I read your column every week. My question is pretty simple yet it may be hard to answer. Is it cheaper or better to buy a new vehicle than keep an old one on the road? I love my Land Rover LR3! I bought it new in 2005. I added all the accessories I had ever wanted, she looks unique. My LR has carried me through hurricane flood water, through snow storms, into and out of unpaved areas, across beaches. She is classy, wash her off, head to the valet to be parked up front at a fancy restaurant. She is a class act however she has over 160K miles on the clock. I have retired her to weekend duty. I really want to keep my precious gem but I fear the mounting repair bills. The replacement is well over $60K so new LR is not an option (and the new ones lack appeal). Should I keep her? Forerunner is my pick for a new SUV, yet they lack uniqueness.
That’s a tough question, and it depends on many things…generally on most cars it’s cheaper to keep an older car going to a point. A luxury car like a Land Rover, though with far more expensive cost for repairs and parts? Keeping the old one running may not be cheaper. If you can afford it, keep it going. You clearly love this car, you know the maintenance history, and you don’t seem to be wild about the new things available anyway
If Land Raver is good about keeping the availability of older parts, I’d say keep the LR3. You can rebuild engines and transmissions to greatly lengthen the life of the SUV. The things that will put any car into the scrap yard is not being able to repair the AC, replace the ignition switch, replace dead electronic components and things like that.
Money is relative if you like the vehicle.
UNLOAD
“Body seems unclear, is it a complete sentence” . . . that is what the cartalk website is asking me
If most the of maintenance and repair will be done by a shop on your dime, $-wise I’d be looking to shift this car to someone who wants to do most of the work of keeping it on the road themselves. Sell it to a driveway diy’er.