Is My Car or Truck Worth Repairing

Hey, everyone. It's Sue from 1A Auto and I wanna talk to you about whether you should keep your car or do the repairs. Weigh out the difference. Keep it or get rid of it?

So, it's a real touchy subject. It's not touchy. I mean, some people don't know their limits and some people do know their limits. So, if your car repair, say you have the car for eight years, right? You've had the car. It's a great car. It's caused you no major headaches. Minor stuff, maintenance stuff. And now you're like, "Do I want a new car?" Do you really want the car payment? That's the real question. Do you want to make a car payment? And if you don't and the car's been loyal to you, it's been good to you and you've done good maintenance to it, well, you paid for it, and now enjoy it without paying for it, right? So, if it goes into the shop and they say, "Oh, your head gasket's leaking externally." Uh, give me an estimate. So, what I would do on something like that, if you're not gonna do the work and you're going to a reliable shop and they say, "Oh, yeah. You've got a major oil leak." Or the coolant's leaking. They gotta weigh out the differences here.

So, say your car is a great car. You love it. Body's in good shape, interior is in good shape, has good tires on it, and the head gasket's no good. So, what's the estimate? If it's a four cylinder, they're gonna tell you, they have to tell you, "Don't forget that the head gasket is obviously leaking, but we don't know at this time whether the head's cracked, whether it's damaged, or if it can just be machined and planed and get a new head gasket, labor, parts, blah, blah, blah." Even if they say it's gonna cost you, on a four cylinder without any head damage just plain the machine shop, $2,600, just saying 26. Now you gotta say to yourself, "What did I pay for the car?" Well, if it's 8 years old and you're the first owner, well, more than likely you paid close to 20,000, 25,000 for a car even 8 years ago, right? If not more, that depends on the model. Well, I don't know about you but $2,600 instead of 500 to 600 bucks a month seems like a pretty good deal. As long as you don't have, like, 200 and something thousand miles on it and that's just the beginning of the domino effect.

So, these are all things you have to take in consideration. Don't avoid the subject. Really think about it. If you have low mileage and someone says something as simple as, "You need four tires." And Lord, I've seen this happen. I've had customers that come in and I go, "Oh, yeah. You need tires." "Oh, I'm not getting tires." They went and got a new car just because they needed tires. I've seen that happen more than probably five times and I'm like, "What?" They're like, "I don't like to put money in my car." Well, you're putting a lot of money in your car when you keep up in $500, $600 a month payment that you're never gonna keep. Yeah. Oh, makes you think about some things, huh? I'm just baffled by decisions people make.

So, let's think about it. We have a car here in the shop that I am on debating whether I want to do the repairs to it or send it to the auction, because I like the car. I think it's a great car. And the interior is immaculate. The car doesn't even have 100K on it. And it's a Toyota, which I'm the big fan of. But look at this body rot. And I hate body work. If you know me, you know Sue, Sue doesn't like body work. Now, we're not just talking about rocker panels rot. Oh, get over it, Sue, do it. This really starts to go up into the main support of this vehicle. It's not a frame because this car doesn't have a frame. It has a subframe. It does have a rear subframe, in a sense. I guess I'll call it that. But right here where this shackle mounts, it is starting to rot right up into that fender well. And I did a little research, did a little detective work and this car was registered on the ocean front. So, this person really took care of the car, because trust me, the paint job and the interior is immaculate. But Mother Nature, the salt air got to it. So, do I wanna make this my problem? No.

All right. So, let's go over what I consider big repairs and what really is just normal repairs for a car that has miles and age on it. So, some people say, "Oh, my exhaust is out." And I look at it and I go, "Oh, the flex pipe's broken. It's no good." Very common nowadays, guys. The flex pipe breaks down. And I go, "That's gonna be, like, $600. Parts and labor." "Oh, no. I don't know. I don't know if I wanna keep the car." Well, I go, "Are you leasing it? I'm not gonna...I'm confused." "No, no, no. I bought it, but I only...I have another year of payment and I don't think I wanna put $600 into a car that I have for just a year left." And I think to myself, "Well, let's do the math real quick. It's not life-threatening, just an exhaust leak, $600. You only have a year left on something that you had a 60-month payment on. By selling it now and starting all over again with a 60-month, if not even higher month, because now they allow it up to so far, you're just putting yourself more and more in debt."

