I dump a vehicle I like when owning it costs more per month than the note on its replacement. I dump a vehicle I don't like whenever I feel like it.
Car maintenance budget rule of thumb
- Thread starter HawkeyeScott
- Start date
I had a 93 Chev four wheel drive as my 3rd vehicle. Used it on the logging roads in the mountains. Lots of guys have something similar, referred to as their “hunting truck”. I tried to keep it down to one parts replacement event per year. Shocks one year, brakes the next. Of course there were unscheduled items to take care off; a muffler one time, four wheel drive actuator another time. I didn’t rack up a lot of miles so the rear end, diff and transfer case were not an issue. I did yearly oil changes. I finally gave it to my son and he sold it when it lost reverse gear in the automatic transmission and he replaced it with a 2011 4wd Silverado. Right now I’m down to two vehicles.
Don't mistake maintenance for repairs, there is a difference, when doing your Ben Franklin spreadsheet calculation. Continue flying your freak flag and keeping old iron on the road!
Depends on your overall finances honestly.
The thing is ( from an asset management and business perspective)
The "budget" ( defined in the traditional accounting sense) is built from a zero base derived from trended spending over a period.
The justification ( or defense) of the budget would be based in the "value" of the car in your specific situation rather than a guideline like book value.
Which way are you trying to go with this?
The "budget" ( defined in the traditional accounting sense) is built from a zero base derived from trended spending over a period.
The justification ( or defense) of the budget would be based in the "value" of the car in your specific situation rather than a guideline like book value.
Which way are you trying to go with this?
I had an '88 Ford Escort up until about 2011-12 that was the same way. EASY TO WORK ON, PARTS WERE CHEAP. I never set a budget on it until there were problems that because of my chronic back pain I didn't feel like doing myself. At that time the car had 518K miles on it and I wasn't going to pay someone several hours labor at $50-100 an hour to do the work for me. If I'd have felt like doing the work I have little doubt that I'd still be driving it. When you can do the work yourself, parts are cheap, and you like the vehicle it makes little sense to sell it or junk it because every mile you put on it is saving that many miles on your better vehicle and delaying the purchase of another good vehicle. I've got an '02 Escort now that is in pretty rough shape as far as the body goes but I use it nearly every day around home. In the past year I've probably not spent more than $400-500 on parts including a new set of tires, tie rod ends, rebuilt alternator, battery, and few hours of my time. I bought the Escort in 2008 with slightly under 80K miles for $2,000. In 2010 I think it had about 120K miles, was starting to show some wear and tear when a lady hit my son it. The damage was about $2900. but didn't affect the drivability so I pocketed the money toward another car and kept driving it as is. It now has about 206K miles. Would the Escort bring $1K as is? Not likely. As long as it's minor repairs that I can do myself or that doesn't cost much for someone else to do is it worth keeping on the road? Definitely. Through the week it's used to take my wife to and from work besides taking me to the gym which usually puts approximately 50 miles a day on it 5 days a week.
Last edited:
on a older car that’s paid off I will run it as cheap as possible for as long as possible. There’s no set dollar value but more of a ballpark of “is this worth it anymore” ie frequency, severity, required labor. Any issues that cannot be taken care of within 3 hours labor, requires me to deal with timing marks, requires removal of a major component, or if there is a compound of small repairs, I will sell the car. Cars can become money pits very fast.
that being said if we’re talking about $10k+ cars I will take the cost of the new car, divide it by however many years I’ll finance it for, and one year would be the max I’ll spend on repairs of a paid off car. For ex. I just traded my Maserati for a Tacoma, although my truck is paid off the concept still stands.
New truck $30,000/4 years=$7500
will my old car accumulate $7500 in repairs over the near year or two? It was a yes in my situation because maserati prices are overinflated. If the parts costs were cheaper then i would then consider secondary factors such as fuel economy, creature comforts, etc.
that being said if we’re talking about $10k+ cars I will take the cost of the new car, divide it by however many years I’ll finance it for, and one year would be the max I’ll spend on repairs of a paid off car. For ex. I just traded my Maserati for a Tacoma, although my truck is paid off the concept still stands.
New truck $30,000/4 years=$7500
will my old car accumulate $7500 in repairs over the near year or two? It was a yes in my situation because maserati prices are overinflated. If the parts costs were cheaper then i would then consider secondary factors such as fuel economy, creature comforts, etc.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2020
- Messages
- 3
I usually buy new cars rather than used ones since I don't like trying to guess which used one on the lot wasn't traded in because of issues...I try to research which vehicles are less prone to being "shop queens;" so I read tea leaves, astrology charts and Consumers Reports for what answers and insights I might get. Then, if the new vehicle can stay out the dealer's repair shop for adjustments/fixes for at least a year, I keep it for 10 to15 years or so. I'm also not adverse to doubling down on routine maintenance and preemptive key part(s) replacement. At serious-expensive part failures I consider, at possible car replacement time, that I can rationalize how much sales taxes might be, and/or how much car payments can be for the first three or four months or so...and with a decently engineered vehicle that consideration can often buy a lot of replacement parts and labor costs.
Those period GM's, well from '87 or so through the early 00's were durable, simple and cheap to work on. I'd keep it until the chassis and/or body started to fall apart... as in rusting or seams coming apart. You're gong to have the same crap, or more, with newer vehicles to have to deal with. I'd love to have one of those period fullsize GM's but in my area people seem to "know what they've got". 
I like that thought process… Adopting!
Doesn't matter what you can get out of it. What matters is how much a replacement would cost in payments and/or depreciation. As long as you are under that every year, you're winning. Or in other words, you don't have any hidden costs now. The vehicle costs what you put in it once it won't depreciate further.
I agree with Silver. I appreciation for such cars came rather late. I've spent silly money on new cars before and enjoyed them quite a bit.Those period GM's, well from '87 or so through the early 00's were durable, simple and cheap to work on. I'd keep it until the chassis and/or body started to fall apart... as in rusting or seams coming apart. You're gong to have the same crap, or more, with newer vehicles to have to deal with. I'd love to have one of those period fullsize GM's but in my area people seem to "know what they've got".
Because my prior vehicle, an Acura Integra, was so a tight handler, I never imagined that I would avoid a new car purchase after selling that remarkable car. With the decision to return to grad school, I knew it would not be wise to hold a wallet gauging car payment. So, I purchased my Lesabre from a family friend who drove it and maintained it with the utmost in detail. When you have the provenance and every maintenance record for a used vehicle, that is an opportunity one should not refuse. My friends laugh when I confess with great reluctance that, yeah, ok, I actually LOVE driving this car. Or may the word piloting is a better fit. It rides so smoothly and quietly, I often have to look to make sure its running. With its 3800 GM Series 2 motor (intake replacement done easy peasy) and simpler OBD II system compared with some of the newer cars, I've learned to appreciate having just enough tech for safety (Airbags and ABS), but no need for ipads and AI fake voices to distract me. Here are some pics of my old girl. As we head into the new year, she turns 22 yrs old and I may be biased, but I think she has aged rather well.
At 88,000 miles, I hope she has lots of life left. While I may not be elderly, I sure drive like I am. Plan on keeping her til I'm ready for and EV which I hope will be affordable and with longer range by then. If GM offers its new EVs with "Dyna Ride", I'm all in!!!
