That one week in 2009 when my beater Ford Taurus ran perfectly for 6 straight days

I was driving a 1995 Ford Taurus with 180k miles. AC blew warm, cassette deck ate tapes. But one week it just ran. No rattles. No check engine light. Started first crank every morning. I drove it everywhere thinking "this is the week it finally dies." Then on day 7 the alternator went out on I-35 in Austin. Cost me $400 to fix. Worth it or junk it? What's the highest dollar repair you've put into a car you should've scrapped?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.pat2d ago

That Taurus story takes me back. I read somewhere that old Fords from that era had this weird thing where they'd run great for a bit and then just fall apart all at once. My buddy had a 1994 Taurus with 200k on it and his alternator went out on a bridge in Nashville, total nightmare. But yeah, to answer your question about highest dollar repair, I put $2,500 into a 1996 Honda Civic that had 230k miles. New transmission, new timing belt, new water pump. Everyone told me I was an idiot. But that car ran another 60k miles after that. Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut on these things. That $400 alternator fix sounds reasonable for a car that treated you right for that one magic week.

kelly_nelson952d ago

Wait, you spent $2,500 on a Civic with 230k and got another 60k out of it? That's honestly impressive. People don't get that sometimes a car you know is worth keeping, even when the math looks bad on paper. I've had customers throw way more at cars with less miles and get nothing back, so you came out ahead in my book. That alternator fix was a no brainer too, a week of trouble free driving is worth $400 when you've been dealing with a headache.