Should I buy a new car? 98k miles

[Crispedoff]

So my little old car, 2006 plate with 98k miles has started to make a funny little noise. After a quick Google and a phonecall to a mechanically minded friend, it seems likely to be the timing belt that's gone. My friend said when you replace this it is likely that other connected components could need replacing to, so to budget for around £350.
My car passed its MOT in summer with a few advisories relating to the brakes, which I've had looked at since.

I'm currently saving for a house, and spending 5k on a car isn't ideal right now, although I would love a newer car.

So AIBU (or foolish) to fix my car, when it is so old and is worth £250 at resale value? Or should I repair the car I have so I don't put a hefty 5k dent in the house pot?
I'm just worried I'm throwing money away if it turns out I'll have to replace the car in the next 12months anyway, or that I'll be stuck in a panic trying to panic if I have a huge bill to foot if I suddenly need a new cat when we buy our first house next year.

Thank you, I really need to hear opinions on this one!

you don't need to spend 5k on a newer car. £1000- 1500 will get you a decent reliable car, but I would fix the Kia.

But at that price point you don't know if you are getting a hidden jewel or a total lemon.

Unless you have/can get detailed mechanical advice at point of purchase, it's a very risky area to be trotting about in.

I got rid of my car when it got to 104 thousand as I (obviously) do a lot of miles per annum, however, I happen to know 2 years later it’s still on the road so high miles are not that bad. However, it is a German car and I kept well maintained so that might have some bearing on it

Thanks for all of the replies.
I think it's the little-bits-here-and-there repairs that are adding up. We haven't had big repairs on the car, but lots of little jobs like replacing worn rubber Bush's/bearings/tightening handbrake ever few months/clutch and now this noise+ jittery engine idling that's been going on for a few months, I feel like I'm just running on borrowed time with it. It's a 1.1l petrol car that has survived +95k miles and 13years, still in near perfect interior condition, it's done amazing - But like PP said I'm worried it will be a money trap. It wouldn't bother me so much, but with looking to buy a new house and I don't want to be panicking about repairs or replacements just as we have moved in. If it was a, diesel, Honda or a VW it might be a different story, but having slept on it I think I'm going to start car hunting.

13 years is a decent length of time to have kept a car. Mine is 19, but then it is a Honda (and I'm beginning to think about replacing it).

Hmm. My mazda has 110,000 on the clock, but just passed its MOT with £250 repairs. I've never had to do anything major though, like clutch or timing belt (has a chain not a belt), so I think in your situation I'd be tending towards replacing it... it doesn't sound like it will get any cheaper.

Why 5k though? That's one extreme to the other. I think I'd either get one on hp/bank loan (don't understand the whole leasing thing posting for something you'll never own), or spending 2 grand or less on a reliable make car.

I think I'd probably get this repair checked out, put money aside for a year until next mot. Run the mot, and see how much it's going to cost if it fails. Set a limit ( I did 500 on my last car and it would have cost 650), and if it goes above, use saved money as deposit, and if not, run it another year and you'll have two years savings. Im currently saving a deposit for when mine dies. I do about 25 thousand a year, so reckon I have about 2 years optimistically.

Cars. Humph. I love driving, and I'd love a new car every year, that would be my only luxury if I were rich. I'd happily live in a bedsit, but love new cars.

Pistonheads would have a field day here.

Get it changed. Keep on driving the same car. It does not need selling. Honestly, your local garage won’t charge that much.

Better the devil you know in my opinion our diesel VW was the biggest lemon ever and we ended up trading it in for a car 8 years older but like a tank in regards to longevity.

Rubber bushed do wear though, so that is normal maintenace, as is getting the handbrake tweaked, and bearings done.

My car is 13 years old, with about 135k on the clock. I will keep her til I can't drive her any more. I've had her since 2014, and she's taken me from Brussels to UK for the granny run and the university run on countless occasions. as Saabs aren't made any more, I have to look after her, so servicing at regular intervals etc.

I’ve always thought of the cam belt as a consumable, much like brakes, tyres etc. I had mine replaced last year on my 11yo diesel. Most manufacturers recommend about 10 years or 10k, so it’s definitely due doing. I’ve had one snap before whilst in the middle lane of the M1 and it wasn’t a pleasant experience!

Well for starters, don't listen to your 'mechanically minded friend'. If a timing belt had gone, you'd know about it. You'd be stranded at the side of the road. So they are wrong there.

It might be going, but unlikely. They tend to just go, they don't tell you when or give you a warning sign. It just falls off and makes the engine explode. Then you get the fun job of either repairing the engine or replacing it. Not something that will cost £350. Doesn't even have to cost that much to replace it, buy the kit yourself off ebay and give it to a garage to replace. Only paying for labour then.

It depends on where the noise is coming from. It could just be something simple like a wheel bearing.

10k miles or 10 years? Sutely you'd do much more than 10k in 10 years? My car is 16 years old and has 55k on the clock, the cam belt has never been replaced. Now I'm terrified it's going to suddenly go and then ruin my engine. I've no money to have it replaced right now and rely on my car to visit my elderly mum every week. Is there any warning signs or noises? If I take it into the garage they'll charge me for looking at it

10k miles or 10 years? Sutely you'd do much more than 10k in 10 years?

Oops, yes, missed a zero off there! 100k miles or 10 years on my Fiesta (which is 11 years old and has only done 75k miles).

@Adollop, check the handbook for your car (or look online) for the recommended timing/mileage for your car.

In my experience there was liitle warning. There was a bit of an odd noise for a short while but the car was driving normally. I stopped at a petrol station about 45 mins later and the car wouldn't restart.

Cars need maintenance, that's the bottom line. People tend to not feel bad about consumables (brakes, tyres etc) but somehow a more essential long term item, is a cost to be baulked at.

It's why PCP now makes more sense to people - rent it for three or four years, then by the time anything like a cambelt needs changing, it's not their problem anymore.

That's not a criticism, it's just the market has naturally adapted to people's lack of enthusiasm for properly maintaining their car.

@GinDaddy I still can't see the point? I finished paying for my car in the summer of 2017. I was paying about 200 a month. Since then it's cost me 400 in mots, and 200 odd on advisories I did gradually last year, and say 100 in servicing. So say 700 in 30 months (bar for tyres). About £25 a month instead of £200.

If you are very well off and money is no object, I can understand because I like cars, but really, for your average joe blogs leasing is so much more expensive surely?

I don't understand continuously paying for something that belongs to someone else. It's one mindset I can't shift to.

Do you get anything else like insurance etc?

Changing the timing belt is routine maintenance, it’s advised that it’s changed every 60k miles. Was this not advised when (if?) your car was serviced?

So unless you plan on buying a car with low miles, you should be changing it at 60k anyway.

If there’s nothing else wrong with the car, then change the belt (get a few quotes from different independent garages) and keep on driving it.

£1000- 1500 will get you a decent reliable
car

Replace will with might. No one can spend that money on a car and guarantee it will be reliable for a certain period of time. You can use common sense and mechanical knowledge when purchasing, but at the end of day, a lot of it is down to luck.

Thanks Display. I've checked online and spoken to a garage and apparently my corsa should have a cam chain that may not need changing at all or not often. I'm taking it in anyway, because the automatic gearbox is struggling a little at times and will chat to them then.

I had a car with a timing belt - it snapped unexpectedly even though it wasn't due to be replaced, and the engine was completely trashed as the pistons smashed into the valves.

I've always gone for cars with timing chains since then as they're much less likely to go. Wouldn't touch a belt-car with a bargepole!