How dangerous is it to drive with a broken strut?

Amiem
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 08:16:22 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

I had some work done on my car today and the mechanic told me I have a broken right strut. (I do trust the mechanic to be honest.) The quote to fix both was $715+tax. It’s a 1997 Toyota RAV4 with 227K+ miles. Putting $800 into (after I just put $300 into it today) makes my stomach hurt. Especially, since I have a $1900 daycare bill every month!

I don’t mind putting $600-ish into her every year or so, but this is $1100, which is more than a third of what I paid for her 7 years ago! I cannot afford a new car right now (see daycare payment above), so my question is, how dangerous is it to drive with a broken strut? Is it something like I’ll just need a tow to the shop when it finally goes, or could it cause an accident? Thanks!

33 posts - 18 participants