Fix or buy new car

Wrenched on enough machinery, and distrust mechanics. Can’t really “afford” a toy car. So, buy a Toyota, drive for ten years, buy another Toyota...
 
Sunset said:
^^^^ My DW's car is 21 yrs old.

We have 103K on it. I just use it for local drives like grocery shopping, etc.
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You want to be careful there. I've seen several long-in-the-tooth low-mileage cars recently with bad front subframe rust. Honda Accords of the period are particularly susceptible because the AC drain drips condensate on it. So it's not even a rust-belt issue for that model.
 
We traded in our 125k miles 2004 MDX last month for a 2019 RDX when the steering fluid was leaking and the rear window wiper just fell off one day (couple of big things had been dealt with the year before). We never could fix cars ourselves and felt we had delayed the inevitable long enough. The MDX was a really nice safe car but the 2019 feels safer and has things like bluetooth and remote start and USB ports and Carplay, and Siri will call 911 for me. Maybe the OP’s mini had some or all of that but his DW might realize what a new car offers, regardless of how much repairing the mini might need.
 
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Bamaman said:
You need to find another mechanic, as he's completely dishonest.
You can go to RockAuto.com and order new brake pads, rotors and hardware for $150--all 4 wheels.
A set of struts are only $110 for both.

Nothing worse than a mechanic shop that strikes fear in the hearts of customers. If the engine has been replaced, you should have many, many more miles left in the body. Go find another mechanic.

Note: Another source of ridiculous profits is the CVT belts on older Mini's. Dealers charge $5000 to fix them. Independents charge $3.5K. The parts are only $500, and the fix is documented on YouTube.com. Fortunes have been made ripping off customers on this job.
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This ^ I have done this work and never had done it before in my life. I used YouTube to guide me through the process. I beleive they wanted 600$ to do brakes around a small pickup of mine. I got the parts for under 100$ and did the work myself. It took me all day but the job was done right.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
You want to be careful there. I've seen several long-in-the-tooth low-mileage cars recently with bad front subframe rust. Honda Accords of the period are particularly susceptible because the AC drain drips condensate on it. So it's not even a rust-belt issue for that model.
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Thanks.... I will take a look as I'm going to change the oil as soon as the rain here stops for a day or two.

I once jacked up a friends car, and the jack pushed in the frame, pretty surprising to see as there was no sign otherwise.
 
WOW! Only 76k miles on the original engine. That would not instill confidence in a Mini Cooper. If the recent repairs suggested are legitimate it sounds like an expensive car to own.


Cheers!
 
Issue 1 - Mini Cooper
Issue 2 - repair or replace

Can’t change Issue 1, but you can move on to a more reliable, safer car. Clean Issue 1 up and sell it yourself. There are many good quality cars available at fair prices, new and used.
 
Facing the same problem, with a twist... only drive 1500 miles per year.

Fix or replace, $$$per mile cost runs about $35. No Uber, poor taxi service.

Age brings new challenges. :LOL:
 
When my 14 year old Volvo needed 6k in repairs we bought a new car. It only had 172k miles on it. That car was a money pit. Now we have a Toyota and Honda and not one repair despite the cars being 11 and 10 years old.
 
Bamaman said:
You need to find another mechanic, as he's completely dishonest. ...
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+100

Background: Now that I am old and lazy I no longer do my own work but in the day I did everything, including the occasional engine rebuild. I also raced sports cars for 15 years and did all of my own work except gave the engines annual trips to a top professional builder.

I would be very interested in why the brake lines need to be replaced. I have never had to do this on a street car or on a race car.

I would also be very interested in why a low-mileage engine needed to be replaced. Short of a timing belt failure and the catastrophic valve damage that can result, there are very few things that could require such a move in a street car.

All that said, my wife is on her second Mini. We ditched the first one (approx 2004) due to unreliability. Check with your dealer; the early Minis had French engines and other stuff. Pure disaster. Plastic (!) internal timing chain guides that had a habit of breaking apart with pieces dropping into the oil pan and blocking the oil pump pickup. There was a big recall on this. The newer Minis are totally different, with a German engine.

So. ... if it was anything but a Mini I would say fix it. A new car will give you more than $4K of depreciation in the first year, plus a similar number in the second. So it will definitely cost more than fixing the current car. If your sole goal is economic efficiency, fixing by an honest mechanic is the way to go. But if you can afford a new toy, buy for that reason. Exception: If you have a French Mini, ditch it as fast as possible.
 
OldShooter said:
I would be very interested in why the brake lines need to be replaced. I have never had to do this on a street car or on a race car.
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I have replaced brake lines on two different street cars.

