When do you throw in the towel?

I'm reaching the "breaking point" with my current DD. I have a rather hellacious commute in terms of mileage (75 miles each way), and the little things on my car are starting to accumulate.

Current Car: '99.5 VW Golf TDI 5-speed, 280K miles

Current Problems: Headliner falling down, drivers door panel fell apart, blinker stalk cancelling and centering failed (blinker turns on when i hit a bump), drivers seat belt reciever broke (I buckle in passenger side), drivers window needs help closing, needs tires, CD player doesn't work (aux. input does), clearcoat failed, horn fell off, hatch doesn't always open (failing solenoid), shift cables out of whack (hard to get into 1st), door hinges worn, door latch switch failed (keyless doesn't work / alarm randomnly goes off), dents/dings everywhere, rust starting, overboosts and goes in limp mode, etc. etc. etc.

On top of all those little BS things, the power steering line blew, and I hit a big chunk of concrete bending a rim and blowing out the alignment yesterday.

Ugh.

The flipside is I've always taken care of the core mechanicals, fluids/belts/filters. Bought the car at 120K, Put a low mileage trans in at 230K, timing belt/pulleys/water pumps done, VR6 GTI brake/axle upgrades, VR6 clutch, single mass flywheel, etc.

I get in it every day and it fires every time and it always gets me to work and back, the cruise works, and the A/C blows cold. It just keeps running, despite my flogging, and always gets 40+ MPG. I have no doubts it'll go 350K+.

The question is... do I want to?

Dammit, post eaten by a server burp. To rehash what I just said to no one:

For something you spend at least 2 hours a day in, you're entitled to something a little nicer. It doesn't owe you anything, and you don't owe it (or yourself) anything. You're about to invest considerable time, effort, and/or coin on putting it back in service, and even then all the other items will still be wrong with it.

Unless budget is absolutely an issue, I'd scrap it or part it, and buy something 1/3 its age.

Slowly fix the little E36 M3. Keep driving and saving money. Eventually, replace with something else that you pay cash for. That thing will be worth the same money with 350k as it is now.

Even with a stupid amount of miles and needs, those things still have some value. Cash out and get something that will enhance your daily mood.

My breaking point would have been hit the moment I realized I was driving a post-80s VW. That said, Powar is probably right- and with the stancebros constantly destroying those, it may actually appreciate from here on out. Or, listen to Woody and try to sell it to aforementioned bros now.

When it no longer fun to hop in and run to the store. If you start picking the wife's / partner etc car for around town errands then its time to find a new car.

Life's too short to spend 150 miles a day in a E36 M3 box. Most people would have thrown in the towel around 120k miles. Either move 74 miles closer to work (Joke) or get a newer decent DD. We like to laugh at 'normal people' who trade in cars, but the truth is for 'normal' people by the time a car is 7-10 years old the cost of regular maintenance is high enough that it's time for something new(er). You've got this thing up to quarter of a million miles, pat yourself on the back and move on.

That's a lot of time to spend in a car that sounds like it's frustrating to drive. With a drive like that, I can't imagine you wind up with a ton of free time, so if I were you I'd probably not want to waste that time fiddling with "un-fun" things like replacing a droopy headliner and all that. You can ignore all that other stuff (although, I'd probably make fixing the seat belt a priority), but it sounds like the rim and the tires need an infusion of cold hard cash and you're probably not getting out of that for less than $500. I'd take that money, sell the car as it sits, buy something in which everything works, and then spend your time doing fun things to the new car.

Fix the seat belt issue. That's a major safety problem, especially spending the time you do on the road. Some manufacturers warranty seat belt parts forever just because of the liability, might be worth a check.

Adjust the shift cables. Do something about the random alarms. everything else is minor annoyances or cosmetic issues right now.

Then sell it and get something that works. There's no reason to be suffering through that on a daily basis unless the finances just don't allow for an upgrade. If you had some emotional attachment, or it was a project car, I'd say work it out but for a DD I'd take my equity and run. Use your time on other stuff since you spend so long on the road anyway.

I drive a $900 Ford ZX2 35 miles each way to work. 70 miles a day. 350 miles a week. 35-45 minutes each way.

The reason I haven't upgrades is because this car is simple. Simple and cheap to fix. Nothing too complicated to go wrong. Parts available everywhere.

Also, I have the ability to utilize a shop with lifts. That means fixing major issues is cheap, but requires my time. Not a big deal.

When the car starts taking more time to fix each week than what I spend using it, lets say 5 hours a week, then it's moving on. So far the most serious issue I've had was a water pump leak.

Even if the engine blew I'd probably throw another in it. Not enough rust yet to move on.

Thanks for all the feedback. Good stuff.

Duke wrote: For something you spend at least 2 hours a day in, you're entitled to something a little nicer. It doesn't owe you anything, and you don't owe it (or yourself) anything. You're about to invest considerable time, effort, and/or coin on putting it back in service, and even then all the other items will still be wrong with it. Unless budget is absolutely an issue, I'd scrap it or part it, and buy something 1/3 its age.

That's probably where I'm at with it. Since buying it, I now have 2 kids, and though they're rarely in it, getting the baby into a rear facing car seat in a 2-door hatch is a pain in the ass.

