When do you stop?

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Ifixyawata

Ifixyawata

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Sep 14, 2015
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863
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NE Ohio
So, I purchased the Focus in my signature back in 2015 with the intention of it being a work/commute car and nothing more. I was pleasantly surprised that a then-14-year-old car was in such good shape. I haven't been super thorough and meticulous at maintaining it, at least preventatively. It currently has 161k miles. I've repaired, so far:


  • Plugs, wires, coil-pack and pigtail
  • Valve cover gasket
  • Serpentine belt and tensioner
  • New tires
  • Tie rod ends and alignment
  • Blower Motor resistor
  • Front pads and rotors
  • Sway bar endlinks (haven't installed yet)


The body is in fair shape but a couple door bottoms have started to rust as well as the trunk lid around the 3rd taillight. Obviously, with a 17-year old commuter car, I'm not going to fix the rust. I noticed as I was doing the brakes this past weekend that the exhaust is hanging funny toward the rear section and is probably in need of a hanger. The main motor mount has been bad since I got the car and, to my knowledge, hasn't been affecting anything but NVH inside the cabin. Also, there's some clunking in the front end that I believeis the end links but the boots are torn on the lower ball joints also.

So my question is this... how do you all determine when to pursue a problem and when to let it ride? I like this car and would like to continue driving it for a while. Should something happen to this one I would likely buy another '01 - '07 Focus, I like it that much. I just have trouble prioritizing repairs and, as I'm sure many are familiar, my wife doesn't like us spending money on something that's not broken.

I also have a bit of a bad mark on my record. I had a 2005 Dodge Neon that I'd owned since new... stopped taking care of it pretty much all-together. At 180k after really pressing the issue I finally replaced the OEM timing belt, I'd made the case to my wife that it would keep the car going longer and the risk of breaking the belt (interference design) was too high. All this only to have the car lose all its coolant around 205k on a trip home from NC and overheat (I pushed for one more exit and the car ended up melting rings or some awful catastrophic failure).
 
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At 200000+ miles i usually stop my regular " by the book" maintenance (-oil changes of course), aside from safety components like brakes. By this milege, belts/pulleys/tensioners and suspension components should have been replaced. This is the time I cross my fingers,and hope i can get another 20000-50000 miles more.
 
So, generally this is a judgement call.
The shade tree mechanic may be willing to address issues that the average vehicle owner would not.

A few questions I ask myself include:
-Is it a safety issue?
-How long do you expect to keep the vehicle?
-What do the parts/labor cost?
-Are you willing to live with a nagging issue (NVH, etc...)
-Can you complete the repair in a timely manner?
-Is it p/m or a malfunctioning component?

We should all answer these questions differently
(except safety
31.gif
) given our personal circumstances.

Any other questions people ask when assessing a repair???
 
Once a month try to do one or more things on the bucket list for the car(within the some of the guidelines mentioned here). Otherwise things keep piling up till they are overwhelming and you may give up completely on it. So many cars that are donated to charity have little to zero oil in the engine. How hard is it to keep the thing topped off regularly or change the oil.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Once a month try to do one or more things on the bucket list for the car(within the some of the guidelines mentioned here). Otherwise things keep piling up till they are overwhelming and you may give up completely on it. So many cars that are donated to charity have little to zero oil in the engine. How hard is it to keep the thing topped off regularly or change the oil.


Ah, this reminds me of another small item... I've probably used 3 gallons of premix coolant topping the car off. I have some leaky molded heater/bypass hoses that I haven't repaired yet. I'm honestly paranoid that I'll end up with air in the line, breaking rigid tubes or maybe a host of other problems with overheating and/or poor heater performance. What's nagging me now is that I've probably spent in coolant what it would've cost me to replace the hoses entirely in the first place.
33.gif


As far as doing a small thing every month, I've suggested something similar to my wife before but I think it would end up seeming like there's 'always something wrong with that car'.
 
If you let problems go without fixing them, then more and more problems are going to pile up and your car becomes more and more of a piece of junk that you'll hate driving, and it won't be worth fixing because it would cost too much to fix all of its issues. Not fixing things because you feel the car will become junky soon is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whereas if you fix things as they break, the car will always be in decent shape, and the next time something breaks, you'll be more likely to fix it. You'll think, "Aside from this one broken thing, everything else on the car works great. If I fix this one issue, the car will be back to perfect."

So if you like the car and want to get as many miles out of it as you can, starting fixing everything that's wrong with it.
 
