00:00:00
is your old car worth fixing this is a
00:00:03
question I get asked all the time at the
00:00:05
shop here's a typical scenario you have
00:00:08
a car that's worth
00:00:10
$4,000 needs an engine engine's
00:00:13
$88,000 most people will look at the
00:00:15
scenario they will immediately say this
00:00:17
is not worth it we are not totaling the
00:00:20
car and in some cases that'd be right in
00:00:22
some cases actually very wrong and this
00:00:25
is something we're going to talk about
00:00:26
in this video how do you actually decide
00:00:30
what is worth fixing and what is it's
00:00:34
not worth it let's move on from this car
00:00:36
because there's a lot of factors in a
00:00:38
lot involved and this is this
00:00:39
conversation will stems from my actual
00:00:42
experience seeing how customers analyze
00:00:45
things either way and I'll share with
00:00:48
you some advice and the most important
00:00:50
thing which we're going to start with
00:00:51
right after
00:00:57
this and the most important thing is
00:01:00
before we even begin talking about
00:01:01
anything no mechanic should tell you
00:01:04
your car is worth fixing or it's not
00:01:06
worth fixing to me that is actually
00:01:11
unethical believe it or not some people
00:01:13
will not like this but that's
00:01:16
okay my job is to tell you what's wrong
00:01:19
with the car my job is to advise you
00:01:23
what is the scope of this work my job is
00:01:26
to equip you as the car owner with all
00:01:29
the the relevant information needed for
00:01:31
you to make that
00:01:33
determination I may suggest whe Le in
00:01:36
one way or another but I will never tell
00:01:39
you that flat out because that is not
00:01:41
right I don't get to decide what is
00:01:43
worth it and what's not I get to give
00:01:46
you my professional opinion diagnosis
00:01:48
estimate with it and give you advice and
00:01:51
have you make that decision I see so
00:01:54
many people feel like they're helpless
00:01:56
when it comes to their car repair and
00:01:57
decisions like that you should never be
00:02:00
helpless it's your car it's your
00:02:03
finances it's your decision you have to
00:02:07
make that decision you know I see so
00:02:09
many folks that have made so many big
00:02:12
decisions in their life and they're
00:02:13
super successful in their careers they
00:02:16
struggle to make a small decision about
00:02:17
their car never be that person in that's
00:02:21
power to the people you're the owner of
00:02:23
the car you must make these decisions my
00:02:26
job is to give you all the information
00:02:27
to make the right decision based on
00:02:29
actual data from the car with that let's
00:02:33
talk about is your car worth fixing old
00:02:35
car here's the general mentality of
00:02:38
folks car is an investment I will never
00:02:41
total my car this repair totals my car
00:02:44
over it's actually not a good way to
00:02:46
look at
00:02:47
it because if you really look at a car
00:02:50
as an investment unless you're buying
00:02:52
rare Exotics and Ferraris and
00:02:54
Lamborghinis that there's two and three
00:02:56
off car is never an investment you will
00:02:59
always lose money on a car flat
00:03:03
out just let that sink in for a second
00:03:06
there's not a lot of people that make
00:03:08
money out of buying a car using it then
00:03:10
selling it and for a profit and moving
00:03:12
on that is a fantasy just so you
00:03:16
know car
00:03:18
dealers may be able to do that but not
00:03:22
average average
00:03:23
job if you're buying a car for the sake
00:03:26
of flipping it that takes a lot more
00:03:28
work than just driving in the car for a
00:03:30
few months and selling it just so you
00:03:32
know that and usually there is gray
00:03:36
areas involved with that with that
00:03:39
said you need to take a logical look at
00:03:43
everything you got to a point in your
00:03:45
car where it has major repairs and every
00:03:48
car will will come to a point in its
00:03:50
life and we're talking about cars you're
00:03:52
keeping 10 15-year-old Car Plus it comes
00:03:56
to a point where so many stuff file up
00:03:58
and they all come needed as the same
00:04:00
time that it's going to be a big build
00:04:03
of repair and that's the point where you
00:04:06
can't pick and choose what you do cuz I
00:04:08
see people do this all the time certain
00:04:10
things you can easily push repair
00:04:13
wise but when it all piles up and
00:04:15
they're all essential stuff you can't
00:04:18
pick and choose what we're going to do
00:04:20
you either fix the car right and keep it
00:04:22
or move on from it don't start doing
00:04:25
half methods and half repairs and look
00:04:27
for a discount and look for a cheaper
00:04:29
way to mend it just to keep going that's
00:04:32
not a good idea because in the
00:04:35
end you're not going to come ahead
