The trade value of your ’99 is next to nothing, so if you spend $30k on a new car your payment (over 6 years) is $525 – $300 a month more than your $250 a month repair bill.

My truck is a 1984 Dodge Ram. I just keep driving and rebuilding it.

It is about a $650 repair. Obviously with the cost of laptops these days, replacing beats out fixing it every time. The struggle is to determine how long I should keep trying to baby the thing along and deal with the frustration of having a laptop that simply shuts off mid-

Okay, this time it didn’t, but it has happened during the middle of a required 30 minute survey, three times in a row, forcing me to start from the beginning. I have spend hours getting the connection just right so that it will power on.

I am struggling to relate the rust spots on the bumper to this situation. Must I have the laptop? I am seriously limited without its full usage. I am struggling to keep up with my work, struggling to keep up my online writing, struggling to keep the machine running long enough for me to keep my online book sales shipping in a timely manner.

I am trying to approach the matter with this thought process: It is now beginning to cost me money in refunded book sales due to being unable to pick up my sales requests in a timely manner, or additional shipping fees for upgraded shipping. This is not substantial, but I don’t sell books just for the fun of it.

It seriously interferes not just with my enjoyment of life, but with the exercise of my life-long passion for writing.

It interferes with my being able to communicate with my son in Iraq.

For these reasons I am treating this as a stage 3 situation. I am saving for the machine as quickly as I can, even slowing down some of my emergency fund savings to put into the replacement fund. This may mean that I have to pull my book sales offline for a month or so if the machine dies early, and I will suffer Internet silence for a while, which will really be hard on my son when he wants a word from home.

However, this is not the primary source of my income, and while it is a serious inconvenience and headache, it is not the top priority. I do not have savings to cover this expense and do not consider this one of the items to dip into the emergency fund for, although in the past I would have considered this a full-scale, Stage 4 emergency.

This is what I am getting out of the rusty bumper story, Trent. If the rust were preventing you from working or endangered your family it would be time for a full-scale assault on the rust, treating, replacing or even scrapping the vehicle. Since it isn’t, there are more subtle decisions that reflect your priorities.

Unfortunately, had I understood the beginning signs of this problem when they started this all would have been covered under warranty. Lesson? Flaky computers under warranty should be checked by experts licensed to perform and diagnose problems under your brand warranty. Don’t assume you know what the problem is and that it is minor. Other lesson: don’t ignore the small stuff (like small spots of rust) or intermittent power outages or batteries that don’t seem to charge or have the life they are supposed to have. Small problems often become big ones.

http://www.rustbullet.com

Although you can use Naval Jelly to prep the area, pass that up and use POR’s Marine Clean and Metal Ready to prep the bumper. They both go a long, long way and are quite economical. Same for the paint itself. A pint will do more than just cover the inside of your bumper; I used a pint to cover the entire back half of my ’64 Chevy truck’s frame. With some left over. You’ll get some mileage out of it (pardon the pun).

Some things to keep in mind: POR-15 is not UV resistant, so if you use it in any areas that are exposed to sunlight, you’ll have to cover it with another paint (or just deal with the discoloring). Also, wear gloves, long-sleeve shirts and pants when you use it. The stuff will wick into your skin and take weeks to wear off (although nail polish will help remove it a bit quicker).

I KNOW…I KNOW

Turbogeek…I’ve always used “Naval Jelly” without an “etching solution” afterwards, I just grind or sand it down to bare metal (same difference?) and applied POR-15..I’m not saying I’m right..POR-15 is supposed to be the best for stopping moisture and air from reaching the metal and that’s what allows rust to form.

Ericabiz…The “rule of thumb” is that if the cost of your repairs in a 3 month period are equal to or greater than the monthly payment you are (or were)paying…prepare to bail…if you are paying in monthly repairs more than the monthly payment..Just BAIL!

