I'm sorry to hear about the car problem. I'm not a big car person, but I was wondering if you can share some of the specific problems you're having with your car. That might give you a better shot of getting good advice from our other readers. =)

Nice blog! Well its every car owners concern to protect their beloved car from damages, defects,etc. Its quite expensive when car undergo repairs. Basic car maintenance would be a great help in maintaining cars. That's why I see to it that I checked my mercedes 400E parts from time to time. As for an old car, maybe bringing it to a trusted mechanic would help. It would really nice to preserve the car. Good luck.

I hope that helps get the juices flowing from the readers.

The only car stuff I know I get from Car Talk (888-227-8255, and they have a forum).

It soundsl like this guy might have a similar problem with his Honda.

I guess it all comes to how much you value your time. Did you count that into your monthly payments?

My attitude to it is to drive my old car for as long as I feel comfortable with the time/effort I sped repairing it.

The thing is if you go to a mechanic, unless they are a personal friend or its a real easy fix, they are going to charge you the going rate. Bill's idea is good in that you want someone with the experience to diagnose the problem. Some mechanics will charge the exact time they worked on it, others will charge the exact book time for the repair, even if it took half the time.

It seems the question you were originally asking if there are any tricks to get a cheaper price from a mechanic or dealer. In most cases, avoid the dealer, they usually charge a premium price. The work usually is decent but some are crap. The real advantage is most usually will not charge beyond the book time, even if it takes longer. The best mechanic I know runs his own shop pretty much solo, but he is not the cheapest. If you get to know him though he tries to give the best price he can. The thing is that a mechanic's time and knowledge is all he has. If they give away too much of that it costs them money. Then there is the incredible investment they need to make just for the tools to do the job. If you have ever worked on cars you also notice the physical abuse to your body. Some repair jobs are easy, most are not. So you not only are paying for time and knowledge, but you are paying to not beat yourself up with a repair that will take you 3 times as long as the professional.

The cheapest route is to DIY as much as possible, then use a mechanic for the things you can't do. This will vary with your abilities. Having knowledgeable friends can be a big bonus if they know what they are doing. In your particular case, you own a Honda. They are well supported on various online boards, some more than others depending on the model. One of the big ones is honda tech, if you search you can find others. I would post what the issue is with much detail, watch out for jerks, but be very nice to the people there. They could save you big bucks. Not only can they help diagnose, but there are many tech write-ups on how to do many types of repairs.

Yan had it right. The question you have to ask ultimately is, how much is it worth to you? I have access to my old school's student autoshop, and I have a friend who knows about cars. Especially mine since he has the same model Honda. So I spent 12 hours two Saturday's ago swapping the transmission. It was rough, but the money saved was well worth it. Most people do not have those kind of resources. So for an older car learn as much as you can and do what you can yourself. Keep track of the money you spend on it and compare it to the price of a payment for a new car. If you start spending too much on the old car, its time to dump it. If you reach a point where you can do many of your own repairs, getting a decent used car is a better bargain. That said, Honda's are popular, especially the older ones, so keeping them running on the cheap is possible.