and ruined the transmission while we were on a road trip and didn't know there was a fluid leak until too late. So lost the car bc it wasn't worth putting a new transmission in. Another time we did expensive brake work and 2 months later the engine had problems.

[Anonymous]

We went through this last year. The car was a luxury SUV but was 11 years old with high mileage. The value was $7000-8,000. The repair was $5000. We sold it to a mechanic. We haven't bought a replacement yet because we already had an extra car but are now looking at options because the extra car is 12 years old.

[Anonymous]

2006 Honda Odyssey with 180,000 miles. It blew its transmission on I-95 in 2020 with fluid everywhere. It was spectacular.

We paid $2800 to get it fixed and is rolling along at 225,000 miles

Alternatively, I had a Volvo 940 turbo. It was fantastic but at some point the engine computer went bad. It needed some other work and my mechanic said we would spend about $2000 and would not be sure that it would work. "Why did the computer get fried?"
In that case, we gave up on the car. My thinking was that ONE repair with a path to another year of useful life was OK. Multiple significant issues with uncertainty was too much for me.

[Anonymous]

Years ago, I put a new engine in an old jeep where the engine cost more than what the jeep was worth. I loved that jeep like it was a loyal mutt. Economically dumb but emotionally worth every penny.

No need for those of you who view a vehicle as solely utilitarian to respond. You won't understand nor will you convince me that what I did was nonsensical.

[Anonymous]

15 year old Camry, 11000 miles, $3k from an accident (no comprehensive of course, not want them totaling it on me).

We had a leak for $700, and need a new power steering pump for $1000 but putting it off as we decide if worth it.

Assuming we can buy a new car for $30k, and keep it 10 years that’s about $250/month of cost for new vs old. So if we keep getting $500/month repairs it will be a bad deal, and we mayb pull the trigger.

[Anonymous]

I have an 11 year old Kia hatchback. A few weeks ago I spent about $2000 on repairs/maintenance. About half of that was to fix an oil pan leak. The other half (or a little less) was more maintenance. And then about a week ago, my DS partially tore off the bumper. That is another $1,000 to fix. I'd probably only get about $3000 for the car, on trade for a new one. But the used car market is still hot now, so I think would cost more than $3K to replace it. And since I know my car's history, I feel better sticking with it for a few more years.

[Anonymous]

Wheel bearings on a 15 year old Subaru with 170,000 miles, about 10 years ago. It was a low end Subaru Impreza and not worth much to begin with. Shop quote was over $1K (again, 10 years ago). Sold the car to be parted out, there was more value in scrap parts than in the assembled vehicle.

Its replacement is still going strong.

[Anonymous]

1995 ford bronco, The rear differential failed and it cost me $600 to fix it.

[Anonymous]

10 year old Toyota matrix developed a computer problem that resulted in unreliable starting and weirdly killing batteries. We had 3 new batteries in like a year (all under warranty). I don’t remember the cost to try the next thing to repair it, but they were clear it might not work and they were really just trying out an idea. I was 9 months pregnant and it was December - I kept thinking about going into labor in winter and the car not starting. We traded it in. I did love that car.

[Anonymous]

In early 2005 I bought a gently used ‘99 RAV4 with 37k miles on it. I am still driving it 19 years later. In late 2019 I replaced much of the suspension and bought 4 very good new tires, spending around 2k total. She had basically no rust and only around 200k miles at the time so given Toyotas routinely go 300k and I’ve changed oil and maintained her religiously, it seemed a wise decision even though her paint is shot, she’s dented here and there and upholstery has seen better days - no car payment, very low insurance and registration fees etc. goes a long way.

Had I known about the pandemic to come and the bonus federal UI, I would have skipped that work and bought a very inexpensive used car when all the rental companies offloaded the majority of the fleet during lockdown. But alas no crystal ball here!

Given the price of both new and used cars at the moment, I intend to drive this car until the engine seizes and dies. Yes she’s got no frills (electric windows!) and is ugly as sin, but she’s also very unlikely to ever be stolen and I don’t worry about her getting dinged or scratched. She’s reliable like nobody’s business and we have been literally all over this country together (okay not to Hawaii, Alaska or Florida) and somewhere embedded in her upholstery are hairs of nearly all the dogs I ever loved. I’m very fond of her and will be sad when the day comes . . . just the other day I was thinking if I won the lottery I’d get her refurbished like a classic car.

