should i put more money into this car or buy new?

[20-CG5-01]

Please tell me your not getting everything from the stealership or the prices includes labor. When I bought a new timing belt it was only 40-60 I forgot, and I got it from autozone. And just give yourself 2 days of work just to be safe and you save more than 70% of what you're spending for parts.

 

[AustinJohnsen]

If you really like your car and want to save money keep the car.Think about how much payments and insurance would be a few months of those to wil cover any repair.It's like spending $15,000 on a smart car to cut back on spending so much on gas.

 

[Brad2274]

i had my timing belt done 500 miles ago on my v6, cost me like $450 for timing belt, water pump, and cam & crank seals. its a b**** on the v6 because you have to remove a motor mount, so thats why i didnt do it myself. and the ball joints are only like $30 a piece and a couple hours work to change, but if car work isnt your thing thats ok too. id fix yours if i were you, i went with the fix my car route as well, its pretty much totaled but im having the frame repaired by using a donor car, then its getting repainted, then im swapping engines, all for about $1500

 

[talontsiawd]

I am going to talk outside of the price variances everyone brings up. I do almost 100% of the work on my car but understand people don't, and will only go through someone they trust. On that note, never cheap out on maintenance if you trust someone as the only thing worse than paying a bunch of money to have someone else work on your car is having to pay a shop you don't trust at a discount to work on your car, only to have a bad experience and pay the shop you trust to look over everything and redo poor work.


It's really up to you. For me, I tend to sell my cars after 100,000-150,000 miles. I also have never had to have a long commute so that keeps the mileage down so I am ready for something new and can afford it at that point. I find that that is about the mileage where you end up with a bunch of random issues. It isn't usually a cost issue, it is more an issue of down time and unexpected issues. I know plenty of people who pay more than their car is worth in maintenance every 2-3 years when you start hitting the 200,000k mileage. That's fine if you love the car, I love cars and want something newer at that point.

I am probably an exception to the rule though. I rarely put more than 7,500 miles on my car per year. With this Honda, it's been even less than that for various reasons that are too "deep" for this thread. I haven't even hit 70,000 yet and I didn't buy my car new. I have not found my 02 to be nearly as reliable as other Honda's I have owned in the past, however, so I am not as fond of this one. I can't afford a better car but it would be gone if I was doing something different with my life lol.

 

[juiCyyaccOrd]

I'd keep it, it's already lasting you that long....
and I must add, 180k on it...it will last much longer than that...my car is at 328,000...
I got into 2 accidents and each accident i put atleast 1500-2000 on it...that's almost 5 g's...not including the modifications i put into it... and not including my paint for the recent accident...waiting for summer...

180 is just starting...it'll last u much longer...and with the way im driving and how my engine is still good, it's going to 400k >=D go honda! go accord!

 

[AustinJohnsen]

I'd keep it, it's already lasting you that long....
and I must add, 180k on it...it will last much longer than that...my car is at 328,000...
I got into 2 accidents and each accident i put atleast 1500-2000 on it...that's almost 5 g's...not including the modifications i put into it... and not including my paint for the recent accident...waiting for summer...

180 is just starting...it'll last u much longer...and with the way im driving and how my engine is still good, it's going to 400k >=D go honda! go accord!

nice to hear I am at 170k I thought that was a lot but I guess I have many years left

 

[RedRyder]

I'd keep it, it's already lasting you that long....
and I must add, 180k on it...it will last much longer than that...my car is at 328,000...

His is miles and yours is km, but I get what you were driving at.

 

[jwong512]

That is just regular maintenance and all high mileage cars need that. Plus, after you do all that, the car should last you at least another 40-50k before you have to do tires/brakes again and 90/100k for all the belts. Everything else you're fixing should last even longer than that. If you do plan on getting a new car, you would have to deal with higher insurance rates as our cars have pretty low rates due to it's old age and decreasing value. Gas mileage wise, these cars are still pretty decent compared to the newer cars on the market. So unless you really want a more up to date and upgraded car, I would just stick with this one and do the basic maintenance it requires. Especially considering your car is a 5 speed manual, it will last a lot longer than a 4 speed automatic that are plagued with issues.

 

[valueplan]

Thank you all very much for your opinions. To clarify:

- I don't do my own work, and I agree those prices suck. Unfortunately, labor seems to be high in Colorado. It is what it is. I'm not mechanically inclined and I don't want to attempt breaking that mold on brakes, etc.

- i really do need the snow tires. I drive a ton and I live in a small mountain town going down massive hills covered in ice, etc.

- I decided in agreement with the majority and I'm going to keep this car. This was a very difficult decision for me because I"m not extremely confident that I have 50K miles or 5 years left in this thing. I drove this thing hard; a ton of city driving as a delivery driver is about as rough as wear and tear can realistically get on a Honda. The engine spent a lot of time idling in the cold, and I don't think the manual tranny fluid was changed till about 10 years into ownership, ha (although oil changes were always consistently within 3500 miles).

Alas, Colorado new car taxes are absolutely insane as are registration costs, so I'm taking a gamble on the Honda. I could care less about cars aesthetically etc. I just care about safety and reliability. So my instinct was to just milk this thing and cross my fingers it lives up to its' reputation.

Thanks again.