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I have a car with almost 220K miles, still runs alright. It needs some minor repairs to get it in tip top shape (passenger window, possibly struts, a couple tires). The body is starting to rust on the bottom.
The car has lasted longer than I expected and now I'm at the point where I'm trying to determine whether to keep driving it or replace it. It has a lot of miles but isn't super old at 10 years old. The car is paid off and doesn't really have much trade in value (surely less than $1000 when factoring in the repairs)
If I worked closer to home, it would be a no brainer, I would keep it, but my daily commute is 100 miles (50 miles each way) and I'm a bit leery of a possible breakdown, either on the expressway or through a not-so-great area that I drive through for a few miles each day. I do have roadside assistance with my insurance company that will tow up to 15 miles and I was thinking about getting a AAA membership that would tow up to 100 miles.
I'm trying to decide whether to keep or sell. I was leaning toward keeping it but keep going back and forth. This is usually a good time of the year to buy since dealers are trying to get vehicles off the books between now and the end of the year. What would you recommend?
Sounds like you are trying to decide between the more economical option of doing some repairs and keeping it, versus spending a little more to have more longer term peace of mind of having newer.
If it were me, I would consider the recent history of the car, and how much longer I want to get out of it compared to the costs of doing the repair.
Either way, it's a personal decision you have to make depending on your knowledge of the car, how much anxiety you have over a possible breakdown, and your current financial state to potentially replace it.
Location: Butler County Ohio and Winters in Florida
929 posts, read 2,723,125 times
Reputation: 635
Can you provide us more info please?
Make and model of current vehicle?
MPG ?
Does this vehicle still fit your current needs?
How is the interior?
How rusty? Estimate to fix ?
Have you kept up with maintenance, such as fluids, plugs, etc?
If it's just the things you mentioned (passenger window, possibly struts, a couple tires) then I'd be tempted to keep it. If it's anything powertrain-related, I wouldn't take a chance with a 100-mile commute in winter.
I have a car with almost 220K miles, still runs alright. It needs some minor repairs to get it in tip top shape (passenger window, possibly struts, a couple tires). The body is starting to rust on the bottom.
The car has lasted longer than I expected and now I'm at the point where I'm trying to determine whether to keep driving it or replace it. It has a lot of miles but isn't super old at 10 years old. The car is paid off and doesn't really have much trade in value (surely less than $1000 when factoring in the repairs)
If I worked closer to home, it would be a no brainer, I would keep it, but my daily commute is 100 miles (50 miles each way) and I'm a bit leery of a possible breakdown, either on the expressway or through a not-so-great area that I drive through for a few miles each day. I do have roadside assistance with my insurance company that will tow up to 15 miles and I was thinking about getting a AAA membership that would tow up to 100 miles.
I'm trying to decide whether to keep or sell. I was leaning toward keeping it but keep going back and forth. This is usually a good time of the year to buy since dealers are trying to get vehicles off the books between now and the end of the year. What would you recommend?
I am in the same exact predicament as you, except I'm at 210k and round trip commute is only 75 miles.
I was all about trying to find something preowned to replace mine then decided since I keep my vehicles at least 10 years I should just start with something new. Then I started pricing new vehicles and now I'm at a stand still. I really don't know what to do now.
Vehicle is a '01 VW Jetta TDI , things it needs is spring,shocks, struts within the next 20k miles I'd say. Due for a timing belt in 40k miles , brakes soon, need to replace the glow plugs /harness before winter hits and maybe a front end component or so.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,568 posts, read 81,147,605 times
Reputation: 57777
Since the trade-in value is so little, I would buy a new one but keep it, cancel all but the liability insurance and drive it until it drops, just around town on errands and as a backup. Your personal safety is important, but it's worth keeping to get as many miles as you can out of it to save wear/tear on the new one. I have a beater 17 years old with 170k that I use only to drive 3 miles daily to the park & ride and back, which is the worst kind of driving on a car, so I hate to use one of the newer ones for that. It's also come in handy to have a spare when one of the kids wants to borrow my truck to move or they buy something big.
I just sold my grandmothers pile of crap for $600, listed it for $999. It leaked oil, overheat quickly, amongst many other things. I eventually got tired of dealing with people coming and going expecting an gem, despite me putting an detailed ad up. When the buyer came and fully understood what he was getting, I told him $600 and you can have it. He seem so excited like he got the deal of the century...
Like I said, start shopping and once you come across a deal buy it (be it next week or next year). Commute the new car and drive the old car during the weekends with an local ad up. If I can get $600 from an worthless POS, you can easily get more then a $1,000 from a good running car.
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