I'm on my fourth and last Suburban. It is a 2001, 1500, rear wheel drive with 236,000 miles on it. Now that family is grown and moved on, I no longer can justify a new one, especially at today's prices. But when is it time to stop putting money into a vehicle. It's those high prices that make me keep mine, but there must be a point when enuf's enuf.

 

If it'continues to be reliable and safe, routine maintenance and fix as you go is better than a monthly car payment IMO. Keep in mind I am still maintaining a 93 Sub with over 350k mi. Our 05 is at about 250k

 

A $1000 a year is better than $1000 a month, no doubt. But 17 northern Illinois salty winters has taken a toll on the brake and gas lines, and after watching a few horrible videos on how to replace them yourself makes me realize that paying big bucks to have it done in the near future is a reality that I am questioning the wisdom of. I just replaced belts, tensioners, hoses and coolant, but like brakes it is a job that I would do with any vehicle. As long as I can do the work myself and save on labor while avoiding a payment, it makes sense...until I lose my brakes while praying as I'm going downhill past the church in my town, that is.

 

When the body is rusting away or when your putting more into it than what you could sell it for. $5000 grand into a $2000 car may not make sense when you could get a newer used vehicle for $6000

I refuse to have a car payment; so if I gotta spend a bit for repairs, I don't mind. the new of a car wears off pretty fast after X years of payments. I rather drive old, save that $500 per month...buy something that won't depreciate. This month I'm going to **** $500 up a tree. Nice to be able to do that every month.

 

Just don't let anyone confuse you into thinking new means money better spent, "cheaper in the long run", or more reliable purely by virtue of the fact that it's new. Seldom the case. More expensive in the long run, money better spent only if it's what you WANT, and never more reliable in the long run. Equally or less reliable long term, generally.

It's different for everyone. For me, when I either no longer enjoy the vehicle or it gets to a point the frame and body are so rusted it's not possible to fix (only ever happened to me once, not common at all in Oklahoma). As long as I enjoy it, it's reliable, safe - it's worth it. Even if I had to dump 10k into my suburban I still stand to lose FAR less than I would the second I drove off the lot in a new vehicle. Buying brand new is one of the worst financial decisions a person can make (on paper in terms of numbers. If a person is happy, that's not a mistake). I'll only ever buy what I can pay for in cash in the future. Done with the idiot tax and done losing over half the value on day one and virtually all of it by the time it's paid off. My Suburban isn't going to go down much in value at all in the next decade or two, and if it does, I've lose a couple thousand versus tens of thousands. And it's got everything a newer vehicle has, including in dash navigation and butt warmers now. Not to mention even if something catastrophic failed, engine, transmission, etc. - it costs a tiny, tiny fraction of doing the same repair on a newer vehicle. Parts are readily available and it doesn't get any cheaper when it comes to repairs. Not to mention there's NOTHING that can fail on it that I can't personally fix in my garage with basic hand tools. No computers, no need to pay anyone for labor.

But everyone earns their own money and needs to choose how to spend it. If you are tired of paying for repairs or maintenance and see something new that you truly want, time to move to the one you want. You'll still have to pay for maintenance and one day repairs (that will cost more and more as technology grows and changes) but it can put off the repairs for a while and even though you'll be spending a LOT more on it month to month, if you're happy, it's worth it. The only wrong way to spend your money is in a way that doesn't bring you any benefit or pleasure.

Edit: Always remember - very few vehicles appreciate in value. For most of us, there's not a vehicle out there that ISN'T a money sink in some way or another. You will never, ever get what you spend back out of it unless you get it in fun or smiles, family memories and so on. We're at a point with how things are made now, out of plastic, everything digital, etc. that the newer it is, the more it will ALWAYS cost to fix down the road if things break and the less it will ALWAYS be worth years or decades down the line. The cars made today will never be worth what even something made in the mid to late 90s will be when they're the same age. And they'll always cost more to fix. They'll end up recycled, not on the road when they're 20-30 years old. No vehicle makes financial sense short of the previously mentioned few so the best you can do is find something that you enjoy, that doesn't hit your wallet worse than you're prepared for. The only smart financial answer when it comes to cars is don't buy one at all. Get a bicycle.