When to get a "new" car vs running the old one into the ground? Any recs?

[MVal]

I just had to get about $1400 in repairs to my 13 year old hatchback today. I had an opportunity a few months ago to purchase a slightly newer car just like mine with about half the miles, but I opted not to since this one hasn't given me any reason to doubt it would hold up. I thought the CV joint was going bad on the right side, but it turns out my struts are "stuck" or otherwise shot and my left brake needs a lot of work. So I feel some regret now that I didn't purchase the newer car and ditch this one, but so far, the repair cost is still less buying another one. Hopefully I can run this car another couple of years without any more huge repairs like this to make this repair worth it, but there's no guarantee on a car with nearly 180K miles on it. It has a Toyota engine, so I'm hoping no future engine troubles.

[JLee]

I just had to get about $1400 in repairs to my 13 year old hatchback today. I had an opportunity a few months ago to purchase a slightly newer car just like mine with about half the miles, but I opted not to since this one hasn't given me any reason to doubt it would hold up. I thought the CV joint was going bad on the right side, but it turns out my struts are "stuck" or otherwise shot and my left brake needs a lot of work. So I feel some regret now that I didn't purchase the newer car and ditch this one, but so far, the repair cost is still less buying another one. Hopefully I can run this car another couple of years without any more huge repairs like this to make this repair worth it, but there's no guarantee on a car with nearly 180K miles on it. It has a Toyota engine, so I'm hoping no future engine troubles.

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do. You can save an incredible amount of money if you DIY.

If my garage and tools weren't on the other side of the country, I'd consider doing work for MMM'ers at half the cost of a shop...but alas, it's ~2100 miles away!

[Syonyk]

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do.

If you live in salt country, you also learn to invent curse words on the spot, because the normal selection just doesn't do it for working on suspension bolts.  And caliper mounting bolts can be pretty damned bad too.

[JLee]

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do.

If you live in salt country, you also learn to invent curse words on the spot, because the normal selection just doesn't do it for working on suspension bolts.  And caliper mounting bolts can be pretty damned bad too.

Very true.  Still worth the cost savings, IMO. :)

This is what I was doing last weekend:

[MVal]

I just had to get about $1400 in repairs to my 13 year old hatchback today. I had an opportunity a few months ago to purchase a slightly newer car just like mine with about half the miles, but I opted not to since this one hasn't given me any reason to doubt it would hold up. I thought the CV joint was going bad on the right side, but it turns out my struts are "stuck" or otherwise shot and my left brake needs a lot of work. So I feel some regret now that I didn't purchase the newer car and ditch this one, but so far, the repair cost is still less buying another one. Hopefully I can run this car another couple of years without any more huge repairs like this to make this repair worth it, but there's no guarantee on a car with nearly 180K miles on it. It has a Toyota engine, so I'm hoping no future engine troubles.

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do. You can save an incredible amount of money if you DIY.

If my garage and tools weren't on the other side of the country, I'd consider doing work for MMM'ers at half the cost of a shop...but alas, it's ~2100 miles away!

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to do my own work. I barely know how to change a tire and I don't own any tools or know anything about cars at all, really. :(  I'm such a girly-girl.

[JLee]

I just had to get about $1400 in repairs to my 13 year old hatchback today. I had an opportunity a few months ago to purchase a slightly newer car just like mine with about half the miles, but I opted not to since this one hasn't given me any reason to doubt it would hold up. I thought the CV joint was going bad on the right side, but it turns out my struts are "stuck" or otherwise shot and my left brake needs a lot of work. So I feel some regret now that I didn't purchase the newer car and ditch this one, but so far, the repair cost is still less buying another one. Hopefully I can run this car another couple of years without any more huge repairs like this to make this repair worth it, but there's no guarantee on a car with nearly 180K miles on it. It has a Toyota engine, so I'm hoping no future engine troubles.

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do. You can save an incredible amount of money if you DIY.

If my garage and tools weren't on the other side of the country, I'd consider doing work for MMM'ers at half the cost of a shop...but alas, it's ~2100 miles away!

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to do my own work. I barely know how to change a tire and I don't own any tools or know anything about cars at all, really. :(  I'm such a girly-girl.

You can learn! : )

The money savings is astronomical -- sometimes I forget how much it costs to pay mechanics to do stuff, and then a friend/family member will mention what it cost to repair their car and I'm stunned.

[big_slacker]

Just as an update to my situation over the weekend I got rid of my wife's money pit and traded it for a used Subie Outback for our family car/adventure car. Problem ratings on this year/model are very low and I damn well better get at least 150k miles on it. :)

I also made the financially sound but emotionally painful call to swap my monster truck (Jeep Wrangler) for a used Fit. I really enjoyed the jeep but it was incredibly impractical even when doing 'outdoor stuff'. Had almost no storage space, anyone could steal any gear they wanted, horrific gas mileage, etc. I can fit my bike in the back of the fit with the seats down, don't even need a hitch rack anymore. I could sleep back there in a pinch.

Hoping to be done with cars for the next 10 years. :D

[MVal]

I just had to get about $1400 in repairs to my 13 year old hatchback today. I had an opportunity a few months ago to purchase a slightly newer car just like mine with about half the miles, but I opted not to since this one hasn't given me any reason to doubt it would hold up. I thought the CV joint was going bad on the right side, but it turns out my struts are "stuck" or otherwise shot and my left brake needs a lot of work. So I feel some regret now that I didn't purchase the newer car and ditch this one, but so far, the repair cost is still less buying another one. Hopefully I can run this car another couple of years without any more huge repairs like this to make this repair worth it, but there's no guarantee on a car with nearly 180K miles on it. It has a Toyota engine, so I'm hoping no future engine troubles.

If you are able to do your own work, brake and suspension repair is relatively easy to do. You can save an incredible amount of money if you DIY.

If my garage and tools weren't on the other side of the country, I'd consider doing work for MMM'ers at half the cost of a shop...but alas, it's ~2100 miles away!

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to do my own work. I barely know how to change a tire and I don't own any tools or know anything about cars at all, really. :(  I'm such a girly-girl.

You can learn! : )

The money savings is astronomical -- sometimes I forget how much it costs to pay mechanics to do stuff, and then a friend/family member will mention what it cost to repair their car and I'm stunned.

That would be nice. Maybe someday I'll find a friend who is willing to teach me or let me use their tools. There are so many "practical" skills I'd like to learn like this, but it seems like I'll have to wait until I'm FIRED before I'll have time to learn them fully and to complete repairs safely/know what I'm actually doing. I did change out our two-sided keyed deadbolt on the door last year without the help of a locksmith and I was pretty proud of that. I couldn't believe they'd want $60+ to do what I did!