It's Cheaper To Keep Her (your old car that is)

By Mike Stevens

Steve Rozansky, owner of Family Auto Service in Baldwin says it's cheaper to fix up what you have, than go out and buy a new car.

It had been a few years since I last talked with Steve. I wasn't even sure if he was still in business, given the economy. But it turns out, business is booming! He is, in a sense, turning nuts and bolts into gold. Rozansky says it's too early to know exactly how much more business his auto repair shop is getting -- but he says its noticeable.

"People are going, you know, Steve, I don't want to buy a new car . What will it cost me to keep my car for another few years?"

"Nationwide, according to two industry sources -- AAA, and the Automotive Service Association -- there are not yet any hard numbers to show how much the auto repair business is growing.

But there's enough anecdotal evidence to show there is a trend.

Customer Jayne Gold -- a nurse from Freeport -- happened to be in Steve's shop when we were shooting our report about this for News 12 Long Island. Gold is one of those who says they want to hold onto their current vehicle longer -- in her case a 1994 Isuzu Trooper.

"I just started a new position and want to make sure everything is fine with that before I go into another major debt."

Gold plans to get a new vehicle eventually, but a noise in the muffler-- the reason she brought her Isuzu in to get checked-- isn't enough to make her do that just now.

Steve invited her into the work area to see for herself, with the SUV hoisted in the air, what is causing the noise. It's a piece of pipe that needs to be replaced. It's not the kind of thing that has to be done right away, but it does need to be fixed if she wants to keep her vehicle longer.

So when you are trying to decide for yourself, whether it's better to get a car fixed, or buy a brand new one, experts like Steve say it all comes down to the bottom line.

"Sometimes they get repair bills, and feel it's very high. But if you compare the repair bills to the lease payments of a car, you're saving a bundle"

In Gold's case -- given the economy, she wants to handle her next new car purchase differently than she has in the past. She wants to have a large down payment to make the least amount of monthly payments and get the least amount of credit. Though there are generally a lot of nursing jobs available, she says she has been laid off in the recent past and wants to make sure in the future, she does not have a lot of new debt.

Oh, and one more thing. When you are trying to calculate whether the repairs on your old car are going to cost more or less than buying a new vehicle -- don't forget to consider the amount of down payment you will need, the monthly payments for however long it takes to pay it off, and an increase in auto insurance.

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[Christopher Delaney]

I am the Founder of www.heroarmypfcjosephdwyer.com and a family friend. PTSD is a disease that is affecting many of our returning service-members as well as service-members from earlier wars. It was a great dedication to a Hero and the launching of our awareness to PTSD. We as a community need to take care of our Veterans for they give us our freedoms.