Q: To repair or not repair?
I recently took my car into a Honda dealer for an oil change and wanted an inspection done (as it's getting old). They informed me of a laundry list of problems and I'm trying to prioritiZe what I repair and what "isn't worth it" as my car is entering its final life phase. They said I need a new front motor mount, to replace an outer cv boot, lower ball joint boot, and that both front dust strut boots are missing. I've been fairly "rough" on my car over the years driving on service roads for camping, but have otherwise taken care of it and assumed it would last until 200k miles. Are these problems going to be a sunk cost (as it's only worth around 2k), or should I make the repairs to make sure I can get another 20k miles out of her. Thanks for any and all advice
My car has 180000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Hi there. I can certainly understand and appreciate your concern. The highest priority on your list should be safety related items, followed by potential failures, then any maintenance. What I suggest you do is weigh the cost of the repairs versus the cost of a newer vehicle and/or newer vehicle payments over the next couple of years. We all fall prey to old adage of what the current vehicle is worth versus the cost of the repair instead of comparing the repair to a new vehicle. The inspection that the dealer performed was probably their free multipoint inspection. A thorough safety inspection with a prioritized repair estimate performed by a qualified technician would be a worthwhile investment. You can also enter your vehicle information on our estimator page if you are looking to calculate total costs for repair to help make your decision.
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