If you’re in a rocky relationship with your car, you might be wondering if you should put work into it or dump it. There’s no easy answer, as it all depends on the type of car you have, the overall condition it’s in, its mileage and other factors. But your goal is probably the same as everyone’s: To put your time and money into a vehicle that will provide you with many more years of use.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of fixing up your car vs parting with your car so that you can make an informed decision that you’ll be happy with!
Pros and Cons of Fixing Your Old Car
It’s more tempting to buy a new car. Not only are you getting something new, or at least new to you, but also you can eliminate the headaches with your current vehicle. But experts say that you’ll almost always come out ahead by making the repairs. However, you also need to know when putting in the work is no longer worth it.
To determine if it’s financially worth fixing your car, look up the current value of your vehicle in Kelley Blue Book. If the repairs cost more than the value of your car, or more than one year’s worth of monthly payments on a replacement car, it’s in your best interest to part ways.
Other things to consider are the safety and reliability of your current car and its fuel efficiency. You can save money on fuel and give yourself peace of mind by buying something new. But if you feel that your car has plenty of life left and will be a safe, reliable vehicle once the repairs are made, it’s probably best to fix it.
The benefits of repairing your current vehicle are:
- Faster than shopping for and buying a new car
- No change in auto insurance payments
- The car’s history is known
- No need to list and sell your vehicle
- Save money and keep your car payments the same
Pros and Cons of Breaking Up with Your Car
Obviously, the biggest benefit to breaking up with your current car is that you get to start fresh. If you plan to buy or lease something new, you get to take a break from repair work. Sure, you’ll pay more a month in car payments and auto insurance, but you don’t have to worry about things breaking down unexpectedly.
That being said, if you plan to buy another used car, you may have another list of problems soon after. And you may not truly know the vehicle’s history, even though you can learn a lot about this through the vehicle’s history report. So, it’s important to keep realistic expectations about what you are buying.
A new(er) car will also give you other benefits such as:
- New warranties and coverage for maintenance
- More advanced safety features to be safer on the road
- Greater reliability and peace of mind
- Save time from not having to make frequent repairs
- Save money on fuel costs – new cars are more efficient
Shop for Used, Affordable Vehicles with RepoFinder – and Get the Best of Both Worlds!
When you shop for a vehicle with RepoFinder, you’ll have immediate access to hundreds of vehicles that fit your needs. Our inventory consists of repossessed cars, trucks, SUVs and recreational vehicles that have been taken from their previous owners for failing to make the monthly payments.
The banks, lenders and credit unions don’t want these vehicles – they simply want to recoup some of their losses. Therefore, they’re often willing to negotiate and help with the financing. This way, you can get something new to you, reliable, safe and efficient while saving money. Browse our site to see what’s available in your area!