Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General At what point do you call it quits......

....with your SVT?

It's not that it's terribly unreliable (not that it's a poster child for reliability), but as I sit here today stranded, waiting for a tow truck I can't help but ask myself, is having a paid for car worth even the possibility of this happening on a semi-regular basis?

It's hard to say which is better: budget for unexpected car repairs $100-200/mo (??) or budget for a car payment ~$300/mo (+/- of course)...?

The car isn't that bad... It's your typical SVT with 125k miles. I drive it a TON (I've averaged just over 20k miles a year since I've owned it). If I were to plunk down about a thousand bucks, most of the quirks and qualms would be solved (save for the wearing trans/clutch) and it wouldn't be too bad. But at the end of the day it would still be a 9 year old car (born in mid '97) with 125k miles that's not getting any newer.

I dunno, maybe I'm caught in the American trap of having to have something new and nice to go from A-B.

Given my needs, it gets the job done - though I would love a bit more interior and cargo space or better fuel economy given the size of the car... Am I allowed to use my two year old as an excuse to get a new, reliable car?

For those that have since moved on, what was the final straw for you?

I quess when the cost outweigh a new car payment. You never said what its problem was. I'm hanging on to a '96 contour with the Zetec engine. Thats the 4 cylinder that may be a little simplier. It has 95K on the odemeter but the guys on Zetec maintanience have helped me keep the cost of running it down by doing most of the maintanience and fixes myself. Let us know what your problem is or post it on Duratec Maintanience. Good luck.

well I still have my 95 mystique, zetec, that I have had since 2000. it had 86k then and now has 171k now. I plan to keep it until something major goes wrong, ie it costs more then the car to fix or isn't worth fixing. I haven't had to do to much to keep the car running so at the moment its money in my pocket that I am not making on car payments.

But then again I might just rebuild it stronger and better if it dies since the body is in good shape for the age ...

and I don't think I will concider having to replace the clutch a reason for dumping the car either

I should have been a little more specific - it's not one big thing that's wrong with the car today. It's just an old, dated car. It's got some things that are small, some not so small (trans is wearing, clutch is on the downslope of it's life)

I realize that one of the big factors is examining if the cost of repairs outweighs the cost of car payments + additional insurance cost (after factoring for depreciation). But there are other less tangible factors - how satisfied am I with my SVT? How much is being fully satisfied worth? Would I care for a brand new car better?

I should say that doing repairs myself nowadays just isn't practical. I work two jobs and am finishing my bachelors so I spend what little spare time I do have with my friends and family. Maybe my wishy washy post belongs in common interests...

no car payment > *

Even if you have to budget $1200/year on repairs or upgrades to keep it in a good reliable state.

Take for example my car. Paid for. Engine blew up at about 123k miles. Freak thing, but I thought, wth, 3L baby. $1200 later, i have a new engine which will last years. Sure, a 10 year old car, there is some suspension components that need to be replaced eventually, etc, but for the most part, I have a paid for car in great mechanical condition and no car payment. I have to admit there is emotional attachment to this car too that keeps me from looking elsewhere

I would say that this post is the first straw. It sounds like you are losing interest in it, thats okay... Alot of us do. Just sell the thing, and someone will find their new love.

Believe me, having a paid for car is what has kept me from doing it sooner...

I think my breaking point will be when the rust on the bottom of the doors rolls around to the outside. Due to a dent my mechanic put in my drivers door I'm having the small amount of rust that has just started to creap to the outside sanded down and painted over, but I know that won't last forever. I'll have it paid off in 3 car payments, and my plan was to drive it for another 2 years and save up probably around $10k for my next car, but now I'm not sure I'll make it more than a year. That will still allow me to save about $6k or so, but... I've had quite a few problems over the last year that are now resolved. If she stays reliable for a while now, I'll probably be happy to keep her the two years, but I'm not optimistic.

I don't think there is a magic formula. You can look at average monthly repair costs vs. new car payment... plus this and minus that...

But it's really up to you. You can probably find a new car that would be less worry and pain, and you can plan ahead and know how much you will need to spend each month (especially with the 10 years/100,000 mile warranties nowdays). If you are tired enough of the car and working on the car, and paying for repairs, etc. that you are worried about it all the time, etc. then that probably will outweigh that fact that the SVT is paid for.

Some people say that you should get rid of a car when a repair will cost more than the car is "worth", but I'm not sure I believe that.

Who knows. Good luck!