Your Car And The End Of Its Life
You think your car is killing you one quart of oil at the time. Drip, drip, drip on your driveway. You feel the money leaking from your wallet in the same way: drip, drip, drip…. You can’t stand the idea of putting more hard-earned cash money into that 10 year old rag of a car that vomits smoke with the least tap of the gas….
You think: “Who would be stupid enough to throw good money after bad, throw money down the toilet, wasting away in Margaritaville.” (Oops, wrong metaphor…)
When is it time to rid yourself of the 4 wheeled friend your vet would want to put down if it was the family pet?
I’m sorry to say it’s not an exact science. Everyone’s personal finance situation is different.
My buddy Len Penzo is a spreadsheet geek. He keeps up with the maintenance costs on his automobile to the penny-the only accurate way to know what your car is costing you. ‘Cause your memory will lie!
You can do the same thing in a paper notebook, or if you use Quicken or Mint.
Costs Of Transportation
Keep up with these costs:
A Hint: Don't Use This Auto Repair Shop!
- Routine oil changes and maintenance
- Tire replacement costs
- Upgrades (new music system or GPS)
- Repairs
- Insurance, tags and taxes
- Total gas costs, plus miles driven-this comes in handy to compare the payback time of a new vehicle.
- Your time involved in keeping the rust-bucket going. (spending 4 hours on the interstate waiting on a tow three times in a year may be enough justification even for me….)
These numbers added together at the end of the year are the total annual costs for your vehicle and transportation.
Hint, we LIE to ourselves when faced with paying a repair bill.
Some of us are more controlled.
We may just have a fleeting thought about trading when writing that check or swiping your credit card at the car repair shop. “Damn, I wonder if it’s time to get another vehicle?”
As long as you don’t act on these urges, no problem. We all have ‘em.
Whether at work or home we have fleeting thoughts we just file away without seriously considering them.
Like those murderous thoughts you had as the amused plumber pulled a GI Joe and Terminator out of the toilet drain. Your kid explains it all “I just wanted to see if they could swim, Daddy….”
If you catch yourself pulling into a car dealership or walking over to the new car section after paying that repair bill, phone a friend (or your banker) and let them talk you down from the high-wire you’re walking without a net.
Use the facts as your guide, not emotion
Then go home and run those figures above and see what your true annual costs are. The numbers won’t lie.
Consider buying a replacement vehicle if only:
- Your current transportation costs are truly significant in relation to the vehicles worth and what it would cost to replace it..
- A trusted mechanic or two tells you a repair is not financially justified.
Remember, don’t let a few repair bills screw with your self-control and cause you to exchange a few hundred bucks on repairs for a 5-7 year monthly payment.
Don’t be fooled by the temptress disguised as the clerk at the repair shop who says seductively through her little metal speaker: “We just got in a truckload of those 2013 hybrids. They are sooo cute and get great mileage….”
Don’t worry how stupid you look, just plug your ears with your fingers and whistle to yourself like you did when you walked past a graveyard when you were a kid. You’ll thank yourself later!
Reader questions:
What about you? You keep your car running with baling wire and duct tape? Or as soon as it needs an oil change you’re thinking of its replacement.?
Dean
{photo credit: stevensnodgrass c.c.}
