So we lost a gamble, I think. We’ve been driving a 2002 Odyssey. It’s a boat but I have to say the capacity has come in useful a lot, including during my move to Kzoo and lots of long road trips.
Last spring we paid for $2,300 for misc. and sundry repairs, including engine tuneup, new brake shoes and pads, new tires, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember.
This week we wound up paying another $900 for a new battery and starter and some other stuff.
(Yeah, our repair guy is pricey. But he’s utterly reliable and does great work. No, he’s not the dealer.)
We’ve decided that we’re not going to pay for the upcoming transmission flush? (every 100,000 miles) and we’re also not going to wait for the transmission to fail. So, come the spring we will get a new car. Clearly, we took a gamble on the car lasting another year or two, and clearly – having paid $3,200 in the last year of its life – we lost that gamble.
So questions:
1) At what point should you give up on your aging car, esp. if it’s your only car? Note: I’m grateful it didn’t break down during one of the long trips – I think that’s one of the things we paid the premium for – although I did get cheated out of a pizza when the starter broke this week. :-(
2) What car should we replace it with? This time we want a smaller car but still with as much cargo room as possible. Our repair guy says Suburus are okay but overpriced on the used market. He likes the Pontiac Vibe (same as Toyota Matrix), which is a hatchback. It looks great but might be a tad too small for us.
Thanks for your input!