Drive it till the wheels fall off

[abcboys]

When do you determine if your "wheels have fallen off"? My 1999 pontiac van has 130K miles, and has been in the shop a few times this past year. Including 2 new tires I needed, I have spent over 1K in different repairs in the past 9 months or so. Now for the past few months it as been making bad vibrations at idle and and estimate to repair it is another $300. I had said I wanted to drive this van till at least next summer, but now I'm putting all this money into it maybe I should drive it another 2 years (if it lasts...will I continue to make repairs?? or will the repairs come to a halt?) I keep thinking sureley nothing else will go wrong?? The power sliding door is constantly messed up but I've just lived wit that. I love not having a car payment and DH's truck is paid off, too and while we could take on a car payment we are needing a new roof next summer and I am making "car payments" for that. It's the main family vehicle and I need something reliable.

So when do you finally throw in the towel to repairs and purchase a newer vehicle??

 

[ilovemk76]

When do you determine if your "wheels have fallen off"? My 1999 pontiac van has 130K miles, and has been in the shop a few times this past year. Including 2 new tires I needed, I have spent over 1K in different repairs in the past 9 months or so. Now for the past few months it as been making bad vibrations at idle and and estimate to repair it is another $300. I had said I wanted to drive this van till at least next summer, but now I'm putting all this money into it maybe I should drive it another 2 years (if it lasts...will I continue to make repairs?? or will the repairs come to a halt?) I keep thinking sureley nothing else will go wrong?? The power sliding door is constantly messed up but I've just lived wit that. I love not having a car payment and DH's truck is paid off, too and while we could take on a car payment we are needing a new roof next summer and I am making "car payments" for that. It's the main family vehicle and I need something reliable.

So when do you finally throw in the towel to repairs and purchase a newer vehicle??

You spent $1300 over 10 months. That is $130/month. I would keep the vehicle. Now if you needed a repair of $5K then I would get a new vehicle.

 

[mjantz]

I have a 2000 minivan & we've decided to replace it next year. Being without a car payment is really nice but I do a lot of carpooling & I need reliable transportation. I would rather replace before its on it's absolute last legs then constantly worry that it's going to fail me in my hour of need.
If it were me I'd be looking to replace it next year.

 

[puffkin]

I would replace it in the next few months...unless you have a "backup" car or don't really need a second car that much and can risk being without a car for a bit if it would totally conk out on you. My husband and I both have 80 mile commutes (in opposite directions) and would not be able to get to work if our vehicles are in the shop for extended repairs (no public transportation) so we would never be able to risk a vehicle in the condition of yours.

 

[moonpie85]

I don't think you're too that point yet. My Daddy drives an 89 pickup and the odometer stopped at 276,000 miles 3 years ago. He says it still has life

I should add if it were me I would get a new one.

 

[solfan68]

My 98 Civic is edging ever closer to 200k. Sure, I'd like to have a new car - with the door locks not always going all the way down and the windows cranking just a bit slower these days. For the most part its an occasional repair here and there, and when you spread that out across 12 months, its nowhere near a car payment. I think I'll make due a while longer. Good luck with your decision, though !

 

[mrodgers]

When I get sick of working on it. For me, I buy Japanese and hardly ever repair, but from about 150-175,000 miles, here in northwestern PA, that means a lot of rust repair. When I get tired of doing it, that's when I give up and start looking for a nice low mileage car, which for me is just under 100,000.

Bought a brand new car for my wife 5 years ago and it was a mistake. Bought my first brand new car at age 20 and said I'll never do that again. 15 years later, I go and buy another brand new car and it was a mistake.

I've never been in the situation of having cash for a car, so I always bought 5 years old, paid for 5 years, drive for 5 years while paying for the other car. I hoped to break that with a new car that I could drive for 15 years, rather than from year 5 to 15. Instead, I cheapened out with the new car (bought a Ford) and end up with the same repair cost as a car 1/3 the price used and have a car that probably will only make it to 10 years old, which would equal my usual of keeping a car for 10 years only it would be 5 years newer, but a worse car.

Said Ford will be paid off soon, so I will be car paymentless, but I have to save up some cash which will take a while, especially with the increased maintenance cost of a Ford dipping into the car fund far more often than any of my Toyota, Honda, or Nissan ever did.

 

[ssawka]

Every time there is a post like this you'll have people saying "oh, you can get another 100K out of the car!" I'm sure you can, but the real question is how much do you trust the car? Do you trust that the car is going to start and not break down on the way to somewhere important? If it is your only car, do you trust that you will not after miss work because of "car trouble"? If you drive it on a long trips, do you trust that you are not going to be stuck on the side of the road? I'm sure you can keep repairing almost any car and get more miles out of it, but is it worth it if it has to keep going tint the shop?

