I have a 2000 Kia sephia which from what I hear ,are made cheap and often referred to as %26quot;throw away cars%26quot; ,but luckly up untill now, mine has not given me much trouble. It's got a 165K miles on it and all I've pretty much ever done was keep the oil changed and tune it up once about 6 months ago. But now it has a bad break fluid leak, the belts have to be replaced, it needs new tires, inspected, and i'm having problems with the transmission slipping pretty bad when driving down the road which sounds major to me. Pretty much it appears everything that could go wrong over the life of my car is now going wrong all at one time so my question is should I go ahead and put some money into it and drive it till the wheels fall off or invest in something better and have car payments which I can't really afford every month? Again, it's 8 years old and has 165,000 miles on it and I'm tired of it anyway so what do you suggest?
Buy a new (nice used) car or make repairs to the one I got?
Fix the car and save your money for your next vehicle. One of the other answers about the cost of insurance and car payments makes a good point. If you can't afford to get a new car, don't! Save first, then put a huge down payment or if you can- cash it out! I see a lot of Kia dealerships advertise $7777 Kia Spectras (I live in NC and the dealer is in SC). I have a Kia Optima and it has been rock solid for me. I have owned Toyotas and they are extremely reliable vehicles also, but I am a true believer that Kia is just as good. I had a Toyota Corolla, a 1988 model that had the transmission rebuilt at a little over 100,000 miles. Toyotas are good, but not as bulletproof as a lot of people claim they are. Many of those people forget to mention they shell out thousands on recommended maintenance. I believe my Optima will get over 200,000 miles easy. If you keep your car maintained you will save money both in the long run and now. Instead of daydreaming about your next car, feel good that you have gotten more out of your car than most people get out of theirs and they are paying a lot of money.
If you had money to burn, you wouldn't be asking this question, but if you did- get whatever car you want, but be smart and economical.
Buy a new (nice used) car or make repairs to the one I got?
Ever heard the expression, %26quot;throwing good money after bad%26quot;?
If a car will deliver %26quot;pay back%26quot; for what I put in it, I keep it going.
If you don't like it anyway, most of what you'll spend is at risk.
This is what's referred to as a %26quot;mechanic's special%26quot;. If you are not mechanically inclined to DIY, I heartily recommend getting better.... [Honda / Toyota]
With a car in mind, go to http://edmunds.com and read owner reviews
Well, this is really a financial question....
Take your list of things wrong with the car. Add up the cost to repair them. Add 20 - 30 percent for unseen issues.
Next, figure out what your cost in car payments would be for the next 12 months. (Don't forget to calculate the difference in your auto insurance if you presently have minimum coverage, as financed vehicles generally must have full coverage)
Which number is smaller? There's your answer. Generally speaking, if you're on a tight budget, it's easier to deal with a known monthly carpayment than an unknown repair cost.
Kia's are horrible, my best friends died 2 months after final payment!! I would trade it in while it still has some value and save money by getting a new car!! sounds like 3000+ to fix your car!! Good luck!!
to get the tranny fixed is gonna be 1 to 2 grand just for that then the tires belts and all that good stuff expect about 3500 total so its up to you cause im not gonna fix it for free or give you a new car so you are s.o.l. on that one. you could get a decent car for that. sell this one while you can.
