Sometimes it is best to throw in the towel, trade in the old beater and move on; other times there are solid reasons to keep the jalopy until wheels and doors fall off.
Large repairs, no matter the age or wear of an automobile, are often stressful and costly. Some repairs can cost well over the worth of the vehicle, and many owners do not know when to throw in the towel.
Parts and labor costs are rising, giving some people a hard decision to make. When does it make sense to trade in that problem car for a newer, more reliable vehicle?
A friend of mine is facing this situation now. He owns a foreign luxury car that is 13 years old. He drives the car well above the national average of miles per year, having accumulated 200,000 miles on the odometer.
I have serviced this car and know it well, and my friend has suffered some expensive repairs in the past. Last week he brought me the car with complaints of large oil puddles underneath his parking spots.
Upon cranking his vehicle, the loud rattling of the timing chain system could be heard, indicating imminent failure of the timing system. The car was going to need complete timing chain replacement and engine removal for resealing. This was not a job that I could do, so I gave him an estimate of $4,000-$6,000 for this repair from an independent shop or dealer.
I also gave him the name of a friend’s shop that was competent in this type of repair.
The car is most likely worth about $8,000 in this market repaired, but about half that in the current condition it is in. This repair is not uncommon for this vehicle, so any buyer who researched these vehicles would be warned about the condition.
If my friend opted for the repair, the vehicle would be in the shop for weeks, causing a rental car bill as well.
After the repair, the problem would be fixed, but the vehicle would still have 200,000 miles on it. Any other matter of things can still go wrong, adding to the frustration of ownership and depletion of money that could be used to purchase another car.
I laid out his options and gave him my recommendation. I told him it is time to move on and find another vehicle.
Since the timing chains were just worn and not broken the vehicle still ran. This makes the car worth much more than if it is not running at all.
My advice had a lot of influence from what I know about the type of vehicle and what problems that particular model generally experiences. I told my friend if this was a more reliable vehicle, it may make sense to make the investment into repairs.
However, sometimes it is luxury cars that suffer from reliability issues, partially because they generally feature new technology that has bugs that have not been fully worked out.
The Cadillac 8-4-2 engine is the perfect example of new technology making a junker out of an otherwise perfectly fine automobile.
There are many factors that should go into the decision-making process of repair or trade. Overall vehicle lifespan, budget, willingness to take on another half decade of car payments, and sentimental value may make decisions that do not make fiscal sense in the long run.
After a week to ponder the pros and cons of repair, he is deciding to fix the vehicle.
“It has been a good car so far, and I like it” was the reasoning he provided when I followed up with him. The car fits his needs, and a newer car that meets those same needs would be quite the investment.
Only time will tell if this decision is a wise one, and I am certainly wishing it will work out for him.
With the right auto technicians, any car can be fixed no matter what the cost. Weighing your options can be daunting, since it requires you to predict the future.
It is all up to chance. Older vehicles are going to require more maintenance and involve larger repairs but sometimes the cheapest car you can drive is the one already in your driveway, especially if it is paid for.
It is impossible to find a better car payment than zero.
As for me, I will see you on the road!
Taylor Bryant is an automotives instructor for Augusta Technical College.