And I get living paycheck to paycheck, but you're not ever gonna get out of that by not making the right choices, by really thinking, "Can I borrow, can I maybe put it on a credit card?" Whatever you gotta do. You're just gonna do it, because in the long run if you keep it and you love the car for exhaust, it's saving you so much money. And maybe you can do it yourself. You can watch one of our videos. And now you might even save $250 on labor, right? Whatever it takes, but don't dump a car for exhaust. I mean, that's just me. Unless it's converters, and yeah, we're talking $1,600, $2,200 in a vehicle. But pay attention to that because there is federal, you know, mileage. That's a law. So, if you're within that, go to the dealer and say, "Is this covered under the omission law for this vehicle?" If they say no, then you've got a decision to make. They might say yes and that would be a great gift, wouldn't it?

Okay, major repairs. We're gonna talk about major, major, major repairs. Major for me? Obviously, structural, body rot. Really, that's not my world. Engine, transmission, internal. It depends, it depends. No, it depends. It depends on the, how did the car treat you? Did you own this car for eight years and for eight years you've been getting kicked in the butt because it just...you made a bad decision. You didn't get a great car. It was noted on one of the lemon lists, but you just keep dumping money into it. Well, that should've been probably released a long time before this anyway. But at this point, you own it, right? And you're like, "I own it, I own it. I own it."

But is it worth the misery that's giving you because it's after the transmission or after the internal engine? Is it gonna be something else? You can't say, "Well, I've already put, like, four grand into it. I've done the tires, the brakes, the exhaust, the differential." If it's all-wheel drive, "The transfer case. Oh, I've dumped so much money. I have to keep it." Now look at it value wise. If you get in a car accident, that's what I tell my customers. You get in a car accident and you fix this car. Is it worth...are you gonna get that check back from the insurance? Think about that. You have a car that's four or five years old, you've paid it off, you own it. You dump seven grand or six grand into it doing an engine and a transmission, a differential transfer case. Next thing, you're driving going to the old Target and somebody T-bones you. Not your fault, right? But their insurance says, "Oh, your car is worth $3,800." "38? I just put seven grand in this." "That was your decision, wasn't it?"

So, weigh it out. Make sure it's worth you dumping the money into it. If you're ever gonna get your money back on it, whether it's selling, heaven forbid insurance for a reason. And long term, is it going to stay up and running for you even though you put seven grand into it? Hi, welcome to Sue's class 101, automotive repair. No, I'm just joking.

Actually, I have here a boxer engine, and I don't mean Ale... I don't mean a boxer that way, but they do say a boxer engine. And that is a Subaru nowadays. They were many other cars in the past. I know them off the top of my head, leave a comment. Piston. Okay? Someone tells you your piston rings are leaking and you're like, "Okay. Well, what's that gonna cost me?" I want you to understand the depth of repair that your car's about to go through. If I had to say what does a piston ring represent, I'm gonna go out there on a limb and say a heart valve. Okay? The piston is like a major valve in your heart. And the ring could be like the cholesterol that's gathering around it.

So, yeah. Major heart repair. People say, "I had heart surgery and blah, blah, blah. I can't go to work for 12 months." Well, when your mechanic says or technician says, "I've gotta replace the rings in your car." And they say, "I'm gonna need it for like a week and it's gonna cost you... I don't know, $4,500." Don't think you're getting ripped off. That's a lot of work involved. It's not a matter of velcroing a Lego set. They have to tear it apart. They have to know what they're doing. Hope to God they know what they're doing, because I've seen people dig into these things, they're just going at a whim.

But if they know what they're doing, it's gonna last a long time. It should come with a warranty if you have...and you're paying for someone to do it, it should come with a warranty. Just can't say that enough. I don't wanna hear my husband's wife friend's did it. Just saying. Because it won't go in the warranty and when it's blowing oil out the end, if they didn't do it right, they do it for a profession and they did it in the yard, and it didn't come out right. You can't cry. No crying.

So, what I really wanna talk about are the parts inside an engine. Are they worth you spending your money on getting a repair? Well, like I said, it depends on you and your car, your relationship with your car. Is it something you've had for years and you love it and it's done no wrong? Right? You didn't put $80,000 into a $30,000 car. It's been good to you. Do you wanna keep it? You have no car payment. What's it gonna cost? Seven grand for an engine? Seven thousand compared to the new cars nowadays, 35, 40 grand. Just saying. I'd rather save myself $32,000, but that's just me because this is what I do, right?

