Hi ER,
I've always believed in purchasing used vehicles but the last few have been a bust.
BMW 525 wagon: 140K miles, bad oil divertor valve, engine flush. $1200 repair. Sold.
Nissan quest van: 60K miles, replaced motor mounts, failing transmission, got side swiped and thankfully received a replacement check. In car heaven.
Current car inventory:
1. 2007 Toyota 4 runner, bought at $8.7K, currently 165K miles, failing rear diff. Repair estimate $1200. Local market value $7K+. Car fully paid for.
2. 2008 Lexus LX570, bought at $26K, 83K miles, chased and poured $4K diagnosing and repairing a persistent transmission issue (intermittent reverse gear not engaging). Got 2nd opinion from another shop and it turned out original repair shop was incompetent and filled 1.5-2.0 qts low on tranny oil. We used trans-x oil as an interim fix but local transmission shop advised us that we will be seeing eventual transmission failure and should expect a rebuilt tranny repair bill north of $3K. Local market value $23K. Car loan balance $13K.
I've read on other threads on ER.org the conventional wisdom is repair bills are better than car payments and if repair bills are less than 50% of car value, then go ahead with repair and keep.
Should we repair and keep or move onto another vehicle?
Thoughts?
Thanks!
I've always believed in purchasing used vehicles but the last few have been a bust.
BMW 525 wagon: 140K miles, bad oil divertor valve, engine flush. $1200 repair. Sold.
Nissan quest van: 60K miles, replaced motor mounts, failing transmission, got side swiped and thankfully received a replacement check. In car heaven.
Current car inventory:
1. 2007 Toyota 4 runner, bought at $8.7K, currently 165K miles, failing rear diff. Repair estimate $1200. Local market value $7K+. Car fully paid for.
2. 2008 Lexus LX570, bought at $26K, 83K miles, chased and poured $4K diagnosing and repairing a persistent transmission issue (intermittent reverse gear not engaging). Got 2nd opinion from another shop and it turned out original repair shop was incompetent and filled 1.5-2.0 qts low on tranny oil. We used trans-x oil as an interim fix but local transmission shop advised us that we will be seeing eventual transmission failure and should expect a rebuilt tranny repair bill north of $3K. Local market value $23K. Car loan balance $13K.
I've read on other threads on ER.org the conventional wisdom is repair bills are better than car payments and if repair bills are less than 50% of car value, then go ahead with repair and keep.
Should we repair and keep or move onto another vehicle?
Thoughts?
Thanks!