Repairing a car when value lower than cost of repair???

Alright, so we have our very old first vehicle, 1995 Mazda Astina.
It has done about 245,000 kms.
Much loved car as my mum was its second owner and she had it for 5 years before us.

Way back in July last year some twat reversed into our left hand lights (while we were parked at officeworks) smashed it to pieces and drove away. We have been quoted about 2,500 for repair (uninsured). Nt to mention that it's now been sitting exposed to the elements for a few extra months which will possibly add more and it needs a mechanical service and new types as well.
It's also now due for registration.

Given the full cost to get it on road, being ballpark $3700, and if it was in the right condition right now the car being worth if we're lucky 1200-1500 to sell/trade (redbook and dealer advice) would it be worth it? How much longer is the car likely to keep going given its done 250km already?

We were going to scrap it but it's only worth $150 to scrap and now we can't decide.

Take the $3700 you would use to fix it, and buy a $3700 car from carsales or something.
Don't repair it. It isn't worth it and you are only throwing good money away.

Get a new car. :)

we are selling a 1994 car in great condition, roadworthy, 12 months rego....... for $3600, and there are others out there so it probably is not worth you spending the money and the energy repairing the one you have when you can get one for the same cash without the effort.

Have you got more than one quote, that sounds pretty high unless there is major panel damage. Do you have anyone who can work on the car for you? (mates rates)

I'd advertise to sell it whole for parts, or for someone else to repair. You could possibly get $500 or so. Especially if the motor is running.

I would get another car. The quote does sound high... I had front end repair done on my commodore for $1500 (bonnet, panel, head light, grill, bumper & paint). Maybe shop around & see if you can get a better price. Tell them you're happy with second hand/after market parts.

Unfortunately no mates rates here. We got four quotes, one guy said 1200 but is.known for notoriously under quoting. The most expensive was "no more than 3200". The front bumper is pretty wrecked, it is really only attached on the RHS it hangs quite low in the middle even.


You raise a good pint, we dont need the car anyway we would be better trying to.trade our other car and pool funds that would be spent on repair on upgrading to a bigger family size car instead of our bubbles.

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Have you tried the wrecking yards? You might get more for it that way?
There are a couple that are down my way & I'm sure a few out your way. Let me know if you want details Xx

We have a similar scenario with DH's car. Its worth diddly and it needs both body work and mechanical work - nothing that makes it unsafe or unroadworthy, just plain bloody expensive. He works from home and the only time he ever really drives the car is going to golf, which is a drive of maybe 3kms.

We have chosen to do nothing to it and when it dies, it dies. Brand new cars are so much cheaper now, which makes really good quality second hand ones so much more affordable so we'll look at replacing when we need to.

Enchanted it was wrecking yard I called, I had two guys email me and say $150 and one come out and had a look and said the same. I was pretty set tha we were happy to do that but it just seems so little. I suggested Hoti idea to DH and he agrees it might be good to look at a Camry or a commodore etc as we do struggle for size in our bubble (121). I'll have a bit more of a think.
Thanks for your helps guys!!!!!!!!!!

Oh you're kidding?! I thought you would have got more than that. Boo!

Those kind of cars, even though they're not worth much really are worth everything aren't they?!

I would definately put the money towards something newer. I had a (very well loved) Laser that had done squillions of k's, and the engine died. Cost me over $2000 to get it fixed which as a lowly paid worker living out of home, I could barely afford. Not long after it was fixed, all the inside door handles got brittle and snapped off lol. I had to tie ribbons on it to open the doors. Not long after that, I paid my rego for the year and about a week later, was driving down the highway to Mum and Dad's in Geelong, and a big chunk of the floor fell out. I could see the road as I was driving - I felt like one of the Flinstones :o. It was a beautiful little car from the outside. dad made me get a loan and buy a new car - the dealer took it off my hands for about $150.

We were faced with nearly exactly the same decision recently, except we had some insurance money to soften the blow, but the car would have needed additional repairs (seperate to the dingle) soon after. In the end, it was a decision about whether we could absorb the cost of a newer car at this point, but it was likely that the car would need replacing over the next couple of years anyway. So we borrowed some money and got a fantastically good deal on a low km car at the govt auctions. It was such a good decision because the car is so much more comfortable and the whole family is much happier on those longer car rides.

If it was insured, if the cost of repairs is more than the insured value, then it would be written off by the insurance company anyway, it's just not worth fixing something if it's going to cost more than the item is actually worth.
Think of it on a smaller scale, if it was say a $800 washing machine, something breaks and it's going to cost (parts & labour) $1200 to fix and it wasnt under warranty, well you'd probably just go and buy a brand new machine.
I'd cut your losses and try and buy a 'new' car instead. There are plenty of car forums, maybe try and sell it as a wreck on one of those? Or a local buy/swap/sell group? If you can manage to find someone to buy it you should be able to get more than a wrecker would pay.

But I should add to my comments - esp here in SA - if you decide to cut your losses and go with another car, you need to think about spending extra money over and above the repair sums - typically many cars under $4K may not have the same degree of reliability as your old faithful does. So if you're looking at purchasing a similar priced car, and your oldie is still rock solid (except for the ding) think about the guarantee of reliability vs the gamble of not knowing what you're getting with the new one. PS it's worth shopping around for the repair quotes, because some repairers just charged the insurance company rates regardless.