Do you love the car you drive? Or are you just happy you don’t have car payments? Or is it a challenge to see how many more miles you can get from your current ride? There comes a point when it’s making a weird noise and you have to decide if you should continue to fix it or if it is time to ditch it. How will you know when it’s that time?
Maintenance is a regular occurrence when you are driving an old or used car. However, you should pay attention when it picks up a new trait, which might be coughing smoke, you detect a new smell, or it starts making a clanky new noise. These could be the signs that your car is about to die. Be aware of the signs listed below and take precautions before it leaves you helpless in the middle of a road.
Just like human illness, a car also shows symptoms when facing a problem. What can be fixed, and when is it time to just say: It’s be real, it’s been fun – but not real fun.
Dashboard Lights
All the lights on the dashboard are supposed to warn you when something is wrong. The more the lights turn on, the bigger the trouble you are in. So, when the oil pressure or check engine light starts flashing, drive to a repair shop immediately. Especially if you see that ugly RED “check engine” light – that is never a good sign.
Tranny Issues
Transmission issues are expensive. So, if you notice violent acceleration or braking while driving your car; especially if all that jerking and shuddering is accompanied by some unpleasant grinding noises, it’s likely time to move on to a new vehicle.
Car Cancer
Rust is a very expensive problem to fix and it continues to get worse if you don’t catch it when it starts. The chemicals cities put on the roads during the winter really eats away at the paint and metal. Once rust starts, it spreads quickly. Water leaks also tend to do widespread damage in that water sits in hidden spots and causes corrosion. Both problems need to be looked at thoroughly to gauge how much damage has happened. Once you see the bubbles, the rust has began, and like a cancer, it spreads quickly. If you are proactive and fix the paint chip before it starts to rust, you can beat the rot.
Fluid Leaks
If you are having to refill any of your car’s vital fluids—coolant, oil, brake, and power steering fluid, etc.—every month, then it is only a question of when, not if, something will go wrong. If you have an oil leak, that is never good news because oil is the blood that lubricates the engine and keeps it running. Immediate repair is the only solution when you spot a leak. However, if black fluid is coming out of the tailpipe, it could mean that the engine is at a critical stage of its life.
Besides engine oil other moving parts require fluids to stay functional. The radiator, transmission, power steering, brakes, and some other components need fluids. You should be worried when you are filling them up regularly. It’s one of the signs that your car is about to die.
Blue smoke pouring from the tailpipe means your car is burning oil, and white smoke means it’s evaporating coolant. You can certainly keep adding either fluid to your engine to keep the wheels turning, but failing to do either will result in that smoke starting to billow under the hood—and then it’s time for either an expensive fix or a new car.
The knocking sound
There will be a time when the engine starts making this knocking sound and you know that the camshaft is no longer is in sync with the pistons. The repair will be expensive. A practical alternative would be to save money for a new engine.
Don’t Overspend
Before spending the big bucks on a big repair, ask yourself, ‘What can I sell the car for while it’s running, and can I combine the sales proceeds with the money I would otherwise have spent on repairs to buy something newer and more reliable?’ If you can get $5,000 and the repair is $2,000 then you can spend $7,000 on a better vehicle.
You’ve hit the century mark
When you hit that 100,000-mile marker, take stock of what you have, especially if you bought the car used. Sometimes a car will run for 175,000 miles, so it’s worth the investment. But if you buy a used car with a body that’s starting to rust out, you can bet the complex components were neglected too.
Lots of people, professing to love the inanimate object that is their car, continue to make payments or repairs they can’t afford. Sometimes you just have to cut the cord and sell it.
Lauren Fix, The Car Coach®, is a nationally recognized automotive expert, analyst, author, and television host. A trusted car expert, Lauren provides an insider’s perspective on a wide range of automotive topics and aspects, energy, industry, consumer news, and safety issues.
Lauren is the CEO of Automotive Aspects and the Editor-in-Chief of Car Coach Reports, a global automotive news outlet. She is an automotive contributor to national and local television news shows, including Fox News, Fox Business, CNN International, The Weather Channel, Inside Edition, Local Now News, Community Digital News, and more. Lauren also co-hosts a regular show on ABC.com with Paul Brian called “His Turn – Her Turn” and hosts regular radio segments on USA Radio – DayBreak.
Lauren is honored to be inducted into the Women’s Transportation Hall of Fame and a Board Member of the Buffalo Motorcar Museum and Juror / President for the North American Car, Utility & Truck of the Year Awards.
Check her out on Twitter and Instagram @LaurenFix.