Difere repairs as long as the car will Start and Run..run the “wheels off of it” (at 150k miles, you may be close)

Another thing a Dealer won’t tell you, your monthly car payment really shouldn’t more than 20% of your monthly NET income, also if you finance for 36 months, try to keep the car for 6 years total (9yr old car) 48 months = 8 years (10yrs)and save the monthly payment amount in a separate savings account.

Finally, your mileage may vary, batteries not included and Cape does not allow you to fly (found on an Adult BatMan costume box)

I’m driving a 2002 jeep w/115K on it. My plan is to drive it until it’s an empty used up husk.

Just sand the rust down to bare metal and paint it. If the bumper has holes rusted through it, touching it up is pointless – ignore it or replace it. But you’ll know in the future to regularly clean out all the dirt that builds up behind the bumper to prevent it from happening again.

Replacement vehicles. Don’t ever buy a brand spanking new one, let someone else take the initial depreciation. Never put less than 25% down or extend payments beyond 36 months. This ensures the vehicle is worth more than you owe. If you can’t afford 25% down with a three year payoff, you can’t afford the vehicle.

Ericabiz, don’t worry about the squeeks. Turn up the radio. A $30,000 replacement will also require maintenance and repairs in addition to your monthly car payment. Plus, auto insurance will cost much more. $250 per month to keep your old car running is peanuts to purchasing a new car.

Thanks for the tip, I wasn’t familiar with Por-15. Great website. Do I read correctly that you can prepare the metal as we discussed, then use their clearcoat product in this case? That you don’t have to use their prep/neutralizer?

Also — I’ve got to agree with Glen2gs on another point — – if you can’t pay 20%-25% down plus TTL you should hold off on buying the new car. If we assume someone is being smart and buying late model solid used cars for ~$18k, that would tally up to be ~$5,500. Drag the old car along kicking and screaming, sock away $500 a month, and buy that ‘new to you’ car 11 months from now.

I would have to “Second” turbogeek’s advice except to to recommend a product that is popular in the Car Restoration Community called POR-15

http://www.por15.com/

To “ericabiz” If you have to buy another car (and it sounds like you do..Monthly Repairs > or = Monthly Payment) Find a 3 year old car with 12 to 15K miles per year…Let someone else take the depreciation loss, Don’t buy new!

Good sources are leasing companies lease return vehicles (just DON’T let them talk you into leasing the used vehicle) and New Car Dealerships’
“Certified Vehicles”

Bad News/Best advice; If at ALL POSSIBLE have 20-25% down payment and fiance for 36 to 48 months
(and better yet, find out how much “T T & L” or “Tax,Title & License” will be in your area by calling Car Dealers asking for the “Title Desk” or “Title Clerk” Title Fees are a source of extra income for some Dealers…like charging $300.00 while others charge $100.00 TRY REALLY HARD to pay the “TT&L” in cash in addition to the down payment)

Another compromise is to find a replacement bumper at a junkyard. It can be hard to find matching colors, though, so you might end up with a bit of a franken-car.

I grew up in Vermont where cars usually rust apart before the mechanical parts wear out. The rule of thumb my family used was to patch small spots, try to replace big spots with junkyard parts, and scrap the whole car when a hard-to-swap part like a floorboard or frame piece developed holes.

Some of these cars would get pretty ugly, so you may want to think about how much you care about having a car that appears rust-free, and by extension how much you care about other people seeing you driving a rusty or patched-together car.

Sitting in front of the tv after a stressful day, I heard the Simple Dollar voice go “Turn the TV off and DO something”. Well, I had something to do – my 6 month old HP All-In-One had just crapped out for NO reason last week. I was so frustrated that it was broken that I couldn’t deal with fixing it.

But last night I took a deep breath, shut the TV off, and attacked this printer with all the internet advice, cleaners, and ideas I possibly had. With in 30 min, tho I have no idea HOW, I fixed it. I not only saved money but I had a new sense of self after what I call a “low confidence” day.

Again, thanks for The Simple Dollar!