You may love your old car, but sooner or later, you’re going to have to face the fact that she won’t live forever.
No car runs forever, and some cars end up being more expensive to run than they’re worth. Eventually, it’s going to be time to take the old girl to the commodore wrecker and have her crushed, but how do you know when that time has come?
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It’s lit up like a Christmas tree
One of the most glaring (literally) signs that your car has had its day is the fact that there are more lights on the dashboard than there were on your last Christmas tree. These lights are often called idiot lights because they’re meant to tell the driver something is wrong, but they’re so often ignored.
If you have numerous lights lit up, get it to a garage right away, but chances are it’s not going to be good news. If you’re lucky, you might just catch it before the engine fails.
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It’s guzzling gas
Older cars tend to be less economical anyway, but if you’ve noticed that your vehicle is getting fewer miles to the gallon than it used to, it could be a sign that there’s something wrong with the spark plugs or the fuel injectors or both.
Although these are both issues that a goods mechanic can sort for you, it’s not cheap, and if your car is old, verging on decrepit, it could be another sign that your vehicle has sadly had its day.
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It thirsts for oil too
If your car is going through oil like there’s no tomorrow, you’d be a fool to ignore it. Oil is placed in your car as a means of lubricating your engine. If it is disappearing at an alarming rate, chances are it is leaking out all over the place, and if you don’t deal with it soon, it will only get worse.
If it’s coming out of the exhaust or causing smoke to rise up from your vehicle when it’s turned on, that’s a sure sign that it’s had its day and you may want to say goodbye to your car for good.
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Coolant is disappearing
You see a theme here? If the coolant in your car is not lasting very long at all; if you check it every month only to find that it’s bone dry, you have a problem. Your car needs coolant for obvious reasons, and if it’s constantly disappearing, it’s turning your var into a ticking timebomb that you may not be able to ignore for much longer.
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It’s smoking
You may think your car’s smoking hot metaphorically speaking, but if it’s literally smoking hot, it’s time to worry.
If the smoke coming out of your car is blue, it probably means oil is leaking and being burned somewhere in the vehicle. Chances are one or more seals or valves have been compromised or your pistons have given up the ghost. This is really serious business. Your car could blow at any minute and you should stop driving it right away.
If smoke is heavy and white, chances are you are burning that missing engine coolant, which could point to a blown gasket or cracked cylinder head. Again, this is bad news and you should cease driving asap.
Black smoke? Well, that could indicate there’s a fire in the house, but it could also mean an engine that’s running too rich. So, get it carefully to a mechanic, but be prepared for the bad news.
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Knocking
An engine that’s making a knocking sound is never a good thing. Sometimes, it can just be a minor issue, but since your engine is the most important part of your vehicle, it is always with checking out.
One of the worst causes of a knocking engine, which could be a sign your car has had its day, is an engine that is incorrectly lubricated. This can enable your car’s rods, bearings, or camshaft to break free from the whole, blow a hole in the engine and leave you with a huge bill or a car that’s no longer good for anything other than scrap.
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It’s rusty
There is no easy way to say it, if your car is rustier than a Roman coin, it’s not looking good for your vehicle. Rust, once it starts to infect a vehicle, can very quickly take over the hood, fender, doors, and then swiftly make its way into brake and fuel lines, shockers, and the very frame of the vehicle.
Once it gets that far, your car is pretty much dead and you should have it disposed of as soon as possible. You won’t even be able to clean it up and have it in working order without basically buying so many parts that it’s a whole new vehicle altogether.
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It’s unreliable
If your old reliable car that was once able to take you anywhere you wanted to go without a hitch starts breaking down all over the palace, you can take that as a very clear sign it’s had its day. This is even more so the case if it breaks down due to a different problem each time.
If it’s the breaking one week and the transmission the next it’s glaringly obvious that the vehicle is simply not up to the job you need it for, and even if you could fix it up enough to get it on the road again, it would probably (almost certainly)cost you more than it could ever be worth to do so.
If you’ve spotted any of these 8 tell-tale signs in your vehicle, it’s a pretty safe bet to say your car has passed its peak and it may be time to retire the old girl once and for good, It will be sad, but it will also be an opportunity for you to explore the advances in car technology that have come about in the years since you got her and that’s pretty exciting.
