wise mamas... should I fix my car or buy another one?

[shoes]

I'm at a loss of what to do. My car has some issues right now and I'm the only one here who thinks fixing it would be a good idea. It's a 97 saturn sl1 with a little over 150 thousand miles. We haven't gotten an official estimate for it, but over the phone describing it to our guy who fixes our cars (works with my dh, always cuts us amazing deals, we trust completely) said it would probably be around $800-$1000 to fix, maybe even more if it's more complicated than he thinks.
My dad told me about some government thing where they are trying to get old cars off the road where I could get $3000 toward the purchase of a 2007 or newer car. If we do get a car, I honestly would want a really cheap reliable car though. You know the type, dinged up a bit, but you know it'll start every time. Somewhere in the $5000 to $7000 range. As I told my dh, if I accidentally do something stupid like amost pull the front bumper off on our carport post, or crack the door when pulling out of the garage with the door still open (not that that's ever happened I'd like to just keep plugging along without even thinking about fixing it. The trouble with getting an older more beat up car though is #1, I won't be able to use the $3000 gov. incentive and #2, I could potentially be just trading one set of problems for another if it turns into a lemon.
My dh seems to be looking at kinda pricy cars right now and I really don't want to get into a large monthly payment because we are working towards some financial goals right now and that would mess it up for us! Anyway, sorry it's gotten so long... Am I being crazy to want to just fix our car?? Everyone around here thinks I am!

[Cheshire]

Take a look at the possible payment you'd be making. Let's say $300. If it costs $1,200 to fix your car that's 4 months of payments. Then, let's say your car runs great for another three years before anything major breaks (pretty good investment for three years of use).

Tell DH that during those three years he can make that $300 monthly payment to your savings account and at the end of three years you'll have a nice chunk of cash to put down on a reliable "pre-owned" car.

Stick to your goals. You'll get there but it takes discipline. I know how tempting a newer car can be. The $3,000 incentive doesn't do much to offset the depreciation hit you'll take on a new(er) car as soon as you drive it off the lot.

[xmysticprincessx]

What's wrong with the car?

My brother's 94 SC2 finally bit the dust this week at 190k. It needed an exhaust system for a couple months, and then the water pump went. (Well, he could always sell it to someone who wants to put the money into it because the engine still runs great.) A former boss had a 91 Saturn with over 250k on it. So there's most likely some life left in yours.

You're in TX, so you don't have to worry about the frame rusting out either.

[shoes]

okay, so I should also mention it has something going on with it where it drains the batteries. I've had it for 5 years and I think I'm about to have to buy battery #5. At a auto parts place last time around they were able to use a diagnostic thing to tell me it wasn't the alternater, but they couldn't tell anything else. If we keep it I SHOULD try and fix that too because while I don't mind paying $60 every year or so for a new battery, it's really frustrating being out and about with kids and your car not starting for you out of the blue.

Thanks for the replies so far. That's a great way to look at it Cheshire!
Mysticprincess, I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with it... I'll have to track my dh down and get an official name , but there's some thing holding the front to wheels on that's cracked in two places (one crack on both sides). (this we have seen by jacking the car up and looking underneath) When you drive it it goes "thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud..." with every turn of the wheel. We have been advised not to drive it and to have it towed if we decide to fix it, so while we figure out what to do we are borrowing a family members car. We also think probably one, possibly two of the shocks are out.

I think everyone else is thinking if I fix it this month, it'll just be something else next month because it is getting older. We just had a $500 repair on the radiator about 6 months ago. So far the engine hasn't given us any problems though.

[shoes]

You know, I think the hardest part about it for me is that we don't really have a for sure cost amount yet to fix it... and my dh doesn't even want to shell out the $$ to have it towed for someone to look at since he doesn't really want to fix it anyway.

[shoes]

oh and I don't know if it makes a difference on what you would do or not but... we do have an emergency fund of $2000 so we can pay the car repairs in cash. ("or use as a downpayment on a new car" -dh)

[Cheshire]

Another thing to consider - if you get a newer car your insurance payment will increase (call your insurance company and find out how much more it will cost you).

Also, you've invested already in the car. Older cars need repairs to be maintained. It is still cheaper than a car payment every month. The work that you are having done now should last you another 100,000 miles.

We were in your shoes a couple of years ago. Our SUV needed a new transmission. Years before we'd had a transmission replaced in another vehicle and it turned out to be a lemon. The repair shop replaced it once and then wouldn't talk to us again. So, we were leary to have to replace the transmission on this one and decided to trade it in on another used SUV. I love our "new" one but looking back it would have been a smarter move to spend $1500 on a new transmission (on an SUV that was paid for) instead of buying another one and having payments. We paid it off early but I wish we hadn't bought it in the first place.

Sounds like DH has new(er) car fever. It can be hard to fight. The best way I know is to resist long enough until you realize that spending the emergency fund once to fix the car is a smarter idea than setting yourself up with payment for the next three to five years.

Best wishes! If you do decide to get something else be sure to have the used car inspected by a mechanic you trust.