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$700 car died on me, repair it or trash it?

M

mizzou

Diamond Member
I had a 97 saturn SL2 lose breaks completly on the highway, had it towed to a place for repairs and they are out for the weekend but a guy I talked to said it looked like there was a severe leak in the calipers or something like that.

I have good BRAKE fluid levels, good breakpads, but almost NO breaking? power, almost ran into a bus full of kids.

Anyway, now my Dillema. I already am about to have to replace 3 tires @ cheapest 76.99 a tire (I had to replace the 1 other one 2 months ago), I will need new shocks soon because it is really squishy.

So even if this brake job is $300-$500 bucks, I will need to pay another $200 or so in just a few weeks to months.

Do I just crawl this thing onto a lot that does guaranteed trade-in value and or trash it and use the repair money for a down payment on another beater / cheap newish car with a warranty?

I have about 117000 miles on this thing and I think engine will need major service soon?

What to do......

 
Doesn't look like it died on you. All what you've put down is fixable unless you can explain why the engine would need major service in the near future.
You probably won't get too much money for the car anyway if you were to sell it. Probably would be cheaper to fix it.
 
Originally posted by: BassBomb
BRAKES
BRAKES
Click to expand...

:laugh:

Well, if you don't have brakes, then you do tend to break things! 😉

OP, have you considered used tires as a stop-gap to keep you from having to shell out $200+ on new tires, on a questionable car??

It's been a zillion years since I was poor enough to do that, but I know with a little look around in a junk yard, I could usually find a tire the right size, in decent shape, oftentimes on the rim I needed it on (so I didn't have to pay someone to mount it on my rim).

Worth a thought, eh? 🙂
 
Don't spend more on repairs and upkeep than the car is worth. At that point you're better off getting what you can for the car, and combining that with the repair money to get something better.
 
Originally posted by: zoiks
Doesn't look like it died on you. All what you've put down is fixable unless you can explain why the engine would need major service in the near future.
You probably won't get too much money for the car anyway if you were to sell it. Probably would be cheaper to fix it.
Click to expand...

Well, I know that is is fixable so maybe I should have used a better title, but my reasoning is why would I want to put $500.00 into my car this weekend when it is only worth $500.00 and I will likely continue to have mechanical problems that will cost me around $100.00 per month?

I'm starting to lean towards getting a very cheap newish car or used car w/ warranty that will have a monthly pmt of around $100.

This is my first used car I've owned, and I bought it for $2.00 from my mom, lol, so I don't really have any attachment to it like it's a '70 mustang
 
Originally posted by: mizzou
Originally posted by: BassBomb
BRAKES
BRAKES
Click to expand...

lol, is that some sort of internet inside joke I don't know about? =)
Click to expand...

Apparently.

It seems like no one on the internet knows how to properly spell BRAKES. You slow down your car with BRAKES. When your car BREAKS it no longer works.

If it's just a caliper that needs to be replaced I would do it. Paying a few hundred here, a few hundred there is still cheaper than a car payment.
 
Until you actually know whats wrong with the brakes quit worrying about it. It may not cost anywhere near what you expect. I'm betting its just the master cylinder which cost very little and is easy to replace. What makes you think it will cost a $100 a month in repairs? How much do you think your newer car payments are going to be? 117k miles is nothing.
 
Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Until you actually know whats wrong with the brakes quit worrying about it. It may not cost anywhere near what you expect. I'm betting its just the master cylinder which cost very little and is easy to replace. What makes you think it will cost a $100 a month in repairs? How much do you think your newer car payments are going to be? 117k miles is nothing.
Click to expand...

just $100 month average.

I.E., I estimate I will probably spend $1,200 in repairs yearly that aren't related to regular maintanence.

New Car payment might be around $150~ish or less if I get another beater.

I know I shouldn't worry about it until I hear from the mechanic, but I have to consider all options on the table right now so that I'm prepared.

