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At what point do you give up on an older car? I have an '03 Hyundai Sonata that I've had since my senior year of college. I love it - bought it new and we've driven 125,000+ miles together. I took it in for an oil change and tire rotation today at a new shop to me but they come with excellent reviews (have won local "Best of" Awards for several years running), so I don't doubt these guys are (mostly) honest. They're recommending about $1800 worth of repairs (alignment OR three new tires due to wear on three of the tires, front brakes, brake flush, transmission flush, air filter, a headlight restoration, and a new power steering reservoir) and I know a few others that could/should be done over time - new dashboard (there's some warping) and also a burned out foglight.
Meanwhile, I also have my mother's car that I inherited - it's an '07 Sonata with around 30,000 miles on it. It drives fine but I don't like it quite as much as mine. No moonroof (something I can give up) and the factory stereo is only an AM/FM/CD stereo - no cassettes, no aux jack, so no real way of playing MP3s short of wearing earbuds wherever I go. No matter what I need to figure out what to do with this car as we can't keep a car that's not being driven and the its tags are nearly expired as well.
So were you me, what would you do? Suck it up and put the repairs into the car you have that you love? Sell your car and switch to the newer car that you don't like quite as much? Sell both? I'm all ears and would love a sounding board here.
First of all you probably don't need most of the services that shop recommended. I already don't trust them based what you wrote. "Flushes" are a notorious profit booster and not required nor even recommended by manufacturers.
Who on earth would replace the dash of an old car unless it is a collectible?
The time to give up on older car:
- when you don't trust it. You worry that it will break down and strand you on the side of the road. This would happen if you had repeated serious repairs to the engine, transmission, etc.
- when repairs are required constantly and the cost exceeds that of replacing the vehicle
There are other reasons of course to replace a car - you just don't like it, want something different, you need more room, etc.
If you have two cars and time to mess with the old one, I suggest getting a Haynes or Chilton's repair manual and doing the work yourself.
An air filter costs like $12 at your local AutoZone/O'Reilly's/Advance Auto Parts and generally takes about five minutes to replace.
A trans fluid change and filter is no more than $50 if you do it yourself. Headlight restoration kits are $20 at your friendly local Wally World.
Likewise, front brake pads are in the $25-30 range at your local auto parts store.
It wouldn't cost you $1,800 in that case - all the stuff you described would be more like $300 if you did it yourself, and another $3-400 for tires. Go to a Tire Discounters if you have one in your neighborhood, they have buy 3 get 1 deals going on all the time, and they give you a free alignment with four tires.
To answer your original question, I hold onto cars until I come up against something that's not worth fixing. In the past couple years I've been doing an increasing amount of the work myself, which means no labor charges, which bends the curve out a bit further as to "how long I can go before something expensive breaks".
I'll add that switching to the newer Sonata is worth considering. It is vastly newer and Hyundai quality improved significantly from the earlier models.
Replace the stereo with one that does what you want. That is just a few hundred $$. Do NOT install an aftermarket sunroof though.
From a financial standpoint, it doesn't make sense to dump money into the 03 Sonata. You'll never recoup the value. That being said, doing most of that work yourself would save you quite a bit of money. You'll possibly need 3 new tires to pass your annual state inspection anyway if they are worn badly enough, and the alignment isn't that expensive.
Personally, if I were you I'd keep the 07 and put a new stereo in it, which is cheap to do, that has an aux input. That sounds like the only complaint you have with it.
First of all you probably don't need most of the services that shop recommended. I already don't trust them based what you wrote. "Flushes" are a notorious profit booster and not required nor even recommended by manufacturers.
Who on earth would replace the dash of an old car unless it is a collectible?
The time to give up on older car:
- when you don't trust it. You worry that it will break down and strand you on the side of the road. This would happen if you had repeated serious repairs to the engine, transmission, etc.
- when repairs are required constantly and the cost exceeds that of replacing the vehicle
There are other reasons of course to replace a car - you just don't like it, want something different, you need more room, etc.
I will say I have put a fair amount of repairs in over the last few months but they've largely been things that, in my mind were necessary (rear door locks were having issues - one wouldn't lock at all, the other wouldn't unlock; front seat belts - driver side was getting frayed and I was worried that when I needed it it wouldn't be there and the passenger belt tensioner was having problems). I guess part of my "replace it" thought process came in that I had to call AAA out yesterday because I couldn't start the car. The tow driver who came out recognized it as a security system issue and managed to work around but the upshot of it is that I shouldn't use my fob at this time. It just seems like the car is giving me signs that it's starting to become less reliable - that said, the transmission and engine are (to my knowledge) absolutely fine and the only repair I see of the ones listed there that immediately jumps out at me are brakes. I have noticed some problems while braking and my previous driving pattern definitely didn't do my brakes favors.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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None of that work is costly and most is normal maintenance. If you were facing a transmission rebuild at $3,000 I'd consider it time to let it go. As for the Sonata, Car Toys and the like can provide whatever you need for sound systems.
I loved my Isuzu Rodeo SUV bought new in '95 when I was 16. It got me through college and well beyond that. During year 13 the tranny started acting up. Since I already had a new SUV I had the option to junk it but made an emotional decision to pay $2700 to rebuild the tranny. 2 years after that it started acting up again and another shop told me it was pretty much done unless they do another rebuild. So that's when I parted with it via junkyard. It was a Japanese car with a GM transmission... go figure.
I will say I have put a fair amount of repairs in over the last few months but they've largely been things that, in my mind were necessary (rear door locks were having issues - one wouldn't lock at all, the other wouldn't unlock; front seat belts - driver side was getting frayed and I was worried that when I needed it it wouldn't be there and the passenger belt tensioner was having problems). I guess part of my "replace it" thought process came in that I had to call AAA out yesterday because I couldn't start the car. The tow driver who came out recognized it as a security system issue and managed to work around but the upshot of it is that I shouldn't use my fob at this time. It just seems like the car is giving me signs that it's starting to become less reliable - that said, the transmission and engine are (to my knowledge) absolutely fine and the only repair I see of the ones listed there that immediately jumps out at me are brakes. I have noticed some problems while braking and my previous driving pattern definitely didn't do my brakes favors.
This indicates that your 03 is reaching a point where you lose confidence in it.
Put the 03 in sellable condition and sell it. Switch to the 07.
it sounds to me like you are at a point for you to replace your current ride with the newer one. stereos can be easily replaced with one you like, and though i dont recommend it(in fact i am loathe to even suggest it) a moon roof can be installed(if you want to be less than intelligent).
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