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I sold my first car with 235K miles on it and wish I had kept it! The next car I bought had only 65K miles on it and needed more maintenance than the first (I'll never own another Hyundai). My current vehicle has 91K (so far so good). I agree that you should drive it until it is untrustworthy or until the cost of repairs becomes more than a car note.

 

[pantherlj]

When do you determine if your "wheels have fallen off"? My 1999 pontiac van has 130K miles, and has been in the shop a few times this past year. Including 2 new tires I needed, I have spent over 1K in different repairs in the past 9 months or so. Now for the past few months it as been making bad vibrations at idle and and estimate to repair it is another $300. I had said I wanted to drive this van till at least next summer, but now I'm putting all this money into it maybe I should drive it another 2 years (if it lasts...will I continue to make repairs?? or will the repairs come to a halt?) I keep thinking sureley nothing else will go wrong?? The power sliding door is constantly messed up but I've just lived wit that. I love not having a car payment and DH's truck is paid off, too and while we could take on a car payment we are needing a new roof next summer and I am making "car payments" for that. It's the main family vehicle and I need something reliable.

So when do you finally throw in the towel to repairs and purchase a newer vehicle??

My 2000 van had 140K on it. A coworker had the same van with 230K on it so I thought I could push it a bit longer. I totally regret dumping in the last $1200 in repairs. It got to the point where it was constant anxiety about what was going to break next. I wanted to wait until after the holidays (this was Sept) before replacing but am SO glad I replaced it when I did. Darn if the "service engine soon light" didn't come on one mile before I got to the car lot for the trade in value to be determined.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Arctic Stamp Queen]

This is such a personal decision and you are getting some great advice on both sides of the fence on this. I live in an extreme climate situation...I don't see it posted where you live, so take this for what it is worth. But if you do live in a place where this could be helpful...read on:

In the winter we see 30-50 below zero on a regular basis, my husband and I both work. He works 40-70 hours a week and is useless (said in the most loving way cause he has many other talents) under the hood, so we have to pay for repairs. We have to have reliable cars. So in our household we always have one car payment (his or mine). As soon as cars start needing repairs like you are talking, for us it is time to get rid of it, we just cannot take a chance on being stranded. I just got my newest car, a 2011 Kia Sorrento in April of this year and one of the chief factors in my decision was the 100,000 mile warranty. I have already put 10,000 miles on it if that lets you know how much I drive.

Our daughter is currently driving our 1999 Hyundai Accent that we bought brand new and has 150,000 miles on it...it has only been in the shop 2x, we swear by their brand and reliability, so we are hoping it carries over to the Kia line. Fingers crossed.

Car payments are a very personal thing, we just always have 400.00 built into the budget for a car payment and if we are blessed enough to have a vehicle that last longer then that money can go into savings to help with a down payment when we do need to buy, but it is right next to our mortgage on our monthly ranking of bills, everything else comes after those in priority.

Buying used in Alaska does not work as well since the conditions up here are so harsh.

Good luck to you.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My 1964½ Mustang has 98,000 miles on it when I managed to warp the heads. So I ordered a

1969 Cougar XR-7 Convertible. When it had 232,000 miles on it there was need for an engine rebuild, repainting, reupholstering and more, so I got a

1989 Plymouth Acclaim which managed to lose the transmission at 185,000. The mechanic who normally took care of it asked how I managed to get it to his garage.

My 1997 Ford Taurus had just under 180,000 miles when I decided I needed something easier to get in and out of.

My 2008 Ford Edge only has 68,000 miles on it; I expect to keep it for several more years.

 

[nowellsl]

I said I'd drive my last car until it fell apart, then one day I was driving through a parking lot and a big piece of metal fell out luckily I was in a parking lot and going slow! I don't even know what piece it was that fell out, I was over it at that point. I was determined to buy something that I could pay cash for, so I wound up with a 2001 Toyota Rav4 with only 37,000 miles on it. I've had it for just over 3 years and it's practically perfect. I've had to replace brakes, tires and a belt, but other than that no problems. (I'm not counting the fuel line a squirrel ate a hole in ) I think if you don't have confidence in your car and are constantly worried about what will happen next, then it's time for a new one!

 

[klynn]

We just retired our '98 Pontiac Transport last week. It had 282,000 miles on it.

 

[scrapquitler]

When do you determine if your "wheels have fallen off"? My 1999 pontiac van has 130K miles, and has been in the shop a few times this past year. Including 2 new tires I needed, I have spent over 1K in different repairs in the past 9 months or so. Now for the past few months it as been making bad vibrations at idle and and estimate to repair it is another $300. I had said I wanted to drive this van till at least next summer, but now I'm putting all this money into it maybe I should drive it another 2 years (if it lasts...will I continue to make repairs?? or will the repairs come to a halt?) I keep thinking sureley nothing else will go wrong?? The power sliding do
or is consta ntly messed up but I've just lived wit that. I love not having a car payment and DH's truck is paid off, too and while we could take on a car payment we are needing a new roof next summer and I am making "car payments" for that. It's the main family vehicle and I need something reliable.

