Metric for when it's time to move on

[supton]

A 2011 has that much corrosion? Do you never wash it? People come into my shop all the time with early 2000s Toyota's and while they're not perfect they're not an inspection failing safety hazard. 4 cans of fluid film would stop any rust from continuing, and I don't even think Toyotas of that era have brake line corrosion problems, unless it's from the inside, do you regularly replace your brake fluid?

I use FF on it, so washing it is counterproductive.

Also… FF is a bit of a joke…. Sorry, stuff is absolutely lousy any place that gets wet. Learning this the hard way.

Brake fluid flushes every couple of years, but does nadda for the outside of the lines.

 

[eljefino]

The question remains, what would you replace it with? Another Camry? What is better about the new Camry, and what is worse? Would you get the hybrid again? I don't keep up on what's in new Camrys but IIRC people are buying them now to get the last of the conventional automatic trannies, and avoiding an upcoming CVT. If so you might want to "lock in" a new, conventional Camry for the next decade.

15 months ago I had two old Prii with 303k and 275k, and they were starting to make me nervous. Sold them privately and bought new, just before the chip shortage, LOL. I, like you, live some distance from work and have a long commute-- 60 miles one way. Part of my philosophy of living in the sticks (not really) and being acceptable to drive that far is having a reliable car, and my definition of such has evolved over the past years, and as my income has risen.

PS the 1999 Camry single-bulb headlights truly are awful. I found original bulbs in mine, changed them for some improvement. My reflectors and lenses are good. The 2000-01 twin-bulb headlights are better but need some mods to fit.

 

[supton]

Ideally I’d just get another Camry. Call me boring but it does what is needed. I wasn’t impressed with Prius but boy do I regret not getting the Prime a year ago when I could, wife and I have talked about how we could just share cars: whoever is running around town gets the Prius, whoever’s driving longer gets the Camry. (only reason for the prime was the tax rebate)

Camry hybrid is pretty nice, won’t say perfect but its nice and quiet. RAV4 hybrid sounds great on paper but reviews here make it sound like a hot mess so not worth it to me. One major downside to Camry is Toyota’s insistence that no trailer hitch is to be installed, which bothers me.

But what would be nice is to do a repeat of 10yr and 200k without issues, just a set of brakes. I know the mantra around here is that all cars are good, but I have a tough time believing that I can do that again with everything being sold now.

 

[wtd]

Simple. I'm a big believer in collecting data and double checking assumptions. I don't like to assume that I know the best decision simply on the basis of... being me? Seems wise to ask around and see what the collective wisdom is, and then sort through the data, see if my initial preliminary path still makes sense.

Where I sit most people don't run vehicles as long as nor as to as high of miles as I do. So I don't ask my coworkers nor neighbors as I already "know" their opinion to the matter. But most of them don't work on cars either, nor track the market quite like BITOG does. Like most people I get antsy as a car gets old and starts presenting problems. But like most people I have other places to spend money.

I daresay that the majority opinion would be that I've done quite well and have gotten my money's worth. But that is in "the real world" not on BITOG.

I'm in the camp of keeping it as long as possible. That is why I've kept my 92 Cavalier which was my work commuter car for years before I retired. It's still reliable, gets good gas mileage, runs pretty good, and is pretty cheap to repair when repairs need to be made. I probably drive it more than any of my other vehicles. It just turned over 246,000 miles.

My fiancé drives a 94 Cavalier for the same reason. She still works and drives 60 miles per day. She's been driving it since 2014 and it has 161,000 miles on it. She also has a 2017 F150 and a 2007 Mustang GT she can drive but she drives the Cavalier the majority of the time, even on her days off. She is all about saving money and keeping the mileage off of the truck and Mustang until she retires in a couple of years. Truck only has 37,000 miles on it and the Mustang about 26,000 miles on it. She also tends to keep vehicles a long time. Her previous truck was a 2003 Ford Superduty that she bought new and sold in 2017 when she bought the F150 new. The Mustang was bought used in 2010 with 6,900 miles on it.

