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To keep the old or to buy a new?

Gee LeDouche

Private
Minuteman
Jun 9, 2010
23
0
41
So.. I drive a 1992 Chevy Tahoe/Blazer (full size) with the 5.7 350 engine with around 205 thousand miles on her. I've owned her for 5+ years and its been a fantastic vehicle. I havent had to do any repairs on her other than replacing the radiator and recharge the A/C once a season or so and all the services. (trans, diffs, tuneups, LOF's ect) I am very maticulous about maintaining her and try to always run the best stuff I can find in her. I also use a K&N filter and a Flowmaster exhaust. Well, to make a long story short, I have been saving for a long time and now I have enough to buy a nicer "used" truck/SUV and I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out if I want to drop 15+ thousand dollars. My dilema is, do I sell my current vehicle while I can still get a couple bucks out of her and put that into a new car, or do I just keep driving this one (and keep saving) until it has some major problem and just scrap it and start new. I know I know, its going to be one of those "its your decision" types of things, but I would like to know your opinion. Maybe some of you have some experience with this type of thing..?? anywho. thanks for the input all the same.


Gee


Ps- the 92 "hoe", as I like to call her, is starting to leak a itty bitty drop of oil every time I drive her. thats why I originally started thinking about a new vehicle.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

IMO I would get rid of it before you do start to have costly repairs. Once my work truck hit 200k it seemed like it started to get the more expensive repairs. We've prob put $5k into it since then. It's got over 350k on it now. But I'm not worried about the cost to fix it because the company is the one footing the bill.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

I'd stay with the one you have. My reasoning being:
1- you havent had any major issues with this one
2- you know how this one has been maintained


I run a 96 Bronco and just dropped about $1000 into preventive maintanance this past spring. If I wasn't able to do the work myself, or if I was still making payments then it wouldn't be worth it. In this case for less than 2 truck payments I got the thing back to condition that I wouldn't have an issue taking it anywhere.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Take a hard look at what you have. See how much it will cost for:
Suspension Overhaul
Engine rebuild(you can do this or exchange the core at Auto Zone)
Gear Case/Trans rebuilds

Doing each of these in one year increments will be better than a car note and in three years your vehicle will be ready to roll another 200k. Interior can be rebuilt on the cheap like that as wel. The money you will save can then go toward whatever you wish then.
If you foresee a repair that will cost over $3k you have to look at what a monthly car note will cost you and decide from there. I was looking at maybe 3k to refurbish my old Neon before it got flooded and that was several hundred less than a year's car notes
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Switchblade</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Take a hard look at what you have. See how much it will cost for:
Suspension Overhaul
Engine rebuild(you can do this or exchange the core at Auto Zone)
Gear Case/Trans rebuilds

Doing each of these in one year increments will be better than a car note and in three years your vehicle will be ready to roll another 200k. Interior can be rebuilt on the cheap like that as wel. The money you will save can then go toward whatever you wish then.
If you foresee a repair that will cost over $3k you have to look at what a monthly car note will cost you and decide from there. I was looking at maybe 3k to refurbish my old Neon before it got flooded and that was several hundred less than a year's car notes</div></div>
+1 on this.
The thing about your Tahoe is it has to be one of the easiest, and cheapest vehicle to work on that was ever made. If you have a motor issue you can even go to the dealer and we would install a "new" motor and give you a 5 year and 50K mile warranty to boot. Same goes with the trans with a CERTA transmission. To me the only reason to upgrade is if you really want something a little more modern that has a nicer (not necessarily better) ride and better fuel mileage if you drive it a lot.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Depends if you are someone who has to have the latest and greatest - everyone knows I drive old stuff.
My 96 Nissan truck - just dumped $1000 into her for the 100,000 mile maintenance - timing chain etc etc....

I bought a 1980 VW Scirocco in 1993 for $750 - I've put $1000 into her for normal maintenance up until I blew the motor.
Then I put $2000 into new suspension, new tires, custom rims, and another$500 for a used Jetta engine/transmission.
Total cost I've got into this car is about $4000.

I'm haulin her out for a paint job today - so another $2200.

YOu still can't touch a new car for the $6200 I'll have into this car...it has 226k on it.

But there will always be new squeeks, stuff like that.

Now on a chevy, you'll get knobs breaking, window tracks, doors not aligning, hinges wearing - engine/tranny.

Your cost might start to multiply, or maybe not....maybe you can do a complete overhaul for $5k or so - and put the other $10k BACK into your savings....

Oh yeah, getting re-upholstery on the entire inside with a new carpet kit $900 so I'm up to $7000 - just past htevehicles antique value but ....I get 55mpg and can get from 0 to 60 in about 5 or 6 seconds
smile.gif



This was a funny day - pulled into the driveway and looked down to see this on my odometer:

222222.jpg
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

For the first time in my life I have NO truck payment, I paid it off early at the beginning of the year. Before owning this truck, a Dodge 2500 diesel, I would trade every 2 years because I was getting a deal through my dads company where insurance/tires/repairs/oil changes was all included for less than I'd be paying for just the note and it had unlimited millage. After that well ran dry I bought a 92 dodge dakota from a neighbor who's a pilot, kept every record of everything he'd ever done to the truck. It had about 90k miles on it, paid $2500 for it and 3 years later I sold it for $2500 with 160k miles on it. I loved not having a payment, but the dakota was starting to need repairs and I was putting about 600 miles a week on it at the time so I decided to get a new truck. Now, I only drive 50 miles a week going to and from work and maybe another 100 getting around. The truck is a little over 4 years old and has 46k on it. I plan on driving it until the wheels fall off and can't be put back on. IMO, when a vehicle is in need of major repair it's best to look at what it'll cost over the period of time that repair will last. If you need to drop a $4000 engine, $2500 transmission, $2000 in axles but that will keep you running trouble free for the next 10 years it's a good investment to me. That's less than a year and a half of truck payments.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

