<p>We buy modest cars, maintain them and keep them a LOOOOONG time.
Why do they always die at the absolute wrong time?</p>
<p>Son will hopefully be headed off to grad school this fall…somewhere.
His 13 year old thing has all kinds of lights lighting up on the dash, we spent $400 a month ago to paste it back together, don’t want to sink more money in.</p>
<p>Couldn’t it just politely wait for us to put it out of it’s misery this August? Now we need to decide to repatch or try to juggle three drivers and two cars in suburbia over a possibly long hot summer.</p>
<p>I hate cars, too but horses die, so there you have it. Public transportation is absolutely the best thing, and ALL of this stimulus money should be spent on it. Problems solved: construction and infrastructure, saved energy, really important things are possible. Good luck, musicmom.</p>
<p>Musicmom, we hear you… cars never do what we want. Wish we could trade - we’re paying for a junker to sit in the garage until D comes home for the summer.</p>
<p>lorelei, your location tells everything. Many people don’t live where public transportation will be a consideration for a long time, even if congress were to put <em>all</em> the stimulus money into it. You need a certain population density to make it close to a break-even thing in operations even after the billions are sunk into building…</p>
<p>Texas. Sorry. Plus it has 3 large bags of clothes, a lamp and some baskets in the backseat that she cleaned out of her closet and tried to take to the local charity. They were closed on Mondays. She went to school, I get to drive them to the donation place… her heart was in the right place…</p>
<p>The toughest decision is often whether to sink more money into the old car or just cut your losses and buy a new one. Sometimes I wonder if the best strategy is to simply defer all maintenance except frequent oil changes and just drive the thing until it dies. I needed 4 new tires and brakes to keep my 11 year old car going (brakes were long overdue - car shook terribly when brakes were applied) so that set me back… gulp… $1200 on a car worth maybe $4000 if I washed and waxed it. I was living with an oil leak by placing cardboard under the car but then a front exhaust pipe split and the moment of truth arrived. I found a reasonable mechanic and we went for the long overdue timing belt, water pump while we were at it, valve cover gaskets, and replaced that front exhaust section for … gulp… another $1400… but I figured if I had taken it to the dealer for the past 75,000 miles I would have spent an additional $5000 on maintenance by now. So, as you can see, I cannot give advice to anyone.</p>
<p>Once cars started to have problems constantly, it becomes a bottomless pit that will keep draining your money. I say sell them immediately and get a new car or another used car in good condition.</p>
<p>Agreed with I hate cars. Where I live, I can and do take public transportation to work, and can use for shopping and library. School does not provide bus. Oh yes, that will me be doing the happy dance in September.</p>
<p>The good news is that this is a good time to get a deal on a new car if that is any consolation.
We recently traded in one of our 1998 vehicles due to a heads up from the mechanic about some costly repair bills coming up. We were able to get a nice deal on a new car and now we at least have one that should be problem free for awhile ( the other 2 cars in the family are a 1997 and a 1998).
I think we are going to try to trade in from now on at about 8 years , before we have to start putting a lot of repairs in. I wish we had traded this one a little sooner because I probably put a couple thousand into repairs in the last 18 months.
I was surprised that the insurance only went up about $100 as well.</p>
<p>My husband feels that the money we put into our older cars is worth it as it is still cheaper than a car note. With that said, my husband is a car person and our cars are kept in great condition; they get check ups more than we go to the doctor!! Once a repair is made, the car is like new again. My son’s 11 year old Honda, which was bought as a 3 year old used car, is eating oil like crazy. Not a problem, he just checked the oil every week and adds as needed. He even keeps a couple of quarts in his trunk for emergencies!!</p>
<p>We have considered replacing both my 10 year old car and son’s at the same time. I thought maybe we could get a good deal from someone if we bought two at the same time. The problem is, I would like a more upscale car than we are willing to buy son. We keep waiting it out; cars get their oil changed every 3,000-4,000 miles, and the mechanic checks everything out while we are there. We have used the same mechanic for 20 years and trust him. With 4 older cars, we keep him in business!</p>
<p>Maybe I offer a slightly different track to Hate Cars. Buy new or near new cars of high quality, pay a little more than the cheaper alternatives. and care for them like you care for your kids. You’d find good service even after 15 years.</p>
<p>My parents don’t buy new cars. We always get used vehicles. And we’ve had several over the last 10 years or so. I’m thinking 5 or 6. We just got rid of a 2001 Malibu that fell apart suddenly. $1400 was too much to put into repairs when the car was only worth about $750. </p>
<p>Instead, they just bouht a 2008 Trailblazer with 13k miles on it. New? Not quite, but close enough. If it lasts as long as my dad’s last vehicle, then it will definitely be worth the $20k they’re paying for it. I now have his truck which is a 1998 S10 with just over 102k miles on it.</p>
<p>I had bought my car used in 2004 (on election day, actually). It was a 2002, with 12k miles. I got it for about $7500 or so… it had been reposessed… great deal!! I took out a 4 year loan and when I graduated and got a full time job I paid off the rest of the loan within months. To this day, knock on wood, I haven’t had a single problem with it. It has about 85k on it now, and now that I live 3x as close to my job, I can cut down on the miles and should be good for a very very long time!</p>
<p>My 20 year old mazda has 34,000 miles on it. Sits most of the time but I do take it out for spins. It goes for a check up once a year. I can’t complain. Always runs when I need it which is not very often. I would never say I hate it. It is amazing. But I prefer to walk whenever I can which is most of the time.</p>
<p>One way to verify your child’s grades as reported by him to you is to get a notice from your insurance agent stating the good student discount needs proof this time around. They don’t ask every year, must have been spot checking or something. Son was honest with us and we kept him on the policy.</p>
<p>I have an 1991 Honda Civic that I bought in 1998. It has 91000.
I drive only about 1000 miles a year now that son is away. (heck I can’t afford to do much so what’s the point of driving somewhere)</p>
<p>It inever let me down. I’d sooner pay 500 a year in maintenance and just let it run until the ‘big’ breakdown occurs.</p>
<p>I don’t consider replacing tires, batteries, hoses, etc a big deal.<br>
It’s cheap to insure since I have minimal coverage (but legal!)</p>
<p>I can walk to most everything I need. And I can get to work on the bus if need be (did that last week when I had to go into the office on a snowy morning)
I love my car! And I love my mechanic, they are honest and they keep me on the road</p>
<p>Snowball,
If i was in your shoes, I’d go to a Toyota dealership. You could get an Avalon or Camry Camry (the best of that group), and son could look at Matrix or Corolla.</p>
<p>Senior communities, nursing homes, often have older cars for sale with very little mileage.</p>
<p>I’m sure that all you folks were just waiting for an update on our old green car…</p>
<p>The ‘engine light’ magically went out!!!
The state of NJ will allow EARLY inspections up to 2 months before due date.
So, we plan to jiffy quick schedule that inspection and hope the dreaded light stays off.</p>
<p>Seriously, we do think that the old gal (13 years old) was sitting at the curb for days on end in the cold winter and didn’t care for it much. Now that son is driving it more regularly, the lights are behaving.</p>