Current Events > Should I fix my current car or buy a new car?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have a 2001 nissan maxima that needs a new cat converter and valve cover gaskets that equates to ~$2,400. Or I can buy a new car at around $22,000 with a 4K down payment. Buying anything pre-owned is a rip-off right now.

It depends. Is that the only thing wrong with your car? or is there wear and tear that could become an issue later? With the state of the economy and car companies buying a couple year old cars to resell near full price, you might be better with getting the new car and saving yourself some trouble.

I'd probably try to fix what I have now and wait for the car market to unfuck itself to get a different car.

New is also going to be significantly better on gas in all likelihood, so take that into consideration. But you're also going to pay more for insurance.

Ivany2008 posted...

With the state of the economy and car companies buying a couple year old cars to resell near full price

This is also a good point. My 2018 Elantra is worth pretty much the same as I paid for it 4 years ago

Master_Bass posted...

I'd probably try to fix what I have now and wait for the car market to unfuck itself to get a different car.

it may get worse too so you might be cockblocking TC from a good deal

Ivany2008 posted...

It depends. Is that the only thing wrong with your car?

Probably gonna need new rotors soon, and one of the CV joints is messed up or something. I should note it's only got 110,000 miles, but it's still 21 years old.

Nerevar791 posted...

New is also going to be significantly better on gas in all likelihood, so take that into consideration. But you're also going to pay more for insurance.

Yeah I'm not even getting 20 mpg in this thing.

If you are in the position to get new without it being a big financial burden, I say just bite the bullet. Itll be worth it in the long term, and youll have to replace it anyway, new or used, sooner or later.

If youll be much more well-off in the short(ish) term future, like a couple years, maybe worth trying to keep the old car going until you get there. But in my experience, much like pets, once old cars start having problems, they usually will keep coming, so be prepared to handle those if and when they happen

Been down this road. Its tempting to fix an old car that seemingly has only one issue. Trouble is, once you fix that you realize it was something else, or soon after something else breaks.

Point is, you think youre saving money but in the long run youre really wasting it trying to hold an old car together. Id recommend investing that money into getting rid of it and getting something new, just my thoughts.

You can drive fine with a busted cat. Fix the valve cover gaskets if it is cheap enough.

• 20 years old
• 110,000 miles
• Needs repairs
• Needs more repairs in the future

Uh fucking trade it. If they give you 900 bucks then thats still more than youd get having it hauled away. Its time to let it go, bro.

https://twitter.com/OrwellNGoode/status/1541119095265005578

Ludwig Von 2 posted...

Been down this road. Its tempting to fix an old car that seemingly has only one issue. Trouble is, once you fix that you realize it was something else, or soon after something else breaks.

Point is, you think youre saving money but in the long run youre really wasting it trying to hold an old car together. Id recommend investing that money into getting rid of it and getting something new, just my thoughts.

I know that my 2011 Toyota Corolla just kept having a series of bad luck one after another. The motor controlling the wipers broke, and after I got that out of the shop both brake lines failed. After that, a couple months later the entire tailpipe broke off, and the final nail in the coffin was the power steering failing. Such is the way with having extremely harsh winters.

Parents bought me a brand new 2022 Hyundai Venue as a graduation gift. Didn't ask them for it, would have been fine with a used car, but in their words not mine "You need something high off the ground, and cheap cars are being sold for more than they are worth. We'll just bite the bullet and buy you a car that will work for the next 10 years, you just cover all the payments on it".

what's the kbb for the maxima? imo don't buy another car unless the cost of repairs exceeds the cost of the car

Or I can buy a new car at around $22,000 with a 4K down payment.

don't do this

I say new car. But i may be biased, since i just bought a new car myself lol. I had a $2000 repair needed on my 2016 Civic, so I said fuck it and upgraded to a 2022 Accord. Traded in my Civic for 16,000.

Obviously your car is much older than mine was, so the trade won't be as helpful. But the newer car will have much better mpg and won't need to be smog checked for a few years.

TheMikh posted...

what's the kbb for the maxima? imo don't buy another car unless the cost of repairs exceeds the cost of the car

don't do this

Why

110k miles is nothing for a car of that vintage

Trumpo posted...

110k miles is nothing for a car of that vintage

That's true. But if I fix this, idk what's gonna happen next.

What new car costs $22k?

SaltyWet posted...

What new car costs $22k?

accent, elantra, forte, venue, probably a few more

LongJohnSilvers posted...

I have a 2001 nissan maxima that needs a new cat converter and valve cover gaskets that equates to ~$2,400.

Putting even 1000 in a car that old is just throwing away money

LongJohnSilvers posted...

