We often have clients who become disenchanted with their cars, especially when faced with some expensive service.
We recently serviced a 1997 BMW 528i last week that needed a maintenance service, oil change and 4 wheel brakes. Cost with taxes: 1300 dollars. A fair amount of money for sure, but consider that the brakes will be good for at least 2 to 3 years, the oil service is synthetic and won¹t be required again for 9 to 12 months.
This car has 140,000 kilometers, is in beautiful condition and has been meticulously maintained. It looks and runs like a new car and being a very reliable 6 cylinder engined vehicle will run for years with minimal cost. After talking with our client about long terms plans with the car I found out that she is planning on keeping it: a conclusion that she came to after researching new cars and pricing.
What’s the cost to replace this car?
A 2008 BMW 3 series turns out to come with a cost of $15,000 down and monthly payments of $1000.00.
That’s $12,000 dollars a year!
In my experience there is never a year that someone will pay $12,000 to maintain and repair his or her car; not even close.
Even a recent used model still has a very high price. So the conclusion: it is most often financially better to maintain your car, usually by a huge margin.
