How do I know when enough is enough?
 

My car is fantastic. Its taken me thousands of miles without a hiccup. Never left me stranded and with regular maintenance it has proven to be the most reliable car I've ever had. However, lately, it has started to nickle and dime me more than I'd like to admit. In this case, as many of you may know, its not really nickles and dimes.

It runs great, mechanically it is pretty much perfect. It could use new injectors since at 160k its still using its originals, and its about due for an oil change. Its electronics and convenience features are where I'm beginning to have problems. I have about 5000 dollars into it within the last year alone, making it mechanically sound and aesthetically pleasing. But I don't want another year of 5000 dollar maintenance. I'm beginning to think its time for a new car.

The way I see it, with a substantial down payment, which I could make, and a reasonable car payment it could be cheaper than what I'm putting into my current 24 year old vehicle.

Do I keep putting money into this car, only to have to turn around and do the same thing months later? Or do I say enough is enough and cut my losses? I love the car and wouldn't trade it in. I wouldn't get out of it what I think I deserve. For a 23 year old car with full documented maintenance and original window sticker I feel I really have something special.

What do you all think?

I'm going to let you dwell on your thought then look at the wonderful depreciation of a new car, the maintenance of a new car, and insurance of a new car..

get back with me when you see

:D

No, not a new car. A used car, but a newer used car. 2000+

A car where everything WORKS!

For a while. then it won`t be nickle and dimes. the newer ones will have to be taken in to be plugged in the diagnostic computers for big bucks.

The newer they are, the more complicated. there goes your DIY.

As the don said, insurance, deperciation, maintenance also higher registration and monthly payments.



Charlie

It's shouldn't take more than 1 or 2 $5000 years to get it up to snuff, then you will only have to put oil in it for several years. Hang in there...

;)

Exactly. Thats how it went with my SD.....the first few years I repaired a ton of stuff.....but in the past 2 years I've done little to nothing. Under $500 a year in maintenance.

Tell us what big dollar items you have put into your car (I'm assuming the '84 SD?) in the last year. Did you do those jobs yourself or pay someone to do them? An old Mercedes can be very expensive to own if several big items all need work at the same time and even more so if you have to pay shop labor plus list price for the parts. If you can do the work (or even some of it) yourself it's not so bad.

I came to the same conclusion when I just got tired of spending money on my old car, and working on it, mostly working on it. Now Joe gets to pick up $$$ where I left off.:D

That new car or in my case truck scent is sure nice...no oil leaks...no wrenching...no repairs...4 year 50k mile warranty so if it breaks its the dealers problem...

Sure it costs a bit, but its not to bad if you keep it for 100k miles... some of us can write a lot of it off.:D Plus insted of spending my weekends under a greasy old car or fixing window regulators...I think I'll go sailing and maybe take up golf again. My free time has been liberated!:D;)

You always have a car payment, if you drive. You are either buying parts for an used car or putting cash into a new one. It takes money to get from a to b (the faster you get there, the more it costs.) I would rather put parts into a good reliable vehicle I can work on and can withstand a pretty heavy impact. Remember, all cars are used once they drive off the lot.

I wouldn't let the car go ... if you can afford to do so, your best bet would be to buy a newer, more maintenance-free car but keep your MB as a strictly hobby car. That way you can repair/restore it as time and money allows. Of course, this would require some means and a place to store the car, and that may not be an option for everyone. But personally, I'd never advise someone to get rid of a car they love. You can't get it back (well, not usually). To me -- and admittedly I'm in a fairly fortunate position financially -- enough is never enough. Maybe I'll have to put it on the shelf at some point, but I don't think I could ever just give it up completely.

It has to be, at least, a part-time hobby or its just not worth it.

You never know when enough is enough, because you can't predict failures of many systems.

You might not spend another dime on it for two years, the transmission, AC, wipers, and IP might puke tomorrow.

If you don't enjoy it anymore, move on IMO.

I agree with some of what is been said. my MB diesel is more of a hobby than a serious daily commuter. I use a newer Audi A4 as an everyday car. I think it would be a bit too much to really count on these cars day in and day out. After all, they are more than 20 years old. Just a thought.

I count on mine daily, 288K+ on the clock and has never let me down.

I wouldn't say you can't count on them necessarily ... I guess it depends on the car and what your daily needs consist of. I use my 87 300D as a daily driver and it's basically dependable. I do have the Jeep as a backup, but honestly in the last two years I've had more problems with the Jeep than the 300D. You never know when something major's going to fail I guess, but basically the 300 doesn't worry me a lot in that capacity ... most of the things that go wrong are graceful failures and I'm able to fix them or get them fixed without much disaster. Maybe I have to bum some rides off family members for a couple days.

That said, I wouldn't depend on my 240D as a daily driver, even though it starts/run/drives well. With 363k on it there are way too many potential surprises.