Why

if you literally mean 'new' you're paying a premium and shackling yourself to a few years of monthly payments - buy used and reasonably inexpensive if you can

TheMikh posted...

buy used and reasonably inexpensive

That's not a thing anymore

I know that my 2011 Toyota Corolla

Oh, fuck a Corolla. Ive been down that road. The first time something major breaks on a Corolla drive it into a dealership and trade it, no hesitation.

LongJohnSilvers posted...

I have a 2001 nissan maxima

Buy new

Work out how many car payments $2400 would be, and ask yourself if you expect the car to go that long without another major repair.

RedRanger posted...

Oh, fuck a Corolla. Ive been down that road. The first time something major breaks on a Corolla drive it into a dealership and trade it, no hesitation.

It lasted me 10 years without issues. When it finally broke down, a guy paid me 2 grand to take it off for scrap. I used that money towards paying for the new car. It lasted me a long time without issues. The thing is I live in a colder part of Canada, so I've had the car buried under snow quite a few times. The winter before it gave out, it actually froze to the driveway. Took the plow 3 full days to clear my driveways as there was that much ice. Biggest snowstorm in a good 20 years. 6 1/2 feet of snow outside by door, car was buried under at least 7 feet of snow.

Modern Nissans suck but a 01 Maxima was still a really solid ride that should get you to 300k.

IIRC youve got 2 cats on that. The manifold cat is a PITA to get to, the exhaust cat is easy. If its the exhaust cat, get a used one for $100-200 and pay someone $100-200 to install that.

Valve cover gaskets are an easy DIY with youtube videos. Even if you have never turned a wrench in your life, you should be able to figure that out in a couple of hours.

Rotors are easy DIY for under $200. CV joints are a bit more involved but don't take long. Parts should be like $100 per side and labor probably 100-200 per side.

5th gen maxima's aren't bad to work on all things considered. I bet you could keep it running for $1000 a year. If money is at all tight, that is the path I would take.

I have an 01 Camry and I did the valve cover gasket myself for under $140. ( I did spark plugs too since I was in there).

TheMikh posted...

if you literally mean 'new' you're paying a premium and shackling yourself to a few years of monthly payments - buy used and reasonably inexpensive if you can

This isn't a thing in the market right now. Used cars are going for damn near new prices. I've seen dealerships rolling out shitboxes old enough to be in high school, with the paint peeling off, slap a $8,000 sticker on them, and they fly off the lots.

About seven years ago, my ex bought a 2012 Subaru Legacy for about 12,000. Nothing wrong with it. Just about three or four years old, average mileage. No trade-in (unless you want to count her absolutely busted Stratus that they essentially took off her hands). No down-payment. I just looked on cargurus and a similar car is currently going for $15,000. A damn near decade old car, for fifteen grand. Utterly ridiculous.

My old car was a 2002 Honda Civic. Had almost 300k miles on it. I loved that car, but it stopped being safe to drive and was prohibitively expensive to fix (needed about $2000 in repairs at a time its KBB was under $900). If I wanted to get that kind of car again, similar age and slightly less mileage (around 200k), I'd have to shell out $8k minimum.

Norman_Smiley posted...

IIRC youve got 2 cats on that. The manifold cat is a PITA to get to, the exhaust cat is easy.

Yes, it's the front driver side cat or something. I actually changed the gaskets with my supervisor and we didn't have the torque wrench so we just tightened it back on as tight as possible so I think that's why it only lasted 4 years.

_Rinku_ posted...

This isn't a thing in the market right now. Used cars are going for damn near new prices. I've seen dealerships rolling out shitboxes old enough to be in high school, with the paint peeling off, slap a $8,000 sticker on them, and they fly off the lots.

About seven years ago, my ex bought a 2012 Subaru Legacy for about 12,000. Nothing wrong with it. Just about three or four years old, average mileage. No trade-in (unless you want to count her absolutely busted Stratus that they essentially took off her hands). No down-payment. I just looked on cargurus and a similar car is currently going for $15,000. A damn near decade old car, for fifteen grand. Utterly ridiculous.

My old car was a 2002 Honda Civic. Had almost 300k miles on it. I loved that car, but it stopped being safe to drive and was prohibitively expensive to fix (needed about $2000 in repairs at a time its KBB was under $900). If I wanted to get that kind of car again, similar age and slightly less mileage (around 200k), I'd have to shell out $8k minimum.

Yeah don't listen to anyone that right now is saying don't buy new. Right now only suckers are buying slightly used cars. I've seen 3 year old Tacomas selling for more than sticker. That's the world we are living in right now.

I have a well maintained 01 4Runner and was randomly offered $12k for it while fueling up a couple months back. Used market is fucking nuts.

TheMikh posted...

if you literally mean 'new' you're paying a premium and shackling yourself to a few years of monthly payments - buy used and reasonably inexpensive if you can

The used car market is horrible right now. The microchip shortage means dealers have very few new cars in stock. Which in turn is also driving up the prices of used cars. That's what tempted me to sell my car in the first place. It's value was way higher than it should have been.

