There comes a time in your life when your old car starts making a weird noise, and maybe sometimes sputters a little, or even just shuts down to take a nap in the middle of a highway. No biggie. You’ve been with this car for a long time now, and you’ve completely paid off for it. There’s a hint of reminiscence in the air.

But there also comes a time in your life when you have to decide whether or not it’s worth it to fix your car, or just send it on to end its miserable life. Today, we’re here to give you some tips that will help you make that decision a little easier.

1. Look at the signal lights

When you’re in doubt of whether your car is dying, it’s good to look at the red signals. Literally. On the dashboard of every car, there are these little signal lights that indicate what is wrong with the car. If you check engine light is repeatedly lit up, it’s an early sign that your car will soon meet its maker. Use the signal lights to keep yourself updated on your car’s status and whether it’s time for a change.

2. A rusty car

Malaysia is a truly wet and humid country, and with all things wet, comes rust. Now, rust is a very expensive problem to fix and it continues to get worse if you don’t stop it when it starts. Eventually, you’ll find that your paint and metal will be eaten away, and the rust will only spread faster at that point. It may also lead to water leaks in the body of your car, which will lead to more rust and corrosion. If your car is equivalent to the underside of a metal hinge in the middle of a park, you better consider changing your car.  

3. The transmission is breaking down

The transmission of your car is like the joints of your body, if it breaks down, you’re essentially paralyzed for life. A slow response from your car’s transmission means that it is losing gears, and anything you say or do is just delaying the inevitable. At this point, the only solution is to replace the transmission or get a new car.

4. Rising cost of repairs

If you’re finding yourself forking over your hard earned cash every month to keep your car barely running, maybe it’s time to ask yourself whether it’s time to cut the losses and sell off the car while it still hasn’t turned into scrap metal. Sometimes, the combined cost of repairs on your old car can build up and you may even find that you can probably use all that repair money to get a brand new, more reliable car.

5. A lot of parts recalls

Anything mechanical will definitely come with issues, including your car parts. However, it’s important to keep up to date on the recalls of your car to change the parts. If it becomes a pattern or you get a major recall, maybe it’s time you get a new car. Getting a lot of parts recalled is no good news for the car in the short run.

6. There are leaking fluids

The car is very much like a human body, in that it has fluids to keep it running like a well-oiled machine. And if your car is leaking any of these fluids, and you find yourself having to top it up all the time, whether it’s the coolant, oil, brake or power steering fluids, then maybe it’s time to cut ties with your car and let it go before it costs you even more in repair costs.

7. The starting and stopping are jerky

Whether you suddenly feel that your car is jerking around more than usual, when it suddenly accelerates or brakes, it’s most probably a transmission issue. Now these are quite expensive to fix, so if your car is jerking and shuddering and making a lot of grinding noises, maybe it’s time to move on.

8. Hitting the big 100k

It’s always good to hit a milestone in your life, but when you hit the big 100,000km milestone, it’s time to evaluate the car for what it’s worth and maybe see if it’s what you expect. Some cars are built to run way past the 100k milestone, but some cars are just limping towards the finale. Seeing how well the car runs and putting in the pros and cons will definitely help you to decide on whether it’s time to change a new model or not.

9. Smoke and mirrors

We often see cars with smoke coming out of their tailpipes; blue smoke is for burning oil and white smoke is for evaporating coolant. Your car will definitely need to keep up with the expelling of the fluids, and you will need to keep topping it off. But once you don’t do so, that means the engine will be the next one to go up in smoke, literally speaking, costing you a lot of money to fix. So when you see smoke, maybe it’s time to consider getting a new car.

What do you think? Has your car hit any of these 8 signs? Leave a comment below!