3 Surprisingly Expensive Repairs That May Not Be Worth The Cost
Taking your vehicle to a mechanic can be a stressful experience. If you drive an older car, then you know that it may be painful when you're waiting to hear how much damage your wallet is about to suffer. Unfortunately, the cost to repair a vehicle doesn't tend to decrease alongside its value, and maintaining a "cheap" old car can be surprisingly expensive.
Although it's a tough decision to make, it can sometimes be more cost-effective to junk an old vehicle instead of spending the money to repair it. This article will discuss three common, but shockingly expensive, repairs that can quickly condemn an old beater to the scrapyard.
1. Bad Wiring Harness
Your vehicle's wiring harness isn't something that gets talked about much, at least until something goes wrong. This bundle of wires runs throughout your entire vehicle, bringing power and data to everything from your infotainment system to your engine and taillights. Although it's "only" a bundle of wires, the wiring harness includes many individual cables routed along various complex paths.
Wiring harnesses are generally inexpensive components, but replacing one can involve everything from stripping the vehicle's interior to removing the entire engine. As a result, labor costs for replacing a whole wiring harness can be expensive. Scrapping the car rather than replacing the wiring harness may be a better financial move for old vehicles with little value.
2. Blown Head Gaskets
Head gaskets seal your engine's block to the head, preventing the flow of oil and coolant into the combustion chambers. Head gaskets typically fail after an engine overheats, leading to a wide range of problems. A blown head gasket can cause your engine to continue to overheat and may also result in severe internal engine damage due to reduced lubrication and increased friction.
Repairing a head gasket is a significant job requiring large amounts of labor. As with a wiring harness, the part itself may be cheap, but the labor costs can exceed the value of many old vehicles. Unless your car is still worth at least several thousand dollars, or you intend to keep it for many more years, it's usually a better idea to junk old beaters with blown head gaskets.
3. Timing Chain Failures (On Some Cars)
Timing chains usually last longer than timing belts, but they can still fail due to age. For example, some vehicles have issues with their timing chain tensioners that can force you to replace the tensioner, chain, and other associated parts. While this isn't always a costly job, it may cost as much as $5,387 or more on vehicles that require technicians to remove the entire engine.
If you own a vehicle with a complex timing chain replacement procedure, junking it may be a much better option. Consider these options when deciding to sell your car to a cash for cars service.