“All of the stuff you listed, other than bad rust can be fixed for a fraction of that.”
I find that the combined price of all the major replacement components quickly exceeds the price of a new vehicle. We normally hit that point around 200k miles. I’ve been in the trap before where we are at 180k on the clock and something big fails. Should we replace that bad part for $4,000? We rationalize it by saying “The rest of the vehicle is in good shape. Let’s repair it.” Then, of course, six months later another major part breaks and you fall into the sunk cost fallacy. “Gee, we already spent $4,000 getting it running, let’s do it again.” Another $4,000 out the window.
Then it happens again six months later and the deep regret sets in: “We’ve blown $8k. I wish we hadn’t done that.”
I’ve learned that lesson too many times on too many products.
Yes my dad fell for that fallacy a few years ago. My sister out in California wanted to sell her ‘02 BMW X5 SUV but the stealers only offered her like $1500 which was a joke back in 2016/2017. My dad gave her a few $k and paid to have it shipped to Florida. He was loving the idea he was driving a vehicle that cost over $100k now for a few $k and my sister did quite a bit of upgrades already like new chrome 20” rims and tires, new brakes, tinted windows etc. Then the trickle of issues glitches. First the drivers electric window stopped working. $1k to fix. Then the passenger window…. $1k. Then he found another repair shop that serviced BMW that was much cheaper than the dealer. Gave him a deal to replace valve cover gaskets that were leaking and a few other things to replace while the engine was accessible $2500. Then the same window that didn’t work stopped again. It was under the warranty but not the labor $400-$500. On and on and on. I forget what the final straw was…. Rear main seal or something with the tranny but he saw how my ‘12 Kia Sportage was rock solid and he found one at the dealer but newer. His ‘16 was still under warranty at the time of purchase and he paid for an additional 5 year warranty after that expires. He’s never had to take it in for service, so he doesn’t miss that old BMW much even though it was way more luxurious and has a more powerful 6 cylindr engine and sat higher off the ground, but he’s getting better mpg and saving in repair costs. He had that same “money pit” experience with the prior ‘94 Lexus SC400. Every time he went to the dealer was thousands in repairs and at that time the car was worth less than the repairs he was getting