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When do you call it quits on a vehicle?

Yota Up

Dull man
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May 20, 2020
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I think most people have a number in mind. What do insurance companies do?
Example: If fixing it will cost half the value of the vehicle, just part ways with it.
Other folks are willing to pay 75% or 25%. If emotional attachment, maybe higher.

Curious if it's a common thing for people to have such a number in mind when deciding when it's time to say goodbye and move onto another vehicle.

Car in question belonged to my father. I bought it from him at price dealership offered him. My father died since then and a part of me hates to let go of it but it's old and looks like more and more problems are ahead so it's a difficult thing to call it quits but I think the time is coming.

Just talk to me about numbers and how you figure things in your mind when you make these decisions. Emotions aside. I need to let go of holding onto it because of some attachment to my late father, and I understand this. I'm looking for a 100% mental approach instead and it would help to compare notes with others. Thanks.
 
I look at it as if I spend $X, then will I get equal to or greater than $X worth of use from it OR would I get equal to or greater than $X more for the vehicle if I were to sell it verses what I have into it in total.

Actually just had this conversation with my wife tonight regarding a 2008 Acura MDX that needs about $2000 worth of parts thrown at it to make it 100% mechanically. We decided not to move forward with the parts at this time since the car is worth maybe $5000, and we would not get anywhere close to our $2000 in repairs back if we sold it nor would we get an extra $2000 worth of use from it.
 
gt1guy said:
Considering most of the folks on here have rigs that they're put 5 times what the rig could sell for into their junk, this may not be the best group to ask.:flipoff2:
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Good point. But we're not talking about pouring 15k into a 5k Toyota for purposes of building a crawler. I should have specified this is for a regular daily driver to run kids to school and get groceries and travel the million miles required for the kids' sports.
 
KDXSR5 said:
I look at it as if I spend $X, then will I get equal to or greater than $X worth of use from it OR would I get equal to or greater than $X more for the vehicle if I were to sell it verses what I have into it in total.
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This is good. But then you gotta consider if you get another similar shitbox with less miles, you're looking at some math about what you pay for the next car and how many miles you expect to get out of it.

Let's say the vehicle is one that you can count on to get 250k out of. You find cars for sale with 150k on the clock for x dollars.
You're looking at getting 100k miles out of that spending x dollars. Then you wonder if your current ride with more miles is worth it to dump half or whatever that price into, wondering if you'll get even 50k more miles out of it.

Everyone has a different take on this and it's interesting to hear the numbers that run through heads when making decisions.
 
You are asking if the sunk cost fallacy applies to a group of individuals who believe that Body damage is considered patina. Idc, I’m gonna drive over the curbs at the mall.

If you are concerned about dollars per mile, buy a Prius. Shitboxes aren’t a good investment if you tally fuel costs in with mileage…. :flipoff2:
 
I have one vehicle model that I know inside and out, I have parts, and know how to work on them
That being said. I buy them for 500.00 fix them and run them for another 75,000 miles, then send the smoking hulk down the road for the same 500.00 after I strip everything out of it

I think that OP's case it just depends on what fits the mission

I still have my Dads broken truck that I will never give it up (square body)
You got to do what is best for your family
 
Yota Up said:
This is good. But then you gotta consider if you get another similar shitbox with less miles, you're looking at some math about what you pay for the next car and how many miles you expect to get out of it.

Let's say the vehicle is one that you can count on to get 250k out of. You find cars for sale with 150k on the clock for x dollars.
You're looking at getting 100k miles out of that spending x dollars. Then you wonder if your current ride with more miles is worth it to dump half or whatever that price into, wondering if you'll get even 50k more miles out of it.

Everyone has a different take on this and it's interesting to hear the numbers that run through heads when making decisions.
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I generally start looking for a replacement vehicle when a gas powered vehicle hits 200k miles and a diesel vehicle hits 300k miles. By that point, a transmission or engine replacement becomes more likely and would likely mechanically total the vehicle. So I might as well sell it while it is functioning and buy a replacement lower mileage vehicle.

I currently only have one vehicle in my fleet that is nearing the above mileage limits that I would spend the money to put a replacement drivetrain component in, and that is only because it has sentimental value. Everything else either gets sold or put in shitbox reserve where I quit spending money to repair anything beyond basic maintenance items.
 
