When to get a new car?

[ginjaninja]

Hello Mustache Community,

I currently drive a 2001 Lexus RX300 with 265,000 miles on it.  The check engine light is on for something that is not critical to the safety of the car and is $800 to fix.  The timing belt will need to be replaced at 270,000 miles. 

Friends and family have told me that I should get a new car. 
Their reasons include:

• I will have a higher trade in value now
• My car is losing reliability (I personally think this is b.s. because I spent a total of $1500 on car related things last year including gas)
• There are some expensive maintenance items coming up so I should get rid of it now

Should I look at getting a new to me (used car)?  Or should I wait until I literally cannot drive the car any longer?  I am trying to be hardcore frugal because I know cars are ridiculous expenses, but I also don't want to be stupid about this decision.

[Lanthiriel]

I think this is a super personal question. The answer for me was when anxiety about reliability got too high. My husband works long hours, which leaves me with a full-time job plus basically sole management of making sure our lives run (cleaning, grocery shopping, dog care, etc.). Having my car out of commission once every six months for a day or more to fix small things that were failing was driving me bonkers. I sold it when it could provide a decent down payment on a new car and bought myself a Honda Fit. I'm hoping not to have to worry about power steering pump failures and full wheel replacements for another 10 years.

[Stash Engineer]

Any car with 265k miles on it has no trade in value.  You have to decide/guess whether or not you think fixing the light and timing belt is a better investment than putting that money towards a newer vehicle. 

[ketchup]

What is your cost of downtime? Do you have multiple vehicles in your household?

If the answer to the first question is low or the answer to the second is yes, I'd say definitely keep on truckin'.  No reason not to run it into the ground if it still seems fine and doesn't have any glaring horrible problems (major leaks, major rust, safety issues, etc.).  Lexus and Toyota always top the longevity scales, so it could very likely do 300k+.  If you spend $1500/yr on car stuff including gas, you're not putting a ton of miles on that thing, so you likely have years left in it.

Or it could die tomorrow, but it probably won't.

[AZDude]

I agree with others. Unless you need a very reliable vehicle for work/personal matters, then just keep your current ride. Think of this way, if you spend $2000 a year on repairs(not maintenance, just fixing broken stuff), then a brad new, economically friendly car would take like 8-10 years to break even, and even a modest used car with less miles would take 4 or 5 years.

[debbie does duncan]

 Keep it ....if you want. I have never replaced a timing belt bc someone else (not a driver) told me to. This car will last a long time.....maybe till 400000 km. Game on!

[ginjaninja]

Thanks for your feedback everyone!  I was hoping on here I could find some people who are in the keep it camp. 

The only work that I have needed to do on the car in the last two years is tire and oil changes.  I spent $100 for the mechanic to look at all of the critical parts (transmission, shocks, breaks, axles, etc.) and he said that there are no safety concerns, just that everything was old and if the transmission goes out I should not replace it.  I was worried that I am sacrificing trade in value, but that does not seem to be the case. 

Ride share's are decently affordable where I live (I have gotten myself into some carpool situations without a way to get home).  For example, the 20 miles from my house to my boyfriends is a $7-9 ride.  So Ketchup the cost of my downtime is $10/day.  And I can usually find a car or bike for everything else I need. 

Debbie does duncan, I would like to be driving a 20 year old car...so I am thinking 2021 would be a good time?  400k would take me probably 8-10 more years to reach!  HA!

Lanthiriel if I was having more significant issues I would be more in your boat.  People say the reliability is shot in my car, but with my experience I have no proof that this is true.  Knock on wood of course.

[Dave1442397]

If there's any car that will just keep going, it's a Toyota/Lexus.

Here's the most recent article I found on Matt Farah's million-mile Lexus - http://driversedition.com/index.php/one-million-mile-lexus/

I also found this video about an LS 430 with 350k miles when I was researching cars last year. Not that relevant, but interesting to see how well the car is running after that many miles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ0yufjC5Ys

[erutio]

For those advocating running it into the ground, what does one do when that actually happens?

Do you call your insurance company and say your car doesn't run anymore?  Who comes and tows it and ultimately demolish it?  What happens to the title?  Do you get prorate for your insurance and registration for the year?

This is something I want to do with my current car eventually, but I just realized I don't know what actually to do when it does happen.

[Dave1442397]

For those advocating running it into the ground, what does one do when that actually happens?

Do you call your insurance company and say your car doesn't run anymore?  Who comes and tows it and ultimately demolish it?  What happens to the title?  Do you get prorate for your insurance and registration for the year?

This is something I want to do with my current car eventually, but I just realized I don't know what actually to do when it does happen.

Your insurance company will just take it off your policy and refund you a prorated amount. In NJ, if you transfer the plate to another car you may save some money on registration, but it's only $70-80 a year here anyway.

As for getting rid of it, there are plenty of people who will take it away for free. There are always parts that can be resold.

[ketchup]

For those advocating running it into the ground, what does one do when that actually happens?

Do you call your insurance company and say your car doesn't run anymore?  Who comes and tows it and ultimately demolish it?  What happens to the title?  Do you get prorate for your insurance and registration for the year?

This is something I want to do with my current car eventually, but I just realized I don't know what actually to do when it does happen.

My last car died on the highway 100 miles from home.  I got it towed home by AAA, and then to a local shop.  When they told me it was dead (engine gave out, 262,xxx miles), I found someone on Craigslist that wanted it for the catalytic converter and would then recycle it.  They picked it up from the shop with a tow truck.  I got $200 for it.

My dad's old car was rusted out to the point where it was about to become falling apart and unsafe, but was mechanically still fine.  He just drove it to the junkyard with his bicycle in the back seat and rode home.  I think they gave him $100.

Title goes to the scrapyard the same way it would with any car sale.  You definitely don't get your registration pro-rated, but you do generally get insurance pro-rated.

[Dr.Jeckyl]

Haha, quite timely. I'm in the same boat. The "want" of a new to me car is strong. So strong that I spend a good portion of my day looking at used cars online and it's just about all I think about. Everyone tells me to get rid of it because it isn't reliable. It's a '03 Cavalier with 272,000 miles. It's super reliable. And when things break they are cheap to fix and I can fix it myself. However, this was a "temp" car. My wife bought it new when she was still in college. We bought a new family car when we were married 10 years ago. I drove it for a few years but swapped cars when we started our family. I started driving the 2 door because I had a 140 mile round trip to work and it was economical. I figured I'd drive it until about 150k and it would be pretty well used up, then 200k rolled around, then 250k... After I gave up on the mileage I figured I'd wait until we saved money and bought our new house, then I figured I should wait until my student loans were all paid off. All of it is done.

All that being said, I want a new car because I would've never bought this car. Before this all I ever owned were manuals and miss driving a manual. Plus, I'd like to have something I like. But bottom line, I can't bring myself to do it.

[Dave1442397]

It's a '03 Cavalier with 272,000 miles.
All that being said, I want a new car because I would've never bought this car. Before this all I ever owned were manuals and miss driving a manual. Plus, I'd like to have something I like. But bottom line, I can't bring myself to do it.

I can sympathize. My sister-in-law had a Cavalier in the late '90s. She moved from the East coast to Seattle, and a friend who's 6'4" said he'd drive across country with her. He said it was like being stuck in a very small blender for a week.