Just like a house, right? If my rafters...I'm not gonna buy a house that has...sorry, I saw the dust. I'm not gonna buy a house that has rotted rafters in it. I'm not a carpenter. But if I buy a car that has a knocking engine, I'm gonna get a good deal because I'm gonna do the labor. So, if you're a good DIY-er and you know how to do engine repair, then go for it. But if you don't know how to do deep engine repair, still weigh out whether it's worth to you having a professional put an engine into your car or a car that you might've just bought for a sweet deal.

I don't know. Maybe I'll make some earrings out of these. What do you think? Hey, look. I'm Rosie Perez. That's for the old people. We all know who Rosie Perez is. Awesome actress, by the way. Amazing.

This is a bearing. So, for those that never have seen one, they think a bearing is a bearing. If you've seen a wheel bearing, you think it's a bearing. Well, this is what they call bearings in the engine. This is a bearing that goes on the crank and it is connected to the piston, which is connected to the connecting rod right here. The bearing cap is missing. That's probably why the car doesn't run. Just joking.

All right. I wanna talk about heads. Not my head, not your head, this head. So, when I said earlier about head gaskets, this is where the head gasket meets the engine block. So, if I was to do a repair and say, "Hey, you've got an internal head gasket leak." There's a chance that this could be cracked. So, without looking, I'm gonna feel around here and this looks like it's the piston area. Oh, look at that. The sparkplug should be right about here, I think. I'm assuming, am I right? They crack right here in between. Let me see if I can...try to find the reflection. They'll crack a lot of times between the valve seats right here, and when it gets...because it gets too hot.

That is not what caused the leak. Okay? The heat overheating caused the leak and caused that crack. That's what happens. Your car runs too hot. Make sure the fans are running. Now I'm going down the whole repair value, but when they say, "If we have to replace the head, it could be just 1,600 bucks alone for the part plus the head gasket, labor." Bla bi blue, it could be $2,600, but like I said, if you don't have 200,000 miles on your car, maybe you have $10,000 in your car, but it's paid for, it's kinda worth doing a head gasket, I think, personally.

Structure-wise, I was watching something on the old YouTube today and it kinda upset me because I was looking at what do people think about, you know, keeping their cars and repairing them and not selling or trading them in. And someone wrote a list, top 10 reasons to get rid of your car, and one of them was head gasket. That really, like, steamed my head because, man, oh, man, you just don't, like, kick your dog aside because it's losing hair on its butt. I'm just kidding. I can't say that. You just don't. You don't get rid of something because it's a head gasket unless you don't do good maintenance and that's why it has a head gasket issue. I don't know. I'm just gonna weigh it right out. I'll just cry a little too to know that you're getting rid of your car because of a head gasket. Obviously, I won't let go.

Oh, let's look down. I have another little treat down here. It is a manifold with converter in it. That's a converter inside it. See the honeycomb? Can you see it? You can't see it. Hello, I can see it. Let me see. I've got a flashlight right here. Don't get old. Oh, yeah. You could see that? That's the honeycomb that's inside a converter. That's what filters out all those nasty things like your liver. Like your liver. But when that goes bad, you get a CAT efficiency code and some people are like, "I'm not putting cats in my car." Well, if you have a four cylinder, might not be so bad. It could be like...it could run you anywhere from $800 to $1,200. If you have a six cylinder, a V8, it could go up higher.

Once again, how much do you own on this car? How much do you have invested in this car? How much time do you have invested in this car? If it hasn't caused you any problems, then do it. And like I said earlier, check to see if you've got the mileage. If it's under 100K, that might be covered. That would be a great deal, wouldn't it? But if it's not covered, find out why. Is it just time, age? Finally broke down? Or do you have a misfire because that engine light's been on and you're not paying attention to it. Flashing, lack of power. Well, been dumping gas. That killed the converter. Don't just throw a converter in because now you're up the river with no paddle again because it's gonna clog again. Fix the cause of the issue. But age, just time to do it, weight out whether it's worth it.

So, I know I should've been on the debate team in high school. I wasn't. They missed out on it. I have so much to say in such little time. Suspension, okay? Yeah, your car gets up in miles and it starts to have a rattle in a way, there's a banging, or bottoms out, or even, worse, state inspection in whatever state you're in. And they say, "They failed suspension-wise, you need struts." Okay. How much is that? My husband's gonna do it or I'm gonna do it because I'm not just talking about the guys. Girls do it too. Look at me. Done it all, repairs. They're all fun and games. But struts. Do you get rid of a car because of struts? I hope not. No. No. So, struts. Yeah. I mean, even if you don't do car repair and you gotta pay someone to do it, that's worth paying for done get...that's worth paying to get done or do it yourself because we have videos for that and you might get a little empowered, like, "Hey, I've never done that, but I can do it now." Don't forget to get an alignment. Always get an alignment after any finer repair.