Yota Up said:
I think most people have a number in mind. What do insurance companies do?
Example: If fixing it will cost half the value of the vehicle, just part ways with it.
Other folks are willing to pay 75% or 25%. If emotional attachment, maybe higher.

Curious if it's a common thing for people to have such a number in mind when deciding when it's time to say goodbye and move onto another vehicle.

Car in question belonged to my father. I bought it from him at price dealership offered him. My father died since then and a part of me hates to let go of it but it's old and looks like more and more problems are ahead so it's a difficult thing to call it quits but I think the time is coming.

Just talk to me about numbers and how you figure things in your mind when you make these decisions. Emotions aside. I need to let go of holding onto it because of some attachment to my late father, and I understand this. I'm looking for a 100% mental approach instead and it would help to compare notes with others. Thanks.
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OP....separate your emotions from an inanimate object.

It's just a car, exactly like many others that look just like it.

Now just go to a few websites, like kelly blue book, or FB marketplace and see what you should price the car at.

And FWIW....maybe sharing the year/make /model, and a brief description of the damage or needed repairs will allow people reading your thread to give you a ballpark figure to work with.




.
 
I'm in the same boat with my cherokee. Bought it in 2005 neglected it till 2019 when the starter went out. 2022 I needed another vehicle after an accident so new starter and cowabunga it is. Found out shortly after that one of the rear main leaves is broken but it is still driveable. Probably going to find motivation to replace the leaf and park it again till I need it.
 
Mikenike said:
I more or less stop throwing money at it when i stop liking it. Simple as that
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More or less this. I sold my old truck, despite loving it and it having taught me many, many lessons, because it needed more work than I wanted to do to get less enjoyment out of it than I would have liked. It just didn't make sense.

My first truck I traded in when it needed more work than it was worth and there was no real return on investment.

For me, it's hard to separate emotions from the vehicle. I tend to keep shit for 10 years or so and in that time make a lot of memories. Now I have had some garbage in that time that I couldn't wait to be rid of and I had cars that were bought for a specific purpose and once that was fulfilled, I had no issue sending them on their way.

I would say that if the money needed to make it mechanically sound is more than is tolerable compared to end use, then send it on its way.

Also, year/make/model would indeed help as previous mentioned.
 
When it would cost as much to get it to "runs good drives good" as buying another one that already "runs good drives good". Daily drivers here, not sentimental or special purpose stuff.

Cars I've "dumped":
Running driving 230k mile Subaru wagon last year with a going-out transmission, $3k to rebuild, $2.5k if I did the in/out work, on a car that would be $3k if it was good, that I didn't love.
MR2 with 200k and crank damage where the balancer fit, tried repeatedly to save it but it wasn't happening. Needed a crank, which meant engine at that point, car was worth maybe $2k if it ran. Probably should've sat on that one, the carcass would probably be worth $10k today even without an engine.
01 Dodge CTD, 300k, needed pretty much every seal/gasket on the engine, rest of the truck was "good for a farm truck" condition. Didn't love the truck, kids were too tall for the back seat, sold cheap to a friend.
 
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This is a bone stock TJ rubicon. Insured as my DD but I have a work car. I think I’m the wrong person to ask. Someone above said “unless I don’t like it anymore”

I’ve been bitching about this body work but I am learning. When I did my XJ almost twenty years ago, I did the incorrectly and layered them. When I stop learning or have zero zero zero time to do it then out to pasture it goes.

I’ll never see a ROI on this TJ, I’ll have to part it out to break even

(Brand new fenders, windshield, tailgate, tires)

But I am still enjoying it and it’s teaching me how to build my CJ2A properly that I will never finish
 

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as someone who lives where there is heavy salt use for the winter, its always been rust that makes the decision for us. We usally buy 5 year old mini vans with around 100k on them and rust will over take them buy 300k.

As for insurance every company is a little differant. My dad just went through this with his truck. It was a Black 2020 F150 XLT crew with every option. He put the passenger side down a hydro pole in the middle of a snow storm. The initial damage estimate was $35k to fix and the truck was worth about $40k at the time. Final cost ended up over $40k once the truck was finish, but it look amazing.
 
