I have a 98 Mazda Protege with 110,000 miles and I’m trying to decide how much is worth spending on repairs. It needs the front and rear struts replaced which would cost about $800; the car is only worth about $2500. I’m trying to decide if I should go ahead and fix this hoping it will last a couple of years without needing any other major repairs or buying a new (used) car or going without.
I could go without a car for a while since I take public transport to work but it would be hard for me to get around otherwise. I could afford a new car but it seems like a lot of money to spend on something I don’t use often. I drive maybe 4000 miles a year. I think I’m leaning towards fixing it now and hoping it lasts another year or two but I don’t know how realistic this hope is. I’ve already had to replace the water pump and something else I can’t even remember in the past year. The ac is also broken but I live in the Northeast so it shouldn’t be unbearable in summer.
If that’s all that the car needs and you don’t use it very often, I’d fix it and keep it. Houses can be an investment, but cars are almost always expenses, and minimizing your car expense is a good thing, in my opinion. Also, buying a different used car changes the devil you know for the possible devil you don’t know.
I would fix it. 110,000 miles really isn’t that bad in today’s world. At your current usage rate I could see another 5 years of useful life.
Yes, due to the age you will probably see more frequent maintenance for a while. But you might not have any real cost either, you really can’t predict. If you were to get a new or used car you would definitely be spending more over the next few years for that.
You’ve just taken 800 off the 2500 you could get for the car. Either buy another one or do without. There is no way I’d throw money at a 12 year old car. Something else WILL go wrong at the worst possible time.
Scenario A: You sell the car as is for $X, and buy its replacement for $X+800.
Scenario B: You fix it for $800.
Which scenario provides you with the better car for your wants and needs?
Keep in mind that a car has transportation value. You don’t put money into fixing it from the perspective of how much you can sell if for the next day. You fix it from the perspective of using it for a good while.
Is that $800 with installation? That just sounds high to me, but I do all of my work myself. Do you have a friend that could help you with the installation?
And here I was thinking that $800 for replacing struts on all four corners sounded reasonable, as the parts alone sell for just shy of $300 at a popular DIY parts store.
As long as you’ve been giving the car regular maintenance, the engine’s probably in good shape and spending $800 for struts would make sense.
Yes, the $800 includes the installation. I don’t know anything about fixing a car nor do I have any mechanic friends unfortunately. I’m glad some other people think the price sounds reasonable.
For my needs, keeping the car would be fine. I don’t need to drive a lot so I don’t really have to worry about being stranded on the side of the road with somewhere important to be and I don’t drive around anyone other than myself 99.9% of the time. Also the problem isn’t with the engine which has been running ok. I see the downsides of spending 30% of the cost of the car on repairs with no guarantee something else won’t go wrong when I could sell the car and use that money for a down payment on a better vehicle but considering how little I drive, I really don’t need a nicer car right now nor do I anticipate needing one in the next year or two.
I think you’re probably better off fixing the car but if you’re concerned about it then ask the mechanic to give the car a complete inspection. Have him check it out from stem to stern just as if it was a used car you were considering buying right now. He’ll give you a list of things likely to go wrong in the next few thousand miles and you can make a more educated choice about whether or not to authorize the strut repair or just walk away.
You say the engine runs ok? Fair enough, how is the oil consumption? If it’s more than about one quart per 1,500 miles then I’d get a compression check as part of the mechanics inspection. If the usage is less than 1,500 miles per quart, don’t bother.
I’m driving an older car, too. It’s a 97 Mercury Cougar and is probably worth $2500. I just paid $1060 to replace the head gaskets, new serpentine belt, temperature sensor, mass air sensor, plugs & plug wires. If I can get another year out of it, then sell it for $1500 or more, I figure I made a wise choice. I drive about 10K miles per year.
I found the same price on O’Reilly’s web site. I guess $500 isn’t bad for labor, I’m just not used to paying for it. I’d still keep the car since it’s paid for.
Remember what you have now; low taxes, low insurance, no car payments.
A new car will probably be more reliable but will be much more expensive.
Why are you replacing the struts? Because of a problem or because you were told they need replaced? I’ve never replaced struts in any vehicle I’ve ever owned. I’m not saying they handled as well as when they were new, but it really may not be necessary.
Looking up the reliability of a 98 Protege, it sounds like their only real weakness is the engine (yeah, that’s a big weakness, I’ll grant you). The stem-to-stern check before getting any work done sounds like a good idea. I think you could do worse than holding onto a Mazda; as far as I know, they’re pretty reliable.
That’s true, I have low insurance and low tax rates and fuel economy is not bad. I was told the struts needed to be replaced after taking it in for a more immediate problem but I had noticed some bouncing that I was foolishly hoping was nothing. Also every time I hit a little bump it sounds like there’s something heavy bouncing around in the trunk. I found the mechanic recommended on Car Talk’s mechanic files so hopefully the other users know what to look for in a mechanic because I don’t. I asked them to do a safety check because I told them I’m going on a long drive to Canada (about 5 hours) and everything else looks ok. They found a nail in one of my tires and fixed that. I noticed it was low a couple weeks ago and added air but I didn’t realize it was a flat.
I’ve looked up user reviews of my car before on MSN and it seems like more people have better experiences than I have overall. They probably take better car of their cars, so I can’t really complain.
Of course it would. That’s why I specifically said sell it AS IS.
There are some cases where repairing a car before selling is the best strategy. For example, if it doesn’t run and could only be sold for 100 as a non-running car, but could be made to run for 200 and would sell for 1000 as a running car, obviously one should invest the 200 before selling it.
Then there are cases where it doesn’t make sense to invest in repairs before selling. In the OP’s case, a prospective buyer may not even notice a problem with the struts. But whether that’s noticed or not, it’s very unlikely that it will sell for 800 more with new struts than it what would it sell for as is with the old ones. It doesn’t make sense to fix it and then sell it. Either sell it for whatever it will bring with old struts or fix it and get the value of the repair from driving and using the vehicle.
The click&clack guys (spelling?) basically say it’s cheaper to fix, except in the case of extensive rust.
If the car’s been reliable until now, and only has 110K on it, and you only drive it 4K a year, economically speaking I think you fix it. Or see if you can live without a car - do you live where they have Zipcar or something like it near you?
The seller’s objective (if he sells) is presumably the highest net return. If selling unrepaired gets a lower net, as I said, then that would clearly not be the way to go.
If the buyer is aware of the problem, how could it not make at least $800 difference? The buyer is going to estimate what it would cost him (in money and time) to get it in good working order.
$800 to repair the car (and I think the necessity of the repair is debatable) is probably 2 or 3 car payments. Unless you need the car to be ultra-reliable, you have no backup whatsoever, I’d still suggest keeping it.