The "new" 2010+ Golf TDI 4-doors are looking mighty temping.

ultraclyde wrote: Fix the seat belt issue. ... Adjust the shift cables. Then sell it and get something that works. There's no reason to be suffering through that on a daily basis unless the finances just don't allow for an upgrade. If you had some emotional attachment, or it was a project car, I'd say work it out but for a DD I'd take my equity and run. Use your time on other stuff since you spend so long on the road anyway.

Not a project car, no real attachment. Until the "little things" starting piling up enough, I found it fairly enjoyable to drive, and much more engaging than the average appliance.

44Dwarf wrote: When it no longer fun to hop in and run to the store. If you start picking the wife's / partner etc car for around town errands then its time to find a new car.

It's definitely there. Once home for the weekend it never leaves. Hop in the wife's Volvo for 90% of errands.

Must be pretty decent money for a 75 mile commute. I drove and repaired beaters for 30 years just because I could and only for a 40 mile commute, kinda gets old after a while tho. The older I get the less I wanna wrench in my spare time. I'm into comfort, reliability and something fun nowadays that won't break the bank. Kinda wish I'd done that years ago now.

Wallet permitting, I'd prolly step it up a notch or two. That's a lotta time on the road, might as well enjoy it.

I'd be looking at selling it also and getting something like a nice new Mazda3 or 6.

My commute is 130 round trip a day so I feel your pain. Sometimes I take the train and sometimes I drive my leased Volt. This is only the second new car I've "owned" in 25 years of driving. It is quite nice having a comfy, kinda fun DD car that gets good MPG. The infotainment center is actually kinda cool. I connect with it with my Iphone via Bluetooth and listen to my playlists on Pandora (or audio book, podcast etc) the entire trip making it much more enjoyable.

where are you located? if you sell it let me know, I would love to get into a TDI

I read the OP and thought that an afternoon and $500 would make a world of difference but when I went back and re read it I changed my mind. Tiime to get out of it and get something newer. Not new by any means, your commute will destroy any value you have in a car pretty quick, but something more enjoyable and 4 door.

280K on a VW? I think you got your value worth, not its a matter of how much are you willing to pay to avoid headaches and future downtime+expenses. Because its not a matter of if it is a matter of when.

That car is still worth $$$$ in my area, like good luck finding anything similar for under $5500. If you don't want it anymore it shouldn't be hard to sell. I have a tdi Jetta with half the miles, it works alright but is too complicated and hard to work on for me, and only gets 38 mpg. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it a long time, but unless its in far worse shape by then another 50k miles won't decrease the value much so I'm not too worried about it.

Ya she served you well but is well past her prime. Time to move on and brighten up your life a little. That's too much time in a car to have it falling apart around you.

+1 on time to let it go. The up side of that is that the car still has demand and value in some markets, despite it's condition.

Around my area, fix the seat belt, tire, and suspension and it will go for $3-5k easily.

no offense.. but I would never let a car get to that point with the small niggling problems. Most of the stuff you have broken are easily replaced with junkyard parts (signal stalk, doorpanel, and seatbelt latch. Every single one of them would have gotten fixed pretty quick as they would have driven me completely crazy in less than a week.

Blown engine, dead trans, rust.. those are reasons to give up on a car.. letting everything go until it becomes a comparable big job is kinda inexcusable

You deserve a really nice and newer car. Sell it to me for really cheap so I can put the engine in my Samurai.

Travis_K wrote: That car is still worth $$$$ in my area, like good luck finding anything similar for under $5500.

These things are a bit silly this way. I can likely sell it for near what I paid for it 5 years and 160K miles ago once I sort a few of the details out on it.

Feedyurhed wrote: Ya she served you well but is well past her prime. Time to move on and brighten up your life a little. That's too much time in a car to have it falling apart around you.

Agreed. I guess that's where I was torn. It's still serviceable, and the cheap ass part of me wants to run it further into the ground. However...

neon4891 wrote: +1 on time to let it go. The up side of that is that the car still has demand and value in some markets, despite it's condition. Around my area, fix the seat belt, tire, and suspension and it will go for $3-5k easily.

I'm inclined to agree that it's better to sell it now while somebody will pay $3K+ for it.

mad_machine wrote: no offense.. but I would never let a car get to that point with the small niggling problems. Most of the stuff you have broken are easily replaced with junkyard parts (signal stalk, doorpanel, and seatbelt latch. Every single one of them would have gotten fixed pretty quick as they would have driven me completely crazy in less than a week. Blown engine, dead trans, rust.. those are reasons to give up on a car.. letting everything go until it becomes a comparable big job is kinda inexcusable

Fair critique. In many ways though this car was purchased and treated more or less like a truck for the part of my life I needed. With the commuting time, two small children, a new house, and a project car I'd much rather spend my spare time working on, I just needed this to get from A to B economically. It did it's job.

Once it reached a point where some of the cosmetics were economically unsound to repair, I started to let some of the other things slide.

I'd still like to see 300K on the dash "just because" but that's just being stubborn.

I'll likely throw a weekend at repairs here next month if I get some breathing room from house to-do's, baby's 1st birthday party, etc. etc.

The way I see it, you have about $200 worth of a junk yard run to do to increase the cars value by $1500 when you want to sell it. All the crap you're complaining about being broken is going to give you a serious hit when you go to sell it.

I drove a line of diesel rabbits for my 60 mile one way commute for years and them I just went out and bought a nice car. I just reached a point where the fuel savings stopped being worth living in a crap box. I still drive a crap box it's just newer and nicer appearing.

Here you go.

They appear to be fairly common. Here's a Jetta.