When it’s not worth repairing your car

Sometimes it’s just not worth repairing your car, but then again….

You’ve gotten a repair estimate on your older vehicle and the estimate is high. Is it worth fixing an old car or should you buy new? Here are the things to consider to determine when it’s not worth repairing your car.

Don’t start your decision making process by figuring out what the car is worth

Most people think it’s not worth repairing your car if the repair cost is close to or exceeds the value of the vehicle. That may have been true prior to the pandemic, but it’s no longer true. The trade-in or resale value of your current vehicle is certainly a factor, but post-pandemic, the car’s value is just one piece of the puzzle; it shouldn’t be the only factor. Here’s why.

• With the shortage of new cars, car dealers aren’t discounting new cars very much, so you’ll pay a high price for a new car. Worse yet, the shortage means you may not be able to even get the car you want.

•Good used cars are also in short supply. The used car market is filled with poor quality vehicles; lots of salvaged/washed titles and low quality trade-ins. Worse yet, used cars are still overpriced due to the shortages.

In other words, you’ll either over-pay for a new vehicle or you risk getting a clunker of a used car

It’s not worth repairing your car if you have any of the following

• A severely rusted suspension and frame or rust that is heading that way is an automatic deal-breaker. It’s not worth fixing anything on your vehicle if you rust is eating away at major suspension or frame components. That’s a hard stop. Get rid of the vehicle.

Rusted structural components are a deal breaker. Don’t put any repair money into a vehicle that has this kind of rust going on

• A transmission that’s not shifting properly. It almost never pays to perform an expensive engine or cooing system repair when you already have the signs of transmission failure. Again, hard stop

• Body damage or rust-through on body panels. That kind of rust will only get worse and dramatically lower the chance of getting any money from the vehicle on a trade-in or private party sale. This may or may not be a deal-breaker depending on your comfort/discomfort about driving a dented/rusted vehicle.

It may not be worth repairing your car if you’ve neglected normal maintenance

Many times a shop will give you a repair estimate for a major repair and also include the cost to bring the rest of the vehicle up to good driving condition. So it’s common to see the quotes with thousands of dollars for new tires, brakes, shocks/struts, belts, alternator, starter, and fluid changes.

But those aren’t “repairs,” they’re normal maintenance costs that you should have been performing all along. It’s still real money, but if you buy a used car, you’ll be paying for those items anyway.

How to factor in maintenance costs when deciding whether is it not worth repairing your car

It’s really pretty simple:

If it’s a choice between fixing or buying a new car

It probably isn’t worth repairing your car and paying for all those maintenance items because the new car won’t need tires, brakes, or belts for a long time. Sure, you’ll have a high car payment, but you won’t have big maintenance costs for several year.

However, if it’s a choice between fixing this car or buying a used car, then it probably does pay to fix this one.

Why? Because you’re not going to get a perfect used car. So you’ll probably have to spend money on new tires, brakes, shocks/struts within a year on any used car you buy. At that point you’ll have a car payment and still have to shell out more money.

Now to the dollars and cents decision

If the cost of the repairs and maintenance upgrades exceeds the trade-in or private sale value of your car by 20% or more, it doesn’t pay to fix it and keep it.

How to get rid of car for cash

This gets a little tougher. If you have an engine failure, for example, your vehicle is most likely only worth its junk value. But there are several options. See this article on How to get rid of your car for cash

©, 2023 Rick Muscoplat