European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Car Corner fix it or ditch it ? what to do when the old car needs to be repaired. By Robert d. Hershey or. The new York times. old car made it through the Winter hut with Spring Here it clearly needs an expensive overhaul. Is it Worth it facing major repairs motorists commonly weigh the Cost against the car s Market value what it would fetch if it were sold or traded for a car of similar age. Plausible As that May seem various specialists tall this approach a big mistake. At a time of economic and household retrenchment minimizing transportation costs a equal to food As a percentage of the typical american budget has particular Appeal a Maryland Man s 1982 Toyota celica it needed a new engine a Job that he reliably determined would Cost about $2,500. He knew that after investing this sum he would have a car Worth a bit More than $2,500. But newspaper ads offered 82 Pelicas at $2,200 to $3,000. He quite . A Quot that the repair is More than the thing is Worth Quot he said expressing the concern of those who face heavy repair Bills for cars of a certain age. In tact the Toyota a repaired appeared Worth nothing. That calculation was so dismaying that it inspired further investigation. I he Marylander decided not Only to invest the $2,500 in his 8-year-old Toyota but w within six months he spent another $ 3 50 on a new clutch for his 1981 Mercury station Wagon. Even before it broke Down he had believed the Mercury Worth no More than $500. To t ame to Realise that the main question he had been considering was the wrong one. A Quot it has nothing to do with the Market value of the car Quot said James f. Smith a professor of finance at the University of North Carolina. Quot the a Are How much you like it and whether the Money you spend to fix it up will significantly extend its of course it ome people insist on driving Only the latest models and will pay heavily for them. New cars can lose about 25 percent of their value As they Are driven from the showroom and Vytill lose 40 percent by the time they Are 3 years old Many Consumers fail to get the most for their Money because they underestimate the advantages of repair. If a car particularly the body is in decent shape Quot the majority of the time you re going to be better off fixing Quot it said c. Michael Johnson president of wealth planning corp., a group of financial planners in Cincinnati too often he said people panic Quot a car needs $300 Worth of work and they Trade it a. A a a a. A a Louis Stanasolovic a financial adviser in Pittsburgh said that while fixing a car frequently might be a bother Quot most of the time you la find an older used car will probably be cheapest in terms of Cost per mile to v mechanics Are fond of advising the dubious to consider a Bill for repairing an. Older car an investment in Thrifty. Transportation not an expenditure. In most cases the expenditure is a month s instalment on a new car loan. There Are advantages to repairing an old car beyond immediate dollars and cents. Probably the most important one is that the consumer he has. The Maryland Man knows for example not just that his Toyota has a new engine but also in contrast to what he might face if he replaced it with a used car a that he has not abused his transmission or the Cost of repairing an old Auto can eat you alive but so can new car payments. Bought third Quality tires and the Battery May last another two years. Such information provides some of the peace of mind sought by Many who buy Only new cars. There Are some things the zealous a. Motorist must do. One is to maintain the car so that it does not leave the owner stranded in bad weather or in a High crime area or at. The mercy of unknown is to make sure the garage is not enticing you with a Low estimate that will be wildly exceeded. Many dealers a. Subscribe to an Eastern Seaboard service offered by Hayes Ligon corp. Based in the Washington area. It allows dealers by referring to customized manuals for cars up to 10 years old to quote a Price a virtually to the Penny. An ardent repair fan not surprisingly is Donald a. Randall a Washington lawyer who represents the automotive service association the Industry s biggest Trade group Quot As the Economy tightens Quot he said Quot we see a lot of people debating this Issue Quot of whether to repair or Trade a. Car in. He said there had been an increase in the number of motorists who c Hose to renovate their old c ars. A -. Randall has become quite a Lac bed to his own Quot Nice and heavy Quot 1985 Ford lit. He is about to spend $4,000 for a Premium repair or Quot restoration he figures that he will drive his dream , which has already travelled 87,000 Mills for four More officials expect Good results from air bags a technician and test Dummy Check out an air bag. By Tom Incantalupo new Day. Air bags will save 2,400 lives in the six years ending dec. 31, 1995, and they will prevent 29,000 serious. Injuries a Federal safety Agency predicts. The National Highway traffic safety administration said recently that it expects 18 percent of passenger cars in use at the end of 1995 a or about 25 million vehicles a to be equipped with inflatable restraints. Two percent had air bags last year but most major Auto manufacturers have announced plans to phase them in across their Model lines w within the next several years. The Agency said its new forecast of lives to be saved and injuries to be avoided assumes 3 7 Oer it ent of Drivers in fatal crashes will ire wearing Bells and 46 percent in Rion fall crashes will lie belted. I i Agency said it had no estimate of How Many people will be killed or injured in that six year period but 45,000 people died in c a accidents last year. A a a a a a Federal Law requires passenger c ars to have either. Automatic seat Bells or a Driver s Side air bag. It a. air bags for a particular Model it. Also must add a passenger Side bag by the i 094 Model year. 1 he Agency is considering extending the standards to Light trucks including minivans pickups and sport Utility vehicles. Brian o Neill president of . Institute for Highway 5afety, a Trade group said a a period of several years has been proposed by the Nitsa but it is stalled in the Ohn nil Secretary of , who must approve it. Chrysler. Meanwhile has begun installing or bags in its minivans which h Ere cats Lilied a True is. Air bags with nitrogen Gas a Lia Ion of a second after sensors deter t a frontal c rash. I hey Are not designed to inflate on a Side Impact i c rash or rollover or it the vehicle is Stria k from behind. March v4, 1991 stripes Magazine 9
