My 2007 Corolla has 261,000 miles and is going on 18 years. In the last year, I’ve had to spend more money than usual on repairs, which got me wondering: should I repair my old car or buy a new one?
A mechanic I recently graced with $950 worth of business imparted the following wisdom to me when presented with the dilemma: add up everything you’ve spent repairing the car the last 24 months and divide by 24 to get the average monthly cost. If that’s close to a new car payment, time to get a new car. But if it’s just $100-200, it may be worth keeping
A new car payment could run 400-800 a month, but if annual repairs cost you $2000, that’s only $167 a month on average. Worth keeping
I’ll have to look up what I spent on my ship of Theseus over the last 2 years, but off the top of my head, it still makes sense to keep repairing things as they come up.
DollarBilz 
Wow! Keep us updated on what happens. The last car I had was from 2002 – 2016. It was a Mitsubishi Montero Sport which was in need of a new catalytic converter (costing about $1000+) which I decided not to do. Then, I turned it into the California program that gives you $1000 for turning an old car that is running. I bought a newer car through Hertz Car Sales which is paid for and still running well. Of course, there are gas costs so I may ask a new question: Does the cost of electricity (I have solar) outstrip the cost of gasoline?
Always lots of things to think about and issues to weigh.
Thanks for your thought provoking message…
Best, Nancy Asmundson
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