On my old 1976 Rabbit the brake lines ran under the carpet inside the passenger cabin. Leaks around the windshield caused the floorboard (and the associated brake lines) to rust under the carpet. I discovered this by accident when my brakes failed and I blew through a stop light. Thankfully no other vehicles were there at the time. It was a labor intensive job, but not that expensive.

I also had to replace the brake lines on my daughters old 1996 Ford Taurus. It had a fair amount of rust underneath, probably from salted roads back east. Again, it was very labor intensive but the brake line itself was relatively cheap.
 
OldShooter said:
+100

Background: Now that I am old and lazy I no longer do my own work but in the day I did everything, including the occasional engine rebuild. I also raced sports cars for 15 years and did all of my own work except gave the engines annual trips to a top professional builder.

I would be very interested in why the brake lines need to be replaced. I have never had to do this on a street car or on a race car.

I would also be very interested in why a low-mileage engine needed to be replaced. Short of a timing belt failure and the catastrophic valve damage that can result, there are very few things that could require such a move in a street car.

All that said, my wife is on her second Mini. We ditched the first one (approx 2004) due to unreliability. Check with your dealer; the early Minis had French engines and other stuff. Pure disaster. Plastic (!) internal timing chain guides that had a habit of breaking apart with pieces dropping into the oil pan and blocking the oil pump pickup. There was a big recall on this. The newer Minis are totally different, with a German engine.

So. ... if it was anything but a Mini I would say fix it. A new car will give you more than $4K of depreciation in the first year, plus a similar number in the second. So it will definitely cost more than fixing the current car. If your sole goal is economic efficiency, fixing by an honest mechanic is the way to go. But if you can afford a new toy, buy for that reason. Exception: If you have a French Mini, ditch it as fast as possible.
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I too have done much wrenching over the last 50 years. Although not common, I have had brake lines, fuel lines and fuel filler neck (not to mention the normal rocker panels) rust out in a '99 Buick within 11 years. Northern states that salt roads play havoc with our cars.

If the OP gets a second opinion from an independent mechanic and the price is reasonable then I would repair it and save the next 6 month's car payments. But I was a bit confused when the OP said the body was sound but it was rusty underneath. Surface rust underneath is "normal". If it is starting to rust out, then I would sell the car. To keep DW happy, find a used '05 (or newer) Mini from a southern state with NO rust. Just watch out for sun damage to the plastic interior parts.
 
You know it's a sub-compact with the newer ones having a 4 safety in that class. An expensive sub-compact too.

Unless your DW is unlike the rest of us and she is getting sharper and quicker as she ages, I'd swap that things out with something a little bigger and look for a 5 star safety rating.
 
I see one of those at the gym and just laugh. We have game animals bigger than that. In over 50 years of driving I’ve only had two crashes. Neither was my fault. I hit an elk in a full size Chevy Caprice and it took the hood and entire top of the car almost off. I only survived because they were made of real metal back then. Second crash was in my 1996 Ford F-250 diesel when a newer Ford F-150 made a left turn right in front of me. Total of both trucks but I, the driver of the other truck, and his two kids all walked away. F-250 was the clear winner. A Mini would have been crushed like a beer can in that wreck. Granted, its a lifetime of driving, and I would have only been killed twice. But as Brook Shields once said “If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.”

At our age, safety is far more important than a little fuel. Big trucks and SUV’s are the normal here. We talk about the “Lug Nut Law”. Simply stated, in a crash, he who has the most lug nuts wins. Einstein would have calculated “Energy=Lug Nuts X velocity squared”. I wouldn’t even notice a Mini hitting me unless it was going about 600 mph.

I’d talk here into something nice and substantial and pre-owned that can take a hit. Maybe a little Lincoln Navigator, or Chevy Suburban.

:popcorn:
 
Driving is the most dangerous thing you do.

Choice of car with new safety features will have significant impact on life expectancy.
 
Thoughtful friends love theirs ... CVT transmission takes some getting accustomed to, and four cylinder is now only engine?

Did you get turbo version?
 
John Cooper Work not John Player Special, my bad I was thinking about my Lotus Europa.
The 2013 is much improved compared to the 2005 model.
 
Sconie said:
Unless you have deductible business expenses or plan on keeping a vehicle for only 2 or 3 years, leasing probably does not make sound financial sense.
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Totally agree.

And disagree with all that say buy new.
Let someone else pay the big depreciation & buy slightly used.
 
Considerations new versus slightly used,

- are you getting the latest safety features
- are you factoring in uncertainty of depreciation in the face
of radical changes over the next 5 years in auto tech
- are you still accumulating or are you spending down excess wealth
- what is spouse’s emotional attitude to second hand
- to what purpose would the savings on used be put
 
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