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Advice: To Keep a Car or to Get Rid of It
DoctorArch
CurmudgeonRegistered User regular
CurmudgeonRegistered User regular
So I'm moving, and because it's a big move I am going to be shipping both of our cars. However, there are costs for the older of the two cars that are making me consider whether or not its worth keeping & shipping it versus selling it and getting a different car upon arrival. So please help me to optimize the best solution.
Facts to feed into the optimizer:
So, that $5,250 figure is big enough to give me pause. Sure the car is owned completely, and once we pay $5250 it may not need repairs again for three years, which means that calculates out to about $145 per month over those three years. But that's a big "may not."
What are your thoughts?
Facts to feed into the optimizer:
- We need two cars. We can make do with one for a short time, but the ideal and preferred situation is to have two cars.
- The car is a 2005 Subaru Outback with 120,000 miles.
- We fully own the car and make no payments on the car.
- The car is in good condition, but due to the general age of the car it will need approximately $4,000 in repairs within the next few months (120K tuneup, head gasket replacement, machine shopping the heads, etc.)
- The car will cost between 1150 and 1250 to ship.
- As a result, the cost to keep the car will run around $5250.
So, that $5,250 figure is big enough to give me pause. Sure the car is owned completely, and once we pay $5250 it may not need repairs again for three years, which means that calculates out to about $145 per month over those three years. But that's a big "may not."
What are your thoughts?
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If I were to go and lease a 2017 Subaru Outback for 3 years, the total cost over those three years would be about $9,000, which runs about $250 a month.
Also, does this mean you got news?
Yes I did, new job get!!!
Also congrats!
Also consider that for 100 and change a month, you will get something that is 12 years newer and has a near zero chance of breaking down. I love Subarus, but they've come a LONG way since 2005.
and there might be more economical options than leasing a new current-year vehicle
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Yeah I am curieus. Do you really need to get a new engine? Because that might be cheaper than machining the heads.
The original repair estimate told me that the head gasket was leaking, and there was probably a 50/50 chance the cylinder heads would need a trip to the machine shop after inspection during the head gasket replacement. I'm getting a second estimate on Tuesday, but that will either confirm that selling the car is the best bet, or reduce the overall figure enough to make the question even more annoying.
Crack checking, cleaning, and a likely resurfacing of cylinder heads is pretty common. When you're going that deep into a labor operation, you don't want to get the car back together and find out a warped or cracked head is still preventing it from sealing.
Still going to echo everyone else's recommendation. I think I'd sell the car (even if it's a $1000 mechanic special, it's better than nothing), and use the savings on the repair/transportation cost to find a reliable second vehicle in your new home.
Yes
And congrats.
The second opinion turned out well. About 1400 for all needed repairs/tune-ups and the second shop didn't believe there was any pressing situation with the head gasket that required replacement. As long as keep checking my oil to make sure it hasn't given out, it's fine until it does which could be years from now.
So grand total to keep the car ended up being $2700 (1400 to repair / 1300 to ship), which is almost 1/2 of the original figure. As a result, the math favors "keep" for now.
Thanks for all of your help everybody. @Ceres please lock the thread.