Should I keep my existing car?

Question

I have 2000 Ford Focus with 140,000 miles in it. The air conditioner is not working. When I turn the car, it has some strange noise. What should i do with in? Trade it, repair it or sell it? Please advise.

Answer 1

What I do is an assessment. How much the car is worth. How much is on good repairs(bring it back to factory specs). How much will be for another one (Used or New). How much for trade in (if you want to trade).

And go with the most cost effective solution.

Answer 2

I'm reading between the lines here, but I think you want to get rid of the Focus. The answers above are all worth re-reading. So what to do? Sell the car on your own for the best deal for yourself. Don't even try a trade-in with a dealer. If you like, fix some of the problems before you put it on the market. Otherwise, just be honest with potential buyers. The noise you hear while turning is most likely the C-V joint(s), and they can cause a problem when a buyer is test driving, so I would be inclined to repair it. I'd also have the AC charged, and hopefully that will make it work for a while. If not, don't spend any more on it. Having no AC is a $500 reduction in price, so you see the formula. Don't forget to make the car sparkle and smell nice. Now let's talk about what car to replace it with.

Answer 3

It depends on if you can afford the new car and if the repairs are not worth the cost or exceed the actual value of the car.

If you have taken good care of it and are up to date on all of the scheduled maintenance, including coolant, transmission, timing belt, brakes and andything else that has worn out along the way then you have a good working car without A/C and that is common. A/C isn't worth investing too much money on unless you live in a very hot and humid area and need it year 'round.

Strange noises come in a variety of "issues". Might be the alternator or water pump or idler pulley or the A/C compressor or belt tensioner or timing belt wear and tear or maybe it just needs a tune up and throttle body cleaning.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

If it has the original automatic transmission in it, I would sell it because the transmission probably won't last much longer. Also, if your due to have a timing belt replaced, that's another reason to sell it. You may have an "interference" type engine and you don't want to take a chance that the belt breaks causing the car to be a total loss. The dealer will not pay you any money for the car except by starting at a high new car price and pretending to discount the new car price heavily because of your trade in. Instead, go to http://www.edmunds.com and price out the new car you want with all options and print out the "manufacturer's invoice" (not MSRP) cost sheet to bring to the dealer with you. My advice is not to pay more than the invoice price and not accept any extra costs whatever the dealer tries to pile on including extended warranties.