I have 3 vehicles. 04 Suburban, 98 Expedition and an 04 Sentra as a backup. About 150k on the Suburban, well over 200 k on the other 2.
My wife likes the Expedition. It is high, big and we use it to tow our boat and she likes the short wheel base plus the short wheel base fits in our driveway with the other 2 and the boat. She feels safe in it and my son likes the extra room. The Suburban is my work truck.
Last month, I dumped a 1000.00 into the Suburban for a fuel pump and another 200 for an alternator, now the AC is acting up.
Recently I put a few hundred into a brake job and while servicing the rear brakes, I see the rear axle seal needs replacing, about 250. I put about 1000.00 a few months ago on a cooling system failure and inserts in the sparkplugs and new plugs and boots. Non of this includes all the hours I put into it. A few years back, I had a 90k mile engine dropped in, I have kept all the fluids and filters maintained since I have had it and replaced transfer case bearings and forks. New Michelin tires, new calipers, shocks, rear suspension components 10 years ago, front suspension drivers side, interior is clean and leather is in great shape still.
The Nissan doesn't eat much, just needs brakes.
All vehicles need new paint on horizontal surfaces.
I foolishly thought I might be able to get a new full size SUV for 600.00/month to replace the Expedition so I could stop dealing with the breakdowns. That is not even close to enough.
My outlook has always been the same...cheaper to keep fixing what I have but every time I think I have it fixed, something else pops up...but I do own it and fix it as it breaks.
I really don't have much more than 500.00 - 600.00/month to work with and need a high SUV for towing and launching my boat.
I am nervous about getting into payments, since I went through a repo once on a vehicle I bought when things were good, but before paying it off, I fell on some hard times and missed payments.
Any ideas or advice? Concerned about getting into another used vehicle, thinking it will always be in need of something, in which case, why not just keep what I have?
My wife likes the Expedition. It is high, big and we use it to tow our boat and she likes the short wheel base plus the short wheel base fits in our driveway with the other 2 and the boat. She feels safe in it and my son likes the extra room. The Suburban is my work truck.
Last month, I dumped a 1000.00 into the Suburban for a fuel pump and another 200 for an alternator, now the AC is acting up.
Recently I put a few hundred into a brake job and while servicing the rear brakes, I see the rear axle seal needs replacing, about 250. I put about 1000.00 a few months ago on a cooling system failure and inserts in the sparkplugs and new plugs and boots. Non of this includes all the hours I put into it. A few years back, I had a 90k mile engine dropped in, I have kept all the fluids and filters maintained since I have had it and replaced transfer case bearings and forks. New Michelin tires, new calipers, shocks, rear suspension components 10 years ago, front suspension drivers side, interior is clean and leather is in great shape still.
The Nissan doesn't eat much, just needs brakes.
All vehicles need new paint on horizontal surfaces.
I foolishly thought I might be able to get a new full size SUV for 600.00/month to replace the Expedition so I could stop dealing with the breakdowns. That is not even close to enough.
My outlook has always been the same...cheaper to keep fixing what I have but every time I think I have it fixed, something else pops up...but I do own it and fix it as it breaks.
I really don't have much more than 500.00 - 600.00/month to work with and need a high SUV for towing and launching my boat.
I am nervous about getting into payments, since I went through a repo once on a vehicle I bought when things were good, but before paying it off, I fell on some hard times and missed payments.
Any ideas or advice? Concerned about getting into another used vehicle, thinking it will always be in need of something, in which case, why not just keep what I have?