When it comes to the health of your car, few things are as important as preventing damage before it occurs. Despite our best efforts, however, accidents do happen, and sometimes you’ll be faced with the decision of whether or not to repair the car at that point or just give up on it altogether. To help you decide, here are five signs that it’s time to repair your damaged car.
1) You have a major repair bill coming up
If you are facing a major bill, either from an accident or other event, then that can be a sign that you need some more work done on your vehicle. Even if you think the repairs are going to cost less than $1,000, then think about all of those added up months and years. The longer you wait to have these problems repaired, the more money you’ll pay in repair bills over time. In addition, you might find yourself with safety issues if you don’t get things fixed right away. You want to make sure your car is safe for driving and not causing any additional damage to itself or others on the road.
2) It won’t pass inspection
When your vehicle fails an inspection, you need to decide whether you’re going to live with that failure or fix it. Waiting until your registration is due and then paying a visit to a repair shop may save you money in fines, but you won’t be able to drive legally until you get up-to-date tags. If you don’t have valid tags, you could face more serious consequences like getting pulled over by police. So if your car isn’t safe to drive because of a problem that could cause an accident, consider making repairs as soon as possible.
3) Your insurance will drop you
Your insurance company may drop you after they see too many claims on your record. If you can’t find a new insurance company, you’ll need to pay for repairs out of pocket. The cost of collision and comprehensive insurance is also determined by rating factors such as age, occupation, credit score and driving record. If you’ve had several accidents in a short period of time or have accumulated many tickets, then you could be penalized with higher rates or even dropped altogether by most insurers.
4) No amount of repairs will make it drive better
If you’ve had two or three failed repairs and something still feels off, listen to that sensation. The best thing you can do for a vehicle when it’s clearly on its last legs is trade it in for something reliable and forget about all of those issues you spent so much money trying to fix. You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches (and money) in the long run. And if you want to keep driving an older car, make sure it gets regular maintenance checks and stay on top of any problems before they get out of hand.
5) You are tired of driving an ugly car
The easiest and most common sign that it’s time to replace a dented, dinged or rusted automobile is simply: You don’t like how it looks. If you are tired of driving around in an ugly car because you can’t afford to fix it, then consider selling it for parts or donating it. Either way, you won’t have to worry about getting hit with an expensive repair bill again anytime soon.
Conclusion:
The most important factor in deciding whether or not you should have repairs done is your budget. If you have the cash available and don’t mind taking a chance on a breakdown later down the road, it might be worth just keeping an eye on things. However, if you’re worried about another breakdown, or are just anxious about spending more money than you really want to spend on fixing up an old damage car, go ahead and get that engine fixed or that suspension reinforced.