I do really think it’s wise to drive a car until it dies, at least from a financial standpoint- assuming it’s a decent car that you once liked enough to buy. But I recognize that some people really love a new shiny thing every few years or so, and that’s okay for them if they don’t mind the higher costs of operating a new and shiny car. To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In early 2005 I bought a gently used ‘99 RAV4 with 37k miles on it. I am still driving it 19 years later. In late 2019 I replaced much of the suspension and bought 4 very good new tires, spending around 2k total. She had basically no rust and only around 200k miles at the time so given Toyotas routinely go 300k and I’ve changed oil and maintained her religiously, it seemed a wise decision even though her paint is shot, she’s dented here and there and upholstery has seen better days - no car payment, very low insurance and registration fees etc. goes a long way.

Had I known about the pandemic to come and the bonus federal UI, I would have skipped that work and bought a very inexpensive used car when all the rental companies offloaded the majority of the fleet during lockdown. But alas no crystal ball here!

Given the price of both new and used cars at the moment, I intend to drive this car until the engine seizes and dies. Yes she’s got no frills (electric windows!) and is ugly as sin, but she’s also very unlikely to ever be stolen and I don’t worry about her getting dinged or scratched. She’s reliable like nobody’s business and we have been literally all over this country together (okay not to Hawaii, Alaska or Florida) and somewhere embedded in her upholstery are hairs of nearly all the dogs I ever loved. I’m very fond of her and will be sad when the day comes . . . just the other day I was thinking if I won the lottery I’d get her refurbished like a classic car.

I do really think it’s wise to drive a car until it dies, at least from a financial standpoint- assuming it’s a decent car that you once liked enough to buy. But I recognize that some people really love a new shiny thing every few years or so, and that’s okay for them if they don’t mind the higher costs of operating a new and shiny car. To each their own.

Actually I am remembering now that I put about $3k into the car in late 2019 and early 2020 because there were a few other things that she needed which had worn out. But it’s all routine maintenance stuff, knock wood the engine and transmission keep chugging along in good working order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In early 2005 I bought a gently used ‘99 RAV4 with 37k miles on it. I am still driving it 19 years later. In late 2019 I replaced much of the suspension and bought 4 very good new tires, spending around 2k total. She had basically no rust and only around 200k miles at the time so given Toyotas routinely go 300k and I’ve changed oil and maintained her religiously, it seemed a wise decision even though her paint is shot, she’s dented here and there and upholstery has seen better days - no car payment, very low insurance and registration fees etc. goes a long way.

Had I known about the pandemic to come and the bonus federal UI, I would have skipped that work and bought a very inexpensive used car when all the rental companies offloaded the majority of the fleet during lockdown. But alas no crystal ball here!

Given the price of both new and used cars at the moment, I intend to drive this car until the engine seizes and dies. Yes she’s got no frills (electric windows!) and is ugly as sin, but she’s also very unlikely to ever be stolen and I don’t worry about her getting dinged or scratched. She’s reliable like nobody’s business and we have been literally all over this country together (okay not to Hawaii, Alaska or Florida) and somewhere embedded in her upholstery are hairs of nearly all the dogs I ever loved. I’m very fond of her and will be sad when the day comes . . . just the other day I was thinking if I won the lottery I’d get her refurbished like a classic car.

I do really think it’s wise to drive a car until it dies, at least from a financial standpoint- assuming it’s a decent car that you once liked enough to buy. But I recognize that some people really love a new shiny thing every few years or so, and that’s okay for them if they don’t mind the higher costs of operating a new and shiny car. To each their own.

But what does it mean when a car dies? You can almost do a Ship of Theseus and replace everything many times over — but at a cost that could have bought a new car or two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus?wprov=sfti1

For us it’s when reliability is compromised— if we have to worry about breaking down in middle of nowhere it’s done. I work in a sketchy neighborhood so I really don’t want a car that will leave me on the side

[Anonymous]

Tranny, engine, radiator, frame repair and paint job, 4 new tire 14k repairs in a 8k car.

It snowballed.