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, Wed, 31 May 2006 06:01:22
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In general, when your costs to repair are as much per year as a car payment would be, then it is time to think about the best course of action. Clearly, insurance and taxes would be more on a newer car.
The problem I have found with an older car (approaching or over the 100000 mile mark) is that after an expensive repair you believe that the car should be fine for a while. The problem is that at that age, many different things can go wrong with a car, in spite of how well you have maintained it.
My 99 9-5 4cyl drives well; but over the last few months things have been adding up (water pump, DIC, coolant bypass valve, theft alarm battery just to name a few). Any one of these issues is not really a big deal to repair, as long as it is the only thing that goes wrong with the car for a few months.
Now maintenance alone can get expensive, particularly if you drive a lot of miles per year. Then you start getting to the major service intervals more quickly, and things like brakes and tires need to be replaced. The dealerships tend to be much more expensive than the independent mechanics. So, finding a good independent mechanic for out-of-warranty repairs is a good idea for any car in order to keep maintenance costs down.
With newer cars, a major repair may still be needed. However, in most cases once that repair is done you may go another year or more before you would need to do another major repair. So, doing a $1000 repair on a 60000 mile car may be a good idea, if you have been maintaining that car well. On the other hand, with a 100000 mile car, performing a $1000 repair could still mean that another $1000 repair is just a few months away. Or you may have a bunch of smaller repairs over the course of the year. Obviously there is no way to know for sure. If it's not inconvenient to bring your car in for a repair every month and if the repairs don't start adding up to the equivalent of a year's worth of car payments, then you could decide to keep the car.
However, if you want the car to be more reliable, then in general a newer car will give you that; and the main reason you'll be bringing the newer car in is to get an oil change.
If you put $2400 into a car for repairs every year, that is $200/month. Clearly, that's much less than a SAAB car payment. But, if you have to spend that much on repairs, then you have to consider how much the time to bring the car in or get it towed starts to inconvenience you and makes you less confident to be driving it.
I think that the 9-5 has two main design flaws: (1) The DIC; and (2) the gaskets. The DIC problem is being addressed in some models. Regardless, if and when the DIC fails, it is generally a simple (though expensive when I had it done) fix where the DIC and spark plugs are replaced.
The gaskets on the other hand just seem to fail over time. In the 9-5 replacing the head gasket just seems to mean that you'll have to do it again, if you keep the car long enough. This makes the 9-5 less appealing (to me) for keeping it long term, even though I really like the car. However, if you like the car, then you have to accept this design flaw.
Again it is easy for most people to justify a single expensive repair. However, when the car gets older, other minor repairs start to add-up.
No car is perfect. Hondas and Toyotas can have expensive repairs too. If you don't maintain a car, then you are asking for big trouble (i.e., valves and rings) no matter what the brand is.
An older car generally costs more per year to repair than a newer one.
If keeping the car makes you happy, then that can be a good choice. If keeping the car makes you miserable, well then maybe that's not a good choice. Either way, if you want or need a car you are going to have to deal with its idiosyncrasies. You need to decide which car's idiosyncrasies and associated costs you can accept.
posted by 192.160.5...
, Wed, 31 May 2006 06:01:22
, Wed, 31 May 2006 18:52:00
, Fri, 2 Jun 2006 15:43:27, Wed, 31 May 2006 08:11:26
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