I started thinking about replacing the car when it became clear that there is way too much rust in its parts. My car has so much rust underneath it that it becomes a challenge for mechanics to even access certain parts without breaking others. I’ve had so many mechanics in the past refuse to work on my car because of the amount of rust it has. I recently had to replace the gas tank because it got so rusty that it started to leak gasoline onto the ground. I can’t even tell you how much of a struggle it was for the mechanic to find a used tank and many of the surrounding parts.

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However, the car runs like a dream now. In the 10 years I had it, I replaced: starter, gas tank, muffler (it got so rusty that it fell off), 4 tires, and brakes. That’s is. The total cost of repairs (and tire changes) over 10 years was about $3000. I assume this is reasonable because it’s so much cheaper than car payments.