Dear Janine: 

“When is it time to get a new car? How do you go about deciding the right time to call it junk?”   

Ah, this is a question I get a lot in my seminars. Car buying is a stressful event for me and I despise the amount of time it takes. Why can’t I just go to a car lot, pick my car like a can of beans and buy it? Why do they make me spend so much time there? Even when I have purchased a car with cash it took over 4 hours!!! How ridiculous is that? But enough about me, onto your question.  

I can usually get 200,000 miles from any car because my husband and I are nutty about making sure the oil is changed and that we take our vehicles in for maintenance exactly when the manufacturer suggests. I have found it no problem to hit the 200,000 or 250,000 mark with a car or truck as long as I do those two things, oil and maintenance. So, when do you call a car dead? Here are my criteria: 

1. Is the car/truck has unreliable? If I can’t drive it and KNOW that I will reach my destination. Time to go! 

2. When the mechanic tells me it is going to take time to get parts in due to the AGE of the car. Yes, I’ve driven cars that long! One friend of mine says if it takes longer than 5 days to get parts in, you know your car needs retirement! 

3. When the car becomes unsafe to drive and isn’t easily fixable. I have had rebuilt engines put in for $1,800 and other high expense repairs, but if the car isn’t safe to drive I get a different one! 

4. When the cost of repairs is 75% of the cost of buying the same car in running condition. I got this answer from the Dollar Stretcher e-zine (www.stretcher.com). The mechanic stated, “If a new transmission in a 1990 Ford Taurus, costs $1500, and I can buy a used ’90 Taurus in better condition than the one I have (once it is fixed) for $2000, I won’t fix it but will look to replace it.” This is sound advice that I definitely agree with.