What Point does it become uneconomical to repair?

[conyoman]

My accord is still going! 101,000 miles on the clock, 52 plate......and going strong(ish).

Last year it's cost £800 to keep on the road. New clutch, service, welding, new power steering pipe, and other repairs.

Considering the cars value is only around £800 (max), at what point do most consider 'enough is enough'?

The car has FSH (mostly honda), new clutch, cam has about 5 years till it needs replacing, all MOT advisories complete.

But I've had rust at the rear, rust at the front......should I sell it now while it has full MOT, or keep her going and hope there's nothing major this year?

 

[superste]

She's worth very little, resale value (but we all know differently!) so try and reduce your costs and service her yourself. You've probably got a figure in your head, but if next MOT is 300 to 400, maybe move on - that's my plan anyway... By the sounds of things you've already suffered the pain of putting things right, so she may breeze through next MOT.

 

[Nathylad]

I think all of us 6th gen owners are in the same place when it comes to big repair bills. Now I'm not saying this is the right answer but...I'm not in a position to spend a lot of money on a new/nearly new car so, to take a hit once a year of a few hundred quid seems cheaper than leasing a car for at least a couple of hundred quid a month which after three years you don't own. Just my opinion.

Ps, the reason I spend money on my car is that I love my car and she loves me back

 

[Riknos]

£800 on an £800 car is crazy. to me £400 would have been tops. On a car worth so little it's not worth paying garages do to jobs. Clutch and welding yes, anything else is DIY personally. (although I know someone who got given a welder and taught himself to weld, and made several thousand doing welding jobs for others on the side...)

Me personally, my car is just about to go through it's MOT with just rear brakes and a driver's side steering gaitor. If the repair bill was more than £300 I would have sold it as spares on ebay and bought another car.

 

[exec]

I guess it depends on how much you like your car. That is a lot of money for a car that isnt worth much, but these are good cars that can give you a long service, for example that clutch you fitted will last another at least 80,000 miles, rust will be the main issue really due to age and other age related wear and tear such as suspension parts, the engines will go on forever.

Personally I love my car and have a special bond with, I havent't had to spend anything extra on maintenance apart from usual service, however I have spent around £500 on exhausts and my car is currently in the bodyshop getting a few bits done which is another £500, i'm happy to spend on it as I love it and plan on keeping it as long as I can.

 

[flyerphil]

HI

I think I would cut my losses.

It sounds like you have a bad one - since these cars don't rust and the clutches do quite a bit more than 100k. This is the point about them - they are cheap and reliable. Perhaps yours had an accident in the past and was repaired; this is a common cause of corrosion. Perhaps the mileage is not genuine.

Have a look round for another one. They are cheap to buy. My present one cost me £600. You MUST have a full history (with an extension service book) and few changes of ownership. Get the old MOT's - does the service record mileage and MOT mileages correlate? When was the last service stamp? Cam belt change history? ALL must be correct. You have to do a lot of work to get a good one. You have to put your Sherlock Holmes hat on.

The only downside on these cars is the road tax - £256 a year.

Personally I would not have repaired the clutch. My present car is very good. But if the clutch wears out - then its the end of the road. Not worth the costs and these cars are unlikely to become a Classic, bottom out and start to go up in value.

 

[AndyB1976]

Have a figure in your head of what you are willing to lose in cash terms for repairs or more importantly depreciation from the next newer car.

You can't trust all the history of a newer car either, or if it has ran on empty (oil) or wrong fuel or bodged repairs etc.

As you know the history of yours to a large extent and know that any cars are going to cost in repairs and depreciation then make a call from that.

I'd stick with it for another year, (full MOT).