Should You Repair or Trade Your Old Car?

A car is something that is very close to its owner. The cost of a car is high and it is something that will probably affect your life for years to come. Therefore, there’s a type of an emotional attachment that’s built between the owner and his/her car and so they avoid selling it. Many people argue that repairing your car over and over is just absurd and buying a brand new car instead is better a decision to make.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why they might be right.

The heavy price you pay

You are already familiar with the heavy price you pay on repairing a beat up car. The more the damage and nicer the car, the longer is your bill. Often times, once a car is repaired after it clearly needs to be, its quality deteriorates, no matter how well the service guys have worked on it.

People keep repairing their cars repeatedly year after year. An aging car topped with many accidents (running your bike into it or dropping something on the hood, for instance) and subsequent repairs is nothing but a nuisance to you. For some people, the amount they pay for all the repairs put together is enough for them to buy a new car. Repairs are not only restricted to those that are done after an accident has taken place, but all cars face the aspect of wear and tear.

Trade Your Old Car

An embarrassment

Old and frequently repaired cars often become a bit embarrassing with constant rattling sounds and squeaks. Doors won’t lock, seat belts won’t click – these things can annoy passengers and affect your self-esteem. If a certain window does not roll down properly, if the music system does not play properly, if your tires are getting worn out, if you have a rim that is blemished or scarred – these are some of the examples that undermine the happiness of any car owner.

Not worth the trips and money

Repairing your car often demands a lot of visits back and forth to the service station. This not only is a waste of your time and energy but also of precious fuel. And there’s no guarantee that once your car is repaired, there won’t be needed any future trips to the mechanic. That’s the thing about the repairs they don’t offer you any warranty of any sort. There’s nothing that promises you any future breakdowns. On the contrary, when you buy a new car you’re offered a warranty of three years. Some new cars come with free standard maintenance as well.

Not safe enough

Sometimes old cars do not have modern safety equipment that the new cars are built in with. Features like back up cameras, blind-spot monitoring are becoming standard in many new cars. This makes your car something like a clicking time bomb. Most buyers often are under the wrong impression that these features aren’t necessary in a car and surely, this thinking is met with regret at the time of an accident.

Some people put in a lot of their efforts to maintain the value of their cars over the long haul. Sometimes people own cars that are over 10 years old and take a step backward when it comes to selling it. Let’s take a look at reasons that support their argument.

Emotional attachment

People can become emotionally attached to their cars. Maybe it was their first very buy and they had to save up a lot for it, or maybe it was given to them by someone very close to them. This is probably the first reason that comes to people’s mind when it comes to selling their cars.

Less expenditure

People think that repairing a car is often less expensive than buying a new car. Of course, this is true, but only when the repairs are minimal. The price you pay for regular services in no way add up to the price of a new car. The more you take care of your car and the less you trash it the less you have to spend on maintenance. Sometimes people also don’t have the budget big enough to buy a new car and so they decide to stick through what they have.

Loss of value

Some people often want to sell their cars only if they attain a value appealing enough for them to buy a new one. If years go by, your car keeps losing its value. A car is known to lose 22 percent of its value in its first year itself. So your car has already taken a value hit so it wouldn’t make much sense to sell it.

Insurance and registration

It is obvious that the amount of insurance and registration fees you pay on a new car will be more than what you are paying now.

Both arguments have some strong points that make sense and should be considered. But ultimately when you’re thinking of selling your car, you need to check which school of thought you fit in to and agree with the most.