What's Its Worth?

Unfortunately, if a car needs and expensive repair my job involves not only delivering the bad news, but also delivering what the cost of that repair is going to be. Over the years the change has been from “How much?” to “The car’s not worth it!!” Ok, let’s think about this a minute. How much is a car worth? That really is a big question. Most people today base the value of the car on the resale price, how much can they get for it. So, if your car is broken and you need an expensive repair, do you think you are going to get market value for it? Let’s say you do, now what? You now need a car, right? Are you going to buy a brand new car? If you are, then this article is not for you. New cars are expensive! So if you’re going to buy a used car, what kind of car are you going to get with the money that you got from selling your car? Why are those people selling their cars? Does it need repairs? Probably. What kind of service history does that car have? Did the previous owner take good care of it? Did it get regular scheduled maintenance? Hmmmm.

So, let’s take another look at our broken car. First, is it paid for? It’s nice not having a car payment! Insurance and tag costs are cheaper. Believe me, maintenance and repair costs on an older car are going to be less expensive over the years than the new cars! You probably already know the condition of your car, what repair it needs and services that are coming up. Is that large repair looking cheaper? Let’s say, for example, the repair is $3,500. If you were break that down, that’s less than a year of car payments. You don’t have to keep paying for another four or five years for repairs on top of a car payment. I have seen customers make $4,000 and $5,000 repairs, and come out with basically a new car that last them many more years, saving them thousands of dollars in the long run.