Unless it was something your dad really was into and you are really into get something safe and reliable for your family. Would he keep it?

Also, what is it?
 
JR4X said:
I’ve got a nice truck sitting with a blown engine. It’s not worth anything as is. If I fixed it, I’d have about $15k new dollars into a truck that might be worth $15K dollars if it ran.

Still haven’t decided what to do with it yet :homer:
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Give it a gas motor instead , then sell it:flipoff2:
 
Provience said:
100 % this.

It'll get one last thrash to fix stuff for sale
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I kept throwing nickels and dimes at the first gt new edge mustang i had with 300k on it because it was just a fun cheap beater. Did it probably get way more nickels than it deserved? Absolutely. Was it reliable and enjoyable enough to get that 300k and then go across country twice? Also yes. So seemed like a wash in the end to me. Also i rarely sell stuff so consider that for what it is worth
 
I always laugh at the 'I'm getting rid of this piece of crap because it isn't worth $xxxx repair' logic. I look at it as: what else can I get for the price I will sell the car for plus the price of the repair. Will I find something equal to or better than what I got?

Monetary worth to me isn't why I keep or repair vehicles. I've got a LOT of money spent on 1971 FJ55 that probably isn't worth half of that cash.:emb:

My other logic to getting rid of a car is do I need it. I got rid of my 145k mile Tacoma that I bought new off lot when I had no need for it. OTOH, I'm kicking myself over that since about 6 years later I bought VERY similar Tacoma(3 years newer):shaking:

Interior is where I start having problems with keeping/repairing vehicles. The last two cars I got rid of had the interior falling apart badly(e36 BMW and a 9 series Saab) BMW(~400k miles) got thrown to Pick-n-Pull and Saab got donated.
 
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Mikenike said:
I more or less stop throwing money at it when i stop liking it. Simple as that
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This! I also include my frustrations. When it starts to Annoy me that I'm tossing money into it then I move it to the backup vehicle and get something with less mileage and wear and tear on it.

Overall, If it's not a beater then we put away expected maintenance costs for the year. It is a hard sell for me to replace a FWD transmission and engine in almost everything that is a daily. I think thats my financial limit.
 
Lil'John said:
I always laugh at the 'I'm getting rid of this piece of crap because it isn't worth $xxxx repair' logic. I look at it as: what else can I get for the price I will sell the car for plus the price of the repair. Will I find something equal to or better than what I got?
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Exactly. I've got shelves of cores and parts. I've got pretty much every item of shop equipment short of a lift and frame machine. So whatever happens to reduce my fleet readiness odds are the best path to getting it back to where it was will be fixing what I got.

I'm probably gonna sell the Probe once I get it going down the highway nicely (yard drives at this point). Sure it's a cool and fairly pristine 90s oddity but a 2 door FWD 90s sedan doesn't really add anything to my life that a 4-door FWD 90s wagon doesn't already provide. It simply doesn't do anything better other than arguably looking cool.
 
Yota Up said:
I think most people have a number in mind.

Car in question belonged to my father. I bought it from him at price dealership offered him. My father died since then and a part of me hates to let go of it but it's old and looks like more and more problems are ahead so it's a difficult thing to call it quits but I think the time is coming.
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Knowing what the hell you're talking about would help. What make and model car is it?
 
Buying another used vehicle comes with its own set of unknowns.

Therefore I hang onto what I have.
Know its service history, and am willing to repair to keep it going.

Cost of new vehicles, and all the electronic gizmos they are saddled with keeps me at bay. Late 90's through mid 2000's were the golden age for relatively simple, well built, durable vehicles. One can still do a lot of DIY with those.

Now if it is a lemon, that is constantly breaking down I get rid of it.
Lets face it, every mechanical/electrical part has its useful operational life. At some point it is done for.

When buying used I tend to meet at current owners place, seeing how they maintain their property, vehicles, etc gives one a pretty good idea what they are walking into.
 
I have a paid for 2015 Camry and an Avalon that I got for free. I would have to blow up the motor or the trans in either or total them in a crash to make it no longer worthwhile to maintain:flipoff2:
 
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