Don't Fix Your Car!

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I'm not a fan of his, don't have time at the moment. Maybe later.

Once a car gets old, why not let the problems build up? Who wants to scrap a car that is in mint condition but whose sole repair outweighs the value of the car? Like a new engine or transmission, that is. Ideally it should go to the boneyard with everything just about worn out!

I have nothing against those to who keep their cars in tip-top shape, polished to a glow, but that's not for me. After 200k stuff non-essential stuff just isn't going to get fixed anymore.
 
Many of his video titles are just clickbait, but he has a good point. You should always repair safety related faults, but ultimately spending hundreds (more like thousands if you don't DIY everything) more till you put it in a junkyard is a waste of money.

Granted if you hope to resell the vehicle for much more than $1K, you have to remember that every fault yours has, makes it less desirable than other vehicles on the market. Unless the vehicle is rare, few people who are in the $1K car market, want to spend that much again to fix it up, unless they are a mechanic themselves and have more resources to fix the vehicle up in their spare time, not needing it for a daily driver at the time.

No matter how nice you keep your ride, once it gets below about $5K, odds are that an accident will total it. Buy it back if you can fix it, we're all generalizing here while individual owners and vehicles can deviate from what makes the most financial sense to the average person with the average vehicle.
 
I absolutely get your point. But I think that the argument to the contrary is that it (may be) preferable to fix things as they pop up, so that a car doesn't feel like it is falling apart and can be a pleasure to drive for longer (perhaps delaying purchase of a newer car).
That is, if an interior door handle costs $17, fixing that (DIY, of course) helps the "car" not feel like a "beater."

Our Sienna has spoiled us, with 205k miles of essentially trouble-free operation. It feels darned good, and has no nagging problems whatsoever. That means that we'd be more likely to drop a tranny into it if it needs one in the future, because it doesn't have a check engine light, broken window regulator, duct taped trim, etc.
 
The decision of whether to repair or replace a car is a complex one.

In the real world it's cheaper to repair far more often than most people think. One reason is because $3000 seems cheap for a used car but expensive for a repair, so people feel like they're getting a better deal on another car, when in reality a dollar is a dollar and most cars that are worth a darn cost a lot more then even a major repair. Even serial repairs don't generally add up as fast as a car payment.

For another thing, price depends a lot on who's buying and who's selling. Anyone who's not a professional trader is going to pay a lot more than he could get for the identical car, so market value is only a theoretical number.

Now if you're embarrassed to be seen in it or tired of looking at it or riding in it and an "expensive" failure happens, go ahead and get another one if it makes you happy. But don't tell yourself you're saving money. You're probably paying a premium for looks and imagined reliability.
 
Originally Posted by Ifixyawata
Is it bad that I knew this was a Kilmer video before I even clicked the YouTube link?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I thought the exact same thing!
 
Originally Posted by RF Overlord
Originally Posted by Ifixyawata
Is it bad that I knew this was a Kilmer video before I even clicked the YouTube link?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I thought the exact same thing!


Make that 3.
 
I have this situation right now. My 2001 sable wagon is a great family traveling car that can seat 8 with about 170,000 miles now. Transmission started slipping around Atlanta traffic when I has to make it back to Louisville, KY from Miami. Now tranny is probably shot but nothing could have saved it at this point. Car is worth maybe $2,000 tops. So I want to keep iot on the road but need to find an economical way to do it. Thinking a junkyard transmission and backyard mechanic might get it done. Overall car is in pretty good condition for the year and drives great. But I don't want to put $3,000 into a $2,000 car.

Any other thoughts to getting it back on the road?
 
Originally Posted by Audios
He seems a little off in the video, is he a drinker?

I've thought that too... could also be he's worked with solvents without a mask one too many times....‚
 
Originally Posted by spk2000
I have this situation right now. My 2001 sable wagon is a great family traveling car that can seat 8 with about 170,000 miles now. Transmission started slipping around Atlanta traffic when I has to make it back to Louisville, KY from Miami. Now tranny is probably shot but nothing could have saved it at this point. Car is worth maybe $2,000 tops. So I want to keep iot on the road but need to find an economical way to do it. Thinking a junkyard transmission and backyard mechanic might get it done. Overall car is in pretty good condition for the year and drives great. But I don't want to put $3,000 into a $2,000 car.

Any other thoughts to getting it back on the road?

A $3k investment into a $2k car... what would it cost to replace the car with something else? $3k might be cheap, even if you need to have another $1k or $2k kicking around for the next repair--I mean, if you had to spend say $10k to replace the car, then repairing would still be the cheaper option, even if several near-future repairs are required.
 
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
This forum is changing. And it's too bad.

Changing how, exactly... and in what way does that change make it too bad?


...also, FWIW, I'm on the "fix it when it breaks and keep the car as long as you can" camp.
 
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
This forum is changing. And it's too bad.


Fortunatley this forum is not forced on you so if you don't like it just leave and keep stupid home
 
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Originally Posted by LeakySeals
This forum is changing. And it's too bad.

Changing how, exactly... and in what way does that change make it too bad?


...also, FWIW, I'm on the "fix it when it breaks and keep the car as long as you can" camp.

Just seems like theres more bullying, profiling, name calling. Becoming more like everywhere else on the interwebs. Maybe it's just the times we live in. And there's nowhere to hide anymore LOL
 
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