Rule of thumb for junking a car

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A relative recently discovered quite a few problems with their car that require expensive repairs. Issues include, but are not limited to, serious braking system repairs, full exhaust replacement, tie rods, coolant leak(s), engine oil leak(s), and others.

But the situation raises an interesting question... What should the rule of thumb be for junking a car vs paying for repairs? This car is 10 years old with about 80K miles, and the repairs will cost about the book value of the car ($3K-$3500). On the one hand, the car is effectively totaled on a straight numbers basis. But on the other hand, the repairs would get more life out of the car and avoid the cost of another car and/or payments. Another car in the $3K-$4K price range would not be any more solid that what is currently owned... in fact it could end up being worse..

So, what's the rule of thumb on repairing vs junking a vehicle?
 
a few years ago I bought a 2004 Saturn Ion that had 106k on it. I ran it till 165k and put almost nothing into it. You can find 4k cars that are in good running condition. It all matters what kind of car people are willing to drive.
 
Yes, you can find $4K cars, but in this case, that amount would cover the costs of repairing this car, and the history of this car is known... the history of the next $4K car would not be known. This car doesn't burn oil, doesn't have tranny problems, etc.

Would that not be a case for repairing this car over junking it?
 
If you know its been taken care of, and you know what needs to be repaired then go for the repairs and keep it another 5+ years. 10 years is not THAT old for a car these days, it should have lots of life left, and at only 80K miles? What car is this anyway?
 
Originally Posted By: gregk24
If you know its been taken care of, and you know what needs to be repaired then go for the repairs and keep it another 5+ years. 10 years is not THAT old for a car these days, it should have lots of life left, and at only 80K miles? What car is this anyway?


+1

10 years and 80k? Was it seriously abused?
 
yeah what kind of car? If it is a car with known problems then it may not be worth keeping. It also depends on whether it is the type of car that the owner is willing to drive for another 3-5 years.
 
Sounds like a good candidate to trade in and be refurbed at less than retail mechanic prices.

If it's not rusted out it's usually fixable.
 
My MIL is in a similar situation, her Nissan truck has 280k miles on it, but is very reliable. Right now it needs a starter and she wants to just replace it with a different vehicle for a few thousand dollars max. I am trying to convince her that most likely any vehicle she buys for 3k will need more than a starter. She bought this truck with 60k about 6 years ago and has put very little into it. this has been her most reliable vehicle ever, she has been known to buy a car and never change the oil and then be surprised when it dies.

I change her oil with PP at least once every 20k, which is about as often as I can get her out of it long enough to do it.

Except for the current OCI which is going on 26k and I cannot convince her to let me do it.

instead, I end up push starting her every morning before I leave for work, and she doesn't turn it off until she gets home at night.
 
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for the Nissan pickup, I agree. fix it and keep driving! for the OP car: 80k miles is low, assuming that it was somewhat maintained. I would consider fixing the brakes and coolant leak and exhaust - once again, providing the car is in decent shape otherwise
 
Consumer Reports has said when the repairs cost more than the vehicle is worth, dump it.

So you spend $3000 now, but what about other repairs that may arise after you spend the $3000. Why is oil leaking at 80K. (And where is it leaking).

The brakes, tie-rods, exhaust are all maint. items that do wear out.

Engine oil leaks and coolant leaks should not be happening at 80K miles.

What about the rest of the engine and transmission?
 
Most of us would continue with repairs. Brakes, muffler, tie rods are all part up keeping the car current.

For a non-DIYer, it's a tough call.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Most of us would continue with repairs. Brakes, muffler, tie rods are all part up keeping the car current.

For a non-DIYer, it's a tough call.


Agreed.
I would fix all of the issues, but I would do it with my own 2 hands and pay significantly less.
 
I think the "dump a car when repairs equal its value" rule of thumb only really applies when someone has the means to buy a new, or significantly newer/better vehicle. If it means dumping one vehicle worth maybe a couple grand for another vehicle worth about the same amount, it doesn't necessarily work out. You end up buying a new set of problems.

