My Subaru is in the shop.  My beloved 2012 Outback with 107,000 miles on it.  I took it in Friday for a scheduled service (a major service, which was already going to come with a four digit repair bill), and they discovered a few more things on the verge of failure.  It’s going to be expensive.  Expensive enough that it made me think about whether it was worth fixing, or if it would make more sense to replace the car.

Ultimately, I decided to make the repairs, despite the price tag.  My Subaru is paid off.  And while a nice new car sounds appealing to my senses, it is not appealing to my wallet, especially with car loan interest rates looming around 7% or higher.  And even to replace my Subaru with a car of equivalent age and mileage would cost more than twice the cost of the repair.  Although I originally bought the Subaru used, I know it has been well taken care of for at least the last six years.  The tires on it will be good for a couple more years.  It’s already set up with a trailer hitch and wiring to be able to tow my little camper.  So I’ll have a big outlay of cash for the big repairs now, but then my car should be good to go for another 100,000 miles.  Or at least until I retire and my needs change.  If I were to buy a new car now, it likely wouldn’t even be paid off before I retire.

A really huge car repair bill can give you pause.  Especially when it’s an older car with a lot of miles.  It would have been easy for me to walk away and start searching for a replacement.  But the reality is that my old Subaru is of more value to me than it is to anyone else.  And for about a year’s worth of car payments (or hopefully less), my old Subie will be ready to roll for a lot longer.

Would you repair or replace?