Posted on Sun Feb 17, 12:17 PM in Adventures in Automobiling
The Saturn has kicked the bucket, so we need to do what we’ve successfully put off for 5 years… choose another car.
When you live in a two-car household, and you haven’t had car payments for five years, you can get pretty cocky about the state of your automobiles. With nearly $400 freed up from your monthly budget, you realize there are other avenues in which to enjoy your earnings. You look at car repairs a little differently; you see them as an “Oh well, at least I’m not paying for my car anymore” sort of justification.
Last year, after hearing on-again/off-again talk concerning the old chestnut that you shouldn’t pour more money into a car if the repairs exceed the Bluebook value, I tried a little math experiment. As has been discussed elsewhere on this site, I keep records on most of my monetary transactions; my car’s repair history is no exception. Since I’ve owned it in 1998 (bought when the car was only four years old), I’ve saved all the paperwork from every time my Nissan Sentra’s been in the garage, from oil changes to major repairs. I wanted to see what the amortization was for money spent on my car (not including gas). In my mind, the ideal situation would have been if my “monthly payment” over the years would be less than what I had been paying when the loan was still being repaid. Was I really paying for my car, anymore?
What I found was that over at 10 year period, I might as well have been making the same monthly payment every single month… for all 10 years. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. At first I felt defeated. After all, based on my presumptions, this meant that my car purchase wasn’t a good one, that I maybe lost money on the car. Then I began to think of all the intangibles, like the value I place on being able to make all those roundtrips to Marquette, St. Ignace, Bayfield, and Higgins Lake … or the ability to jump in my car to toot around wherever I like and not even have to think about whether or not my car will start/run/make it to its destination/return me home/etc. Perhaps with those things in mind, it evened things out.
I don’t think the SO has done a similar calculation with the Saturn, but it is also older (eight years), and he’s owned it for about the same amount of time. The Saturn has presented different age-related issues than the Sentra; the Saturn’s body has remained intact while most things under the hood have had issues… while my Sentra’s mechanics remain dependable, but the body is rusting and is making driving in the rain a bit of a wet challenge. Recently, the Saturn was brought in for some rather extensive electrical repair. But not a week later—this week—it blew a cylinder, and the cost of a full diagnostic plus a best-case scenario repair were well over twice the value of the car. We discussed it, and decided it was time to retire the poor beast and put our money (borrowed, no less), toward something else.
As I was picking up the car from its last visit to our local garage, I asked the nice people who worked there—seeing as they look at cars all day—what cars to avoid buying, based on their maintenance records. Mentioned prominently were: Kia, Ford, Volkswagon, and Saturn (heh). This is an independent mechanic garage and they have no affiliation (actually, they are prominently affiliated with God, so take what you will from that), so I have tendency to take their words to heart. If you have any opinions on car makes and models, let us know. We’ll be looking for something used and rather inexpensive.
I decided when I paid off my truck that I may as well just keep making payments, rather than adjust up my lifestyle, so I can just buy the next one with cash.
The thing that’s always encouraged me to drive vehicles into the ground isn’t the cost, it’s the stories. “And then we went over the tracks, hit the brakes, and the gas tank passed me” doesn’t seem like it would be as much fun if I had responsibilities.
Well, obviously I drove a Toyota into the ground, and the Honda is well on it’s way. I did get both vehicles at the 8 year mark though, which meant some replacement parts. Mostly half-shafts and wheel bearings (probably because I drive like a mad woman). Only thing I really dislike about the Honda, is that it is so easily broken into, that even I can do it. Oh, and even a f—-ed up meth-head can do it without breaking a window. Hooray for The Club!
I loved my Toyota, but repairs/parts are expensive.
I love my Chevy HHR, but it is new and I have yet to experience the dreaded repairs.
Saturn R.I.P.
My Saturn seemed great maintenance-wise until I got above 100k miles. After a few major repair payouts in a row, I talked to the mechanic at the dealership and he admittedly said that a lot of stuff was about to need repair/replacement; at that point I didn’t think it was worth it.
Going used really seems to be the way to go. I have a guy who’s a great consultant on used car buying if you’re interested. (duffysauto.com)