fix or sell

[WSSix]

OK guys. I'm fairly certain I know what I am going to do. However, I'm willing to listen to others especially those with better money skills than me. As well as those that can be more objective since they have no attachments to the vehicle.

My personal truck is an 02 Trailblazer LT, 2wd, 4.2 I6 with 200k miles. It's in very good condition and everything works. It's basically fully loaded being an LT. It's now time to rebuild the suspension on the truck. I need ball joints, shocks, and hubs. I'm estimating $1500-$2000 to get it all fixed. I don't have the equipment to do it all myself so I'm going to have to pay someone unfortunately. Looking at autotrader, the truck is worth $5-6000 in this area. Should I fix it or move on to something else? I'd be buying used and older not new. I really like my TB too. I think I'm just going to fix it but wanted others objective input.

Thanks

[Spiffav8]

It sounds like you've gotten your moneys worth...and I'm all about that when it comes to a daily driver. My recommendation would be to start doing your homework and find your next truck. Find what's going to give you the most bang for your buck now and over the next 10 years. www.kbb.com has some good research info when it comes to the 5 year ownership costs, safety rating and consumer reviews.

Good luck!

[billscamaros]

I'm in pretty much the same situation regarding my daily driver, a '99 Z28 six speed. It runs well, gets 26 mpg consistently, and is comfortable for me to drive on my 120 mile round trip commute. I've got 229K miles on this car. I just had a new clutch installed, I've installed new rear trailing arms and panhard bar and I'm looking at a new power steering pump. Body wise, it's in pretty good shape .... most folks wouldn't guess the mileage on this car. Oh ... and this car has been paid off for years. When I replace this car, I'll most likely look at a 6 speed C6 Corvette.

I think that I can get another year out of this car, if not more. The old adage is that you know that you need a newer car when you're spending a car payment a month getting the old car fixed. And I'm not at that point yet. So I'd say hang onto the Trailblazer. Take that new car payment money that you aren't paying right now and toss it into a saving account in anticipation of the eventual purchase. Or at least use it to pay off any outstanding consumer debt.

Unless there is something odd about Trailblazers, you don't need any special tools to replace your shocks. I could see taking the ball joint replacement to a shop somewhere. What has to be done to the hubs?

Fix it and drive it. All in my opinion, of course!!

[WSSix]

Thanks guys. I'm torn simply because I do like the truck. What I've considered replacing it with is a 2500 Ram with the Cummins. That I would not get rid of, ever. However, I simply don't need a truck right now and have no idea when in the future I would. See, I have my company truck that I drive all the time since I work all the time. I'm moving around a considerable amount(4 states in two years). I will eventually need an open bed truck but when is the question I can't answer. I've always approached my commuter cars as a long term deal. Drive it until the wheels fall off type thing. I've never played the depreciation/ trade in value game. The way I'm looking at it right now is, I can spend $2k and have the repairs done or I can spend $10-15k and have a new to me truck. I'm always open to new suggestions though and if someone wants to or can show me how it would be better to buy the "new" truck, I'm all ears.


Thanks

[70rs]

2k now on a known vehicle. Or 10/15k on a unknown vehicle that may require repairs too. Used car, no warrantee.

I JUST dumped almost 3 grand on my trucks new transmission. It's a 2000 chevy with 220k on it.
To me it's well worth it. I say do the repairs on your current vehicle, enjoy the savings and stash it away for when it really does need to be replaced.

[Track Junky]

I agree with Eric. Get it fixed and save what you think would be monthly payment money to the side.

Dont know what your monthly budget would be but I personally like to put enough down on a vehicle so that my payment is between $350 and $400/month.

Keep it until there is an absolute need for a another or different vehicle.

I bought my truck new in 2000 and it currently has a bit over 150K miles on it. I have worked the hell out this thing including towing close to 20,000 lbs up a steep grade with my foot to the floor in first gear doing 5 mph.(not on purpose. The tile guy lied to me and told me each pallet of tile weighed 1000 lbs. Turns out they were 2500 lbs and I had 6 pallets plus the weight of a 20 yard hydraulic dump trailor)and thats with a 6 litre gas motor. I've changed all fluids when they were supposed to be changed and so far so good.

The same truck new today will cost me over $50K. Will I ever buy a new truck? Hell no!! When the time comes I will replace engine and trans in the one I currently own.

[WSSix]

My thinking is right in line with you guys. I'll just keep chugging along. It wasn't that long ago that I could do all this work myself but now that I've had to move around a bunch, I no longer have my work area. I paid to have the oil changed for the first time ever last year. That wasn't easy for me to pay, lol. So you can imagine I'm not really interested in paying a few hundred dollar labor bill for this work.

Thanks