Is My Car Worth Fixing? We get this question a lot. The proper answer to that question will vary in great detail depending on several situations. My objective in the post is to give you things to think about so that you can make a more informed and thoughtful decision. I would hate for you to just rush out and make a large financial decision without some careful consideration then regret it later.
The first reason to get a new car (or one new to you) is simply because you want one. Lets admit it, it feels good to get a new car. Cars are an expression of who you are. Also, there are times when life situations change and you require a different mode of transportation. When the wife brings you a pregnancy test that shows positive, suddenly you realize you have no more viable excuses to convince her to hang onto your ole Honda Civic, it might be time to upgrade.
Still others find ourselves in a situation where we are in need of a rather high repair or maintenance bill which prompts us to ask, Is My Car Worth Fixing? I wish I had a crystal ball that would tell me if you fix it this time it will be worth it in the long run. Unfortunately I don’t so we have to consider our options. Some will tell you if the repair bill is more than the value of the car or is more costly than a years worth of payments, then it’s time to replace it. I guess that might be one way to look at it. I also tend to look at what it will cost me to replace what I currently have as compared to what the repair will cost. I will tell you based on my experiences, and I think you will find plenty of other companies who study this will tell you, it is generally cheaper to keep and maintain a car than to trade or buy a new one. I have owned many vehicles and drove them to exceed the 100K mile plus range and still be very reliable and way cheaper than making payments on a new car.
Let’s say you have decided to take the plunge and buy a new car. The average new car payment is going to be $300 to $600 obviously depending on what you buy. It could certainly go higher, but that’s average. You also need to consider the purchase of new plates, higher insurance rates, and you will still need to maintain your new car. Depending on the mileage of the warranty and how many you drive each year, it wont be long til the warranty runs out and you will be needing repairs again. Oh, and you will still be making payments.
Let’s say you decided to take the plunge and buy a used car to keep from paying the repair bill. Unless you pay cash the interest rate is usually higher on a used car and the term is shorter making your payment even higher. Plus not many of them still have the factory warranty left. Your still going to have to perform maintenance and repairs on this too. Other questions that should be asked is how well did the last person take care of the car. Was all the scheduled maintenance performed when it should have been? Even after a thorough vehicle inspection at our shop, we still can’t guarantee that some problems won’t arise after a few miles of driving.
I hope this has helped you in making a decision. If you are located, in the Castleton, Fishers, Indianapolis area, and now in Noblesville, give us a call. We would be glad to offer competitive quotes or even second opinions on auto repairs you might be faced with. If decide you are going to purchase a used vehicle be sure to let us or another qualified repair shop to inspect your vehicle first before you buy it. We can usually find items for you to negotiate with the seller that will offset the cost of the inspection.
-Chris
