Should I Fix or Sell?

[Tower_of_Babble]

Trying to decide if I should invest money in fixing up my Ranger or selling it, then buying a late model used truck.

1998 88,000 miles. 3.0L V6, auto, 2WD. Interior is in very good shape.

Work needed:

*Late shift and clunk. I assume it's the tranny valve body gasket?
*Squeaky serpentine belt/idler bearing.
*Shocks/struts are shot, need all four.
*Brakes haven't been touched in over 10 years, probably needs pads/shoes on all 4 corners.
*Turn signal multifunction switch or relay is bad
*Normal maintenance neglected: Plugs, wires, fuel filter, coolant, wiper blades all haven't been touched for years.

I'm guessing $2k in repairs for a vehicle worth less than that in its current condition. I'd like to get another 80k miles out of it over the next 10 years. Is that realistic? Or will it fall apart before then and it would be wiser to spend a lot more money and get a much newer truck?

 

[ab_slack]

Anything used you get is probably going to cost $1500 before you get the bugs out of it. That is my rule of thumb at least. Sometimes you get lucky.

If you base repair cost against the vehicle worth if you sold it, it seems to me you will always end up short changing yourself.

I've long come to the conclusion that I just want some reasonable return on miles for money I put into it.

A couple years back we put $4,500 into a new 3.0L of our 99 Ranger. About what we seen similar vehicles selling used on a dealer lot and much more than we could have sold it privately with a working engine. Well the ranger was in great shape otherwise, and putting an engine in it got us what it would be on the dealer lot without all of someone else's headaches.

I usually look to see if the vehicle has good bones (little rust and basic condition) and if good am willing to rehab and keep her running well.

Other factors are how much do you like the vehicle. If you always wanted a 4WD and this is 2WD well maybe good to change. If you wanted better fuel economy, then get another.

 

[Tower_of_Babble]

I've long come to the conclusion that I just want some reasonable return on miles for money I put into it.

Exactly. Strictly an economic decision, I got "new car fever" out of my system a long time ago.

I usually look to see if the vehicle has good bones (little rust and basic condition) and if good am willing to rehab and keep her running well.

Good point. I forgot to mention the body is straight and rust-free, paint's good except for lots of shopping cart rash.

I guess it comes down to risk -- in addition to the $2k to rehab mechanicals, over the next 10 years or so other expensive things might happen, such as transmission, cat converter, radiator, etc. Even so it still may be cheaper than spending $15k plus interest on a late-model used truck.

 

[JFortner5]

I'd keep it. New cars are nice but you'll save money in the long run by keeping yours. It's not like you have to drop $2k at once just do a little at a time.

Used prices seem high to me right too, can't get as much for the money. Plus the newer ones can still have issues too.

With 88k miles I bet yours has plenty of life left.

 

[97RangerXLT]

take a good hard and long look at the transmission and make sure it isn't going south...

Everything else is chicken feed, and as mentioned you don't have to do it all at once.

My rule of thumb is if it is in overall good shape bodywise/ rust wise and interiorwise, I can deal with the mechanical stuff as an as needed basis. stuff like brakes are normal maintenance and I do not count those in my decision to keep it unless I have well over $2000 worth of stuff that has to be done within a relatively short period of time.

for every 300 to 500 bucks of repair that I put into a vehicle, I would want a months' use out of it. ( figure a new car payment runs in that range) so I put $1500 in repairs and I get 4 months of use out of it before I have to grab the toolbox again I am doing good. and if everything else is good on the truck, you should be good to go after a few months and have a decent vehicle to boot.

AJ

 

[Tower_of_Babble]

JFortner5, 97RangerXLT: Thank you for sharing your convincing viewpoints. I've decided to keep the Ranger. Even if I spend $4000 on major repairs over the next 5 years that averages out to $67 per month, far less than the monthly payment on a late model or new truck. Like the old song says about marriage and divorce, "It's Cheaper To Keep Her."

 

[Mark_88]

Excellent choice...

I paid $800 for mine originally...put in another $3,000 over 14 years and now it sits with a fairly new 2.5...and a bunch of other new (used) parts...including the frame and box...

only thing original now is me...and even me I'm not sure about after spending the last 5 months in and out of hospitals...but I think you will be happier with your new old truck too...

