Time to buy a new car or keep fixing mine?

[cpals]

The wife has a 2001 Cavalier with 110,000 miles on it. I keep up the maintenance on it pretty religiously and get the oil changed every three months or so, etc. I've always said if a repair comes up that costs too much then we might as well just look for a new car.

So I took the car in for an oil change today and got it inspected and besides normal maintenance stuff they said my tie rod ends and motor mount needs to be replaced.

Tires Plus
Price Breakdown:
Tie rod end (left/right) - Parts: $75/Labor: $108

Torque strut - Part: $87/Labor: $45
Eng Mnt Frt - Part: $125/Labor: $75

So with these fixes and some of the other normal maintenance items it comes to $600-$800.

Is it worth it to keep dumping money in the car? I'm not sure what the normal life of this car is so if it lasted a couple more years because of these fixes then I'd probably do it.

I'm trying to figure out the most cost-effective route in the long run to go.

Thanks!

 

[Vette73]

Get a 2nd opinion. Those parts you talked about are very common for these tire shop places to replace as they are easy to do and also mark up.

I be willing to bet most if not all the parts you listed are fine. The prices for the tie rods is high if you want to buy yourself. They are between 10-15 each at rockauto.com and go up to $33 for the "high end brand name".

 

[desy]

The car is fine and maintenance is cost of doing buisiness
It'll go yrs yet at least you know exactly where it stands

Unless you have a itch for a new car, I debated mine and it needed 1000 in repairs was 13 yrs old and had 200K miles and a Chev, yours would be an easy decision to fix it to me.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: cpals
I keep up the maintenance on it pretty religiously and get the oil changed every three months or so

TL;DR

however if you have been doing 3 month oil changes at a 'shop' (nice math for 1000 miles driven a month by your wife too), you already have been screwing yourself.

 

[jlee]

What is a "torque strut"?

 

[dawp]

like marlin said get a second opinion. Have you noticed any looseness in the stearing? that is a good indicater of worn tie rod ends. easy fix if ya do it yourself. just get an alignment afterwards. you could get it close by measuring the length before you replace them. depending on make/model, the engine mount might not be too bad. you'll just have to jack up the engine/transmission when replacing it.

 

[dawp]

Originally posted by: JLee
What is a "torque strut"?

I believe that goes between the engine and frame and keep the engine from jerking too much on a fwd car.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

If he spends $800 and it lasts another year that is cheaper than paying a $400 month car payment for a new car. No wonder everyone is in debt in this country.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

Huh, the car is listed @ 3500-4000 on KBB, and things will break on ALL older cars, good time to learn how to work on one. The upside is no payments and since the car has had a good maintence history it should go for a while longer.

 

[cpals]

Ah, great help guys. Thanks for the reassurance on keeping the car... like BarneyFife said, it's cheaper keeping the car running than paying the extra money a month on a new car plus the extra car insurance hike that would come with the new car.

I'm still thinking about getting a second car because right now we only have one personal car and I have a take-home work car. So if a new job opportunity ever came up I'd be scrambling to purchase a car for me and also I'd have to start budgeting for the car. I've heard now's the time to get a car if you're in the market.

 

[PingSpike]

I'd fix it, but yeah it might be a good idea to get a second opinion.

I don't entirely buy that "exceeds the cost of the car" stuff. You'll look forever to find a comparable car, and chances are it'll also have its own share of problems because its also going to be an old car. This car you know the maintenance history on and have experience with its quirks...that makes it worth more then just the blue book to you at least. This is different if the car has given you nothing but trouble or something of course.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

Ignore the troll, he'll try and sell you a Honda.

If the car only needs $800 I would fix it. Think about it, the smallest car payment you'll find is maybe $200 a month and you'll have to put way more than $800 down on a new car. If you fix your car and it lasts more than 4 months you end up ahead.

 

[desy]

Its always money ahead to keep the clunker

I bought a new car cause I could, I still could be driving the old one, my mechanic is! The market is a good time to buy a NEW car, used cars are actually increasing in value as this is now what people can afford to finance

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

Ignore the troll, he'll try and sell you a Honda.

If the car only needs $800 I would fix it. Think about it, the smallest car payment you'll find is maybe $200 a month and you'll have to put way more than $800 down on a new car. If you fix your car and it lasts more than 4 months you end up ahead.

Agreed, but in this case he does not need $800 to fix. I doubt he even has anything that needs fixing.

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Ignore the troll, he'll try and sell you a Honda.

In all fairness, a $4,000 Civic would be nicer than this car in almost every way.

On the other hand, you could likely keep this one running for not much more than what I spend on bicycle maintenance every year. Tally it all up, and the money you save is enough to go out to eat somewhere nice once a week or so, or buy a thonking enormous TV and a home theater system to go with it. This is not a small amount of money.

And car shopping is a PITA if you're not buying new.

(Side note: DO NOT BUY A USED OR GENERIC BIKE UNLESS YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK ON THEM. Just pony up $450 for a bottom-of-the-line Schwinn road bike.)

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Bignate603

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
$600-800?

the car isn't worth much more than that. you're going to lose money by fixing it. you should calculate the costs between: fixing it and the value of it to sell. + keep in mind that the car is downhill from now. more things will definitely continue to break.

i would say sell it, its not worth the price of tires plus all those things mentioned + the amount of time you'd lose in not having a car and time spent fixing it.

Ignore the troll, he'll try and sell you a Honda.

If the car only needs $800 I would fix it. Think about it, the smallest car payment you'll find is maybe $200 a month and you'll have to put way more than $800 down on a new car. If you fix your car and it lasts more than 4 months you end up ahead.

Agreed, but in this case he does not need $800 to fix. I doubt he even has anything that needs fixing.

You're right, I just realized this was the place that gave him the oil change. I would take it to a good independent mechanic and ask him to look at it. He may tell you that some things they mentioned are valid but will last another 5-10k. A good mechanic that knows you'll come back to get the service when you need it will be much better about telling you the truth. I've had great luck with people running their own shop and terrible luck with any place that's a chain.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
In all fairness, a $4,000 Civic would be nicer than this car in almost every way.

plastic interior vs plastic interior
4 banger vs 4 banger
similar size vehicle

Pretty comparable really. Not to mention he's already got the cavalier.

I'd take it to a mechanic to get it checked, odds are it won't need $800 of work. But even if it did, it is worth it over spending more on a car payment right now.

 

[halik]

I'd get a new car, just because Cavaliers are known to be death traps...

NO THX

 

[desy]

wrong

4 stars if your the driver, considerable less if your a passenger though!
So if it was just me as a commuter I'd drive it, but if your using it as a family vehicle I'd consder upgrading

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: desy
wrong

4 stars if your the driver, considerable less if your a passenger though!
So if it was just me as a commuter I'd drive it, but if your using it as a family vehicle I'd consder upgrading

I've seen first hand what a Minivan vs a cavalier did at just 20MPH in a front offset collision. It wasn't pretty.

 

[desy]

Safety was one of the reasons I chose to dump the Corsica instead of fixing it.
It had become a family vehicle where at first it was just to comute by myself at the time.
It was also a reason why we chose the Versa over the Fit or Yaris in 07, cause all the airbags were standard.