How much is your car repair annually?

[Leo]

I bought a brand new full-size american brand sedan for about $25,000 back in 2013. I consider this my first true car.

In 7 years, I had 5 car repairs averaging $412.00, so that means I am averaging 1 car problem every 16 months. (to be fair, all issue was recently, maybe last 3 years)

The car has 70,000 miles so far, both city and highway driving.

I am planning to keep the car for maybe another year and maybe upgrade. I feel like more issue would arise in the next two years.

Is this stats normal? How is your experience with your car? I know other brand especially Japanese car has reputation on reliability but I wonder if this experience is good.

[scfr]

Our 2 most recent cars have both been Toyotas (Camry, Prius).
We have paid for routine maintenance per the manual.
We have paid for things that wear out (tires, battery, light bulbs).
The 2010 Prius was hit in a parking lot so we had body work done. Other than that, we've had no extraordinary repairs on the Prius. On the Camry, if my memory is correct, only once we had an extraordinary repair in the 20+ years we owned it, though to be fair there were things that we let go unrepaired when the car got to be a certain age if they didn't impact the safe operation of the vehicle (power window doesn't work? don't roll down the window-lol! … that kind of thing).

What are you classifying as repairs? If you are following the maintenance schedule, replacing things that wear out as needed, not driving under extreme conditions, and what you outline is for repairs above and beyond the regular stuff, then yes, I think that's a lot.

[Jluke]

Define what you consider car repairs.

ive owned a 2017 Accord brand new and have just done maintenance so far.

I had a 2011 Accord and can’t remember any repairs on that one. Owned for 6 years 100k miles

[disneysteve]

I had a 2011 Accord and can't remember any repairs on that one. Owned for 6 years 100k miles

You put 100,000 miles on a car and it never needed a single repair? That's incredible. I wish I could say the same. My Camry has about 107K on it and has had plenty of repairs. It is 14 years old and I've owned it for 7 of them.

[Leo]

What are you classifying as repairs? If you are following the maintenance schedule, replacing things that wear out as needed, not driving under extreme conditions, and what you outline is for repairs above and beyond the regular stuff, then yes, I think that's a lot.

Yes, I'm not including regular maintenance like oil change and expenses on wear and tear like changing tires, etc. I'm talking about major car repairs like I needed to fix an oil leak in my car or needed to change minor parts like oil sensor and thermostat.

[MonkeyMama]

Our experience is -0- the first 10 years (100k miles) when it comes to any small sedan (manufactured after 2000).

That said, we have had always had exceptional and inexpensive independent mechanics. Clearly DIY is going to be one end of the scale, and the dealership ($$$) is going to be the other end of the scale. These numbers are clearly going to be very different which route you take.

& there's always going to be other factors. Historically, we have mostly driven our cars on the open freeway, which means we might not even have to replace brakes for 80k miles. I've gotten the sense that cars last longer and need fewer repairs in our mild climate (compared to most discussions I see online). We're just going to buy whatever is a great deal (low price) and drive it for 15 years. Works for us. If we were much harder on our cars (climate or driving habits, lots of miles, etc.) I'd probably car shop very differently.

[kork13]

Our experience is -0- the first 10 years (100k miles) when it comes to any small sedan (manufactured after 2000).

Gratefully, that's pretty close to my experience as well. I've owned 7 cars for between 2-7 years, Mitsubishi, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, VW, both new & used (bought everywhere from 3-15 yrs old), put 25k-100k miles on each of them, ..... never had a bigger repair than routine maintenance, except for my first car (the 15y/o Mitsu) getting hit by an idiot F-350 driver, and my previous VW losing the oil pan drain plug (incorrectly installed--never doing my oil change there again!), requiring a tow, underbody wash, and a system diagnostic to ensure no damage after 100% of my oil drained out at 70mph...I've never seen so many lights go off at once!

[Jluke]

You put 100,000 miles on a car and it never needed a single repair? That's incredible. I wish I could say the same. My Camry has about 107K on it and has had plenty of repairs. It is 14 years old and I've owned it for 7 of them.

That’s the one plus side to buying brand new. And a little bit of luck.

Service is done at the dealer too, go figure.

[disneysteve]

That’s the one plus side to buying brand new. And a little bit of luck.

Service is done at the dealer too, go figure.

One would hope that buying new gets you some trouble-free years, though the last car we did buy new got recalled twice in the 4 years we owned it. It was then destroyed in a fire caused by a manufacturing defect.

As for doing service at the dealer, we had started using an independent mechanic for a few years but it was at least as expensive as the dealer and way less convenient since the dealer provides a loaner. With the independent shop, I had to rent a car on my own so that offset any small savings on the service itself, and I can't honestly say I saw any significant savings.

[bjl584]

Zero.
My truck is under bumper to bumper warranty for another couple years
But, I haven't had any issues with it. .

As far as minor stuff and maintenance, I do all that myself.
I recently changed front brakes and rotors.
I'm due for an oil and fuel filter change in about a month.

[johnwood]

I own a truck, and been lucky to not have had any issues over the past 3 years that I've owned it. My last one however was a nightmare, at least a couple of repairs a year. Felt like it was throwing money away.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I recall my toyota corolla nothing other than tires, oil changes. I did the brakes 2x during my 140k mile tenure and suspension. It was SO cheap to maintain it was ridiculous