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Living here in the islands where cars get pretty trashed and dinged between potholes and salt erosion (mileage is minimal!) I've always bought used cars but have never had to junk one yet although one which comes to mind was SO close to it. I'd bought this Mitsubishi Mirage from a friend for $750 after my Acura was stolen for parts and found stripped. It had lots of dents, bumps and bruises but was dependable engine-wise. A few years later it was sinking fast. One of the front windows was missing (my bad, using the weed wacker around it which hit a rock!), the brakes were almost non-existent, tires were just about bald and the alternator finally crapped out which necessitated my plugging the battery into a charger overnight. Of course I couldn't drive it at night either because of the alternator problem. Minor inconveniences but it became time to seek something a little better and I soon found a replacement.
But what to do with the poor old Mirage. We don't get PAID here to junk a car but have to pay close to $300 and that's the cheapest price even draining the gas and oil and taking off the tires ... but I had a big yard sale coming up and, on the day of the sale, I stuck it in the parking lot of my business with a big, "FOR SALE $250" sign on it. A couple of hours into the sale a man asked me about it and I started it up for him, told him with complete honesty what was wrong with it, he took a look under the hood, poked around and said that he was really interested but had to check with his partner. He was in the construction business and was looking for a cheapie with a good engine (and she was still purring like a mama cat with suckling babies) to haul around materials. Off he went and said he'd be back later.
A couple of hours later a young couple came by who were looking for a car for their daughter whose vehicle had been recently stolen. Again I explained all the problems but after looking it over they said, "done", handed over the money, I wrote them a bill of sale and off they went to return later on to pick it up. Five minutes later, who showed up but the construction guy with his partner, all excited. I felt pretty lousy having to disappoint them but hadn't taken a holding deposit so there was nothing to be done. They understood perfectly.
Over a year later I bumped into the couple who bought the car and they said their daughter was thrilled with it. With a new/rebuilt alternator for a few hundred bucks, new brakes and tires and a plexiglass window, it was safely getting her to and from her bartending gig and everyone was happy. Another year or so later I bumped into them again and the old thing had finally croaked but they had no regrets and said that for what they paid and put into her she was a steal of a deal.
One never knows!
elias9193, I'm now driving a 98 Explorer with 66000 miles which I bought a few years ago for less than $2K. It was great for carting things around when I had my business and is a bit "overkill" now that I closed the business but, several months ago, I invested over $1500 in her between front end and brakes parts and labor so am hanging on with her in the hopes she'll last for a few more years. The transmission issues these cars have do make me nervous but so far so good ...
I drove a 96 Acura RL until it died. 251k miles. The main seal went and there were too many other things wrong with it to get it fixed. I stripped it of as many parts as I could and have sold them locally and on ebay. I am over $2000 net on the parts....
Living in non-rusting country, I just keep driving the same old cheap cars as daily drivers. Unless somebody crashes into them, there is no reason to think I can't keep repairing them.
Champion for value has to be the $1000 Scirocco - I have done quite a bit of work, mostly tuning and refining things, and probably have more like $3K in it now all told, but outside of the A/C, everything works, I'm in the middle of putting the headlights on relays (if you know about the electric system in these cars, one "feature" is that there are so many switches, plugs, etc, that the headlights typically get only 8 or 9 of the 13.5 volts available, the rest being dissapated in the system - switching over to relays puts full system voltage, with only whatever minimal drop you get in the relay, to the lights - the way most Japanese builders do it from the get go...)
I generally believe it's cheaper to keep the car you own free-and-clear maintained, but almost no one seems to understand what's really involved or just don't have the income or foresight to do it. Cars burn money. If you aren't taking care of regular maintenance and repairs, you're driving it into the ground with deferred maintenance.
So it comes down to budgeting either $200-$300/month for repairs and upkeep on a 6-year-old car (money not only for tires and batteries and occasional break-fix, but also replacement fuel-injection systems, cat converters, transmissions, etc), or budgeting for a new car under warranty. With the new car you generally get better performance and safety, etc.
Yep.... 85 camaro blown engine, sold on Craigslist for $500, 94 camaro needed tires, tranny, clutch, pads, rotors, and had 140k on it. Sold for $1k(last heard next owner had 220k miles, repainted and fixed everything, 00 camaro, blown motor sold for $2k, 92 5.0 mustang, rotted frame, bad fuel pump, towed to new owner, sold for $2k.
All the so called experts say that financially it is better to just drive a car until it dies and it reaches a point that repairing it will cost more than its value. The most logical car owner will not sell or trade a car in, but instead will just junk it for $300 and feel fortunate that they got so many years of use out of it.
Do you agree and how many times did you drive your car until it was a piece of junk and had to be towed away?
From the economic point of view "complete consumption" is always the best way to recover full value with anything you buy.