 

[bigmark303]

just as everyone else has said. give it a good look over and determin if the body, frame, and major drivetrain parts are in good order. If the truck checks out in those areas everything else is normal maintenance that youll run into with any ageing vehicle.

A truck thats paid for and in good shape just needing normal wear and tear parts is always cheaper than buying something new to you but a problem from someone else just to find out what it needs.

 

[CAD]

Picked up mine a about a year and a half ago for $800. It had 75000 original miles with a blown tranny. It sat in the back field under a tree neglected for over 15 years. dropped in a new tranny (new to me) from a 97 explorer sport, tune up, heater core, shocks, power windows and locks, brakes, tires, used 2.9 (rebuilt the original to go back in eventually) and a lot of other misc. parts. Total investment approx. $2500 + lots of time. I've been offered $4500 for it and told the guy to pound sand. its a great truck and very dependable, wouldn't trade it for a new one. They are worth the investment and time to keep them on the road.

 

[ab_slack]

I guess it comes down to risk -- in addition to the $2k to rehab mechanicals, over the next 10 years or so other expensive things might happen, such as transmission, cat converter, radiator, etc. Even so it still may be cheaper than spending $15k plus interest on a late-model used truck.

Of course there will be more things over the next 10 years. But if you got that $15K plus (which is very easy to spend, used cars are rediculuously priced and something even 5 years old with 100K miles might be north of 20K) there is a good chance that vehicle may need some significant items in 10 years too.

for every 300 to 500 bucks of repair that I put into a vehicle, I would want a months' use out of it.

And it isn't that hard to do.

As I see it, even if I put an engine in, and the trans goes shortly thereafter. If body and everything else is good, I put in a trans and now I have a vehicle that should have a good engine AND trans for years to come.

We have 6 vehicles in the household among 4 drivers. 87 Bronco II, 94 Cherokee Country, 97 Nissan Altima, 99 Ranger, 02 Explorer and a 03 Escape.

By far the Escape, the newest of the bunch, has been the most costly by far over the past year. It isn't that it has had particularly many problems, it is just that the parts for it are so damn expensive. The parts on the other vehicles, whenever there been issues, has been really cheap. And when I complain about the Escape parts costs the auto parts stores tell me about all the ridiculously expensive stupid parts newer vehicles have with all the crazy sensors getting built into them.

My point is, a newer vehicle may have less problems, but still eat up more cost with the problems it has.

I have done far more to the BII than the Escape in part because the BII is so old and I been doing a serious rehab job on it, yet parts have cost much less (although some getting hard to find) and its been easier to work on.

On the other hand, where you can really take a bath keeping an older car running is in an auto accident, particularly serious one. The book value of an old vehicle isn't that much and while you might have keep it in tip top mechanical shape and it is good for another 100K miles, the insurance company is going to total it out and only want to give you a fraction of what it is worth to you as far as miles it is good for. They will see an old model xyz and give you money for typical old xyz that never got the attention of yours. You might be able to use the wrecked one as a parts car but then insurance will reduce what they give you by the salvage price of the vehicle and you have to do all the work.

This is in fact what happened with our 97 Altima except it was a minor collision that caused $2700 of damage, insurance company totaled it out, paid out $1800 for it. We opted to keep it so insurance reduced amount by $400 and gave us $1400. Because the vehicle damage was mostly cosmetic and the trunk wouldn't close, we spent $150 to get the latch roughly pulled into position so it would close, drilled some holes and cable tied the parts of the real pumper cover that cracked, pocketed the rest of the money and kept her on the road. So this worked out actually since that car is used as a college commuter car by my daughter, doesn't owe us anything at this point. But if the damage had been worse we would have been out a solid running car.

 

[RonD]

$2,000 for 10 years is $200 a year..........jump on it, but I doubt it will stay a $200 a year if averaged over 10 years.

I would look at it over 5 years so $400 a year, still a bargain

If you have $15,000 cash then that would be a good way to go but if you are paying interest on a loan then figure that in, how much is that a year over 5 years, and that's just money into someone else's pocket not for repairs.
At least when you pay it was to get a few more miles out of the truck not for someones else "interest" in your truck.

Yes a newer vehicle can have less repairs, but used is used, pig in a poke, no one has a working crystal ball that I know of.