How have you decided when it’s worth it to fix an old car?

My 2014 Honda Accord recently hit 99,000 miles. It’s nothing fancy to look at, but it drives well. Recently I’ve been having an issue with the starter. The push start works intermittently. Sometimes it starts on the first push, sometimes it takes multiple tries. I think the most it has taken is 6 tries.  I’ve kept up with the maintenance, but I drive it infrequently, so the time between service has spread out. It was due for an oil change, so I decided to have the starter checked out.

Long story short the car needed a new starter. It also needed brake work, new calipers, and a few other things.  The total cost (after some discount coupons) was about $2,500.  I elected to have the car repaired and plan to drive it for a while. It’s a reliable second car. But it got me thinking about the age-old question of when is it worth it to repair an old car?

I did some research and the Kelley Blue Book private sale value ranged from about $9,800 to $11,900, depending on the condition. Carvana had similar cars for sale in the $16,500 range. So, the repairs are at most 25% of the car’s private sale value. I checked a few sources on the web and a general rule of thumb indicated that if the repair was more than 50% of the car’s value, it’s not worth it. I also found recommendations that said it was worth it if the repair cost was below the total value of the car.

Obviously, there are a number of considerations in this decision, many of them personal. Is the car generally safe and reliable? Are there likely to be other major repairs coming soon? Does your wife hate the car? Is it the ugliest car on the block? I know many in the HD ecosystem drive their cars for as long as they can. How did you know when it was time to move on?

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