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I wouldn't count on a car with a bad power steering (pump? rack?) that wobbles at speed that has 200k making it a year without another big repair. I also wouldn't drive a car without A/C although that does depend where you live. I certainly wouldn't where he lives. He's looking at used cars. Those don't depreciate that much. I really doubt a 2011 Malibu is going to depreciate as much in a year as the immediately necessary costs would run. Cars pretty quickly hit a point where the cost to keep them running exceeds the depreciation.
Basically, you'd at best break even if it makes it more like two years rather than one year. Your reward for taking that risk is you get to drive a car that is unreliable, has no A/C, shakes at speed, and has something wrong with the power steering. That's not much upside for a lot of risk even if you're just as happy sweating buckets in an old jalopy that's likely to break down as you would be in the newer car, which really no one is. The more likely outcome is you put in the repairs and four months later something else goes wrong, and then something else, and something else. There's a reason such a small percentage of cars make it to 200k. They get expensive.
You are assuming paying for repairs and STILL having the same problems. This would indicate an incompetent mechanic.
Either the repairs are not all done (in which case OP did not spend that much money so the breakeven is shorter), or the repairs were made (in which case your scenario is a straw man - "Your reward for taking that risk is you get to drive a car that is unreliable, has no A/C, shakes at speed, and has something wrong with the power steering".)
We are discussing the risk of something else happening with the car.
Of course no one in their right mind would say that's all that unlikely at 200k miles.
At any rate, it is not just interest, and not just depreciation, it is the sum of the two. Breakeven is not two years unless the repairs cost $4k. I doubt it would be quite that much, though $2500 is very plausible.
Thanks for the replies C-D. I did read them all. I did sign up for the credit union, but I have to have been on the job for 1 year before they will approve a loan for me. I've been there exactly 6 months today. So I might be able to wait it out for 6 more months with this car without having to spend majorly on it. I hope..I'm most worried about this timing belt, I bought the car at 127,500 miles and today it has 191,800 miles (ok so not quite the 200k in the OP but close enough). I have not had it changed since I've had it, and I don't know when the previous 1 owner did.
I'm thinking at least 4 used tires with decent tread so they can all match again, full alignment for about $200-225.
I'd ask your mechanic about what it would cost to replace the timing belt, too, since if that goes the engine may be majorly damaged. But it sounds like you may be able to keep the car limping along for six months or so, at which time you may qualify for a loan from the credit union at a more reasonable rate. That's good news, at least.
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i will want to boost my credit in these 6 months if that is possible so quickly. i'll try for a capital one credit card as someone here suggested. will it help if i spend more money on the credit card?
NO! Only spend about 10% of the card's limit every month - and don't fall into the trap of buying stuff just to be buying stuff. I suggest you use the card to either purchase gas or to pay a utility bill, as those are relatively fixed monthly expenses for most people and you won't fall into the trap of buying stuff you can't really afford and carrying debt (which is deadly financially). As I said in my earlier post, think of it as a debit card and you won't go wrong.
You are assuming paying for repairs and STILL having the same problems. This would indicate an incompetent mechanic.
Either the repairs are not all done (in which case OP did not spend that much money so the breakeven is shorter), or the repairs were made (in which case your scenario is a straw man - "Your reward for taking that risk is you get to drive a car that is unreliable, has no A/C, shakes at speed, and has something wrong with the power steering".)
We are discussing the risk of something else happening with the car.
Of course no one in their right mind would say that's all that unlikely at 200k miles.
At any rate, it is not just interest, and not just depreciation, it is the sum of the two. Breakeven is not two years unless the repairs cost $4k. I doubt it would be quite that much, though $2500 is very plausible.
To assume that someone made a mistake during a repair makes a mechanic, or the whole mechanical team "incompetent" is ludicrous....especially without any mechanical experience. No one is perfect, not even the ASE master tech servicing your vehicle.
To assume that someone made a mistake during a repair makes a mechanic, or the whole mechanical team "incompetent" is ludicrous....especially without any mechanical experience. No one is perfect, not even the ASE master tech servicing your vehicle.
Ok, but to make several "repairs" and have not a single one of them actually fixed surely says something?
Ok, but to make several "repairs" and have not a single one of them actually fixed surely says something?
My son is a mechanic and does nearly all of the work on my car. He's not always right the first time. Oh, well. Live and learn. You've never been wrong?
My son is a mechanic and does nearly all of the work on my car. He's not always right the first time. Oh, well. Live and learn. You've never been wrong?
I've been wrong. Take my job for example. I have to help undergraduate students in a physics lab. Sometimes they do something wrong, sometimes the equipment needs repairs. I usually check first what they are doing, then the equipment. On occasion, I think the problem may be (for instance) a loose wire, and after tightening everything, the problem is not fixed. So I have to try something else. Nothing shocking here.
But suppose that the next 4 or 5 problems I run into I have not only no idea how to fix, but try a lot of things and not a single problem is resolved. Surely this would indicate something about my expertise level? It's one thing to make one mistake; it's another to get everything wrong and nothing right.
Ok, but to make several "repairs" and have not a single one of them actually fixed surely says something?
Who said anything about the stuff that's repaired breaking again except you? You assume that the stuff that's repaired is going to break again while almost everybody else is saying that it's likely other things will go wrong with this car because of its age and mileage.
You can not assume that fixing what's wrong with a 12-year old car with 200k miles on it that's had poor maintenance for a while will result in a car that can be driven safely for 2 years without additional repairs, some of which may very likely total more than 4 figures.
Who said anything about the stuff that's repaired breaking again except you? You assume that the stuff that's repaired is going to break again while almost everybody else is saying that it's likely other things will go wrong with this car because of its age and mileage.
It's in the post I replied to. How else do you interpret "get to drive a car that shakes and has no A/C"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda_d
You can not assume that fixing what's wrong with a 12-year old car with 200k miles on it that's had poor maintenance for a while will result in a car that can be driven safely for 2 years without additional repairs, some of which may very likely total more than 4 figures.
I must have missed it, but where did OP say that the car was poorly maintained? If this is so, then I'd agree with you that it won't last 2 years without needing to be junked.
My oldest son purchased a car from Rocky's located at 470 s alma school - I think that is mesa ....they did not check his credit at all but you have to have the deposit to take the vehicle.
He put $1000.00 down then the payments are about 200.00 every two weeks for I think two years He did have one problem with the car during the first two weeks but they fixed that.
My other son purchased a vehicle from Automotive Dynamics - I don't know the exact address but it is just north of Grand avenue and 99th avenue. They are easy to work with and they even worked with the amount he needed to put down....I cant remember but maybe 700.00 down and the monthly payments were great for him, $300.00 monthly- maybe for three years.
Both places have buy here pay here businesses. I can say that we went to many places that offered horrible cars or horrible monthly payments. Good Luck.
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