Frames. Right here. We have one right here. Full body vehicle with a frame. So, what I'm talking about is it worth keeping? If your car got in a major accident...sorry. I hope not because it's...it'll mean somebody got hurt and hopefully nobody gets hurt. But the insurance says, "Oh, we're gonna pay for it. We're gonna actually repair it and the reason being is that it's a $50,000, $60,000 vehicle and it's only 6 months old." So, they keep your car and they have the frame straightened out but I'm here to tell you even the experts that do that for a living, it's never going to be a 100%. So, drive your car, see how it feels. If you're not happy with it, you know, your gut feeling, don't get rid of it because you're mad. Get rid of it because, you know, this doesn't feel safe. You're in it, you love yourself and you love your family, so think about that. I hate to say pass it on because then someone else gets your headache. I don't know what to do in that situation. Let's ask somebody else. Somebody else? There's nobody to ask.

It's like a Santy Clause bag. Oh, hello. Another subject. Oh, my God. Electrical. Yeah. If you have electrical issues, and I mean a lot of them. Heaven forbid you live in a state that gets flooded all the time or you're in a flood zone area, yeah, that's a lot of work. It's a lot of damage. And especially nowadays, Cars, there's so many computers in them. Not just one, two, three. There could be up to five, eight of them. Electrical? Man, when I was in school, they used to tell us that electrical harness in a car was equivalent to like 11 football fields. That's why it, like, blows my mind when people go, "Why couldn't you solve the problem?" Well, I don't know. There's like 11 football fields length of wire in there and I couldn't find that little pinhole. That's why.

But those are big issues. These could be...you chase these and chase them and chase them. Some are easy to repair and some are not. If you have an issue with your car constantly, lights, not the check-engine light, but like lights, like flashing lights, flickering, those problem issues kinda like slows down and just dies on you and the dealer or yourself or even a good reputable shop is like, "I don't know what it is." It's time to get rid of it. It's okay. Light it on fire.

You know that old song from Paul Simon, "Someone's knocking on your door?" Someone's ringing the bell? Well, do me a favor and don't repair it, no. So, engine knock. Do you wanna keep it? Do you repair it? Do you just get rid of the vehicle? Well, this is an '08 Avalanche. Good truck. Solid truck. 180,000 miles on it. How's the transmission? Does it shift good? That's something you're gonna think about. You drive it and you know whether it does or not. Engine? Could be only around $4,500 to put in this. A good rebuilt engine. Remanufactured? Get another 150,000 miles if the body is up to date and everything else is. Let's look.

Looks like a little bumper car action here. So, we have one headlight, bumper cover. Whoa, another headlight. Bumper scuff. Look down. You know it's your vehicle. If its body's in great shape as far as structure-wise, frame is good, transmission's good, I'd personally put an engine in. But if you're not that type of person, it's time. It's done its job. It's a 2008. If you're the original owner, well, I hope it's paid for by now.

So, engine's no good. Obviously, we can hear that. Yeah, we've got some headlight issues and a bumper issue. Does that worth getting rid of the car for? Not really because these are easy repairs. We sell the stuff and we show you how to put it in. You need two headlights. That's pretty normal with an '08. They get foggy. You can't see out of them. But is the tranny good, differential good, structure-wise, frame, body underneath? You don't wanna open up that can of worms, right? But if the rest of it is good, an engine that owes you nothing, you love the vehicle, if you're the original owner, it means that it's paid for itself, right? What's $4,500 dollars compared to 35,000?

So, compatible vehicle, replacement nowadays, if you were to get a new one as an '08 and you've been the original owner, well, it's definitely paid for, hopefully. Brand-new nowadays? We're talking 60, 55, 60, even up to 80,000. All depends on how much you're willing to spend on a truck.

Dude, you gotta make the decision. Either you're gonna repair it or you're just gonna get rid of it. We've been here long enough. Literally. I have to pry the money out of this guy's dead hand. All joking aside, buddy, I hope you enjoyed the video. I enjoyed making it. And if you're not a subscriber, please subscribe and don't forget to ring the bell. Did you ring that bell? Oh, probably years ago, huh? Turns on all your notifications and that way you don't miss any future videos. This guy's missing all of them though.

You're not leaving without paying me. I said I did the repairs. Give me the money.