We regularly discuss whether a client should fix or replace their vehicle. Many of these clients mention its value per Kelly Blue Book (KBB) or Edmunds when making this decision. While market value comes into play when looking to buy a vehicle, it doesn’t really account for much when looking at whether keeping the vehicle and repairing it makes more financial sense.
One example is my car–I drove a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am with 200k miles on it. I was trying to figure out if it was worth repairing while I saved up to buy a newer vehicle. I was getting to the point where I didn’t know what repairs were coming up, the chance of breaking down on the side of the road, and what could put me or my passengers at risk in the case of an accident. Being an older vehicle, and my first car, I hadn’t done much past doing emergent repairs and oil changes since I didn’t know better, so I had Andrew inspect it.
The findings were absolutely shocking; the vehicle had many leaks, blown struts, overdue maintenance, and the frame had rust rot. After doing some estimating, I found that in order to put my car in a good place mechanically (excluding all needed body work), I was looking at repair costs of up to $11,500!
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