The repairs on my vehicle are going to cost a lot. Should I just get rid of it, and get a different one?
This is a question we get asked a lot. There is not always an easy answer, but my advice may surprise you. I almost always recommend repairing the vehicle rather than replacing it. Usually my thinking goes like this: if your vehicle is in generally good condition, we analyze the age and value of the car. Now, if we can assume after spending the money on the repairs, the vehicle will likely provide fairly trouble-free service for a period of time, we break the repair over a monthly period.
• Let’s say that the repairs were going to be $1200.00 If it is reasonable to assume that the car will run another year, that amount comes out to $100.00 a month. That is pretty cheap considering that is has been statistically proven that the average vehicle owner spends about $1000.00 a year on maintenance, including new vehicles. So you see, it may not necessarily be a bad idea to fix your present mode of transportation.
• Here’s another example. Let’s say you go buy another used vehicle with 60,000 miles on it for $10,000.00 The sales tax alone will cost you $700.00 And that’s not factoring in license and transfer fees that could bring you close to $1,000.00 Is that $1200.00 repair starting to sound not so bad now?