Cost of repair vs. value of car - when to call it quits?

[S60 Alex]

Hi all,


I posted recently about a strange noise under boost on my S60 T5 - as feared, the turbo is shot and requires replacement.

Whilst undergoing a health check at RT Mechanics (whom I cannot recommend highly enough), quite a list of things have been spotted:

Turbo
Exhaust manifold blowing
Front shocks need replacing
P/S reservoir bulging
Steering stops/exhaust hangers/rear discs corroded and other small items

I think this work will cost ~£2,000. I've looked on Autotrader and I think the car is worth £1,500 at best (it has 143,000 miles).

I really am at a loss, do I:

a. repair it
b. buy my 'next' car earlier than planned - probably an S80 around the £15k mark.

Clearly one option is considerably more expensive, but I end up with an almost new car/warranty etc. whereas once I've spent the £2k on the S60 - I still have an old car, albeit with a new turbo and bits.

Any wise opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,

Alex

[tingy]

depends really how attached to your car are you ive spent more then a cars value repairing it before but thats because it was a known quantity to me my dad had owned it for 6 years before i got it and before he got its first owner had kept every recipt for everything hed ever bought for it up to that point so while i could have bought a newer car instead of repairing the one i had i may have ended up with a complete dog which id need to spend more money on repairs for. plus the question of what is your car worth in its current state i assume the ones you looked at for £15k were in reasonable mechanical condition and didnt need turbos


on the other hand now is a good time to buy a big car as people are downsizing so there are some right bargins about.

[tykey]

£15k is a lot of cash these days, so why not go somewhere in between, you can get a hell of a volvo for around the £5k mark these days.

[RaVolvoR]

The down side of buying another car at 5k or 15 k is that it could also have problems. Hopefully not as bad as yours and with some sort of warranty. And also given todays costs a 15k car today will be worth about 9k in 12 months time and thats optimistic, so you bought a car for 15k, lost about say 6k in 12 months. If you fix the older car worth 1.5k now, spent 2k fixing it, you have a car still worth about 1.5k and in a year probably 1k.

Your years cost for the newer car cost around 6k, for the old is around 2.5k... still leaves plenty of cash (3.5k) for any other bother that might occur (and a good holiday thrown in as well). Depreciation is the biggest cost.

Buying a car and fixing & repairing it until it gives up completely (usually body rot) is still most cost effective way forward and environmentally better too. Of course the "one who must be obeyed" may say they want a new car in which case... pay up!

[DurhamRed]

I'd be tempted to get a second opinion.
Okay, the turbo has gone and that is a priority but there are people out there who will sell you a recon unit and fitters out there who will do the job of fitting for a good price.
The other work, well all cars will show signs of wear and tear but prioritise and assess what needs doing and what can wait / last a while longer. I think you're looking on the bleak side and I bet the car aint as bad as it may seem. Fix the faults that are needed and live with the little issues for the time being and you've got a cracking car with years of service left in it and that will still look the part 2 or 3 years from now.
Finally the cost of the repairs to yur S60 will be smaller than the depreciation on a S80 over the next 12 months. Guaranteed!

[Bill Clark]

Whilst on-route to the South of France last year on Salisbury Plain heading for Dover with caravan in tow and wife and two dogs, my '98 V90 engine blew up! With only 120,000 miles on the clock it came as a complete surprise. I had to make a quick decision and I love my V90; so I had a new engine put in at a cost of £5k and now, one year later, find my car is only valued at around £2K. I have decided that the only large costly item that I have not repaired is the gearbox, so I have decided to keep it. I do have an XC70 on order which is for my longer trips and because the wife now has a confidence problem with the V90.

[John_C]

It's a very difficult call, but I'd consider getting some quotes and also asking RT if there's any way you can save money on the repairs, maybe you could source a replacement turbo and some other bits from a later lower milage car at a breakers.

Really it depends how much the car is "worth" to you, sometimes the emotional value of an object adds to whatever financial value it has.

It could make one hell of a project car mind you, slam a full performance exhaust and manifold on there, recon turbo, new suspension, do the bushes all round, it'll feel like a new car again.

Tough decision, hope it works out for you.

Cheers,
John

[Chris_Rogers]

The rule I use is if the cost of repair or high cost maintenace (cam belt etc) is more than 50% of the value of the vehicle then it's time to change.
I made this rule after many years of wasting time, money and effort keeping old cars on the road.

The case for repair / replacement is very different if you have the skill & time for a DIY fix.

I think in your case I'd look at replacement/refub of the turbo and the exhaust repair. If these are reasonable you will have a saleable car and some time to find a good replacement.
The PS reservior should be cheap to replace and is an easy DIY job.

It's usually not good to be forced into buying a replacement car without time to look around a bit.

[S60 Alex]

Hi guys,


I just wanted to say thank you so much for the various replies and opinions.

Not that this is in the slightest bit logical, but last night a neighbour's Merc CLS had a flat battery, I heard the tales of the drive-by-wire brakes failing etc. and I watched my old car humbly jump starting it, despite all its own problems.

I then remembered all the good times we've had, the memories of the various cross-UK roadtrips etc. and have decided that I will give a good shot at fixing it.

I am waiting on prices back from a few places, but may well end up attempting to tackle it all myself over a few weekends, if the rain holds off. I will make sure to photograph the various stages and put an idiot's guide (i.e. written by an idiot) up here for posterity.


Best wishes all, off to work to see if I still have a job!


Alex

[turbo estate]

You know when buying a turbo'd car that there comes a time that the turbo

will give out,so maybe the chance to buy a bigger turbo and add a few horses.

When my turbo went it spilled all the oil resulting in a complete rebuilt,

wich happened(and was more expensive than £2K)

Maybe financial not the smartest move,but i just couldn't let it go(emotional)

This was,and still is my car today(850R,1996,160.000mls,now done 20K)

So there are a few more nutters(me)