Replacement Car – 4 Reasons To Focus On And Save Money
A replacement car often has big tyres to fill, because cars can carry a lot of sentimental value. This is especially the case if we have had them for a while. However, all objects have a shelf life, and this includes vehicles. There may, unfortunately, come a point where it simply isn’t sensible to keep hold of a car beyond a certain time frame. This can be difficult for many.
In the case of my old focus, it’s taken my friends to hospital when kids were on the way, and been to many weddings. I’ve driven it on the continent a lot, and rescued many a hockey teammate from the pub. But even this car has a shelf life, and a final overheating issue rendered it uneconomical to fix. So I’ve now got a newer car, and you can find out more about it in later posts. But what are my 4 tips for working out if and when you should stop persisting with a car?
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When you stop enjoying it
This is the subjective one, because there are some people who like nothing more than to get underneath the car and fiddle with it. After all, this is what mechanics do for a living. But they work on many cars, and we are focusing on our one car here. If we no longer enjoy driving it, sitting in it, repairing it, then there may be a case for changing things up. From a monetary standpoint, there are quite a few things you can do to your car to re-spark interest. I’ve already mentioned how to make it ‘faster’ for free, so I would naturally encourage people to try a few of those tips first before leaving it. Buying another car can be stressful, so let’s avoid this unless one of the below reasons apply.
If the fixes are becoming more frequent
This is an easier reason to promote. Most people buy their cars to drive them on the road. Not many buy a car just so they can do a daily trip to the garage. If you’re making too many garage trips, or you know your mechanic by their first name, questions need to be asked! Routine maintenance is recommended, and necessary for a long car life expectancy. But too many trips indicate a problem child, and we might need to consider our options. This is especially true if the next point applies.
If the fix is too expensive to justify
In the insurance world, a write-off refers to when the fix is greater than the value of the car. In a lot of cases, this would be a strong case for getting rid of the car altogether. But my old focus was worth around £300 to some people. A new set of tyres can be over £300 for that car. So does that mean I should get rid of it when it needs a new set of shoes? Clearly not, but if the fix for your car involves a lot of complex engine work, then it may be a sign that it’s time to move on and get some new wheels. If the engine needs to be taken majorly apart, that may be a clear sign.
If it becomes unsafe
One should never compromise on safety, regardless of money we will spend. If your car becomes unsafe for any reason, and the fix is too expensive, then we need to think about whether we want to put not only ourselves at risk, but those around us as well. If it starts chucking out a lot of pollution, which is not always a simple fix, a change may be needed.
My Story
My Focus is going to car heaven. An overheating engine, and a dump of all its coolant means that fixing it will cost more than the value of the car. The car wasn’t driven long after overheating, so the head gasket should still be in reasonable shape. But this, combined with an upcoming cambelt change, was enough to convince me that I need to graduate from the Mk1 Focus academy. I’ve had three of them, but now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. Stay tuned….
What would prompt you to get rid of a car? When would you decide that you had had enough of a motor? Do you think I should have kept the Focus? Let me know, and don’t forget that if you’re struggling to find a car, we’ll do it for you. And fast. Thanks for reading!