I currently have no vehicle payments but sooner or later will have to replace my Neon and once again dive into the ten year plan to pay for, pay off, drive and maintain a car for ten years.
We are 5 years into that on the pick up and have about $1200 into both axles and exhaust replacement issues from upstate NY snow/salt rehab. We are looking at wheel and tire replacement coming up in about six months so a set of US Wheel #84 Black Daytona with General Grabber tires. That should 'Cha Ching' to around $1.2k and be good for 40k - 50k miles
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Its my biggest wish right now to have a new reliable car.

I'm so tired of having to drop this freakin Jeep off every week.


I had a 98 honda accord with 220,000 miles on it. Transmission was going out, AC out, No Paint etc... etc... still sold it for 1800 bucks.

Bought an 01 Jeep with 60,000 miles on it for 7000$ and two months later the Transmission went out. Now the AC's out and I'm having electrical problems.




I wish Honda would make a JEEP.


 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Switch - Toyo Open Country A/T's - man those are the best tires I've ever driven on - put them on in 2006, put about 25k on them so far and plenty of mileage left but they handle phenomenal in water and snow, offroad...

Bryan - my dad has a newer 01 or 02 Dakota he's going to sell - he wanted a king kab and so right after he bought this one he bought the king kab.

He likes those Dakota's...they're OK, Dodge is the only thing (excluding their "Jeep" brand) that I would own in the American way...



Gee - If you are not so much into big trucks perhaps a smaller Toyota Tacoma or something - they last a LONG time and get good gas mileage, can tow a reasonable amount..

 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Our '04 Dak Quad Cab 4x4 is running it's OEM tires and wheels since we ran the Pro Comp AT's to 52k miles(2k over their 50k guarentee)
WHat it has required since Day 1 on Maintenance:

1 exhaust muffler replacement
1 Rear Axle(Recall), rear brakes(saved on labor since the old brakes had to be R&R'd to get the axle out and off for replacement
1 Set front brakes
Removal of AR wheels and PRo Comp Tires to swap back to OEM's
3x Alarm issues(sw/light)
2x Emergency Brake issues(spring,switch)

Day 1 mods to this truck included Speedliner on the bed, bed rail, lower sides up to trim line, and inside the door jambs
K&N FIPK
Flowmaster Force II exhaust
American Racing Baja wheels w/ Pro Comp AT's
Light bar, side steps(recently removed due to rust)
It has 60k+/- on it and it's 4.7ci V8 is still running strong. The axles, tranny, and 4x gear case have all been cleaned and refilled with Redline Synthetics

Not a bad truck for the money, and unscheduled maintenance has not been too bad on us. Had we not been in upstate NY the original brakes would not have been more than a pad replacement at this point. The value of all unscheduled maintenance has been less than the equivelant of around 6 car note payments. Not bad for a 5 - 6 year old truck that has over 60k miles on it(Panty 6 goeas all over NC, PA, and Vermont if I am gone for anything more than 20 days. FTX's, shoot went home in the middle and the house was deserted!
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ArcticLight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Switch - Toyo Open Country A/T's - man those are the best tires I've ever driven on - put them on in 2006, put about 25k on them so far and plenty of mileage left but they handle phenomenal in water and snow, offroad...

Bryan - my dad has a newer 01 or 02 Dakota he's going to sell - he wanted a king kab and so right after he bought this one he bought the king kab.

He likes those Dakota's...they're OK, Dodge is the only thing (excluding their "Jeep" brand) that I would own in the American way...



Gee - If you are not so much into big trucks perhaps a smaller Toyota Tacoma or something - they last a LONG time and get good gas mileage, can tow a reasonable amount..

</div></div>
I really liked that Dakota, it was pretty basic with a manual tranny, locks, windows...........tape deck, but it was reliable most of the time I had it. It ended up having a wire burn out on it while I was 4 hours from home and I ended up having to drop $250 on getting it and some other things fixed. I ended up having to spend my off days in a motel waiting on my truck to get fixed. Then corrosion got into the battery cables where you can't see it and wouldn't start. A guy at work poured a coke on the battery terminals/cable ends and it started right up.......I know, crazy isn't it? I get home shut down the engine and see if it will start again and nothing happens. I get so pissed I just call the local garage to come tow the MF'er and fix it. If it had left me stranded at the titty bar instead of at work, twice, I'd probably still be driving it. I really can't complain since I spent less than a grand in repairs and upkeep to put around 70k mile on it.

Those dakotas are the perfect size for someone who doesn't really need a truck, but sometimes hauls some things. After owning an extended cab dakota and now ram, I wouldn't own another truck without one. I don't usually carry people around in the back of the cab, but it's nice to have to throw groceries or junk back there and have it secure.
 
Re: To keep the old or to buy a new?

Sweet! you guys have given me some excellent ideas. I think I'll call around and price out a new trans, engine, suspension and all the other expensive things that "could" go wrong with my rig. if its a reasonable enough price, I think I'll just stick with my current vehicle. The more I think about it, the more I dont want to buy a 15K truck, then 6 months after owning it have it throw a rod or burn a transmission or something, then be high and dry, making payments on a broken down vehicle and have to go into debt to get the damn thing fixed. thanks for all the replies.