 
Sounds like a master cylinder, not too bad to do yourself. With a car that's 11 years old
you must be prepared to learn to work on them yourself or pay $$$ to a mech. to do it for
you. How is the rest of the car? using any oil? tranny shift ok? these major items
determine weather it's worth the trouble to keep it going..
 
Originally posted by: mizzou
Originally posted by: BassBomb
BRAKES
BRAKES
Click to expand...

lol, is that some sort of internet inside joke I don't know about? =)
Click to expand...

If by internet joke, you mean you don't know how to spell, yes. How do you get a job to make money to afford a car, pass license tests and can't spell brakes?

It is almost always cheaper to repair and keep a car than to sell and buy a new one. Do you owe money on the car still?
 
The irony of insulting someone's intelligence and then following that up with a demonstration of lack of reading ability. From his post above:

This is my first used car I've owned, and I bought it for $2.00 from my mom, lol, so I don't really have any attachment to it like it's a '70 mustang
Click to expand...

Yea, he still owes a little bit more on it, but I heard he got a good interest rate from the local credit union he financed it through. So maybe he should hold onto it a little longer.

When dealing with a car that old, there are benefits to getting something newer beyond lower repair costs. A late 90's clunker for a couple grand will probably be a lot safer in an accident than a car from the 70's. Getting a new car doesn't mean buying something brand new that you have to finance. Especially in this weak market, you can probably find something used for dirt cheap that will simply be a better vehicle that will be cheaper to maintain.
 
Not anywhere near a major repair, I'd say $500 is way out of line for any kind of brake repair. Go ahead and fix it, 117k is not a huge amount of mileage these days.

And has been said, anything you buy, even new can be prone to breakage.
 
Estimate how much it will cost to fix and estimate the cost of ownership for your current car. This should be fairly simple, just go through your repair/gas/insurance/registration records. Guess the likelihood that your current car will leave you stranded and whether that risk is tolerable. Now estimate the total cost of getting something different (purchase/expected repairs/registration/tax/insurance/gas) and the risk that the new (to you) car will leave you stranded and your tolerance for that. Through years of being a bottom feeder in the car market I found that it is almost always cheaper to fix the current heap than to buy a new heap. However, the risks of getting stranded sometimes overcame economics and I bought a different heap.
 
Originally posted by: Elstupido
Not anywhere near a major repair, I'd say $500 is way out of line for any kind of brake repair. Go ahead and fix it, 117k is not a huge amount of mileage these days.

And has been said, anything you buy, even new can be prone to breakage.
Click to expand...

new would get him warranty though. however, at $100/mo... not sure what you can get new exactly.

117k is not huge, but it really depends on how well the car has been kept. I'd say to learn and fix it all yourself, but only if you have a friend who is capable who can guide you.

What is the history of repairs, are there any major maintenance items that are coming up?
 
DEFINITELY fix it!!

Tires & brakes are just regular items. Hell, when I do brakes anymore, I don't even SWEAT the small sh!t. I buy new pads/rotors (don't even BOTHER turning today's cheap-ass rotors) and if it needs a caliper.........I buy TWO and slap 'em on.

Hell, I'd spend a GRAND..........EASILY on that car before giving up on it!! It's only a '97. A 10 year old car just ain't old, imho!

:thumbsup:
 
I had a 96SC2 and my wife a 2k SL2...very cheap to drive. I'd fix it if you are happy with it. If not that alone is time to move on.
 
I am inclined to say fix it and drive it. Driving is just hella expensive anymore no matter how you slice it, and you haven't indicated anything else about the car that would make it unsound.
 
I've driven cars that were rusting so badly the body would flex in the middle, where the gas tank was collapsing due to rust, and similar things. This is nothing, fix it and keep driving it. Just take that $150 you'd be paying every month on a newer car and save it. Some of that will go towards repairs, but eventually all that money you saved could be used for a new car so you don't have to pay interest on it.
 
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