What happens if car repairs are more than the car is worth?

In short, if there is no return on your investment, the car is no longer worth repairing. Cars are an asset that depreciates, which means that the longer you hold on to it,. Once you know what your repair bill could be and what cars are sold for in the condition of your vehicle, it will be much easier to do the math. If it will take weeks to repair your vehicle, you'll need to calculate your transportation for that entire period of time.

The potential repair bill must be compared to the market value of the car, which, if it is more than 10 years old, will only represent a small fraction of the new value. The following sections describe what to do when repairs cost more than they are worth and when it's time to sell it. If the cost of repairs is higher than the market value of your car, it might be worth considering a reliable replacement car. However, a car approaching the 10-year-old mark may have depreciated enough in value and reliability to make repairs a waste of money.

You should also keep in mind in your decision that a car with high mileage is likely to continue to have problems due to wear and tear. It's always a good idea to consider the remaining life of the vehicle when trying to calculate if repairs are still worthwhile. You may not get the best redemption value for your car, and you'll be limited in the type of car you can buy as a replacement. Regular maintenance and overhaul will extend the life of your car and help you identify problems before they generate a large repair bill.

This is because the cost of repairing the car generally exceeds the value you'll get from the car for repairing the problem. Or maybe your engine is giving you problems and the repair shop just told you how much it will cost to replace it. Selling the car “as is” won't bring you closer to the normal market value of the make and model, but in some cases it's a better solution than completing repairs and trying to get a better price, which can cause you to lose even more out of your pocket. It's worth weighing the cost of a reliable replacement car: if a newer model in better condition with lower kilometers isn't within your budget, you could end up in the same position again.

Instead, at that point it makes more sense to try to sell the car and spend the profits, plus the money you would have spent repairing it, to buying a newer, more reliable one.