To keep throwing money at a car

[YourWildAnt]

We've owned our 18 plate car for 5 years and it has just under 75k on the clock. We own it outright. It is a workhorse as I need it to do my job, school run (2 miles EW) and as a one car family.

However, in the last year we have spent almost £2.5k in various repairs. It failed its MOT today and that's another £400 on top of the £400 I paid last week. We are a low income family and it is decimating our savings.

(FWIW the repairs in the past year average about £200 a month, which is less than I can imagine a loan on a reliable family car would be. Plus the new car may need repairs which would be a struggle on top of paying for a loan)

AIBU to keep paying for the repairs?

Unless everything is just starting to go wrong at once or it’s something electrical, I would say you’re better off spending a bit to keep it running.

All cars will need tyres, air con top ups, brake discs/pads replacing, general wear and tear related replacements so if it’s these, I don’t think it’s worth getting rid and saddling yourself with a finance agreement on a newer one which will suffer the same sorts of wear and tear if used a lot