1. Fill in your old car's details — age, mileage, the repair bill you're facing now, and its ongoing costs. 2. Fill in the replacement — price, financing, insurance for the new/used car you'd get instead. 3. Set the comparison period and read the verdict below.
This is a rough planning estimate. A big unplanned repair now doesn't guarantee more are coming — and a "replacement" carries its own risk of surprises. Use this to frame the trade-off, not as a guarantee either way.
Repair or Replace?
Should you fix your old paid-off car, or buy another one? The daily r/whatcarshouldIbuy question, answered with real numbers: what a big repair plus ongoing maintenance on your old car actually costs, versus what a new payment, insurance jump, and depreciation actually cost on a replacement.
What you'd get if you sold it instead — money you give up by keeping it.
Ongoing repair/maintenance projected using AAA cost-per-mile data with an age-based multiplier (1.0× at 0-3yr, up to 2.8× at 12+yr) — same model as the Maintenance Reserve Estimator.
Buy a Replacement
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The interest rate your lender charges — this is what makes financing cost more than the sticker price.
Depreciation uses the front-loaded model (KBB/iSeeCars-calibrated): ~13%/9.5%/5% for gas, ~19%/13.5%/7% for EV.
Cost comparison over the period
Line item
Keep & Repair
Buy Replacement
"Keep" cost nets out the trade-in value you're giving up by keeping it, since that's a real opportunity cost. "Buy" cost nets out estimated resale value at the end of the period. Both are apples-to-apples net costs over the same time horizon.
Opens your browser's print dialog — choose "Save as PDF" as the destination.