WORSE news from the mechanic!
May. 8th, 2021 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerThursday we got bad news from the mechanic: a repair we thought would be covered under a part-specific special warranty was not covered. We had to pay the $1,200 to fix it. Friday afternoon the mechanic called us back with worse news. Way worse news. Our engine was still having trouble even after the $1,200 repair (replacement of intake solenoids) prescribed in the service bulletin— and would be extremely expensive to fix.
"We're going to have to take the engine apart to fix this," he warned. "It'll cost over $3,000 just to diagnose it. The full repair could be double that, or more. As old as this car is it may not be worth spending that much. You need to decide how much you love this car."
Decide how much you love this car. Those words stung like having to make the decision to pull the plug on a loved one.
To be clear, the decision at hand is whether to repair the car or replace it. The cost of repair looks to be high enough that it would total more than the car— even in good shape— is worth. The real question, though, is not whether fixing it costs more than the car is worth but whether fixing it is cheaper or more expensive than owning a newer car.
Either way, this has totally taken the wind out of my sails tonight.
"We're going to have to take the engine apart to fix this," he warned. "It'll cost over $3,000 just to diagnose it. The full repair could be double that, or more. As old as this car is it may not be worth spending that much. You need to decide how much you love this car."
Decide how much you love this car. Those words stung like having to make the decision to pull the plug on a loved one.
To be clear, the decision at hand is whether to repair the car or replace it. The cost of repair looks to be high enough that it would total more than the car— even in good shape— is worth. The real question, though, is not whether fixing it costs more than the car is worth but whether fixing it is cheaper or more expensive than owning a newer car.
Either way, this has totally taken the wind out of my sails tonight.
