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Car decision
Jun. 10th, 2010 11:03 amWhen is it time to replace a car?
Most people think it's time to get rid of an old car before it's old enough for me to be in the market to buy it! But I do have standards.
Here are some answers I like:
* when the cost of current repairs needed adds up to more than the price of a replacement car
* when someone else crashes into my car, their insurance totals it and pays me enough for a replacement car
Of course, those things never happen, not even with me who pays far below average for a replacement car. So here are two other answers I have used:
* when a repair is going to clean out my bank account for the fourth time, so I decide I cannot afford to own a car after all (I got rid of the car but did not replace it for four years.)
* when someone else crashed into my car, the damage probably bent the frame, their insurance paid a lot of money, and my car was 20 years old. I never even checked how much it would have cost to repair my car, even though I really liked it.
And now it's time to make that decision again.
Previous plan - Give car to sister, buy replacement for self. (By "give" I mean sell it to her for the price she gets when she gets rid of it--so it's free for now.)
Reality - Car blows head gasket and warps head. (This is even though the temperature did not go into the red zone before I had the radiator replaced.) Mechanic estimates $1200 to fix that or $1800 to replace the engine with another used one. Some guy offered him $300 for it for parts. Sister started thinking she didn't want the car after all when I replaced the radiator and keeps imagining the car breaking down with her and the baby in it.
Other facts - This car has always annoyed me. It's getting old enough that it might need replacing soon (19 years) though the mileage isn't that crazy (170,000) and I've been driving it gently for many years. It's a reliable model (Honda Civic), though I feel like this particular car is a below average instance. I hate shopping for cars.
Feel free to comment.
Most people think it's time to get rid of an old car before it's old enough for me to be in the market to buy it! But I do have standards.
Here are some answers I like:
* when the cost of current repairs needed adds up to more than the price of a replacement car
* when someone else crashes into my car, their insurance totals it and pays me enough for a replacement car
Of course, those things never happen, not even with me who pays far below average for a replacement car. So here are two other answers I have used:
* when a repair is going to clean out my bank account for the fourth time, so I decide I cannot afford to own a car after all (I got rid of the car but did not replace it for four years.)
* when someone else crashed into my car, the damage probably bent the frame, their insurance paid a lot of money, and my car was 20 years old. I never even checked how much it would have cost to repair my car, even though I really liked it.
And now it's time to make that decision again.
Previous plan - Give car to sister, buy replacement for self. (By "give" I mean sell it to her for the price she gets when she gets rid of it--so it's free for now.)
Reality - Car blows head gasket and warps head. (This is even though the temperature did not go into the red zone before I had the radiator replaced.) Mechanic estimates $1200 to fix that or $1800 to replace the engine with another used one. Some guy offered him $300 for it for parts. Sister started thinking she didn't want the car after all when I replaced the radiator and keeps imagining the car breaking down with her and the baby in it.
Other facts - This car has always annoyed me. It's getting old enough that it might need replacing soon (19 years) though the mileage isn't that crazy (170,000) and I've been driving it gently for many years. It's a reliable model (Honda Civic), though I feel like this particular car is a below average instance. I hate shopping for cars.
Feel free to comment.