00:04:37
because you're going to waste your time
00:04:39
which most people don't think about
00:04:41
you're going to waste potentially your
00:04:42
safety and your family's safety and
00:04:44
that's not good there come a point where
00:04:46
you got to make that decision and I will
00:04:48
share with you some of the thought
00:04:50
processes of the folks that I've talked
00:04:52
to almost daily fortunately we that's
00:04:54
how car or business is making these
00:04:57
decisions and rationalizing
00:05:00
sometimes you got to rationalize things
00:05:02
because kind of one of those things
00:05:04
where you make a decision and you stick
00:05:06
with it and we hope for the best that's
00:05:09
when it comes to car it comes down to
00:05:10
this so here's a
00:05:13
scenario you got a car to or $4,000 on
00:05:16
the market
00:05:18
today it piled up repairs where it needs
00:05:21
5 6,000 worth of
00:05:24
repairs ideally we wouldn't want to get
00:05:26
it to this point but every car will
00:05:28
somehow find its way to get into to that
00:05:30
point don't immediately jump
00:05:32
into I'm not totaling my I'm not
00:05:34
spending more than what the car is worth
00:05:36
I'm just going to sell it buy something
00:05:37
else cuz the number one question I want
00:05:38
you to ask yourself is what are you
00:05:40
going to
00:05:42
buy you're going to buy a car just like
00:05:44
it most people's rationale will be well
00:05:47
my car is worth 4,000 I'm about to spend
00:05:50
5,000 on it that's 9,000 let me go buy
00:05:53
something for
00:05:54
9,000 if that's your thought process I
00:05:57
would like you to reconsider
00:06:00
because whatever you're going to go buy
00:06:02
for 9,000 is a year away from becoming a
00:06:06
$4,000 car with that needs $55,000 worth
00:06:09
of repairs you ever think about that CU
00:06:11
that's actually the
00:06:13
case when we're looking at a small
00:06:16
spread in price range even though you
00:06:19
have a $4,000 car and you're looking at
00:06:20
$8,000 cars in your mind you are
00:06:23
thinking I'm buying double the car in
00:06:25
value but in reality you're buying a two
00:06:28
three-year-old newer car from what you
00:06:30
already have so there come a point where
00:06:33
you need to
00:06:34
decide what kind of owner are you are
00:06:38
you the kind of owner that keeps buying
00:06:39
old cars that are broken down
00:06:42
endangering the safety of your family
00:06:43
and everybody around you and just never
00:06:45
fix anything and then after a year sell
00:06:47
it and buy another one sell it and buy
00:06:48
another one cuz there people like that
00:06:50
there's nothing wrong with that
00:06:51
everybody has their own choices and I
00:06:52
get it are you the kind of person that
00:06:55
buys a car and wants to keep it for 15
00:06:57
20 years because if you're that person
00:06:59
when your old car that you've had for 15
00:07:02
20 years comes to that point your first
00:07:05
thought may be well I'm just going to go
00:07:07
buy a new car and keep it for another 15
00:07:10
20 years if you are that
00:07:13
person I would actually advise you to
00:07:15
think about it because unless you're
00:07:18
going to go buy something significantly
00:07:21
better than your
00:07:22
car then it may make sense to actually
00:07:25
keep your old car if things are not
00:07:29
that's a big question mark if the reason
00:07:32
your car needs so much work is because
00:07:35
things caught up it's multiple small
00:07:38
things that just added up to a big Bill
00:07:40
not really structural stuff or the car
00:07:43
is super Rusty or and this is where your
00:07:47
mechanic that is inspecting the car
00:07:49
needs to tell you this flat out this car
00:07:52
is beyond its mechanical limits when I
00:07:55
get a car in the shop that has holes in
00:07:57
the frame like a truck
00:08:00
I take that as this is beyond its
00:08:02
mechanical limits let me tell you why
00:08:05
some folks will
00:08:07
disagree yes you can go and weld pieces
00:08:10
structural stuff just to keep the frame
00:08:12
going and we'll be okay but all you're
00:08:14
doing there is just hiding the rust that
00:08:16
is already there there is no going
00:08:18
around it the only way to repair
00:08:19
properly is to replace that frame which
00:08:21
is a Monumental task which basically
00:08:25
you're better off getting rid of this
00:08:27
car and buying another one that doesn't
00:08:28
have rust that is one scenario another
00:08:31
scenario I'll tell you an exact scenario
00:08:33
you have a Camry needs struts needs a
00:08:36
rack and pinion has some transmission
00:08:39
leak needs an axle needs brakes needs
00:08:42
tires
00:08:43
needs some other suspension work
00:08:46
something small Drive belts tensioner
00:08:48
well that adds up very quickly all of a
00:08:50
sudden you have a $4,000 car that needs
