Need advice - should I repair it or dump it?

It sounds like you've already made a "the devil you know" argument.

A question to ask yourself is how you feel about this car? Desire may trump logic.

- Bill

On top of that there's about half a dozen other issues, including cracked reflectors, burned out bulbs, exhaust hangers, and a broken antenna.

to the report I got when I took it to a dealer. (I took it to the dealer because nobody else could figure out where the oil was leaking from).

want to spend $2500 on a used car of the same value only to find out it has a dozen other problems.

I'd go on the general state of the car. Things like the reflectorsn antenna and the alternator can be sourced from wrecker's yards. I would think that spending a couple of grand on a car that's done 100k miles is not too bad, particularly since you just had brakes and rubber done.

Personally I'd go on a couple of other things in my decision making:

- is it reliable? (I just flicked my Volvo XC70 because it was not, replaced with a Passat.)

- does it have rust?

my $0.02's worth. -P.

On top of that there's about half a dozen other issues, including cracked reflectors, burned out bulbs, exhaust hangers, and a broken antenna.

to the report I got when I took it to a dealer. (I took it to the dealer because nobody else could figure out where the oil was leaking from).

want to spend $2500 on a used car of the same value only to find out it has a dozen other problems.

If you spend the $2200 on it, how long will the car last? Rust and oil burning are factors here.

How many miles a year do you put on the car? If less than 5,000 miles/year, fix it. If more than 12,000 miles/year, dump it.

Does it pass inspection as is?

Lynn

On top of that there's about half a dozen other issues, including cracked reflectors, burned out bulbs, exhaust hangers, and a broken antenna.

to the report I got when I took it to a dealer. (I took it to the dealer because nobody else could figure out where the oil was leaking from).

want to spend $2500 on a used car of the same value only to find out it has a dozen other problems.

And yes, all $2500 cars will have hidden problems.

Lynn