Thanks for all of the replys and advice. To summarize, it sounds like I need to find a good local mechanic for cheaper service. My first concern was whether or not the car could last another 30k miles. Nobody has stated that it can't. It is just a question of the cost to get it there. When we moved to the suburbs with just one car, we debated buying a second. We ended up staying with one. The rationale was that we could afford to rent one two or three times a month for the cost as owning a second car. In seven years I have rented a car for personal use maybe four times. So I am "ahead" to the degree that our car costs haven't been that high to this point. That is a long way of saying that keeping a second car is an added expense, but one that I can handle. I just wanted to figure out how much is "too much" to maintain an older car. I think I will breakout the last $3600 in repairs and see where some of the cost savings can be wrung out. Probably most of it will be in the dealers hourly rate or standard labor charge for services.
Comment