QuestionMy college student son has a 1988 Toyota Camry, standard transmission, with 188,000 miles. It's time for some work, such as timing belt, all hoses, automatic window needs repair, door won't open, paint is rusting. So it will be a fairly large bill. I'm wondering when does it not make sense to put $ into a car this age with milage, what is the expected "life" of Toyota camrys?
The car was given to my son about 4 years ago (115,000 miles then) from a family member who did not take care of the car - didn't change oil, tune-ups etc.. We had to put about $1500 in repairs at that time. It seems to run ok now, it does have a slow oil leak but the auto mechanics say not be bother to have it fixed.
We really have no idea if it makes sense to put a lot of $ into this car or use the $ for a down payment on a newer car.
Thank you for any comments.
AnswerTo me it doesn't make sense to put a lot more money into this car, even in good to average condition it it's retail value is about $1,200-1,500,any more major repairs will drive up the expense to much more than the car is worth, it sounds like this car with the problems you have mentioned may be able to get you $500-800 as a trade in and that is my advice, trade it in before there is a major problem.
