Time for a new car I'm afraid

[disneysteve]

I was hoping to put this off for a couple more years but my car is starting to fall apart and I don't think it's worth spending the money to put it back together. When I had it in for service recently, they said they couldn't be sure but there might be a power steering leak so we're keeping an eye on that. They also said the struts needed to be replaced soon. Now, there is a coolant leak. The water pump may be bad. I don't mind the occasional repair but on a 14-year old car, I think it has hit that point where things are adding up to be too much.

Coincidentally, like the powers that be know what's happening, just the other day I got an invite to a special sale at the local Toyota dealer tomorrow. They are having special pricing on new and used cars and 2.9% financing on the used cars. They're even giving a couple of gifts for attending the event (a golf umbrella and a Target gift card). So I signed up to go to that. I'll take a look at their used inventory and if I find something I like, I may take the plunge. If not, I'll start looking around and probably get something within a week.

[bjl584]

You have a Camary right? With something like 150K plus miles?

The newer ones are pretty nice cars. I'm not sure what kind of a deal you can get on one right now though. Anything sedan related is a good pick. Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Nissan Maxima, Hyundai Sonata.

Let us know how things work out.

[disneysteve]

You have a Camary right? With something like 150K plus miles?

Yep. I bought it used as a dealer demo in August 1998 so I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it. I've got no complaints. I knew it wouldn't last forever. This is the longest I've ever owned a car and the most miles I've ever put on one.

I don't like the new Camrys but I'll take a look and see what they've got.

[bjl584]

Yep. I bought it used as a dealer demo in August 1998 so I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it. I've got no complaints. I knew it wouldn't last forever. This is the longest I've ever owned a car and the most miles I've ever put on one.

I don't like the new Camrys but I'll take a look and see what they've got.

Just keep an eye out for the ones built around 2011. There were some quality issues after the Tsunami in Japan. Toyota had trouble sourcing certain parts and had to make substitutions. Honda had the same issue.

[riverwed070707]

Seems crazy to me that your 14 year old car only has 150k miles!! My 2006 just crossed 125k haha. Love it though and I plan to drive it till it dies. On the flip side, DH's 2001 civic only has about 80k miles -- we've only owned that one for two years and we were pretty lucky with the low milage and great price.

[bjl584]

Seems crazy to me that your 14 year old car only has 150k miles!! My 2006 just crossed 125k haha. Love it though and I plan to drive it till it dies. On the flip side, DH's 2001 civic only has about 80k miles -- we've only owned that one for two years and we were pretty lucky with the low milage and great price.

I moved about a year ago, but I used to have a fairly long commute. My old car clocked just over 100K miles in under 5 years.

[disneysteve]

Just keep an eye out for the ones built around 2011. There were some quality issues after the Tsunami in Japan. Toyota had trouble sourcing certain parts and had to make substitutions. Honda had the same issue.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. If I don't find something I like at Toyota, I may wander over to Hyundai. I like the Sonatas that I've seen.

[bjl584]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. If I don't find something I like at Toyota, I may wander over to Hyundai. I like the Sonatas that I've seen.

I used to own a Hyundai Elantra which is a bit smaller than the Sonata. It's compareable to the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. Anyway, I drove it for 102K miles and never had one problem. It was a great car.

[disneysteve]

Seems crazy to me that your 14 year old car only has 150k miles!!

At my old job, I used to drive 300-400 miles/week. I left that job in Feb. 2000 and since then have worked at an office 8 miles from my home. That keeps my mileage down a lot. When we do anything as a family, we've usually taken my wife's van.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Steve you the one talking about shelling out to repair an old car is worth it over buying another one? That it's worth investing $1k year to keep it going? But I said that for many older cars when one thing starts to go it just starts a steep slope down hill that you may not know where the end is?

Your car is the perfect example. You can forsee a lot of problems cropping up. Is it worth doing everything to get a rebuilt car?

We're in the same boat 99 Corolla but I only have 110k miles and the muffler just fell off and was replaced for $400. I am definitely in the market looking but waiting for the right car to fall in my lap.

Many would argue their is a lot of life left. Probably so. But I think a lot of money is about to come due in the next year to keep it running. It'll probably nickel and dime me $500 here, $1k here then suddenly it'll have been $5k that I might as well have spent on a newer car than a 99.

[snafu]

The newer cars get far superior mileage so faced with several repairs + an invitation to the Toyota dealership what's a guy to do is obvious! I've always found the best deals for a used Honda are at the Toyota dealers and got a remarkable deal on a Hyundai Sonata at the Honda dealership. People seem unfamiliar with Hyundai so I believe the best deals are private sales but it leaves you with the problem of selling your current vehicle.

We're currently driving a Hyundai Santa Fe which has a remarkable warranty. They were nearly giving these away in 2010 when we needed a mini van for events in our family.

[disneysteve]

Steve you the one talking about shelling out to repair an old car is worth it over buying another one? That it's worth investing $1k year to keep it going?

Yep, and I would still support that opinion. Our other car, a 2000 Sienna, has 150,000 miles and I'll continue to make repairs until the cost gets to be too much. With the Camry, I know I'm looking at well over $2,000 in repairs right now if I want to fix what's wrong. That takes it over that reasonable threshold in my mind

I did buy a car today. I'll start another thread about that.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

What's the difference between $1k year and $2k? Isn't it about the same? The $1k could be in November and $1k in February. Then another $1k in August.