00:08:52
$5,000 worth a repair Believe It or Not
00:08:54
things are getting very expensive folks
00:08:57
we're not even talking about a major
00:08:58
engine rebuil or it needs a transmission
00:09:00
or it needs all that talking about just
00:09:03
things that piled up when it comes to
00:09:05
putting a lot of money into an old car
00:09:07
there's pros and there's cons let's talk
00:09:10
about them the pros you don't have a car
00:09:14
payment you don't go finance a car that
00:09:16
costs four or five times more and now
00:09:18
you have to take a loan and do all that
00:09:20
or bought a new one now you're making
00:09:22
monthly payments you're just not ready
00:09:24
you don't want it that I understand
00:09:26
another Pro is this is a car you know
00:09:30
especially if you've owned it for a long
00:09:32
time you're you know it service history
00:09:36
you know how you've taken care of it if
00:09:38
you didn't if you neglected it of course
00:09:39
you know that but if you've taken care
00:09:41
of it and you got to this point you know
00:09:43
this car if your plan was to buy a
00:09:45
similar
00:09:46
car in the same Mar same price range or
00:09:49
a little bit more than that price range
00:09:52
wouldn't you rather keep the one you
00:09:53
actually know and you had for a long
00:09:55
time that's that's some of the pros of
00:09:59
keep spending money in a car that is old
00:10:02
but the cons are number one is which is
00:10:04
the biggest thing which is this one is
00:10:07
many folks don't think about
00:10:10
insurance you have a $4,000 car you just
00:10:13
spend 5,000 on
00:10:15
it here comes the distracted driver on
00:10:19
their phone crashes into the car totals
00:10:22
your car what do you think insurance
00:10:23
compan is going to pay you they're going
00:10:25
to pay you 4,000 and when you give them
00:10:27
the receipt of the 5,000 you just spend
00:10:29
they'll look at you and be like okay
00:10:30
we'll give you $200 more and that's
00:10:33
within their right because if you go
00:10:34
right now and buy a car in similar age
00:10:36
and miles to your car this is how much
00:10:38
you pay for it and that's all they're
00:10:40
going to pay you so you basically lost
00:10:42
your entire I don't want to call it
00:10:44
investment your entire money that you
00:10:46
put into it so that's another
00:10:48
consideration where do you live what
00:10:50
kind of drivers do you have around you
00:10:51
do you live in the big city with
00:10:52
everybody distracted or do you live out
00:10:54
in the countryside where things are more
00:10:56
calm there's less accidents you got to
00:10:58
think about this Stu the other con is
00:11:00
and this is also important did the
00:11:03
person that inspected your car actually
00:11:05
go into depth and and kind of analyze
00:11:08
the whole car and kind of look at the
00:11:10
long-term reliability of this car
00:11:13
because if they didn't you could be
00:11:14
putting bad money after bad plat out
00:11:18
because if your engine is gone and
00:11:20
you're debating should we rebuild this
00:11:22
engine should we replace it or not I
00:11:26
don't even in that case when I have a
00:11:27
car like that in front of me I don't
00:11:28
even look to the engine it's done
00:11:30
there's nothing to do there what about
00:11:32
the rest of the car that's what I worry
00:11:34
about cuz if you're going to put all
00:11:35
kinds of money to fix an engine how is
00:11:37
the suspension how is the transmission
00:11:40
how are the tires how are the brakes cuz
00:11:43
if you all of a sudden do this engine
00:11:45
and you were not aware that there's all
00:11:47
this other stuff wrong with the car and
00:11:49
then 6 months later we got to spend
00:11:50
another $5,000 to do it well maybe you
00:11:53
could have made a different decision
00:11:54
from the beginning and the last thing I
00:11:55
will leave you with in some
00:11:57
cases I driving to that point is my old
00:12:00
car worth
00:12:03
fixing it might be
00:12:06
self-inflicted every person owns a car
00:12:09
deep deep inside sometimes they'll never
00:12:11
admit to it they know how they treated
00:12:14
that car did you take care of
00:12:16
it did you neglect it CU you were busy
00:12:20
you didn't know or you just it'll be
00:12:23
fine I'll be fine if you did that don't
00:12:26
you think it's a good idea to possibly
00:12:28
move on and some folks will say well
00:12:30
that's not ethical you're going to send
00:12:32
your problem to somebody else no you're
00:12:35
going to trade in the car whoever buys
00:12:37
it you need to fully disclose everything
00:12:39
you know about the car and move on some
00:12:41
folks will be okay with that there's all
00:12:44
kinds of folks from all kinds of walks
00:12:46
of life but if you actually took care of
00:12:48
this car and you did your absolute best
00:12:50