With the prices of vehicles these days and the tons of electrical crap on today's vehicles, I don't see myself buying any more new vehicles. I would rather keep fixing my current vehicles as long as possible.

 

[IndyIan]

Ideally I’d just get another Camry. Call me boring but it does what is needed. I wasn’t impressed with Prius but boy do I regret not getting the Prime a year ago when I could, wife and I have talked about how we could just share cars: whoever is running around town gets the Prius, whoever’s driving longer gets the Camry. (only reason for the prime was the tax rebate)

Camry hybrid is pretty nice, won’t say perfect but its nice and quiet. RAV4 hybrid sounds great on paper but reviews here make it sound like a hot mess so not worth it to me. One major downside to Camry is Toyota’s insistence that no trailer hitch is to be installed, which bothers me.

But what would be nice is to do a repeat of 10yr and 200k without issues, just a set of brakes. I know the mantra around here is that all cars are good, but I have a tough time believing that I can do that again with everything being sold now.

I guess if your Camry is still worth a 25% of a decent replacement car today, and will likely cost the same in repairs to get a couple years out of it, maybe it is a good time to bail out?

 

[partspro]

What's your budget for a replacement?
You are on the fence right now, and your mechanic has indicated it's probably time to do what you are doing, think hard about your next move.
So take your budget and see what you might get for what you are willing to spend for a replacement, and then decide. If there is nothing that trips your trigger, spend what you need to spend to get another year or two out of the 11 Camry.

Facing this same issue with my friends car, she has 275K miles on a 2009 Chevy cobalt, She is a Home Health Worker and her clients rely on her to be there to take care of them. Much has been spent on the Cobalt, it needs Both front struts and tie rods, the passenger side strut is actually bent as a result of massive pot holes in the Saint Louis downtown area. Online for every needed with delivery is about $186 and some local shops will install them. A replacement car is not in the financial future at this time.

 

[javacontour]

Facing this same issue with my friends car, she has 275K miles on a 2009 Chevy cobalt, She is a Home Health Worker and her clients rely on her to be there to take care of them. Much has been spent on the Cobalt, it needs Both front struts and tie rods, the passenger side strut is actually bent as a result of massive pot holes in the Saint Louis downtown area. Online for every needed with delivery is about $186 and some local shops will install them. A replacement car is not in the financial future at this time.

I have the downtown STL potholes practically memorized. I frequently visit AT&T, Wells Fargo, and other sites, not to mention baseball and hockey games from time to time.

I can see why some people choose SUV or CUV vehicles to navigate the moonscape.

And yes, I feel her pain.

 

[Kira]

A single "metric" sought by the OP seems to be allusive.
Looks like everything mentioned should be put in "+ and - columns" or set on a balance scale.
What's available changes every day, no?

I wonder if the remaining supply of new cars are of higher trim levels since I assume lots of "average people" will seek a simpler (cheaper) vehicle.

 

[javacontour]

A single "metric" sought by the OP seems to be allusive.
Looks like everything mentioned should be put in "+ and - columns" or set on a balance scale.
What's available changes every day, no?

I wonder if the remaining supply of new cars are of higher trim levels since I assume lots of "average people" will seek a simpler (cheaper) vehicle.

I suspect the manufacturers are choosing to build as high a trim level as they have parts to build.
More margin, more profit.

We got a brand new rental in Phoenix in January and it was a Ford Edge Titanium. Who ever heard of rental car companies getting a near top of the line vehicle for their fleets?

Ford and probably everyone else is building for maximum profit with what they can get from their suppliers. If production is lower, they need more margin on each vehicle.

 

[bullwinkle]

I guess I’m lucky in that I have a company van sitting at home, my commute is literally a walk across the street. I have 4 vehicles with 2 drivers, and (other than the wife’s xB) they just don’t get driven very much. In the ~5 years I’ve had the Grand Marquis it’s only gotten around 25K miles put on it, and the F-450 & Express probably don’t top 2500 a year each. BTW, the roads here “down south” suck pretty hard too-only by doing the “pothole slalom” does one avoid major suspension & tire $ (& the xB has lost several tires when they had a lot of tread left).

