major part blown - best way of upgrading

[girlwhowearsglasses]

People what know about cars. When a major part blows and its going to cost £1.5k to mend is there ANY alternative to shelling out - for instance would I save any money at all part exchanging at this point, or do I need to just suck it up and get it done - and then think about getting a new car at my leisure, or is there a way of part exchanging before the major work is done (without dishonesty).

Its a 2005 VW Touran we've had 6 years and I'm thinking this is going to start happening more so its time to upgrade. I'm actually thinking of another one the same as we have 3 kids and need the boot space

Ultimately, any car is a gamble and can throw up big bills. When it comes to changing after a major bill, you have to figure what it will cost you to change compared with cost to fix, e.g.

• Repair bill is 1.5K but car will continue without problems for another 5 years
• By another car for 1.7K (cost of repair + guesstimate of 200 to scrap old car); this car could break down in 3-6 months.

This is an extreme scenario to illustrate it's sometimes better the devil you know. That replacement car could last 10 months or 10 years, same with the repaired car. Also, a car that needs a repair could fetch a whole lot more than 200 scrap on ebay - there may be someone who can fix it up themselves on the cheap.

Generally:

• maintain the damn thing! Servicing and maintenance costs are not annoyances (some people do actually think this), they are part and parcel of running a car
• get a warranty, either from the manufacturer or a third party such as Warranty Direct
• 9 years is not old for a car; there are 50 year old cars with millions of miles on the clock, so going back to the first point, if it's looked after there's no reason it won't go on forever
• if you are worried it's going to start going wrong, get rid; personally I would part exchange it as I have less of a problem foisting it on to a dealer, compared to selling it to a private individual.

You could get the part from Euro Car parts (or similar) and save some money that way? WMittens is right, better the devil you know with older cars.
Age is but a number, and if well maintained a 9yo VW should be pretty good.

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www.itectuning.com/car-performance-parts.html