UPDATE 2: Fixed the clutch, but now there's some coolant issues. Hoping it's not the head gasket. :(
UPDATE: The car's clutch has died and the quote for repair is about the same as the market value of the car. Now it's a 'what to replace it with' question. See the later post :)
Hi all,
So lately I've been having some thoughts about replacing my car (either now or in a year's time).
Currently I've got a 2002 Holden Barina with 150,000km on it. It's a fairly simple (and surprisingly reliable) little car with a 1.4L engine, three doors, a manual transmission, basic trim with wind up windows, and I tend to average about 8L/100km in it. I've owned it about four years and I've put just under 40,000km on it in that time.
Although, I've started to toy with the idea of selling it and buying something a bit newer. Some info about why I'm considering this is the following:
- My state requires a roadworthy certificate (issued by a mechanic) to register a car or transfer registration, there is effectively a floor price on used cars that already have this certificate of about $1500-2000 (cars can sell for less without rego/RWC but the price of getting the RWC is an unknown quantity). I suspect it wouldn't require much for this and I could probably get $2000 for it.
- Due to this, I wonder if it's worth replacing it while it's still worth something rather than drive it until it's completely toast and get a few hundred bucks for it as scrap.
- A decent small car (same size or slightly larger, Corolla or equivalent maybe) from about 2006-2009 can be had for about $3-5K (even with the RWC). If the changeover cost is only a couple of grand for something five or so years newer (although possibly higher km), it's a tempting and almost sensible proposition.
- A newer vehicle would generally be safer. Given some of the dumb things I've seen other drivers do and the oversized SUVs and utes many people tend to drive, a bit more crash protection would be definitely desirable.
- I've only owned manual vehicles since 2006, but I'm starting to be keen on the idea of driving an automatic next.
- My current car doesn't have cruise control, and after breaking my ankle in 2016, I find that I've had some pain in my ankle when driving for more than a couple of hours at a time in my current car. I drove two automatic rental cars this year (both covering hundreds of kilometres on some days), and didn't have a problem. I looked into retrofitting cruise control to my current car, but it's expensive.
Although there's a few good arguments against it.
- The current car still works fine for now and has low kilometres for its age. For all I know it could have another decade of useful life left in it with regular maintenance. Although hey, it's a GM product, not a Corolla :p
- If I'm getting an automatic or something slightly larger (let alone both), fuel economy would suffer (especially as I do a lot of lower-speed city driving). A used Prius would change this equation, but they're more expensive (the cheapest 2nd gen Prius on Carsales in Victoria is $6800 with an RWC).
- I'm trading a known quantity for an unknown quantity. Any car I buy could need $1000 of maintenance the previous owner has neglected doing. For example, if there's no evidence that the timing belt has been done, I'm safest to assume that it hasn't, and budget for it's prompt replacement.
- I'm looking to buy a place in the new year, and spending that cash on a car instead of using it as part of a deposit seems unwise now (although in a year's time once I've moved it may not be so bad).
- The 'I wants' have largely resulted from driving a rental 2017 VW Polo with a fancy-pants 7 speed DSG transmission for a couple of thousand kilometres on holiday last month. Any car in my price range is more likely to have a stone-age four speed automatic that I won't enjoy as much :)
Yes, I could go and buy a brand new car for $20-25K and burn through a big chunk of my savings or deal with a car loan, but I've been here long enough to know that's a silly idea :)
Do I deserve a facepunch, or is replacing my car not a completely dumb idea?