- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Parenting
Car issues: WWYD?
Your car needs a major repair. It's running fine now but at some point it's just going to stop working altogether. The mechanic says you might be fine for a few weeks before the car dies...or it might be several years. It's not a safety issue at all. Either way the repair is going to be the exact same thing and cost the
same amount of money (transmission is going to have to be rebuilt.)
Driving it longer isn't going to make for a more expensive repair in
the long-run.
The repair is estimated to cost $3,000. Do you:
a) Drive it until it dies and then shell out the $3k to fix it (and in the meantime pick up AAA to cover roadside assistance/towing in case it happens while you're on the road)
or
b) Pay to get it fixed ASAP.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Car issues: WWYD?
What is the Blue Book value of the car?
That's a deciding factor for me.
From your 2 choices, I would repair it right away. Especially if it was our primary car and we planned on keeping it for a long time.
But, I have to agree with the others too. I might trade it in if it had any sort of value because that could just be a foreshadowing of things to come. ie, we had an SUV that all of a sudden was in the dealership constantly for this or that. We finally said screw it, it has value as a trade in, and got rid of it.
another c vote - drive it into the ground, buy another used car
I have been in that exact scenario and did b. Its not worth worrying about being stranded with two small kids. If its just a matter of waiting to get though a rough financial month, I would do that. Otherwise, I would just do it. Then you have control over when to fix it instead of it breaking down at a really inconvenient time!
Sorry! Those big car repair bills suck!
It's a 2001 Honda Odyssey. Apparently transmission problems are common with them, go figure. Wish I'd researched that BEFORE I bought it!
We bought it used but paid too much (certified used from the dealership, again, wish I'd done more research first- lesson learned.) As a result we've been upside down on the loan for a long time, but we're going to make a big lump sum payment to totally pay it off next month once we close on the rental home that we're selling. Since it's finally going to be paid off I'm leaning towards driving it until we can't ignore the transmission issue anymore, fixing it, and then driving the damn thing into the ground.
Value is probably around $7,000 right now but there's no way I could sell it in good conscious to anyone knowing that it needs a new transmission.
This!
We have the same car and are having transmission issues. We had the transmission rebuilt and it's having trouble again. Ugh. Luckily we got a year-long guarantee on the rebuilt trans so we'll take it back in as soon as it's convenient.
I would also hate to be stranded, so I'd get it fixed now if you're planning to keep the car. But I'm a worrier by nature and I'd be totally stressed every time I drove it.
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
I was at the dealership picking up my Odyssey when DH called me to tell me he googled and found a ton of issues with them. Thank goodness he did HIS research!
Do you have a carmax near you? I would take it to someone like that. They thoroughly check out the vehicle so you shouldn't feel guilty selling it to them. Say they give you $4000, it would be more than the repairs would cost and be a down payment on another vehicle. Say they give you $1000. It would just save you some money!