I'm on the fence,keep it or sell it and buy a new vehicle (F150, luxury car)

[TrapperL]

Up until you said "rust at the windshield" I would have said to fix it. The rust at the windshield can be an expensive fix depending on where it's at. In the windshield channel and it's expensive as that has to be cut out and replaced to fix it right. Otherwise, expect wet feet when it rains. I'd look for another Tahoe but a lot newer. While you can hammer GM and Chevrolet with quality issues, the Tahoe has been a reliable platform. While no mega power engine, the 5.3 can get pretty decent fuel mileage for someone who knows how to drive.

[Temeku]

Either keep it or get a used car. Buying a new car is such a hassle right now and you'll have to pay that much more every month.

[WyoNewk]

$3,000 seems to be a common amount for repairs. I took my 2000 F250 (150K miles) to the dealer for a problem in September. They said it was going to be $3000 to fix it. I said I'd bring it in later, as it was still a very minor problem at that point. The next month I took it back for an unrelated problem. They said it was going to be $3000 to fix it. (That wasn't an echo.) It had other maintenance/repairs due too -- like brakes, ball joints, door locks, and a window motor. Last year I spent (IIRC) $8000~ in repairs, and it looked like a trend. I traded it for a new one.

Unless you have the time and knowhow to repair some of these old, high-mileage vehicles, it just doesn't pay to hang onto them past a certain point. If it's something that you won't use often, you could get years of use from it, but if it's driven regularly, those miles can become very expensive thanks to high maintenance bills. (I drive 30-35K miles per year.)

I hated to trade that old truck, especially for a paltry $5000 trade-in, but when I thought about the upcoming repair bills it sounded pretty generous. I chose a Prius this time. I didn't put a dime of cash into it, other than sales tax and registration, and I save more than enough in fuel costs to pay the note, the license and the insurance. And no more unexpected repair bills!

I made a couple lists while deciding -- all costs (including payments) for the Prius on one list, all (estimated) costs for the F250 on the other list. The Prius came out WAY, WAY ahead. (I just haven't yet come up with a spot on the Prius to mount the 5th wheel hitch!)

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by jimj

Ok, I probably know where this is going but I trust my city-data brethren to pipe up with some healthy banter about this one...
I have a 1997 Chevy Tahoe LT 5.7 4WD with 199000 miles on her. She runs ok, smogs without problem and has just a couple of minor oil leaks that would take about 2 hours and $20 to fix. Over the last two years I've

(snip litany of issues)

Wife loves the truck, I'm ok with it but it does burn through the fuel and the best part it's paid off years ago.

So, do I keep working on it or move on?

This is a fatuous discussion: there are threads in this very forum about various analyses one might perform, keep it vs. dump is vs. buy vs. lease vs. new vs. used. I replied to several, c. past year or so, with suggested paradigms mostly around "expected value of decision." As have dozens of others.

You can calculate it any number of ways, weighing what is most important in your particular situation: monthly cash flow, risk analysis/cost of failure if it catastrophically breaks down, cost of money, expected other commitments, expected residual over time, and much more. If "peace of mind" is your most-important/most heavily-weighted factor, throw all that out the window and buy new every years and/or lease. Or keep shoveling good money after bad. Whatever.

Or, do like most people and buy whatever you want, whenever you want to, based on some entirely subjective viewpoint. I updated a 2010 motorcycle the other week to a 2014 version of-same, because I felt like it and didn't take a big hit on the trade-in. The 2010 was paid for, but tiring me out & putting my feet to sleep. In four years, I'll do the same again, because $5K-$10K down on BS motorcycle buys is worth it on amusement value alone. Nor does it significantly impact my long term savings plans, thus who cares?

[stan4]

Sometimes it's just time to get a new car.

[lurtsman]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

At this point, I wouldn't pour money into it. $3k is substantial. If you look you can probably get a really good deal on a leftover 2014 Tahoe. They should be deeply discounted because of the new generation coming out.

LOL @ buying a car that is about a year old. Anyone doing this should wear a sign that says, "Instead of taking a personal finance class, I got taken by the car dealership"

[jimj]

Thanks for all the perspectives. The variety of answers is interesting and a lot like what's going through my mind at this point.
I think as was mentioned earlier, if the rust above the windshield is into the channel it may just be the final nail in this truck's coffin. I'm not expecting it to ever be one of those old cars that sells for big $$$ after 20-30 years (sadly) so probably not worth saving...

First off, I'll not be buying a new car as they are a financial ripoff due to depreciation,"one price fits all" dealers and a couple other factors so newer used is probably the way I'll go just like I did with my Edge.

[ncole1]

Originally Posted by jimj

Ok, I probably know where this is going but I trust my city-data brethren to pipe up with some healthy banter about this one...
I have a 1997 Chevy Tahoe LT 5.7 4WD with 199000 miles on her. She runs ok, smogs without problem and has just a couple of minor oil leaks that would take about 2 hours and $20 to fix. Over the last two years I've replaced the whole front end steering parts except for the gear box which needs to be done soon.
The interior is not torn up, cloth is good though by this point the carpet could use to be replaced as there's some staining that won't come out.
The front half of the roof needs to be repainted and there's some rust along the top of the windshield, a minor dent in the passenger rear door courtesy of a shopping cart and the ambulance doors need new hinges/rubber seal kits.
I replaced the whole A/C system last year and while it works it's never worked great no matter what has been done and it's become hard to deal with during the AZ summertime.

Otherwise it's in good shape as we've kept up on maintenance over the years.

I figure it'll take less than $3000 to bring it back to normal fixing the issues listed above (except the A/C as I've got NO clue what to do with that if anything).

Wife loves the truck, I'm ok with it but it does burn through the fuel and the best part it's paid off years ago.

So, do I keep working on it or move on?

How many miles do you drive each year?

[ncole1]

Originally Posted by deevel79

Get what you can for it and use the $3000 you plan on using to fix it to get something else. That's my opinion. What happens if you invest the $3k and something else goes wrong such as a blown tranny? At that point you're looking at another $1500 - $2000.

Even $3k plus another $2k is only $5k. A new car costs a lot more than that!

[JONOV]

If you look at it on paper, the answer is almost always to keep it. The time to sell it is when it becomes enough of a hassle that it impinges on your daily life.