Should I Fix it or Sell it?

preacherman40

I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with 266,000 miles on it. It is currently valued at $420 trade in or $1,600 private sale, according to KBB. Recently I discovered that I have about $2,000 worth of undercarriage work that need to be done I.e. rocker arm, motor mounts, tie rods, etc.

My question is this; should I fix it and keep it or trade it off/sell it?

If I drop $2,000 into it how long will my engine and transmission last? (This is the 1st Jeep I've ever owned)

stever

What would you drive if you got rid of it?

It's hard to find a decent used car for under $5,000 these days without searching long and hard, and with that many miles on the Jeep, you could be looking at that much in repair expenses over the next couple of years.

On the other hand, $2,000 is about 5 or 6 car payments and you might get another year or two out of it for the two grand.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd get rid of it. It certainly doesn't owe you anything, and 266K is way beyond the predicted life expectancy. Also at such high mileage, you have to worry about safety and structural issues, more and more.

And you're also facing the prospect of "oh, while we're in there"---the repair shop finding more problems as they dig into the car.

If you put $2K into it and tried to sell it in a few months on Craigslist for $3500, you'd have a hard time. If you just sell it now for $1500, you'd have the same amount of money for a lot less hassle.