Knowing When It's Time to Get a New Car

You can save a lot of money by keeping the same car for years, and just maintaining it to keep it in good working order — particularly if you can do most of the work on it yourself, and save yourself thousands in labor fees. But it's also important to know when it's time to give up the old car and get a new one.

For example, my mom has an old 1990 Toyota Camry that she has had for nearly 14 years. This car has well over 200,000 miles on it and is still running okay, but it leaks pretty much every fluid and most likely won't be around much longer. It's also getting harder to find Toyota Camry parts for a Camry that old, so before much longer my dad just isn't going to be able to fix it up for her anymore when it breaks down.

Basically, it's time to get a new car when you start noticing that you are spending a heck of a lot of time fixing up your car. Time is money, so although it is expensive to get a new car, if it saves you time it might be worth the change. Another clue is when really expensive things start going out — and that point, it makes more sense to spend that money on a new car, rather than on an old one that could break down again in another month.

In general, doing all the routine car maintenance on time and keeping your car in good working condition will keep it on the road longer, but even so, there comes a time when it is in your best interest to upgrade to a newer model!