Tuesday, February 09, 2010

How I Doubled the Value of My Junk Car

It's been a few months since the last time my junker car fell apart on me, so I guess it was time for it to happen again. Last Friday when I got to the office in the morning and got out of my car I was greeted by a billowing cloud of white smoke. The car was smoking like the Marlboro Man.

That's got to be the end of that ol' junker, right? Not so quickly. After the smoke cleared and the car cooled down for a while, I drove it about half a mile to the local car shop, where the problem was diagnosed. Apparently break fluid was leaking from the rear axle, and started to burn when friction from breaking created heat.

The total cost of the adventure? About $400 in repair costs. The way I look at it, the repair cost me about as much as the car is worth (maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit. Maybe a lot). So what do you think? Did I double the value of my car? :-)

13 years and still going (not so) strong. But with no car payments and pretty impressive gas mileage (31 MPG), I am going to keep it for a little while longer.

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10 comments:

Kimberlee Stiens said...

Hell, even if it costs you $1500 a year to keep up, its still cheaper than buying a very cheap "new" car. So in that respect, you really are saving money.

Edwin said...

As Kim said, most of the time it will be cheaper than the alternative. Rarely will any kind of repairs actually increase the price of a junker though.

I used to drive around in a 91 Corolla. In the last month of it's life I had to shell out $900 for repairs. Two weeks later, it died and I would have had to drop another $1500. I took it to the junkyard. With used cars you never know.

Mr. ToughMoneyLove said...

It sounds like you did the right thing although I wonder about what you were told. There is no brake fluid inside the rear axle. There is gear lubricant in there but not brake fluid. There are brake fluid lines near the rear axle and it's possible that one of those lines was leaking. Is that what you were told?

Shadox said...

Hey - my knowledge of car technology is exactly zero. All I know is that the smoke is no longer billowing and some other problems (that I now realize were connected to the smoke) are also gone.

I may have been over charged, but I have no way of knowing...

One of the many challenges that you face when dealing with a subject matter expert

Unknown said...

hey..i appreciate ur thinking.There is no brake fluid inside the gear axle. There is gear lubricant in there but not brake fluid. There are brake fluid lines near the rear axle and it's possible that one of those lines was leakingyeast infection

car donation said...

The Government is willing to buy any junk or old cars but I'm not sure how much they are willing to pay you for your car.

BTW, if you don't want to bother your self in selling your car, you can donate your car to a charity. They will be in-charge for everything.

value my car said...

hmmm nice post....

Unknown said...

As you all know that there are many car removal firms in the market. By selling your junk car to these firms will be beneficial to you and you can earn double money.
junk a cars for money

who buys junk cars said...

me i did gave it to the charity, its really a nice feeling when we can help others..

Unknown said...

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