Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The old Ford now has about 115,000 miles which would not be much for a Toyota or Honda but a lot for a 2002 Ford. The good news it is paid off and still runing, the bad news it is worth maybe $2000.
I can't decide if I want to trade it in for not. On one hand it is nice to have no $250 a month car payment. But on the other hand, I have been spending about $1200 a year in repair costs during the last few years. Just when I think everything is fixed, something new breaks down. But maybe now that so many things have been fixed and replaced (tires, batterys, belts, etc, etc, etc, maybe nothing more will break in the next year and I will save money by not having any car payments, pay less personal property tax and insurance. But I have to assume that there will be another $1200 or so of new repairs in 2011 on. Who knows!
With this in mind how do you finally decide it is time to get a new or newish car?
Well assuming you fixed quite a few things, I wouldn't imagine you should have anywhere near a $1200 repair bill again this year. Tires are a huge item and you shouldn't have to replace those after just putting them on. Belts and batteries are inexpensive, usually the labor costs more than the parts do!
There is no definite answer on how long you should keep a car with high miles. I usually trade vehicles after 3 years or so but it's because I like to, not because of the miles or repair costs.
If your current vehicle is reliable, you could drive it for quite a while yet but if you feel that certain that something else will break, I'd trade it off on something newer. You can buy quite a few decent vehicles for under $10K if you shop around. You'll have a payment but that's just a pill you have to swallow if you want to trade up.
I think it all comes down to what you want. As long as the car is decently reliable and suits your needs the prudent move would be to put what you were paying into the bank each month and save it. Drive this car for as long as you can and fix the minor things as they come up and be prepared to dump it if something major breaks. Once the car has depreciated this much and is only worth $2k or so, they tend to hold that value going forward as long as they are in running condition. There are always a ton of people out there who will pay $2k in cash for a decent running car.
If it was me, I would hold on to it and drive it as long as I could and keep putting that money in the bank. If your needs change, or you WANT a new car, than go shopping.
115k is kind of in the zone between 90 and 120k miles, where cars generally need additional TLC. Then the repair expenses cool off for a while. Some of it depends on the make and model.
Although $1200/year seems expensive for repairs that you wouldn't have on a new car, it's cheap in comparison to a new car. At the same time, the old car may cost you the loss of some reliability, features, and appearance. You have to decide what you want more.
The old Ford now has about 115,000 miles which would not be much for a Toyota or Honda but a lot for a 2002 Ford. The good news it is paid off and still runing, the bad news it is worth maybe $2000.
I can't decide if I want to trade it in for not. On one hand it is nice to have no $250 a month car payment. But on the other hand, I have been spending about $1200 a year in repair costs during the last few years. Just when I think everything is fixed, something new breaks down. But maybe now that so many things have been fixed and replaced (tires, batterys, belts, etc, etc, etc, maybe nothing more will break in the next year and I will save money by not having any car payments, pay less personal property tax and insurance. But I have to assume that there will be another $1200 or so of new repairs in 2011 on. Who knows!
With this in mind how do you finally decide it is time to get a new or newish car?
$250 a month times 12 months is $3000 per year.
Tires, batteries and belts are all wear items that you're going to have to deal with on a new car as well. That's not a sign of a faulty car, those are just common wear items.
Financially speaking, you're almost always better off to keep your old car running than to buy a new one, unless there are problems with the body or frame (rust issues).
I tend to drive cars until the only value in them is what you can get for scrap metal. It is definitely the cheapest way.
The old Ford now has about 115,000 miles which would not be much for a Toyota or Honda but a lot for a 2002 Ford. The good news it is paid off and still runing, the bad news it is worth maybe $2000.
I can't decide if I want to trade it in for not. On one hand it is nice to have no $250 a month car payment. But on the other hand, I have been spending about $1200 a year in repair costs during the last few years. Just when I think everything is fixed, something new breaks down. But maybe now that so many things have been fixed and replaced (tires, batterys, belts, etc, etc, etc, maybe nothing more will break in the next year and I will save money by not having any car payments, pay less personal property tax and insurance. But I have to assume that there will be another $1200 or so of new repairs in 2011 on. Who knows!
With this in mind how do you finally decide it is time to get a new or newish car?
A paid for car starts paying you back the longer you keep it as long as the body/frame is sound. Don't keep a car that starting to rust out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJGOAT
I think it all comes down to what you want. As long as the car is decently reliable and suits your needs the prudent move would be to put what you were paying into the bank each month and save it. Drive this car for as long as you can and fix the minor things as they come up and be prepared to dump it if something major breaks. Once the car has depreciated this much and is only worth $2k or so, they tend to hold that value going forward as long as they are in running condition. There are always a ton of people out there who will pay $2k in cash for a decent running car.
If it was me, I would hold on to it and drive it as long as I could and keep putting that money in the bank. If your needs change, or you WANT a new car, than go shopping.
Goat covers some key points that you're not doing. One point is to "keep paying a car payment" to your savings account to cover repairs and save for the time when you need a different car. Failing to that is pure foolishness.
Every car will have a period of time when parts start to wear out so after they are replaced you can coast until some other part will wear out which could be a long time all the while saving gobs of money over a car payment car.
You'd be surprised how many people panic at the first sign of repairs to wind up in perpetual car debt. They forget that a car is nothing more than a machine that will, from time to time, need repairs so they dump a perfectly good car for the same problems in another car. If you like the car keep it so you can enjoy the cheaper insurance etc. that goes with an older car.
Our philosophy has always been - if the major repairs start becoming more than a car payment. Not sure if it's like this where you are, but here, the newer the car, the more expensive the car registration.
Also higher insurance usually. If your car is that old/worth only $2,000, I'm assuming you are only carrying liability. New car with car payment means full coverage as well.
I'd keep it. And as mentioned, if you can afford a car payment, just put that aside for now. Then when the time comes, you'll have either a good down payment or can buy a car out right.
The trouble with an old car that is beyond the issue of cost is reliability. In the last 2 years the old car has not started in some really tough spots. (Due to a bad starter, battery and alternator- all which are now replaced). I was parked at a State Park, in a bad neighborhood at night, and running late for work and the car did not start. Another time about 3 years ago I was driving in Brooklyn on the way to JFK Airport (300 miles from home) and the transmission went bad and I had to drive it into a Ford Dealer to have it fixed. Another costly repair! Now we are renting a car if we have to go more than a 100 miles from home. And started a more expensive AAA Membership where they will tow our car up to 100 miles.
So basically the hassle factor is very high for this car but again we like not having a car payment.
I think it depends on your job situation and whether auto breakdowns negatively affect your performance at work. My boss if fairly flexible with my hours so being late a few times a yr is no big deal. But my friend's wife is on the support staff for a Wall St. investment bank and they actually use security cameras to monitor who comes in late or leaves early.
Unless this car has some serious body or structural damage, it's a good candidate now to give you some additional miles. You've already replaced many items that are now just beginning to give you their remaining service life.
Unless you're facing a major capital expense to keep this car on the road, you'll be many dollars ahead to keep it.
FWIW ... my only new car was bought in Feb '72, a BMW 2002 which I still have and drive. All the rest of the cars and trucks in my fleet were bought with a minimum of 100,000 miles on the odometer. They've typically dropped to the bottom of their value, so they're cheap to buy and generally inexpensive to keep on the road. Consumables ... tires, batteries, brakes, belts, hoses ... are expenses that will be required on any vehicle based upon time/mileage, whether it's a new car or an old one. A new car is a very expensive way to acquire those items with their full service life remaining.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
