A question posed to us quite often is “Is my car worth it?’ Worth the repair bill, that is. Well, consider:
*How well do you like your car? Has it provided you safe transportation in the past? Does it suit you and your lifestyle. What are the memories associated with your vehicle?
*Can you go buy another one for the cost of the repair bill? Even a used car will more than likely be several times more than the cost of the repair, and there’s no guarantee that you won’t run into repair problems with your “new” car.
*On average, each $1000 spent on car repair should get you about 12 months. So over, a five year period, are you spending less than $5000. That’s about $83 month. Not too bad. Can you finance a new, or even used, car for that?
* Maintaining your vehicle according the factory scheduled mainteance guidelines may actually decrease this number by preventing major breakdowns and costly repairs.
But what about that “cash for clunkers” program? Yes, we will all pay for you to trash your old car, but you will still have to buy a new, much more expensive vehicle complete with financing and all. Now that the Senate is proposing another $2 billlion, tripling the original program, there is even more $ for you to spend. But before you cash in the family SUV, consider this:
* With proper maintenance, and following your vehicles factory scheudled maintenance guidelines, you may increase your vehicles fuel efficiency. That’s the whole idea, right?
* Old vehicles are crushed and any engine parts that should be salvaged, are not. Of course, this affects the landfills, not to mention the small businesses that rely on salvaged parts.
*Strapped for cash, and think this program will help? Well, the new vehicle you will have to buy will not come cheap. More than likely you will need to finance. Aren’t we trying to get out of that rut?
*Are we all ready for SmartCars? I’m not sure I’m ready to cram my family of four, and the dog and the cooler and the lawn chairs, into a closet on wheels.
