To Fix Or Buy New

[hepcat]

Dealing with a car dilemma right now. I've had my Toyota SUV for 14 years (long time, I know). It's pretty much the only car I've ever had. I have 150k miles and the engine is still running.

Car has a long list of problems but none that prevent me from going from point A to B. Slight oil leak, drivers side door lock must be manually engaged/disengaged. Passenger side window doesn't roll down anymore. Radio volume is wonky. Rear windshield wiper no longer works. 

Big problem today having me debating a new car - The AC/climate control has been having issues over the past year, mainly thinking it was a knob issue. Was always able to tweak it to blow cold. Until this weekend, the hottest day of the year, and I can't get it to blow anything but hot hot air. Local shop quoted me $900 to fix it. Actuator is suspected bad. Also need to get 2 new tires for another $300ish

At this point I'm debating a new car. Looking at getting something similar but much newer.  Would you fix and wait or cut it loose and buy something new.

[LinvilleGorge]

Which Toyota SUV?

If it's a 4-Runner and it's 4x4, you could do the necessary repairs and bring that thing out to CO and sell it for $8000+ no problem. Seriously.

If you want to keep it, ultimately a lot of those issues don't really matter. You don't need a rear wiper. You don't need power locks. You don't need a passenger window that rolls down. Bad timing on needing A/C work. The shop knows they've got your balls in a vice on that one. LOL! Might've been a cheaper quote a few months ago. 

Do you actually WANT a new vehicle? Do you want to spend a bunch of money? Do you want to carry a monthly payment? There's no wrong answer if you can afford it, just asking.

[hepcat]

It’s a Highlander. I like my car but I’ve had it for 14 years. It’s probably worth 3-4k sold to a private owner and maybe 2.5k trade in at best. The AC thing sucks because it’s a must fix at the beginning of the summer. You’re probably right that it’s a bit overpriced but sometimes you gotta pay the piper.

I do want a new car. I’m sick of using a tape player converter for music, not having GPS, a backup camera, modern features. I mean it’s a 2005 vehicle. But I had planned to buy one next year. We’re not in the best financial situation to buy a new car right now but we’re also not struggling. We have about 10k in credit card debt from some remodeling we did after we bought the house, but it’s a no interest card until next June. 

I have some company stock that vests in March and I was going to sell it for a down payment next spring. I’m easily going to drop $1200 if I get this car back to working order with the AC and 2 new tires, and then I might be able to push out a prospective date for a new car. But I’m just having a hard time justifying dropping that much on this car anymore.

[LinvilleGorge]

There's absolute zero chance I'd be buying a new car while carrying $10k in credit card debt, but to each his own. If you're carrying debt right now with no car payment, it's certainly not going to get easier to pay it off while paying a car payment every month.

[Ja Rhule]

25 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

There's absolute zero chance I'd be buying a new car while carrying $10k in credit card debt, but to each his own. If you're carrying debt right now with no car payment, it's certainly not going to get easier to pay it off while paying a car payment every month.

You can have debt and equity the same time.

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, ARSEN said:

You can have debt and equity the same time.

Any equity from the home improvements financed by that credit card debt is gonna get chewed up quickly when that double digits interest rate kicks in next year if it doesn't get paid off beforehand. Any equity on a financed vehicle purchase is likely years down the road and will still end up being a net loss.

[Ja Rhule]

31 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Any equity from the home improvements financed by that credit card debt is gonna get chewed up quickly when that double digits interest rate kicks in next year if it doesn't get paid off beforehand. Any equity on a financed vehicle purchase is likely years down the road and will still end up being a net loss.

Unless you apply for a new credit card and transfer funds at 3% and get it interest free for 2 more years.

[LinvilleGorge]

13 minutes ago, ARSEN said:

Unless you apply for a new credit card and transfer funds at 3% and get it interest free for 2 more years.

Hurney 1.0, is that you kicking that can down the road? LOL!

[Ja Rhule]

6 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Hurney 1.0, is that you kicking that can down the road? LOL!

Just saying there are options for him to buy a car.

[raz]

have you checked the refrigerant, tried to add some and seen what the pressure in the ac system is?  they sell those cans for about $40.    

[hepcat]

8 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Any equity from the home improvements financed by that credit card debt is gonna get chewed up quickly when that double digits interest rate kicks in next year if it doesn't get paid off beforehand. Any equity on a financed vehicle purchase is likely years down the road and will still end up being a net loss.

I’m not too worried about paying off the card - both my wife and I receive bonuses at the end of the year which would cover most of the card, and instead of using it for a down payment I’d use that stock I was talking about for the card too. Only negative I see to buying a car now is not being able to put much down on it aside from my trade in 

[hepcat]

43 minutes ago, raz said:

have you checked the refrigerant, tried to add some and seen what the pressure in the ac system is?  they sell those cans for about $40.    

AC works fine, problem is the climate control knob that changes temperatures doesn’t work. Shop thinks it’s the Actuator that controls the hot/cold air mix into the car. 

[Anybodyhome]

24 minutes ago, hepcat said:

AC works fine, problem is the climate control knob that changes temperatures doesn’t work. Shop thinks it’s the Actuator that controls the hot/cold air mix into the car. 

I had an actuator go bad in my Jeep over the winter- cost me about $300 at a Jeep dealer. $900 sounds like a lot of money.

Oh, and please don't buy a new car. Let's use a Toyota as an example, a 4 Runner to be clear. Brand new runs in the low to mid- $40k range. I found a 2018 w/17k miles for $31k.

Go find a used model 1-3 years old with an acceptable number of miles and save yourself $10-15k.

[hepcat]

6 minutes ago, Anybodyhome said:

I had an actuator go bad in my Jeep over the winter- cost me about $300 at a Jeep dealer. $900 sounds like a lot of money.

Oh, and please don't buy a new car. Let's use a Toyota as an example, a 4 Runner to be clear. Brand new runs in the low to mid- $40k range. I found a 2018 w/17k miles for $31k.

Go find a used model 1-3 years old with an acceptable number of miles and save yourself $10-15k.

Oh I’m not buying “new”. I was looking at some 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe’s for around 17-20k that come fully loaded with a sun roof, heated and cooled leather seats, backup camera, etc. Very comparable to the older model Highlander.

And yea, $900 is very high from what I saw. They have the part itself at $400, labor $350, and $100 for the diagnostic which I already paid. Whole thing was around $890 with tax. I have the car at the shop this morning - I work literally next door to the garage. Told them to shop around for the part and give me a call since that rate is very high.

If they can’t come down I’m gonna pass on the repair at this shop.