What puts most people in a car dealership long before it's time is that people just don't understand that they are dealing with a machine that will break , will wear out parts, and will not run forever with no maintenance or care on their part. Don't be a tight butt when repairs are needed or it will cost you way more later.
Buy a good car then take care of it (there are no free rides) to ,in the long run, save thousands of dollars on transportation expenses.
After decades of being a "car keeper" my current stable is a 1993 Chevy Suburban & a 1996 Chevy that were bought new with plans to keep both a minimum of 20 years. Looks like I'll make the 20 yrs and then some they both are in excellent low mile shape!
1985 Mercury Cougar: RIP at 270,000+ miles on the odometer and 16 years of service to me after buying it used for peanuts. I put an alternator, Starter, and did a transmission job on it during those years. Other than gas, oil, tires, brakes, and 1 battery; that is the only money it cost me. Drove it to the junkyard with no back brakes because the brake line rusted through the week before the transmission started slipping BAD.
1999 Chevy Suburban: 235,000+ miles when the block cracked on me. I put a starter, brakes, battery on it. Drove that for 6 years and bought it for cheap as well. Drove it to the mechanic to see what was wrong (hoping just a head gasket) but then sold it to him when we discovered the cracked block. I let him have it for a couple hundred, he swapped in a crate motor because the body was still flawless and his wife still drives it to this day, 5 years later. Still looks good too, no rust yet.
1977 Cougar: Bought for $500, drove for 4 years and sold to a scrapper for $650 with 198,000 miles on it. Tried to kill the motor for a long time, or the transmission, but in the end it was rust that put it in the junkyard... still running like a top.
1989 Chevy 3/4 ton Suburban: Body finally was too bad this Spring after spending its life in rust country and being beat the last 15 years of it's life. I washed it once and replaced the tires once in the 4 years I owned it, paid $1000 for it. 298,000 miles when I sold for $500 it to a scrapper who wanted the motor and transmission for his brothers truck. Still ran perfect. (better than the one I replaced it with actually)
1998 GMC Astro van: Bought for $3500 in 2002 with 35,000 miles on it. Drove it cross-Country a couple of times and sold it in 2007 for $1000 with 170,000+ when it tried to burn down in the driveway after driving it downtown and back with the kids. Junkyard took it for the interior and brand new set of tires on it. They swapped motors and put it on the road as their parts go-getter.
None of them owed me a penny when they finally died. None of them tried to nickle and dime me to death before their end came either.
I had a 1978 mustang with 178k miles & blew a head gasket on the top of the cajon pass in ca. Luckily i did exit the freeway & manage to park the car. I called my then bro in law from a pay phone & he drove up their & pushed my car on the freeway to my home which was mostly downhill & in the del rosa area of san bernardino. I sold the car 2 days later to a salvage yard for $150.00. I then bought a 1978 chevy malibu for $150.00 & drove that car for 3 yrs & sold it for $500.00 (private buyer). Six months later the motor blew at around 150k. I currently drive a 85 olds i have owned for 15 yrs & it has 121k miles on it. This is a good & intresting topic with all good posts.
I generally believe it's cheaper to keep the car you own free-and-clear maintained, but almost no one seems to understand what's really involved or just don't have the income or foresight to do it. Cars burn money. If you aren't taking care of regular maintenance and repairs, you're driving it into the ground with deferred maintenance.
So it comes down to budgeting either $200-$300/month for repairs and upkeep on a 6-year-old car (money not only for tires and batteries and occasional break-fix, but also replacement fuel-injection systems, cat converters, transmissions, etc), or budgeting for a new car under warranty. With the new car you generally get better performance and safety, etc.
And hey: It's a new car!
Not even CLOSE!
I've never owned so much as a 10year young car, All of my cars excepting my current $2,500 4 runner have cost me LESS than $2,000... and I've NEVER spent so much as $1,000 on repairs and upkeep in a year!
One car I said I was going to 'drive untill the wheels fell off'.... well, I drove it until the Wheels locked up!
Toasted the motor on my 1993 Nissan Altima, but it had been wrecked, and I had been paid $2200 (And change) and gave them $200 for the thing and drove it another 80,000 miles...
When the wheels locked up (And I could tell it was coming before the trip) I was making $550/Day and only had a few hours for sleep before going back to work. I called a couple junk yards and told them the first one to make it there with $1 could have it... but they had to take my radio out and give it to me.
Then I paid a guy $20 to take me to a Enterprise to rent a car and called up the guy I had fixing up my Jeep and told him to hurry up.
Altima had over 1/4 million on it.
that was one of 2x I've had my 'junkers break down'...
Since then It's seemed to me that it's smarter to SELL the car while it still runs, consequently I seem to be selling cars for MORE than I have in them after driving them for some time.
I like that better.
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