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Depends on your options- Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 29 Nov 2000 11:25:34
In Reply to: When does one give up?, John Burnett, Wed, 29 Nov 2000 09:40:34 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Depends. If the car is in sound shape - the body is good, running gear seems fine, then the occasional big gulp happens. It's part of owning a car.
Examine your options-
You can go out and buy a new car. If you want a new car, and want a warrantee and relative peace of mind, then do it. But for example, you'll probably pay as much in sales tax for it out the door as you'll spend on repairs on your old one this year. Your insurance will increase. The depreciation in the first year will pay for three years repairs on your old car. In my state (Connecticut) you pay property tax yearly on cars - a lot more on a new car than an old one. If you finance, you'll pay close to the repairs in non-deductable interest. Pay cash, and you'll lose interest on the money. That doesn't mean you don't buy new - I bought new this summer. But it's rarely an economic reason.
You can ditch this car and buy another used one. In general, that only means that you're exchanging your known set of problems for an unknown set. There is no checkout you can do on a new (used) car that you can't do on your present car.
If the car is running well and does what you need it to do, then that's a good reason to keep it. If it isn't running well, or no longer meets your needs, then get rid of it. If you've lost confidence in it, if you wonder if the next time you turn the key it will start, and if you can't rely on it to make it to where you need to go, then dump it.
If you're concerned about upcoming expenses, spend a few bucks and bring it to a knowledgeable Saab mechanic and have him/her check it out from stem to stern. Look at it as evaluating a used car, just like if you were buying it from someone else. I recommend that you pass the results to us here on the board. Some mechanics use this opportunity to make some business for themselves. Others will report every niggling thing, because you paid them to find every niggling thing. Just because it may be a long list doesn't mean it's and expensive list. You can probably make the car right for the price of the stereo upgrade option on a new car.
I put a new tranny into my '88 9000T at 120K miles - $2500. Did it hurt? You betcha. But the body is sound, she runs very happily, and makes me smile. Now I've got a car with a good tranny, and I know a lot about this car - what has been done, what hasn't; how it's been maintained. What are my options? I could have sold it with a bad tranny for maybe $1200. So now what, buy another for maybe $3000, and have the tranny break next week? Cars break - it's a fact you can deal with. All cars cost money to run.
If you sit down and review your options, think it through, I'll bet you can make a pretty good argument for keeping the car and justifying the repairs.
Good luck!
, Wed, 29 Nov 2000 11:25:34 <-- Viewing This Message
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