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Need your opinions on cars
Ok, to make a long story short, over the past 4 months we've had to do a lot of work to Matt's car (its about 13 years old). We had to put in a new battery, new starter and new timing chain all for around $1200. Now it needs a new master cylinder and possibly a new klutch (we won't know if it needs a klutch until the master cylinder is replaced which seems weird to me) but that would cost another $1200 once all is said and done. We could get off lucky and just need the master cylinder and not the klutch.
Anyway, we're not sure what to do. We don't really want to fix the cylinder for $300 and then find out we need to do the klutch for $900. We're thinking about the idea of buying a new car but I'm not sure I want to have car payments right now (we're still trying to get out of debt and both of our cars are paid off right now).
We can't really live off one car for too long so thats not really an option. So, what would you do? Would you try and buy a new car or would you fix the one we have now and pray that it lasts a couple more years?
Re: Need your opinions on cars
I think the general rule of thumb is when your repairs are starting to be more than a car payment would be go that route. I guess it all depends on what kind of car it is, how many miles are on it. Also look at the payment on what you'd be buying with using that as a trade in now.
I would probably get a new car because breaking down in the middle of nowhere scares the crap out of me. (even though I'm not driving in the middle of nowhere like ever).
PP is correct that you need to take into account several different factors. I can understand how much it sucks to be putting that much money into a car (we had to do the same thing the summer after my freshman year of college because my car had just hit that age where things needed replaced), but if you make these repairs, will you be able to get more years out of his car? If the mileage is still on the lower end and you'd be willing to keep it for another year or so, then it may be worth it (my first car had very low mileage in relation to its age, so it was worth it to put the money into it and get another year out of it, plus a higher selling price when we sold it the following summer). If it has higher mileage, and there's suspicion that more will go wrong with it (a good mechanic should be able to let you know what they think), then it may be time to start shopping.
On the bright side, cars can be had for ridiculous deals right now. You also don't necessarily need to buy brand new - I'd strongly consider a good used car or certified used. My family and DH's family always buy used/certified used, and among ALL of them have only had trouble with one car, but that had more to do with the fact that it was the first year of the model and that's generally recommended against buying. DH and I were set to buy used when we bought my Civic, but at that time, prices were still so comparable and the car was in such high demand (and DH had specific safety features he considered a must, so we could only look at '06 and '07 at that point in July '07) that we actually spent less to buy a brand new car. It all just depends.
What are you looking for?
... every single day of forever.
You've gotten some good advice from Ashlee and lindyanne and I would really consider the points they made. If you have a working relationship with your mechanic and they've worked on this same car for all of the above problems, they should be able to honestly share their thoughts on the life it has in it still. If it has high mileage and all of these problems, I would probably look to buy. There are so many great deals right now, and I also strongly suggest using at certified used cars, even if they're only a year, two, or three old. You can also find "program cars", basically cars that executives or businesses have used that are basically like new and only have a few thousand on them as well.
If you do decide to go ahead and pay for the repairs, it is always a gamble. At least with the clutch, you know that once that is in you won't need to replace it again. DH had to replace the clutch in his truck, and unfortunately it is a repair that just seems to come with high mileage on vehicles. His is only 8 years old.?
What is the estimated value of your car if you were to trade in/sell? I'd also consider that when looking at costs.?
I wouldn't put more money into a car than it's worth. All PP's have made excellent points, and program cars can be a great deal - and depending on the car and the deal you can get, you pay a price closer to a used car, but it's titled as new.
We were in the same boat last March, and I know it isn't an easy decision. It might help to look at it this way - if you've already spent $1200 on it with the possibility of another $1200, that's equivalent to paying $200 a month for Matt's car. Knowing the car and it's history, it's not worth that much.
For $200 a month (or less), you can get a nice used car that would be much more reliable. I just saw this link on my Comcast homepage today that may be helpful. It lists the top ten least expensive cars for 2009: http://comcast.vehix.com/research/topTenLists.aspx?&listID=152000000000012&listName=Least%20Expensive%20Vehicles%20for%202008. This might be a good place to start, though if you buy something used, you would save even more over the list price. Most of the cars are comparable in size to what Matt is currently driving. Also, Edmunds.com was very helpful when we were looking at cars. You can look at consumer reviews and suggested pricing for any combination of year, make, and model.
Good luck with the decision and any ensuing car search!
Justine