Expensive Repairs or Replace Car

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kerry75
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Expensive Repairs or Replace Car

Post by kerry75 »

I come to you, the most knowledgeable financial group around, for advice on repairing or replacing my car. Thank you in advance for considering my question.

Our second car (the first is a 2007 with 22k miles in perfect shape) is a 2002 Ford SUV 4 wheel drive model with only 63,000 miles that has developed serious transmission/differential problems. Essentially I'm faced with about $4800 in repairs or alternatively to sell the car and get something else.

The book value in good condition (which it would be but for these major concerns) would be about $5-6k but now it's essentially zero. I've had bad luck with rebuilt transmissions but a new one (priced above) comes with a 3 year/unlimited mileage warranty from Ford.

The future of the car is, of course, unknowable even if the transmission is perfect from here on. I'd prefer to keep it another two or three years if I could so I'm inclined to get it fixed but I solicit the considered opinions of this great group. Am I throwing good money after bad to fix it or should I just get something else?
sport
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Post by sport »

I would not spend $4800 to fix a 9-year old car that would be worth about $5000 after it was fixed. I would apply the money to the purchase of another vehicle.

Jeff
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dratkinson
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Post by dratkinson »

I politely disagree. I drive a 20-yo vehicle with 200K+ miles. I "waste" money every time I fill it up. I keep it because it runs well and does everything it did when it was new. So I plan to keep fixing it as the alternative is buy a $30-40K new vehicle with comparable features. Plus my old vehicle is incredibly cheap to license and insure---a definite plus.

If your vehicle is in good condition and does everything you want, a new Ford-guaranteed repair might be the way to go instead of buying a new vehicle.

Used vehicle have there own problems and at least you know your vehicle.

However, newer vehicle do have more safety features, so you might want to include that in your analysis.




Full disclosure: I paid $7K+ to rebuild my vehicle at 15 years and 175K miles. I currently have about $1K in deferred minor repairs which I will probably get to. Dealer tells me to expect my clutch to fail between 300-400K miles. Life if tough.

I swore off automatic transmissions a long time ago. I've had much better luck with vehicles since then.
Redbelly
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Post by Redbelly »

$4800 seems high for a rebuilt transmission. What is the differential problem that you referred to?
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jeffyscott
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Post by jeffyscott »

A few years ago we had a Windstar that would have been worth about $3000 and it needed about that much in engine repairs. I found an auto tech program at a technical college that would take vehicles in and repair them and the cost was only the parts. You had to be able to leave the vehicle for an extended period of time and it had to be when they had the appropriate class running. There was, of course, no guarantee.

We ended up spending nearly $1000 on parts, including doing some extras. We have had the vehicle for several years and have put 30-35K miles on it since the work was done.
SDBoggled
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Post by SDBoggled »

My initial reaction was that I would expect transmissions to last 100k miles+ and that you were unlucky. However, a quick google http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explo ... lure.shtml might indicate a systemic problem with that model.

I think that looking for other "known" big ticket failures might influence my decision... We replaced a transmission (under ext warranty) in a 1999 Ford minivan at about 90k and sold at about 130k for other reasons, so it provided another good 5 years of value.

Maybe one way to think of it is pick a time frame say 5 years and budget say $5k now and $2.5k in maintenance. Do you think you would get better value from a Craigslist car or your repaired Ford? If you need things like SUV and 4WD then may be better to go with a warrantied transmission and diff???
Topic Author
kerry75
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Post by kerry75 »

Thank you all for your time in offering your thoughts. We don't need a 4WD vehicle; this was what this car had when we bought it new and it is the front differential that is failing in addition to the transmission which is really slipping/ not engaging/ disengaging, etc. The $4800 is for both the transmission and differential work.

A number of years ago I had an in-warranty repair of the 4WD selection feature and perhaps the problem I have now is a consequence of that issue.

I've also been considering advertising this car for sale and stating that it needs this work. Perhaps I can sell it to some individual who can fix it and turn it around for a profit.

You gentlemen and ladies are the best!
retcaveman
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Post by retcaveman »

I know this is quite a stretch, but because you are the original owner and had a previous problem with the 4WD, it may be worth a shot to contact Ford customer service and see if there was a "factory bulletin" about a known defect. Even though you are out of warranty, they may be willing to do something, maybe give you the labor but charge you the parts (or the other way around).

As I said, this is probably a very long shot. But with Ford wanting to keep customers happy...maybe. It's worth an e-mail.

I have done this successfully on a couple of occasions (not with Ford) and was pleasantly surprised that they agreed to do the repair.

Good luck.
"The wants of mortals are containers that can never be filled." (Socrates)
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LadyGeek
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Post by LadyGeek »

retcaveman wrote:I know this is quite a stretch, but because you are the original owner and had a previous problem with the 4WD, it may be worth a shot to contact Ford customer service and see if there was a "factory bulletin" about a known defect. Even though you are out of warranty, they may be willing to do something, maybe give you the labor but charge you the parts (or the other way around). Good luck.
Instead of calling, get the information first from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association's Office of Defects investigation, which maintains a database of all technical service bulletins. Then, call the dealer and see what they can do for you.

My vehicle has 21 bulletins issued. Time to check with the dealer which apply to my specific model and which ones were incorporated.

This website also tracks safety recalls and defect investigations. If you want to know if there's a safety recall on your car, this is the place go.
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grabiner
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Re: Expensive Repairs or Replace Car

Post by grabiner »

kerry75 wrote:. Essentially I'm faced with about $4800 in repairs or alternatively to sell the car and get something else.

The book value in good condition (which it would be but for these major concerns) would be about $5-6k but now it's essentially zero.
This implies that if you make $4800 in repairs, you will have an SUV worth $5000. You would be in the same situation if you sold that SUV for scrap and bought a used SUV for $5000, and it would be less likely to be a lemon.

Thus it's probably not worth repairing, since selling it gives you more options; you could buy a newer SUV, or a different model.
Wiki David Grabiner
retcaveman
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Post by retcaveman »

Thank you LadyGeek. I wasn't aware of that Office. Very helpful.

caveman
"The wants of mortals are containers that can never be filled." (Socrates)
edge
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Re: Expensive Repairs or Replace Car

Post by edge »

grabiner wrote:
kerry75 wrote:. Essentially I'm faced with about $4800 in repairs or alternatively to sell the car and get something else.

The book value in good condition (which it would be but for these major concerns) would be about $5-6k but now it's essentially zero.
This implies that if you make $4800 in repairs, you will have an SUV worth $5000. You would be in the same situation if you sold that SUV for scrap and bought a used SUV for $5000, and it would be less likely to be a lemon.

Thus it's probably not worth repairing, since selling it gives you more options; you could buy a newer SUV, or a different model.
I would not be too sure about the 'new' used car not being a lemon. The used car market is a 'lemon market' due to information asymmetry: The buyer knows that the seller knows more than him about the car so assumes the car may be a lemon and prices this probability in. Because of this assumption, used car sales go for less than the utility value of the car. Sellers realize this and in general, do not put top quality used cars on the used car market - leaving the market with overall lower quality cars than average - a 'lemon market'.

If you have the money, buy a new car or get one that is off lease and drive it for a long time.
Topic Author
kerry75
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:33 pm

Post by kerry75 »

I again thank everyone for their ideas. Based on the discussion here I've pretty much decided to sell it as best I can and look for something else.

You win some and you lose some but I don't want to lose any more. Thanks again!
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