How important is the damage, do you think the helmet is fine? I already killed most of my brain cells with ketamine and dubstep on the lift last season so I think it should be fine?
Thoughts from the master? u/OEM_knees
TLDR: I'm not sure what to do:
- Fix my current car that I own in full
- Buy a similar used car in cash again
- Finance a newer used car.
I have a 2009 Subaru Forester with 85,000 miles that I bought in cash last August for $6,000. Shortly after buying, I spent around $1500 on repairs and maintenance— brakes, transmission service, new alternator and serpentine belt, power steering repair. I was okay with this as I knew it was an old car and was hoping that with only ~70,000 miles at the time, it would be the last fixes I needed to worry about for a while.
Well a couple months go by and I'm burning and leaking oil, so I take it in. Leaking head gasket(s), quoted $3500 to replace. At the time this wasn't financially possible, so I just kept driving and topping it off, about a quart each month.
Fast forward to now, the leak appears to be getting worse. The transmission is now giving me some issues (slipping, rough shifts). The car also has a lot of rust. And another consideration is that I do a lot of driving, often upwards of 100-150 miles a day, 3-4 days a week. Getting ~20mpg, I'm spending around $100 on gas a week. While of course gas prices are high, this stings.
All of these factors are pushing me to one thought: get rid of this car. I'd like to find a solution before it's actually undrivable and I'm left scrambling. I'm 24 years old, and make about $3800 a month (expected to increase soon but won't be banking my decision on that). I have around $5000 cash to use (not including whatever my Subaru might be worth, if anything).
I'm tempted to put my 5k and my Subaru into a down payment on a 4th gen Mazda3 in the $15,000 - $20,000 range. Before my Subaru, I had a 3rd gen Mazda3 and absolutely loved the car, but I gave it to my sister who needed a car at college while I was able to share a car with my mom, and now it lives on the other side of the country. So, I'd love to get into another one that I can keep for several years to come, is reliable and cheap to maintain, good on gas, and of course looks nice. I lose the sanctity of not having a car payment, but gain the peace of mind that I'm not burning another $7500 on a car that blows up 9 months later (or less).
I could also buy another ~$5000-6000 used car in full, but this feels like another gamble which could end up being better or worse than my current situation, and if that car fails, I am shit out of luck with no money for repairs or another car.
Finally, I could bite the bullet and fix my head gaskets, and deal with spending a lot on gas while praying the rust and transmission don't become a bigger problem in the coming months to years.
I've always been against having a car payment. But right now I'm wondering if it's costing me more (literally and mentally) to keep buying in cash without much cash to work with. So I ask you: to fix or to finance?