and every car will arrive at that at
00:12:52
some point that's the Tipping Point
00:12:56
where I need a full picture and in that
00:12:59
case even get a second opinion if you're
00:13:01
not sure about your mechanic to make
00:13:03
sure that they gave you a full proper
00:13:05
inspection in this car to anticipate as
00:13:08
much as possible it's never 100% but to
00:13:11
fully anticipate what is the road map
00:13:13
for this car going to be for the next 5
00:13:15
years we're speaking of years what is
00:13:18
your plan so I always say this what is
00:13:20
the plan with this car see we said it in
00:13:23
the previous video and I'll say it again
00:13:25
don't own a car until the wheels fall
00:13:27
off I don't want my wheels to fall off
00:13:29
off it's kind of
00:13:30
dangerous have a plan I'm going to put
00:13:33
this money in this car I'm going to keep
00:13:36
it for 5 years and at the end of the 5
00:13:39
years regardless of how good this car is
00:13:41
I am selling it I'm going to go buy a
00:13:42
brand new car and keep it for 152
00:13:45
years that's a plan because you also
00:13:49
don't want to run a car so down that it
00:13:52
becomes Valu
00:13:54
less there's a point where you exit and
00:13:58
this is this exit out of a car is it
00:14:00
happens when the car is around 10 years
00:14:02
old just around 100,000 Mi this is a
00:14:06
deciding point of a car cuz that's when
00:14:08
your car tips
00:14:11
from a not old car to an older car we're
00:14:15
starting to get some age some miles on
00:14:17
this car cars values usually dip around
00:14:21
that Mark and if you're going to exit
00:14:23
out of a car that would be the ideal
00:14:25
time to exit and move on kind of cash
00:14:27
out and go into something else
00:14:29
but beyond that point you are usually
00:14:33
going to end up spending more than the
00:14:34
car is worth consistently without
00:14:37
realizing it is that a bad thing it is
00:14:40
not a car is not an investment it is a
00:14:42
tool that is supposed to work for you
00:14:45
but you also have to continuously pour
00:14:47
money into it to keep it going even
00:14:50
reliable cars that's just how it is and
00:14:52
if if everything is great you're still
00:14:54
putting gas you're still paying
00:14:56
Insurance you're still cleaning it and
00:14:58
spending time to maintain it and doing
00:15:00
everything so the car is never an
00:15:02
investment when you look at it as an
00:15:03
investment it is absolutely a horrible
00:15:05
idea to fix an old car but when you look
00:15:08
at it from the logic of what is my plan
00:15:11
with this car what is
00:15:13
my return on this investment don't look
00:15:16
at the investment itself it's just a
00:15:17
return if I put this much money into
00:15:19
this car and I've done all my research
00:15:21
I've done a proper thing with it am I
00:15:24
going to be able to semi- reliably drive
00:15:27
it for 5 years and then move F but you
00:15:29
got to stick to your plan and that's
00:15:31
important because I've seen people do
00:15:33
that get to the end of their plan and
00:15:35
then ah let's just keep going and that's
00:15:38
when things go really s folks have a
00:15:40
plan think of things
00:15:43
logically that idea of I'm not spending
00:15:46
I'm not totaling this car just to fix it
00:15:48
and keep it that is a wrong assumption
00:15:51
doesn't mean that you might not end up
00:15:52
make doing that decision of moving on
00:15:54
from it but you got to look at all the
00:15:56
facts here's what I leave you with you
00:15:59
get into this situation car needs
00:16:01
repairs more than what it's worth here
00:16:03
are the data that you need to have in
00:16:05
front of you before you make a decision
00:16:07
how much is it going to cost to fix it
00:16:09
as it sits
00:16:10
today what potential issues could I have
00:16:13
with this car over the next year two
00:16:15
three things that are wearing down that
00:16:17
are not to a point where it needs
00:16:19
replacement but they're are coming up
00:16:21
that is important and the other thing is
00:16:23
what is your car worth as it sits today
00:16:26
and the last and the most important
00:16:28
thing did you go shopping for cars did
00:16:31
you see what cars are out
00:16:34
there so you know what to budget for
00:16:37
what am I paying for this new car you
00:16:39
got to have all this in front of
00:16:41
you before you can actually correctly
00:16:44
decide is my old car worth fixing or is
00:16:47
it time to move on folks I hope this
00:16:51
video is helpful informative I hope you
00:16:53
learn something new if you like it
00:16:54
consider giving it a thumbs up if you're
00:16:56
not a subscriber consider subscribing to
00:16:57
the channel check out some videos until
00:16:59
the next video folks may the Lord bless
00:17:01
you and keep you and you have yourself a
00:17:03
wonderful day
