When do I pull the plug?

Really... it's not what you've put into it, -that's water over the bridge ;)

- it's what you WILL put into it versus payment on a warranted car.

Putting 1500 into it per year is not unreasonable... 105 a month.

Compare that to a payment, both ending up as zero-sum-equity which is now designed into loan deals as well as leasing programs.

So it REALLY comes down to confidence and lifestyle issues.

Razzle opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

Confidence and lifestyle issues?

My car has never let me down (failed to start or broken down) because I have it serviced every 10K. And I use it for work (travel all over the UK). It's definitely not a status symbol - obviously!

Are you working in dollars or £££s?

Thanks for comments

hiya,

An escort with that many miles on it is ready for a new owner, but as Backyard Mechanic says, it's down to how confident you feel the reliability will continue, especially if you have to use it for work. If you like the car keep it and join the AA or RAC maybe?

Razzle opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@localhost.talkaboutautos.com:

If you use it for work, can you deduct on your taxes/get mileage reimbursements?

If so, then you are getting discounted use of the car, to some extent, which alters the decision paradigm.

Even if you DONT, the car over time will become less dependable to some extent. Balance that against lost time and employer/customer friction resulting from failure to appear.

Either way, shifts toward new car.

It doesnt matter... numbers are only relative, but just to simplfy say £s

You are welcome

Replace when repair costs exceed the payments on a new one.

Whether you got taken or not is irrelevent. What is relevent is the value of the car now and the cost to maintain it.

That's about 1/6th of the price of the car. If that includes oil changes and regular maintainance, that doesn't sound all that bad. If you drive 15,000 mi/year, that comes to about £1 for every 15 mi. That's about 1/2 of what you pay in Petrol.

Besides, you have two new tyres (or tires as they say in some conutries), at least one good wheel bearing and a new brake drum that won't go bad for some time.

The question is, though, how much will it cost you next year? And how much did it cost last year?

That is not extremely high.

It is usually cheaper to keep an old car than to get a new one. With a new one, there is interest, higher insurance and more risk if it gets in a wreck. You should ask your mechanic about how good of shape it is in.

My guess is that it will be cheaper to keep the car. Oh, and start saving for your next one so you won't have to pay as much interest. And shop around for a good rate on the small loan that you will need.

Jeff

Well, I can save you a few quid here. Don't but tyres from a ford dealer but phone around the tyre places for the best deal [try the scrap yards too - I just bought a good wheel and tyre for £10]. The wheel bearing is about £15 [ I assume it's a rear one - they always go !] and the drums are about £20 each BUT FIT TWO. Both are straight forward with a Haynes manual and you don't have to disturb the brakes etc. Even if you fork out £200 for tools and a manual (which you need not do) you've still saved money and you know more about cars.

I have a '95 Escort that just turned 179,000 miles today. It did it while pulling a trailer with a 540 lb. (245 kg) motorcycle behind it. Had its share of parts replaced...CV joints, alternator made it to 175,000, water pump, ignition coil, cylinder head, inner and outer tie rods, struts and springs, radiator and hoses, several sets of brakes, plus and wires. Gets its oil changed every 3000 miles (just the cheap 5W30 from Wal-Mart) and a new timing belt every 50,000 miles. The oil still looks almost new when it gets changed. If yours has had regular oil changes, it should have lots of miles left. I would say that it would take a lot more parts than you mentioned to justify replacing the whole car. But, that's just me. Scott snipped-for-privacy@aol.com