At what price do you buy a new car instead of fix current?
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Anonymous
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My DH took the car in for scheduled maintenance last week and they said the car needs $6K of work!
The car is 8 years old and has low mileage - but I think we have crossed the line for getting rid of it. He disagrees. Does anyone have a tool or model they use for making this decision? Thanks |
Anonymous
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I got rid of my last car when it needed $2500 worth of work and was 150k+ miles.
OP do you have enough money for a new car? How much can you sell/trade in the current car for? |
Anonymous
| What did it need? Maybe you should get a second opinion. |
Anonymous
This. Once I got quoted 3k and just mentioning that I would be getting 2nd opinions lowered the price right away! |
Anonymous
| Get a second opinion. But if it is $6,000, I'd be getting a new car. |
Anonymous
| what type of car is it? |
Anonymous
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Definitely get a second and even a third opinion. Don't take it to the dealership, they will always be the highest priced option. But I will say that I've probably put that amount of money into my car over the years -- not all at once! But it does add up.
Looking back on it, I wish I had not done that. I wish I had gotten a new, or new-to me, car. But the truth was that I had money to make repairs but not enough money to get anything new, so, that's what I did. |
Anonymous
| Get a second opinion. I had someone quote me for $2000 in work, took it to my friend who is a mechanic and he was $300 and for something entirely different. That was 2 years ago and nothing that the first mechanic picked out has needed to be replaced. |
Anonymous
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+1 on getting second opinion.
I had similar amount of repairs required and decided to sell car. Ended up getting book value because dealer didn't care about repairing, they get parts well below listed prices. It worked out great, I was able to "buy" a newer car with better gas milage for only $1k, taxes included. I like trading in for a different car every few years anyways just for fun. If you look for cars with decent trade-in value and never buy new it costs no more than long-term maintenance on an older car. Just watch out for taxes/registration costs, I always count them in the purchase price when negotiating. |
Anonymous
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Agree w more opinions from mechanics.
My point of no return is when the repairs cost more than 75% of the blue book of the car. No reason to rebuy the car again. Just trade it in. |
Anonymous
| Where do you live? We can crowdsource reputable mechanics in your area. |
Anonymous
Thanks - what a great idea! We are in DC - it is an Acura. We normally go to a dealer in VA - so happy to head over there. |
Anonymous
| My car is now 9 years old and just hit 120k miles. I plan on putting money into it until the cost of repairs > the trade-in value. It's really been a breeze so far, so I expect to put at least $3-4k into it before it kicks the bucket. |
Anonymous
Go to Distads on Capitol Hill. On Penna Ave at 9th. They are honest over there - I've been taking my cars there for over 10 years. I know a reputable guy in Brookland too, if that's closer to you. |
Anonymous
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The first few years of owning a car are the most expensive due to depreciation. The longer you can defer the purchase, the better. Most cars depreciate to 50% to 60% after the first 5 years. So paying a $1000 or $2000 to avoid paying $30,000 is usually worth it.
see: http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/how-fast-does-my-new-car-lose-value-infographic.html We now buy a new car based on specific need (eg third kid- we needed a minivan) or safety/reliability concerns (eg we are taking long trips to visit family, sports competitions, colleges and absolutely need reliability). New cars are cheaper now. Internet pricing is much better than haggling with a dealer. And the warranty is much better to have than rolling the dice with a used car. So we are buying new cars and holding onto them as long as possible. |