I guess you could start looking for the replacement and see what it goes for? Either you will be pleasantly surprised what you can get for a couple g's or glad to know your car will be in decent shape for a while after doing the ball joints...
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
If you let problems go without fixing them, then more and more problems are going to pile up and your car becomes more and more of a piece of junk that you'll hate driving, and it won't be worth fixing because it would cost too much to fix all of its issues. Not fixing things because you feel the car will become junky soon is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whereas if you fix things as they break, the car will always be in decent shape, and the next time something breaks, you'll be more likely to fix it. You'll think, "Aside from this one broken thing, everything else on the car works great. If I fix this one issue, the car will be back to perfect."

So if you like the car and want to get as many miles out of it as you can, starting fixing everything that's wrong with it.


I get down too much of a proverbial rabbit hole when I start fixing things. Fix 'everything' to me would be control arms, struts, coils, shocks... right at this point I'm probably approaching the value of the car.

I also struggle with whether it's worth it to buy the best quality parts. These brakes I just put on are an example. I bought the entry-level Powerstop pad-rotor combo. I wasn't about to piece together the cheapest thing I could find on RockAuto but I'm also not going to buy Raybestos or whatever the most expensive brand is. I guess I've probably answered my own question and buy whatever's middle of the road quality. Brakes, also, are way different than things like spark plugs, belts, etc.
 
Keep an eye out for a cream puff car like you like with low low miles. In the mean time keep racking up miles and not making car payments saving for the future cream puff.
 
To me it depends on how bad I want to avoid a potential break-down. My work commute puts me in some rough spots at odd hours. Keeps me on my toes in terms of keeping things tip-top.
 
You make payments, or you make repairs and if you're lucky you get a few good years in between.

Keeping track of old vehicle maintenance, I generally go with an average of $150 per month over the previous 24 months as a decision point. This allows for some major repairs and increased maintenance required on an aging vehicle, and also figures in time spent either waiting or working on it.

But it's all variable: If it was a vehicle I enjoyed working on, I upped the number. If it was a pain, or required repeated repairs at a dealer/shop, then I reduced the number.
 
For me it is two/three items:

1. Is it still fun to drive: If "yes" then continue question 2, if "no" then unload.
2. Can I find the parts for repairs? If "yes" then continue to question 3, if "no" then unload.
3. Is it currently completely wrapped around a tree or other stationary object.? If "Yes" then unload, if "no" then repair.

Finally, that last question applied to my wife's vehicle: Does she feel confident with the vehicle. If "yes", repair, if "no" then unload.
 
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You'all that live in the rust belt ought to be able to get good used low mileage engines and tranny's...

Just come out to LA or Phoenix and by chassis with a tired motor that will only get you home, and do the swap.

Rust free cheap cars with new life. Good for the planet and your pocket book
smile.gif


Plus, you get a nice winter break in a sunny place
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
You'all that live in the rust belt ought to be able to get good used low mileage engines and tranny's...

Just come out to LA or Phoenix and by chassis with a tired motor that will only get you home, and do the swap.

Rust free cheap cars with new life. Good for the planet and your pocket book
smile.gif


Plus, you get a nice winter break in a sunny place
laugh.gif



This car spent it's first two years in upstate NY and then the remainder in NC before I brought it back to Ohio to continue rusting it, LOL. It looks like NY got a good foothold of rust on it but it probably slowed way down in the south. Now two salt-briny winters have started it back up.
 
If you don't fix it you'll just start hating the car. You do your own work? Just fix it till your bored with it. We have a 02 with similar repairs and we'll drive it till it longer moves or she's bored with it, probably the latter. That car is a pain in the hindquarters though.
 
Yes, the 05 Matrix is getting like this a bit. Two broken fog lights, missing rear hubcap, rusty black wheels under the hubcaps, clock works half the time, intermittent airbag light, needs new intake manifold gasket, rusty brake rotors, a bunch of preventative maintenance, etc...

Recent things done include new front wheel bearing, alignment by dealer, new tires, and of course oil changes. Keep it detailed.
 
Does it have a cam belt?. Is it due for changing?. Might not be a diy shade tree mechanic job if it's a Zetec engine. Other wise keep on fixing it. You like the car, and every month it stays on the road is another month without a car payment.
I could go on about buying a used (but newer)car for cash, but financing a car seems to be the American way.

Claud.
 
I do my own work outside of alignments, etc. It is a zetec and does have a timing belt but it's a non interference engine so I don't feel like it's critical. I've even heard that some have had the good fortune of having the belt slip a tooth and run long enough to get it home.

I'm not bored with the car yet but wish it had other things like a moonroof etc but again it's a a commuter car.
 
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