So when do you finally throw in the towel to repairs and purchase a newer vehicle??

We tend to drive them into the ground here....mostly we wait until the cost of the repair averages the same as a new car payment. I just put a new alternatorin my 2000 Taurus this week...($350). I haven't spent any money beyond oil changes since last year, so I 'm good wlith it right now. If nothing else happens for a couple months, We'd probably do another $3-400 repair if needed. The car has 135k, and if I can get it to 150k with less than $500 more in repairs, I 'll be way ahead. Most likely we'll buy me something brand new within a year.

 

[Jey12]

It depends on several factors, at least it does for me when deciding to pull the plug on my cars. I personally don't consider new tires to be a repair. It's a maintenance expense and one you'd make for a newer car at some point. Usually the tires new cars come with aren't that great and you need to replace them fairly soon, or at least that's always been my luck. So out of the 1k you've spent in the last year how much of that was normal maintenance? I would imagine the tires were a good chunk of that money? I also don't count oil changes, tune ups, or other general maintenance as being an actual repair when I'm deciding if a car is more trouble than it's worth. If the only problem is vibration and it's only going to cost around $300 to fix I'd be all over that. Even if it gets you another 6 months without an issue $300 is still way cheaper than a new car payment, increased cost of tags, insurance, etc...

When you say it's your main vehicle, does that mean you put a lot of miles on it? A 1999 vehicle with the mileage you listed seems pretty low compared to what I can put on a car in that time frame. If you can afford it and you are concerned for your safety in this vehicle then by all means I'd look into getting a new one. Otherwise my personal opinion based on what you've said is I'd keep this vehicle, start putting what you might be spending on a car payment each month into savings and finally when it's time to put this vehicle out if it's misery you should have a nice down payment for a new one. I honestly wouldn't even consider calling it quits until a repair was 1k or more all by itself, and not just a regular maintenance type of thing, something like transmission issues or things along those lines.

 

[Tistal]

The PP who said something along the lines of do you trust it? I think hit the nail on the head. DH and I both have to have our own vehicles. I work about 100 hours a week in the opposite direction of him, so the two of us sharing a car is pretty much out of the picture unless one of us wants to sleep at work.

I don't call 2 tires a repair; I would consider that normal maintenance. I'm also curious as to what the repairs were. Needing to have something fixed because it broke is far different than needing new breaks because they were worn out. If it was something like the latter, hanging onto it for a while would make sense. If it's because there were repairs, you're going to have to consider what the repairs were to, and how long a repair like that normally lasts. But, I think the most important question is do you feel safe and do you trust it still? If you can answer yes to both of those, you'll have to really do some soul searching on if you want to hang onto it longer or not.

 

[mrsklamc]

I would do the $300 repair and keep driving.

Always google problems too- - we've had two things lately we were able to fix ourselves for free and we are not mechanics in any way.

 

[Sagginit]

oohhhh toughie. i was starting to lose trust in my car. i do a lot of highway driving since im right outside NYC now and i do not want anything to go when i am driving that fast. i just replaced my muffler in oct and was going to ride out the winter with it. opportunity knocked if the form of a nice gently used honda for 1/5- 1/4 under BB value. i jumped on it and now need to sell my 92 honda. as i was explaining to a friend its not that i know it has mechanical problems, i just don't feel comfortable in it anymore because the last few repairs i have had were near disasters and major inconveniences. my car payments for the next year will be a little under the repairs i have put into my car in the last year so its worth it.

i think you need to calculate cost of repairs vs payments. even if car payments are more, is it worth the peace of mind? for me it was overwhelmingly yes so that made my decision.

 

[abcboys]

OP here. I'm definitely going to drive it until at least next summer, just wasn't sure if, since I'm throwing all this money in repairs, if I should try to drive it even longer than that if it was still working and throw more money in repairs if needed. DH works a lot of hours and is really not that handy with car repairs so it has to go in the shop. The reason for the new tires was because my tie rods ends were worn and it made the tires wear really unevenly, and I woke to a flat tire one day and noticed how unevenly wore the tires were. That was $200. The other repairs were some kind of power steering belt that broke, tie rod ends with an alignment, and some other kind of bracket that broke?? And then something else I don't remember. There were a lot of repairs right after we got it in 2004....expensive repairs. The whole motor blew out just a month or 2 before the extended warranty ran out!

This is our main family vehicle although DH drives a lot more miles than I do as he works out of town. I do a lot of in town driving, but out of town family trips are in my van. It drives fairly decent just wasn't sure when the cost/time of repairs meant it was time to throw in the towel and purchase a newer vehicle. Definitely not going to get rid of it just yet! Hopefully I'll get this fixed and won't have any more problems for a while!