 

[supton]

So my situation changed after making this thread--hit a rock with the car. Collision shop says $6,600 in damage. Not sure what I'll do just yet, KBB says fair trade-in is $2300 while private sale is $3900. NADA gives trade-in from $2k to $3k, but clean retail is $6k--which this car could, pre-accident, probably be cleaned up to maybe hit in today's market.

$6,600 to fix the front end, then new struts, motor mounts, rear backing plates (that last job is like a grand by itself?).

 

[Andrew1972]

Junk it. Decision made.

 

[The Critic]

$6600 seems high for what you described. Any chance you can share some pictures of the carnage?

Is $6600 the fix it correctly price, or the “make it drivable” price?

 

[supton]

$6600 seems high for what you described. Any chance you can share some pictures of the carnage?

Is $6600 the fix it correctly price, or the “make it drivable” price?

I think it was "make it correct". I don't have a line item estimate, just over the phone quote, with radiator, radiator support, condensor, the metal bar in front of the radiator (bumper support?) and front fascia. There is a "frame horn" looking thing behind the bumper? that took a good hit, and there is a lower radiator support looking thing that took a solid hit. I all but pushed the radiator into the lower engine mount.

Didn't take good pics, my bad.

Battery hold down no longer works, it pushed that back too. I think you can see where it hit the rock, where all the damage is in the fascia.

You can't see it here but the fenders are pushed out almost a quarter inch on each side, relative to the hood. As in, if you look the leading edge of the hood, it does not line up with the fenders any more.

The fascia was torn when it came off the rock, so it was easy to pull this back. I should try to swing by tomorrow, as I think the fascia is now removed. I didn't get a pic of the lower radiator support thing but there's a huge dent in it.

 

[GMFan]

I don’t remember where I’ve heard it from, but someone once said a repair that costs $1,000 is worth it if it you are confident it will allow for at least another 10,000 miles of use. $2,000 for 20,000 miles, so on so forth…

 

[supton]

I don’t remember where I’ve heard it from, but someone once said a repair that costs $1,000 is worth it if it you are confident it will allow for at least another 10,000 miles of use. $2,000 for 20,000 miles, so on so forth…

10cents a mile was a good metric. but that was then. Today it'd be great! I mean, with inflation and all, 10c/m depreciation was not too shabby a while ago, now it might be "cheap"...

 

[supton]

It was raining so I didn't want to get underneath, but couple more pics. Seems hard to believe that this is >$6k in damage.

 

[carviewsonic]

Where was the rock? Just curious..
I think the Camry is done. The $6000 repair + the previously discussed mechanical work = time for another car.

I hit a deer and totalled a low mileage LeSabre a few years ago. The lousy insurance payout was a tough pill to swallow, but there was no way to get that car back on the road that made any financial sense.

 

[supton]

Where was the rock? Just curious..

Next to my driveway. Car rolled off on during a repair to fix the parking brake.

 

[JHZR2]

I just bought a 228k mile Mercedes diesel. Ive driven it a few hundred miles and it’s running perfect. It’s almost at the point where I would drive it to California tomorrow. Point being, the mileage wouldn’t concern me if the maintenance was kept up. The wild card is after you sink this money in, what’s next?

Id also be thinking different in a rust vs none… and if the transmission was a risk, AC system had issues particularly with the evaporator, etc. As an MT car I’d not be that concerned with the transmission… and you know that many places will lowball you because it’s a manual…

Condition is the determinant here. And your next steps. If you only want to sync trade in plus repair value into a replacement, this may shift your thought process versus if you’re good with buying a new car…. Seems like that decision is now OBE due to the rock….not worth fixing….

I suspect that junkyard parts are available, so the best bet is probably to CL or Facebook marketplace sell it as is, and someone will swap parts and keep driving it…