edited: on a financial point of view, up to what point should you SELL the car?

[andylawcc]

Unless it's legal to sell used tires in your state in which case you can expect to find tires with around 50-60% tread for about $60 a piece.

yes, its legal in CA, and I am using them.

As pointed out earlier most automatic trannys don't hold up past that point.

its a stick.

Not to mention there is still a good possibility of it needing major repair and things like head gaskets and suspension work can get expensive.

the transmission might be up for a rebuild/repair in a year or two, the gears are grinding when i change them. a used tranny with labor maybe $500 bucks.

You also need to consider how tough inspection and emission laws are in your state.

it's in Cali, but it passed smog last round with flying colors.

I don't know what the OP's finances are and make and model are relevant to an extent. But if I were in that predicament with an extra $1500-1800 or so that I pull from savings or finance; I would sell the car for what it's worth and put that money towards a compact car with about 100k or less miles on it in about the $2500-$3,000 range. (which was about the going rate for that type of vehicle last I checked)

that's what I am thinking too, but anything under/around 150k miles with decent gas mileage will be in the $4000 range, which I can afford if i have to.

Basically, I want to see What Would Anandtech Do - 300-400 bucks to drop on repair to prolong the car a year or so.
Or get rid of it, cash in, and buy something else right now as the current car will worth even less later on. I do understand the 300-400 bucks i drop now will not add the same amount to the selling price.

 

[Ramses]

The biggest thing that would make me fix that car, is $4K is in the buyer-beware category in my book. There are plenty good cars for that much, of all types, but there are even more pieces of crap about to fall apart that owners are trying to unload and not spend money on. Better the devil you know..

After living here a few years, if it passes smog in cali, it's not that bad off. Change the trans fluid with RedLine of whatever flavor is appropriate, it'll probly trudge along for ages.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Try double clutching. Had an old 5.0l mustang that would grind going into 3rd the first couple shifts till things warmed up unless I double clutched it.

The automatic trans is the one thing I'm really worried about on my 04 VW tdi. I've always thought it shifted a bit funky and 230k miles is a lot. If it were an 03 or older with the 4 speed auto it would have already exploded twice but the 04+ 5 speed is suppose to be pretty good. If it does go I'll either sell the car for whatever I can get or find a 5 speed manual setup to swap in. If it had a 5 speed manual it would be the perfect car.

 

[Midwayman]

When buying cheap cars the devil you know is way better than the one you don't. You could easily get into way more than $400 in repairs on a new used car.

 

[thomsbrain]

As Car Talk always said, it's almost always cheaper to fix a car than to buy another one (assuming money is the only consideration). Where you might get into sell territory in your situation is when the engine or transmission need a rebuild. Almost everything else can be considered a consumable part that could need replacement on ANY car under $10,000. At least the rest of your car is a known quantity.

I suppose even an engine/transmission rebuild wouldn't be out of the question if the rest of the car was still solid. On my Accord V6, I have 200K on the transmission and I must assume it will go out one day, but the engine is still in fantastic shape. Rebuilding a transmission to get another 100,000 relatively reliable miles would still be a fantastic deal.

 

[desy]

I changed a water pump once
If you can do brakes its the same process take your time, lay out the parts as they come off and reverse the order they go back in, take your time