When to give up on a car?

[aterribleusername]

I've always done most of the work on my cars myself. Servicing, brake replacements, minor electrical work, exhausts etc. In fact the only job I won't tackle is changing a coilover spring and damper after a scary accident where a spring compressor broke on me, sending the spring past my right hand where it ripped the top skin open, tugged out a vein (lots of blood), took the glasses off my face then wedged itself in the wall behind me!

My current daily is coming up to its next MOT and I've had a bit of a nightmare with the handbrake only working in the right hand brake. What should have been a small job turned into a new set of shoes (drum only at the back), a new wheel cylinder, new handbrake cable and a bigger of a rebleed only for the handbrake to still be weak!

While checking the rest of the car over I found:

A near-rotten exhaust but no leaks yet
Both rear dampers wobble in the middle but no leaks
Both front lower arms have play in the ball joints and the bushes look degraded.
A grumbling right front wheel bearing (when spun by hand, no noise while driving)

Adding up just the parts it's around £1k. It's a long enough list that I'm going to struggle to get it done myself so looking like it's going to be taken to a garage which will increase the bill. The car (a 1.2 Fabia) has done just over 250k, all by me and the engine and gearbox are fine with no rust on the body either. Is it worth paying the money to keep it going another year or two (I like the car) or time to get rid of it (most likely for scrap) and get something else? Money is tight right now so any new car would have to be on finance. My yearly mileage (20k) and the need for a towbar (for a bike rack and to tow my teardrop caravan) makes a lease expensive plus I don't really want to lease. Anything around the £5-10k mark will likely need work anyway.

I'm terrible at this decision as I've a history of getting rid of good cars to early and getting into horrible ones that are financial and emotional nightmares. This one I class as a 'Good car' as it's only needed basic servicing and an alternator! Compared to the Fiesta I had before it that struggle towards 130k and needed two gearboxes, three alternators, destroyed it's timing belt within 10k (caught it when it was pretty much 1/3rd of the width it should have been) and was always generating random rattles and electrical gremlins it's been bliss and I didn't care about it at all when I traded it in.
So is it worth spending the money on the repairs (it is all just wear and tear, just all at once) and hoping it serves me well for another 2-3 years towards 300k or time to get rid?

[Super Sonic]

Better the devil you know.
It will cost less to repair than replace, and you will have a car you like, and know to be free of problems.

[Pica-Pica]

As long as the bodywork is reasonably sound that all sounds like worth doing.

[aterribleusername]

That's what I'm thinking too, I know what the mechanicals are like which is the biggest worry in a secondhand car. I've just got to hope that the MOT doesn't throw up anything more as that could push it too far for me.

[paddy1970]

A 1.2 Skoda Fabia with 250k miles, a solid engine/gearbox, and no body rust is a unicorn.

Spend the money to fix the suspension, steering, and bearing for the MOT. It will cost you a fraction of what you'd lose in finance payments and interest over the next two years.

[RustyNissanPrairie]

A few reasons for me giving up on a car,
Rust is the only thing that physically stops me from tinkering / DIY maintaining a car. If it needs welding then it s gone.

A car or vehicle no longer being used for the purpose it was bought for will also get sold (110 Defender, Transit LWB being two of mine).

Recently fuel costs have been another reason - a used EV was less to buy than the big 3.0diesel was to fuel monthly. The Cayenne has been kept for towing our T@B caravan but if wasnt for that it would have been sold.

Id carry on with your Skoda but probably increase the spend/time input into it due to its mileage and it looks like a few areas have slipped your attention.

Edited by RustyNissanPrairie on Sunday 8th November 05:50

[BigMon]

I'm in the 'better the devil you know' camp too. Every car will need work, you know the history of the one you have and if it gives you another year or two of service it's money well spent.

[ARH]

RustyNissanPrairie said:

A few reasons for me giving up on a car,
Rust is the only thing that physically stops me from tinkering / DIY maintaining a car. If it needs welding then it s gone.

Edited by RustyNissanPrairie on Sunday 8th November 05:50

Me too, although I can weld to MOT standards (functional rather than pretty) as soon as I discover rust its gone. Anything else i will fix myself unless it involves an engine or gearbox out, as I am just a bit too old to do that without a lift these days.

[Lester H]

When the car has depreciated in value to around £1500 and it starts to throw up bills for suspension components and the clutch feels near the end of its life. Another problem, as mentioned is the devil you know aspect, and you have to be critical and even cynical when you look as used replacements.

Edited by Lester H on Sunday 8th November 11:11

[aterribleusername]

paddy1970 said:

A 1.2 Skoda Fabia with 250k miles, a solid engine/gearbox, and no body rust is a unicorn.

The mileage maybe but rust? I see plenty of older Mk2 Fabias rolling around with no visible rust on them (mine is a 63 so the end of 6 years production) and most just have the occasional bit of lacquer peel on the roofs and bumpers. I'm religious on my oil changes for the engine and gearbox (3 times, fourth due soon) and the car hasn't until the last two years been used for short journeys as I cycled to work (hoping to restart that fully next year) and any shopping trips were done on the way back form a longer trip. It's not the highest mileage 1.2 12v I know of either with one on the Briskoda forum past 300k.

RustyNissanPrairie said:

Id carry on with your Skoda but probably increase the spend/time input into it due to its mileage and it looks like a few areas have slipped your attention.

I had looked at it a few months ago when replacing the fuel filter and the exhaust was then in pretty good shape but noted it was starting to look bad at the rear silencer. I also replaced the front droplinks back in July due to one squeaking and there was no play in the rest of the suspension. It has had to spend the time since smashing over my commute where they are rebuilding the seawall defenses and that has been pothole central including two failed manhole covers, probably just accelerated the wear to the point of needing replacement.

Lester H said:

When the car has depreciated in value to around £1500 and it starts to throw up bills for suspension components and the clutch feels near the end of its life. Another problem, as mentioned is the devil you know aspect, and you have to be critical and even cynical when you look as used replacements.

I have never looked at the value of the car vs the repair cost, always judged it against the cost tor replace. Gone are the days of solid used car being £1k and up which a lot of people have not realised. A friend recently scrapped their Kia Rio because it needed £300 to get it through the MOT, it was 10 years old but under 70k on the clock and looked immaculate. Just needed some front brakes and a new radiator hose but to her it was old and high mileage 'as everyone knows cars can't get past 100,000 miles' (her words).

BigMon said:

I'm in the 'better the devil you know' camp too. Every car will need work, you know the history of the one you have and if it gives you another year or two of service it's money well spent.

Definitely leaning that way for me too. Like I said earlier I'm terrible at making these decisions as I've spent my motoring life going Good Car, Bad Car, Good Car, Bad Car and as this one has been a good one I don't want to risk continuing the cycle! My dad used to be my sounding board for this stuff but he's no longer around to ask.

[paintman]

If the body, engine & gearbox are all fine then fix what needs fixing & carry on using it.

Do stuff that is obviously defective & likely to fail then take for MOT at the earliest opportunity to keep your expiry date & see what in your list it fails on. If anything fix & return.
If your exhaust is not leaking or about to fall off then it should pass.

Advisories can be dealt with over time so you don't need a big spend all at once.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 8th November 13:06

[Doesitdrive]

Do enough to get it through the mot yourself and the rest yourself when you have time.

I would recommend a ore mot. Been going to my tester for 20 plus years, doesn't charge and if its good enough will put it in the system and pass it, get the advisories sorted afterwards.

For 50 quid it might make you decide one way or the other better than others contradicting thoughts on a forum.

I think getting it to 300k would be my reason to fix it.