Planning to buy or repair your car?

Are you debating whether to fix your old car or get a new car? And wondering why cars are so expensive to maintain? You can always buy a new car, but it may make more financial sense to fix your current car and keep it running for an extended period.

Here’s some information to help you make your decision:

• The breadth and cost of components that require continuous maintenance is the primary reason vehicles are so expensive to maintain. As cars rise in age, so do the maintenance expenditures connected with keeping them on the road. Having said that, newer cars also have additional safety features that might fail and cost thousands of dollars to fix. However, safety systems are only the tip of the iceberg. If your car’s engine or transmission fails, no matter how old or new it is you can expect to pay a very large sum.

• The cost of car parts can vary depending on who and where the manufacturers are from. Components purchased straight from the manufacturer are often more expensive than aftermarket parts. Some argue that you should always buy parts directly from the manufacturer because you can trust what you’re buying, some argue the cheaper route is just as effective.

• Tyres are another item of auto maintenance that may get expensive. While tyre technology has improved over time, the expense of replacing tyres can still be high. Because current tyre technology allows you to travel 40,000-60,000 miles before replacing your tyres, you may not need to replace your tyres as frequently as you did in the 1980s or 1990s. However, the overall cost of replacing your tyres has not decreased. There is also a tendency in sports vehicles to use sticky compound tyres for better traction when passing through bends. While these tyres provide excellent traction, they rarely last as long as regular tyres since the sticky rubber composition is not as durable.

• When buying a new car, one factor to consider is the cost of car insurance NSW. Many consumers walk into a dealership just thinking only about the monthly car payment they would make. Instead, without evaluating the overall monthly expenditures of the car – including insurance. Because of the high value of new cars, you can expect your insurance premium to be higher. The higher the cost of the car, the more it will cost the comprehensive car insurance company to replace it if you are in an accident.

• You may have to take your car for some repairs, bodywork or paint correction during its ownership. Your car’s paint job will never be as beautiful as when it first left the factory. Over time, rock chips and road debris can damage your paint, particularly your hood and front bumper. If you collide with a parking metre or a pole, you may need to have bodywork done. If you don’t want to drive around with that dent in your bumper, you should have it repaired. Repairing a car’s body isn’t always inexpensive. Depending on the extent of the damage, you may have to replace the entire body panel.

The amount you spend on car maintenance might vary even for the same make and model of the car. The easiest method to avoid significant auto repair is to do routine maintenance on your cars, such as replacing fluids and belts. When budgeting for the overall expenses to maintain a car, it is also essential to consider how old the car is and how much new technology is present in the car.