LongJohnSilvers posted...

Yes, it's the front driver side cat or something. I actually changed the gaskets with my supervisor and we didn't have the torque wrench so we just tightened it back on as tight as possible so I think that's why it only lasted 4 years.

Yeah a manifold cat is not something I'd recommend to a newbie. IIRC you have to get down to the heads and remove a few other things in the engine bay, like the AC condenser or your master cylinder or something to get easy access. I'd still say go with used cat, you could probably get it done for $800-1000 then? Do you know if your manifold is still good? Often when your manifold cat goes, that means your manifold cracked.

I'd still recommend sticking it out for another 10 years or so, but that is one of the more difficult things you'd need to do.

Norman_Smiley posted...

Yeah don't listen to anyone that right now is saying don't buy new. Right now only suckers are buying slightly used cars. I've seen 3 year old Tacomas selling for more than sticker. That's the world we are living in right now.

I have a well maintained 01 4Runner and was randomly offered $12k for it while fueling up a couple months back. Used market is fucking nuts.

The whole market is fucked, honestly. It's hard to find new cars and when you do, the dealerships are slapping on "market adjustment" fees and other bullshit. That's assuming you can even get your hands on a vehicle at all. I was trying to get a car recently and, without fail, every promising one I looked at would get snatched up either before I got to the dealership or shortly after.

If I was TC, I would just fix my current car. Hopefully this madness will end after another year or two.

Bruh, if your car is not from rust belt keep that shit. Do the routine maintenance and use the money for other things.

Trumpo posted...

Bruh, if your car is not from rust belt keep that shit. Do the routine maintenance and use the money for other things.

Yeah, like a bus pass.
You may need it.

LongJohnSilvers posted...

accent, elantra, forte, venue, probably a few more

good luck getting any of them for that price, especially since theyre good on gas the markups are extra high on them now

4th and 5th gen Maximas are some of the best damn cars ever

Keep it and fix it and love it

Do it for me, I regret selling mine all the time :(

They got ugly and stuck with shitty CVTs after 2003

i mean, both jobs are super simple and can be done with simple hand tools on the side of the road. Peronally i'd say just buy the gasket(s) if you have the v6 or inline 4, and a replacement cat and do the work yourself.

pogo_rabid posted...

i mean, both jobs are super simple and can be done with simple hand tools on the side of the road. Peronally i'd say just buy the gasket(s) if you have the v6 or inline 4, and a replacement cat and do the work yourself.

The summary left me said I need the B2 Entry cat replaced and the part is $820 but on rockauto they don't cost that much.

I'm guessing that could be a precat.

Honestly you can probably just drive with that throwing a code for a while. Hell it could just be one of the O2 sensors freaking out. Try clearing the code with a reader (or just unplugging your car's battery for like 15 min), drive it for a while and see if the code comes back. If so just replace the cat. If it's a precat it may be a bit of a bear to get to but i'd suggest doing it yourself and saving the money. The gaskets shouldn't be expensive and should only take you an hour or so if you're following a youtube video. It's easy stuff, everything is right on top of the engine.

Hell it could just be one of the O2 sensors freaking out

I would rather my car explode then deal with O2 sensor problems. Dont even get me started on that nightmare. Its probably not a big deal in other states, but when that little bitch flips on your check engine light in North Carolina then youre fucked.

RedRanger posted...

I would rather my car explode then deal with O2 sensor problems. Dont even get me started on that nightmare. Its probably not a big deal in other states, but when that little bitch flips on your check engine light in North Carolina then youre fucked.

They said the cat was clogged (don't know if only a certain part of it can get clogged) but they'd probably have to get new O2 sensors anyways

With your old car, how many miles on the engine and transmission?

008Zulu posted...

With your old car, how many miles on the engine and transmission?

110,000 miles

So your only options are fixing up a 2001 car, or buying a brand new 2022 car?

Pepys Monster posted...

So your only options are fixing up a 2001 car, or buying a brand new 2022 car?

Yeah. I have a bicycle but the roads here aren't suited for cyclists.

LongJohnSilvers posted...

Yeah. I have a bicycle but the roads here aren't suited for cyclists.

Why don't you buy a used 2014 car or something?

Pepys Monster posted...

Why don't you buy a used 2014 car or something?

Have you missed the dozen or so posts talking about how used cars are scarce/overpriced in the market right now?

Id get the new car. I also have been down the road of trying to repair an older car, this now then radiator later, maybe an alternator or starter, battery.

You will always be sinking money into the car. At least with a new car you can get a return on any upgrades.

LongJohnSilvers posted...

Buying anything pre-owned is a rip-off right now.

you say this as if buying new is not a ripoff.