Car repairs and depreciation: when should you part with your car?

At some point, even the most reliable cars will get to a point where it is not just normal wear and tear that becomes a cost factor. Then the first niggles and unscheduled workshop visits put the owner's nerves and wallet to the test. This can gradually make the once great love wane.

For example, when a turbocharger has to be replaced. Such repairs are usually expensive. If you want to avoid these costs, you have to sell in good time. Just when is it in time?

There is no general answer to this question, says Carsten Kürten, who in Cologne offers both complete restorations of classics and a repair service for everyday vehicles. "The mileage at which you should gradually start thinking about selling can, for example, vary greatly depending on the vehicle type, manufacturer or engine type."

Mileage alone is not a criterion

Where in a small car the first damage can appear after 80,000 or 90,000 kilometers, a large diesel sedan from a premium manufacturer can even cover 200,000 kilometers without any problems.

And how and where a car is used also plays an important role in aging. "If I am mainly traveling at 120 km / h on the motorway, the kilometers driven on the speedometer are uninteresting compared to a car that is only driven in city traffic, on bad roads and in stop-and-go mode" says Kürten.

Even for Constantin Hack from the Auto Club Europa (ACE) there is no fixed rule for the right time: "We cannot give a definitive age or mileage limit where it is more expensive to keep than to sell or vice versa."

Basically, the whole thing is "a kind of lottery game", not least because even vehicles from one series have attracted attention due to their very different (in) reliability. "If at all, you can perhaps use the classic five-year cycle as a guideline," confirms Kürten. It is well known that a new car experiences the greatest loss in value in the first three years, but then the curve gradually flattens out by the fifth or sixth year, so that it now makes sense to make a decision for or against a sale.

Psychology also plays a role

Sometimes the 100,000 kilometer limit is also mentioned. "But that is a purely psychological benchmark," says Hack. "You can see that from the fact that I earn less for a car if I want to sell it with an odometer reading of 103,000 instead of 97,000 kilometers." That is why he advises you to decide before the 100,000 mark if you want to sell.

Anyone who decides against a sale should, however, expect to first have to go through "a valley of tears", true to the motto "it has to get worse before it gets better", says Kürten. "One or the other repairs will inevitably have to be made soon, so that you have little choice but to dig deep into your pocket." Then, however, you can usually drive carefree again for the time being, according to the motor vehicle specialist.

At some point, high repair costs are no longer economical

However, one can be unlucky all along the line. The Cologne native tells of a customer with a ten-year-old BMW 5-series station wagon that has driven 170,000 kilometers. "In this vehicle, the crankshaft broke off on the belt pulley, such an unusual damage that one can speak of an isolated case," said the expert. "The replacement engine and wages would now cost more than 1,000 euros." And even if he likes to receive cars, he strongly advised the customer not to have them repaired.

It is forbidden to put such a sum in a car with 170,000 kilometers that has a current market value of perhaps 13,000 or 14,000 euros. You would then have a vehicle with a brand new engine, but in view of such mileage you have to expect costly problems with the gearbox or chassis at any time.

Sustainability can also play a role

However, one aspect sometimes extends well beyond your own wallet. "A vehicle that shows hardly any loss of value is not only good for your own cash register, but also for the environment," says Hack.

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Every new vehicle that is produced also devours a lot of raw materials. "For that reason alone, it is a good thing that there is no longer any scrapping premium," he says. "Many of the cars that would otherwise be scrapped are now allowed to live on."