Author Topic: Car repairs = almost price of the car  (Read 1679 times)

Linea_Norway

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Car repairs = almost price of the car
« on: November 20, 2019, 06:58:02 AM »
Our old Suzuki will not be pass the EU control in it's current condition. According to the guy who did the check, it needs 4 new tires and some new metal stuff under the car, going to the wheels. The latter is something we cannot fix ourselves. Also the mist lights don't work probably, but disconnecting them is good enough to get that problem solved.

Total repair costs if the repair shop fixes it is 1150 euros. We might be able to shave off a little bit if we find some cheaper tires. But the car isn't worth more than 1600 euros in total, if it had passed the EU control. If we bring it to a car wreck place, we get only 300 euros. We have until the end of Feb 2020 to get the car to pass the EU control.

We will soon stop working and then we don't need a second car anymore.
Cars in this condition won't sell, because no one wants to buy it. Would anyone still want to buy it as a parts car that isn't allowed on the road after Feb?

I think the car today is worth 1600 - 1150 = 450 euro. That is pretty close to the wrecking amount. So maybe a repair is not worth it, investing 1100 to sell it later for 1600. We could wreck it after we stop working.

What would you do in our case?

DadJokes

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2019, 07:06:34 AM »
If you were to scrap it for 300 euro, at what price could you get a serviceable vehicle? And at what price do you think you could sell it once you no longer need it?

Here in the states, it's not difficult to get an older vehicle, drive it for a year or two, then turn around and sell it for about the same price.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2019, 07:17:50 AM »
If you were to scrap it for 300 euro, at what price could you get a serviceable vehicle? And at what price do you think you could sell it once you no longer need it?

Here in the states, it's not difficult to get an older vehicle, drive it for a year or two, then turn around and sell it for about the same price.

We don't need to replace it with another vehicle. We have a another car that works well at the moment and can soon live with only one car.

In general, a serviceable vehicle would cost approx 6500 euros.  But we won't buy it.

Laura33

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2019, 08:52:15 AM »
If you don't need a second car, why not just sell it or junk it? 

I am generally a favor of doing repairs, because the cost of the repairs is often lower than the cost of a replacement vehicle.  But when the car is a second car, and you're not going to need a second car, it doesn't make sense to repair or replace it -- just get rid of it for the maximum amount you can.

ChpBstrd

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2019, 09:43:25 AM »
I agree if you don’t need something you should sell it.

However you have not done that yet, so I assume you need the second car for some transportation purpose. Am I right? What is the cheapest way to meet this requirement? Bike? Scooter? Bus? Taxi? Carpool? Maybe it is to fix the old car?

I think it is sometimes rational to fix a car at a cost greater than its current value. If doing that is the cheapest way to obtain the required transportation, then it doesn’t matter what the car was or is worth. Whatever you do, don’t use that rationale as an excuse to “upgrade” to a more expensive mode of transportation, such as a new car.


Linea_Norway

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2019, 10:38:35 AM »
We only need the car for the next 4 weeks to drive DH the train station. If we sell the car, I can drive him in that time with the other car.

My question is only, shall we upgrade it, to be able to sell it for almost the same price as the repair? Or shall we take the wrack money, which is very low?

DH is taking a look on whether we can get it repaired cheaper somehow. Maybe buy some used tires that are newer than our current ones. We only need to repair it so that it gets approved in the test. Then we can sell it.

Laura33

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2019, 10:53:54 AM »
We only need the car for the next 4 weeks to drive DH the train station. If we sell the car, I can drive him in that time with the other car.

My question is only, shall we upgrade it, to be able to sell it for almost the same price as the repair? Or shall we take the wrack money, which is very low?

DH is taking a look on whether we can get it repaired cheaper somehow. Maybe buy some used tires that are newer than our current ones. We only need to repair it so that it gets approved in the test. Then we can sell it.

With a four-month window and no actual need for the vehicle, I'd do the repairs only if you can be sure that the post-repair value of the car is more than the cost of the repairs.  No sense paying more than you'll get back when you don't actually need the vehicle for some other purpose over the interim timeframe. 

Linea_Norway

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Re: Car repairs = almost price of the car
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2019, 06:47:01 AM »
We found out that replacing two of the parts as requested was not expensive to buy and will not be difficult to replace. So we ordered the parts and DH will try to replace them, as well as disconnect the mist light. Ordering new tires ourselves was not cheaper. So after fixing the part, we will let the repairshop change the tires and approve the car. Cost should be half of what they would have charged otherwise.