Hello r/Frugal,
This is the current conundrum. My wife and I were "forced" to downgrade to one vehicle because my subaru got rekt in a flood. Since I purposefully bought a Subaru that had a new transmission, we got more value from the insurance company than I would have if I sold it privately, I am quite sure. Our one vehicle is a 2001 Ford Escape with about 140k miles on it. The battery light is going on and off intermittently. Tomorrow, I am going to run some tests to verify it is truly the alternator that needs fixing and not just the connections which would be a very cheap fix. In addition to this, the car needs 2 new tires. I recently replaced the cars front tires but the back tires will need to be replaced probably in a year max. There are also some issues with the ball joint/suspension but nothing major it would definitely pass inspection there but not on the tires.
Here's the question: Should I just fix the alternator/connections to fix the battery issue and then sell it for around $1800-2000 letting the buyer know he will need to replace the back end tires soon and then buy something else OR should I just do all the fixes: tires, ball joints, suspension, and alternator which could run me $900ish then continue to drive the vehicle?
The reason I ask is because after doing extensive research I have learned that replacement alternators for this particular model the ford escape 2001 tend to not last very long and once the original alternator goes out car owners tend to have continual electrical problems with their car. Perhaps they did something wrong but it still has me a bit worried and I have been wondering recently if there would be a more frugal long-term option (thinking in terms of avoiding major repairs and keeping gas costs down) like a Toyota. I have only ever owned Subaru's and Toyota Camry's myself being all frugal but then I got married and inherited a Ford which I am quite worried about being a money sink.
So what are your opinions? Should I just pay for the repairs and hope the ford isn't a money sink or should we sell it for a low value after fixing the alternator then purchase a reliable used Honda for about 4k-5k? We are 22 years old and have 15.5k in savings and no debt. I'm a bit weary about buying a used car now because we just hit my goal of 6 months living expenses in emergency savings (well we technically have 8/mo emergency savings but 2 mos worth is in an IRA) and I'd hate to spend now but at the same time if in the long-term we will lose out on more wealth by continuing to put $$ into a money sink Ford then I'd like to make the prudent decision.
February 06, 2017 at 07:00PM
