At what point do you decide that it’s not worth spending money or repairing an older car? Is it purely a financial decision or does it depend or what’s gone wrong? Maybe you consider the history of repairs? Do you give the car extra leeway for year of good service?

Depends how much I enjoy driving it and whether or not I like it, or is it just a hack car for running about in.

If I like driving it, then it gets a lot more leeway. If I don’t like it very much, pretty much the tank getting near to empty means it’ll be got shut of.

If it’s got classic status, I’ll get the work done and then sell it on to an enthusiast before it starts to cost me a fortune.Usually though, my classic cars are fairly well maintained and don’t give me too many horrible surprises.

That’s not much help really is it ?

Not a lot, but thanks for trying.

If you’re confident that after this repair it won’t let you down on a big or important trip – and the repair isn’t going to cost more than half the value of the car – and you like the car and can’t face the hassle of getting a new one – fix it.

It’s your call really.

I always bear in mind that cars I own (or cars of other family members & friends I service) have a known service history from someone who actually cares about their work. Buying a pre-owned car, even in apparently excellent condition, always brings the risk of major repair bills, and making up for poor or missed servicing (regardless of what any service record may show).

It’s not just financial mind, the peace of mind factor must be taken into account. What price do you put on the value of sitting in a vehicle doing 140mph (where legal, you know Isle of Man, Germany) knowing that the car is in tip-top condition, vs doing the same speed in some car you’ve not yet had a chance to fully go over?

And then there’s better the devil you know…

And of course your car may be at the age where expensive things are starting to go wrong (electrics and electronics failing can be very troublesome and expensive).

Also highly car dependant. A Mazda MX-5 with 150,000 miles is nicely run-in, some other makes I wouldn’t touch past 50,000 miles.

Just some random thoughts there, hope that helps.

and the repair isn’t going to cost more than half the value of the car

I like to instead operate on the principle of: how does the repair compare with the cost of getting another car of similar of better age and condition minus any resale value of your car. Even with repairs over the value of your car, the repair may work out the better option.

With bangers, a car that needs £500 spending on it will probably work out better than a £1000 car, because you know that the old one has £500 of new bits in it. The £1000 car could explode at any time as well, you’ve got no guarantee.

It’s a 98 Corolla. 105k miles. Last year cost us two rear shocks, timimg belt, water pump and a new exhaust. This year, a new battery (wrong size battery in it for years! Was sold to the wife like that). Right now, two front shock, cv boots, new disks up front, new pads/shoes all around.

Actually, a really reliable car. Given the age and the mileage, I don’t suppose we can begrudge it any of those parts. Just pondering when to think that she’s no longer financially viable. Any replacement would be a used car so as above, a bit of “better the devil you know”.

those are not repairs – thats just consumables – other than the waterpump of course

if you were saying – gearbox or engines id be worried

but if you replace the suspension , and the brakes – youll probably find that toyota will run for ever till tin worm gets hold of it …

id look at general condition of car – ie is the chassis or body work about to rust through , does it need alot of welding.

if answer is no and its just consumables you have listed above then id just keep her chapping – the bits your replacing will likely be good for another 100k miles now !

Bodywork looks really good for the age. Few scratches when twigs or people have brushed past but nothing through the laqure, no dents and no obvious signs of rust.

Guess the old girl isd good for a while yet.

Well you’ve just answered it. It’s an old car but with new shocks, a new exhaust, new timing belt, new water pump and new brakes.

If you change it for a newer car that’ll cost you £££, if you change it for another old one then that’ll most likely have old brakes, old shocks etc etc.

Rust is really the thing that kills cars – that and expensive engine problems like head gaskets or piston rings etc.

But is there liekly to be another round of stuff going wrong next year? Or worse still, later this year?

could be – but you could go out and buy what seems like a mint car tomorrow and on wednesday the clutch goes ……

unless you buy new with warrenty its a risk you take …

tbh i cant see much left to go wrong that will be expensive

But is there liekly to be another round of stuff going wrong next year?

What else is left? And even if it does go wrong, the car is free – a new car will cost money as well, and that could ALSO have stuff go wrong with it.

if you chop it in you are likely to start this game again. at least you know what has been replaced on this one.

Weren’t corollas of that vintage one of the most reliable cars ever made?

I do believe they were. Thanks all, you’ve convinced me to keep hold of her a little longer.

I had a ford estate mondeo and it was used for the dirty jobs, hauling bikes and was a million years old – kept my company car neat and tidy.

Only recently the water pump was getting noisy and lots of work-I don’t have the time and I’m not spending £600 for a garage to fix a k reg car for something else to go wrong.

Went to the auction and picked up a mk4 estate -its ok.
I miss the old bomb and would be happy to run it now if it was ok.

similar question, ’99 Skoda Octavia 90bhp 1.9tdi, 176k on the clock, it will need a new cambelt and new front tyres soon the dash has the standard fuse removal bodge. the body is sound and it still returns 60mpg and uses no oil.

On top of this it is £225 a year in tax.

part of me is getting twitchy that it is slowly dying and at some point i am going to face a big repair bill. but if i buy a new car i might land up with a lemon that needs money spent anyway.

So part of me is thinking get a cheap small new car, but then i think would i really want to spend time on the motorway in a small car.

im the same, audi a4 avant with 180k on, luckily in last few years only had tyres, suspension arms an a wheel bearing… but im not intending selling it as its still a great car, all electrics on it plus climate control and 50+ mpg…
the wife wants a newer one but im reluctant to change it as its so reliable, if u keep ontop of repairs over the year instead of leaving them to mot time u dont notice a few quid, but leave it all an ul hav a big bill all at once, thats my thoughts anyway

I’m someone who buys a car and runs and runs and runs them until there’s nothing left in them!

I service them regularly and try to keep on top of any body work problems and just let them keep on rolling along, my last Espace had 250,000 miles on the clock before we part exchanged it for a Kia Sedona, that’s on 90,000 now and I’ll just keep on maintaining it. Funnily enough I’m off up the workshop tomorrow to put a new set of dampers and a air conditioning radiator on it.