Personally, I would put more than my truck's actual cash value into repairing it if need be. For example, a transmission would realistically total it out. The body has a lot of damage from a wreck four years ago that would be expensive to repair, it has over 150K miles on it, and it's 12 years old. In perfect cosmetic condition, a transmission would make sense from a straight cash value perspective. In it's current cosmetic condition, most people would send it to the junkyard if it needed a trans. For me though, I know the truck from front to back. I have service records dating back to brand new. I know literally everything that has been put into it and that has happened to it from 15 miles on the odo (parents owned it to 49K, then sold it to me). I can't possibly get that with any other used truck, and I have high standards for maintenance that most previous owners won't meet. Most used trucks would require work to get them up to my level of mechanical maintenance and care, so I factor that in to the equation. Basically, if the trans goes, at least I know where everything else stands and can get it back to that point. If I buy a used truck, the trans could go the next day and I'd still have other things to deal with. Despite how ugly it is, it would probably take the engine and trans going out at the same time for me to junk it, which is unlikely. A wreck that finally finishes it off would probably be the only thing that would send it to the crusher since rust isn't happening. Plus, I actually feel more attached to the truck after wrecking it. Weird way to bond with a vehicle, but I didn't have so much as a cut from the wreck until I got out of the truck and made my way up the ravine it landed in.

This would not be the case if it were badly rusted. I did throw in the towel on my old Explorer, which ran and drove great, because rust was eating it alive and there was no stopping it. The Ranger looks bad due to the crash damage from years ago, but the body and frame are safe and sound. My Explorer was disintegrating before my eyes, and I had to accept the hard reality that I could not save it.

Rust is really a major factor in such a decision because it is the only thing aside from maybe flood damage that can just totally ruin a vehicle and cause multiple major component failures. My sister has a 2006 Mazda 3 she bought new, and she lives in VT. It may be getting junked this year due to rust unless someone else feels inclined to save it. The car has been well maintained, but will not pass its next inspection, and to her is not worth the thousands in repairs needed to keep it on the road. A new car makes more sense to her.

Now for people who are lackluster with maintenance and just run something into the ground, maybe swapping for another low value vehicle could work out, but they will be back in the same situation quickly.

Basically the rule of thumb is whenever you have had enough.

FWIW, Pull-A-Part has started hitting up the auctions, and they play hardball. I talked to one used car dealer who told me, "you used to be able to get runners for $200-$300 all day, now because of Pull-A-Part every car in Birmingham is $500." Look at the writing on the windshields the next time you are in the yard, it can tell you a lot. I have seen a lot of cars there that were sold as runners and probably could have been made decent cars for a grand or less in repairs. I saw a 2002 or 2003 Infiniti QX4 the last time I was there that actually said "runs/drives good, cold A/C" on the windshield and had a fairly clean interior. It had damage to the doors on the passenger side, but the actual body was straight. Two new used doors painted to match would have made it a nice SUV, but it was in Pull-A-Part. A lot of people are driving cars way worse than that QX4. The salvage business is a strange animal.
 
The rule of thumb is do preventative maintenance, before everything snow balls and you start thinking about junking a 10 year old car.

If you can't make it to 16 years old and 150,000 miles there is something wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Most of us would continue with repairs. Brakes, muffler, tie rods are all part up keeping the car current.

For a non-DIYer, it's a tough call.



Perfect statement. For most of us who do our own work it is not expensive to do but for those who pay others it can quickly add up too a lot.
 
If you like the car, have a maintenance plan (including expected failure of major items - replace before they leave you stranded) and keep it forever. If you don't like the car, don't do even minimal maintenance and use that as an excuse to junk it before 100,000 miles so you can buy a new one. The "value" is really irrelevant.
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
what kind of car ?? Who says it needs all these repairs??

+1; Very few vehicles would need that kind of work at 80K miles. I wonder if it was intentional to keep the make/model out of this discussion.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
I wonder if it was intentional to keep the make/model out of this discussion.


Yes, it was intentional. If I post a make and model, I'll get lots of feedback on what a junk it is or what a great car it should have been or something along those lines. I wanted to keep the focus on the criteria others use to either invest into car repairs, or junk a car and buy something else.

And the car was not abused, on the contrary, it sits and isn't used enough. It's in a northern US climate outdoors all year. Building a garage or covering it isn't a realistic option. The problems with it are mostly severe rust or rot of the braking and exhaust systems, in addition to the other more minor (comparatively) issues.

And the decision ended up being to invest in the car and repair it. The body/frame is good, as is most of the car. The price of the repairs is steep, but given the options available, it makes the most sense after some consideration.
 
Originally Posted By: SwedishRider
I wanted to keep the focus on the criteria others use to either invest into car repairs, or junk a car and buy something else.


I would imagine that make and model are pretty high most lists of legitimate criteria for such a decision.
 
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