To repair or not repair????

[tvguy]

Going to Midas was his mistake.

That's where his insurance sent him. All the muffler shops use the same brand aftermarket converter for his Toyota, so it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

 

[sunshinehighway]

We used to have testing here but no more. It depends on your levels if pollution. We have reformulated gas, which does cost more.

Oh...thanks for the info. I wish we still had testing every other year. Now its every year. Of course my old car would throw a code the month before I needed a new sticker. Seriously it was a curse.

 

[tvguy]

Nope, brand new. Scrap value is only about $80. Maybe the shop figures that into the price. There's only about 2 grams of platinum in a cat.

That apparently is the difference between aftermarket and OEM converters. The OEM are designed to meet the 8 year 80,000 minimum life the EPA new car warranty requirement. Cops here actually busted a couple of muffler shops here because they were installing stolen converters. The investigator our reporter interviewed actually said that consumers should be wary of shop selling a replacement converter for less about $800.
Most converters use platinum along with Palladium and rhodium. Currently rhodium is more valuable than the platinum

Of course, I'm in California. The converter not only has to be on the car when you sell it here, it is tested to make sure it is working.

 

[DawnM]

Thankfully my husband is good at figuring out what is wrong, even if he doesn't have the time to fix it.

We just got a car in March, first new one in over 10 years. We bought a Camry Hybrid and love it. Our 11 year old car is a Toyota and still running perfectly. Our 14 year old car runs very well too and we hope our teens can use that car through their teen years (Saturn VUE).

BTW: The Camry replaced a 1996 Saturn, so we definitely keep our cars a LONG time.

 

[danygirl]

we drive them until they aren't driveable anymore. This winter we put $3000 into a rebuilt tranny for our 02 windstar - we could not have replaced it for that amount and we still wanted a mini van for a few years. 197K miles

This weekend we did a rear brake job on it - around 250 for parts and DH does the work. way less than we would be paying on a new car!

the check engine light often means the gas cap was not properly put on one time - DH was a master tech for years. Not all check engine light repairs are costly, and you can do many of them at home if you have skills - there are tons of videos on youtube

 

[disneymagicgirl]

With 115k miles, if you haven't already replaced the timing belt, you will want to have that done. Prob cost you around $800. I agree with the OP who said a pattern of spending an yearly average near the amount you would spend on a car payment means consider selling.

 

[kirstenb1]

We keep cars a long time, and pay for repairs along the way. Beats a car payment (til it's a motor or trans, then do your math)

 

[tvguy]

We keep cars a long time, and pay for repairs along the way. Beats a car payment (til it's a motor or trans, then do your math)

Rust and collision damage are really the only things I would balk at doing if you at looking at the lowest cost of ownership over time.

I have replaced a transmission in several cars, I wouldn't even balk at that. Never done a motor. Bottom line, you're going to lose more in depreciation on a new $30,000 car the second you drive it off the lot that a new engine or transmission will cost.

I know at work, my last three employers didn't even blink an eye at replacing engines or transmissions in a fleet car. All they care about is that $3,000 or $4,000 cash outlay is going to get another 150,000 miles use out of the vehicle. Replacing it is going to cost 5 or 6 times that amount.

 

[kathy884]

I look at maintenance schedules and talk to mechanics when making those kind of decisions.

I usually make a decision at the time that I buy a car how long I will plan to keep it, what I think it's useful life will be. I always pay cash for cars (although I might fiancé for an incentive and pay it off right away), so part of my expectations for useful life are based on when I'll have enough in my car fund (put money in from each paycheck) to replace the car.

Once the car has served it's useful life, and I have the money to replace it, then when I see high maintenance coming I know it's time to say goodbye. This just happened to me with my 2004 Honda Odyssey. My plan was to drive it for 10 years or 200,000 miles whichever came first and to dump it before putting in a second expensive replacement timing belt. Well as of May I had had it for 10 years and miles were at 165,000 miles. I wanted a larger family vehicle replacement, but with car pooling days over I was not planning or funding a replacement mini van, meant I didn't have to be putting as much money aside as I would have otherwise. My replacement car fund had 22,000 in it to replace the car at that point too (enough for a new loaded compact car or a more basic model late model sedan or SUV). We had a small ding on the bumper that didn't look bad that I chose not to repair (it has been there for the last four years), as it would have been $800 out of pocket (I carry a $1000 deductible) and I couldn't see spending that much, and then I just found out two weeks ago that there is some dry rot in the suspension (repair of about $600 that should occur in the next few months and some dry rot in the tires (about $600 to replace), and that made it a no brainer to me that it was time to replace the car. Anyway I just got a used 2014 Murano with about 20,000 miles from Enterprise Car sales as a replacement, and they gave me Kelly Blue Book dealer trade in value for the Odyssey. My current plan too, is to if it works out drive the Murano till 2024 or so, putting replacement dollars into my car fund monthly too. // Cars can last forever if you keep putting money into them, so for me it's how long I want to keep doing that vs. putting money instead into something newer.

 

[tvguy]

I look at maintenance schedules and talk to mechanics when making those kind of decisions.

I usually make a decision at the time that I buy a car how long I will plan to keep it, what I think it's useful life will be. I always pay cash for cars (although I might fiancé for an incentive and pay it off right away), so part of my expectations for useful life are based on when I'll have enough in my car fund (put money in from each paycheck) to replace the car.

Once the car has served it's useful life, and I have the money to replace it, then when I see high maintenance coming I know it's time to say goodbye. This just happened to me with my 2004 Honda Odyssey. My plan was to drive it for 10 years or 200,000 miles whichever came first and to dump it before putting in a second expensive replacement timing belt. Well as of May I had had it for 10 years and miles were at 165,000 miles. I wanted a larger family vehicle replacement, but with car pooling days over I was not planning or funding a replacement mini van, meant I didn't have to be putting as much money aside as I would have otherwise. My replacement car fund had 22,000 in it to replace the car at that point too (enough for a new loaded compact car or a more basic model late model sedan or SUV). We had a small ding on the bumper that didn't look bad that I chose not to repair (it has been there for the last four years), as it would have been $800 out of pocket (I carry a $1000 deductible) and I couldn't see spending that much, and then I just found out two weeks ago that there is some dry rot in the suspension (repair of about $600 that should occur in the next few months and some dry rot in the tires (about $600 to replace), and that made it a no brainer to me that it was time to replace the car. Anyway I just got a used 2014 Murano with about 20,000 miles from Enterprise Car sales as a replacement, and they gave me Kelly Blue Book dealer trade in value for the Odyssey. My current plan too, is to if it works out drive the Murano till 2024 or so, putting replacement dollars into my car fund monthly too. // Cars can last forever if you keep putting money into them, so for me it's how long I want to keep doing that vs. putting money instead into something newer.

Yup, rust can be a deal killer. Although, given modern rust proofing, I am surprised at how much suspension rust I am hearing about on mid-2000 Hondas. I am surprised you were still carrying collision on the car though.