At what point do you call it quits on a car?

[OspreyO]

Looking back at the reasons I changed my last few cars.

Car too small and old for motorways.
Failed emissions, never going to pass.
Problematic unreliable diesel.
Too heavy on fuel and parts for city commute.

I asked my mechanic and his answer was when the car no longer served your needs.

I normally keep a car a long time. But sometimes it's not simply the repairs, it's the hassle and time getting it fixed. Or just getting tired of it.

 

[Akagi]

I mean I usually get rid of a car when I am bored with it as I said previously, but the ones that I got rid of for other reasons...

One was a total shed and the last straw was when I accidentally cracked the timing chain cover, it wasn't worth tearing into because the rest of the car was a turd.

One was burning oil so badly that it needed a new engine or a rebuild, I was going to swap in a new engine, but then I discovered a bunch of rot around the car, so I broke it for parts.

One was having increasingly frequent electrical issues that I didn't have the knowledge or motivation to try and troubleshoot, the owner after me replaced the whole wiring loom.

 

[Chabsy]

If i only used my car occasionally I would probably have a older car, and would happily spend £1000 to keep it running. New engines and gearboxes or anything the was costing more than 50% of the cars value would be the piont I'd give up

 

[Lopéz]

I know what an analogy is, thankyou.

But there are good analogies, and faulty analogies.

Comparing car parts to steak is a faulty analogy.

It isn't like there are only 5 possible steak varieties, that each steak is identical to other steaks within that variety, that the chef is aware of all the steak varieties, that the variety is the only factor to be considered, that there would be any benefit to you providing your own steak, etc.

You walk into a garage with your own parts, the mechanic will know immediately if the parts you are holding are worse, equal to, or better than the ones they would have supplied themselves, based solely on the name written on the box.

Honestly, I think you might need to dial back the level of granular detail you apply to analogies

 

[Akagi]

Honestly, I think you might need to dial back the level of granular detail you apply to analogies

Maybe....

 

[moon man]

Well ive just got a new mot on the roomster 1.6tdi but needed a starring rack, arb bushes and abs sensor but have a decent garage up near my folks in Yorkshire so £450, then on the way back i get the flashing coil light of doom emissions light and 20 limp modes.
so i reckon ive found the problem a connector not fully pushed in, been fine since
but if its egr and or dpf then not sure what i will do,

 

[bigmike20vt]

for me all my past sales / replacements in the last 28 years.

2 x written off in accident
1x 2 seater but with child on the way not fit for purpose
2 x car had gotten to the point where repairs meant I lost faith in the car and was not convinced it would not let me down
1x ex wife (actually her new boyfriend as she didn't drive) took it

basically I keep my cars till they are either unsuitable or until their running costs no longer justify me keeping them.

 

[lordrobs]

1x 2 seater but with child on the way not fit for purpose

I can confirm that the correct thing to do here is keep said car, never drive it and complain bitterly every time you want the space that it is taking up.

Oh wait, no. That's what I did and is an absolutely stupid decision

Current justification for keeping it is that the boy might take an interest in another 10 years or so. Just another decade of walking around it in the garage waiting for the day that he says "why would I care about that POS?!"