New, Used or Repairs: Repairs

There are many articles on the web that look at the advantages and disadvantages of buying new versus used vehicles. But those aren’t the only two options available to consumers. Some consumers may think it’s a good idea to keep their old cars and not replace them at all. Of course if you have recently bought a car and it is in great working condition then you don’t need to worry about this. But chances are if you are looking at this page you have some concerns about your current vehicle and think that it may be time to consider a new one.

There is a myth floating around that people can save money by continuing to make repairs on an old vehicle instead of purchasing another vehicle- new or used. The logic here is that the cost of monthly repairs is cheaper than monthly payments on a new car. This could be true in certain situations, but to it’s always best to look at what is right for you and your situation. Many times getting repairs aren’t always cheaper.

For example let’s say Sara has a car that she has had for quite some time and everything is going well. One day she notices some difficulty with the vehicle lights so she takes the car to be checked out. It turns out the fuses had blown and the mechanics replace the fuses for a bill of around twenty five dollars. About a few days later Sara notices that her lights have gone out again and the mechanics realize it was not actually the fuses and was instead the wiring which they fix. This costs Sara another twenty five dollars. Then about two weeks later she hears a clunk noise and her vehicle starts shaking. She takes the car to the mechanic again a few days later only to discover that her universal joint had popped off and that by driving the vehicle Sara had ruined her driveshaft which then had to be replaced. This was another four hundred dollars.

Another few weeks go by and Sara comes out of her office building and notices something on the ground underneath her car. Under closer inspection she sees that it is her tailpipe! She takes the vehicle to the mechanic again and they tell her that the tailpipe had rusted off and needed to be replaced. This cost Sara another three hundred dollars. After about a month Sara notices that all of a sudden steam has started pouring from her hood. She pulls into the closest mechanic and is told that a hose popped loose and spilled out all of her coolant. The mechanic replaces her hose and her coolant which costs her another fifty dollars. Finally the car seems to be in good working condition again and Sara thinks that now nothing else could possibly go wrong.

But after about another month she starts noticing that her tailpipe is dispensing a white smoke that smells like sugar. She tries to ignore the problem but is unsuccessful and her accelerator starts cutting off as she is driving the vehicle. She brings the car in to another mechanic and is told that her head gasket has blown. The mechanic estimates about a thousand dollars to fix this problem, but by this time she has spent over eight hundred dollars on the repairs for this vehicle and now she can no longer afford to fix the vehicle. She also cannot afford the price of a used car or the down payment on a new one. This was a true story.You also have to look at the cost of having your vehicle at the shop all that time. If you are constantly having to keep your vehicle at the mechanic’s then there’s almost no point in having one.

It is always important to look at the value of your vehicle before you consider buying another one to replace it. Keeping the old vehicle may be worth it, but it also may not be. Always be sure of what you are investing your money in before you just throw money at an unfixable problem.