Should you fix or cut bait?

He was a testament to the idea of hope over experience.

When Dan Kenning was in college, he picked up a used car, “a blue 1987 Mercury Topaz.

“It rolls off the tongue so nicely because I’ve said it to so many tow truck drivers.”

It might sound funny, but Kenning isn’t laughing and he sure isn’t alone in the world. Year and thousands of dollars in repairs later and, for some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to part with it.

He replaced the engine once, the transmission twice, and “little things”: tires, brakes . . . the hood release...

“I think I’ve paid for it two or three times over,” he says. “You put all that money into it, and you feel obligated to drive it.”

The imminent death of a beater

If you can’t decide whether to junk your car or get a newer one with seemingly fewer problems — and that seems to be the underlying question with almost all vehicle purchases — heavy-duty equipment mechanic Mike Munroe has just two questions:

First, does the car show potential “death signs” that will never be worth fixing?

“If you’ve got a noise from the engine like a loud, slow knock, it probably means you’ve spun a rod bearing,” Munroe says. “That’s the end of the engine.” Time for a new one, or at least a rebuilt one ($1,500-$5,000).

Depending how much the car is worth at the time of terminal diagnosis, you’ll have to question your loyalty to the vehicle.

If you can rule out imminent death, go to the second question:

Is it practical to fix, or will the repairs cost more than the car?

Take Munroe’s old pickup truck. With more than 250,000 miles on it, it has almost no intrinsic value. “But it’s still in really good condition,” he says. “So if I blew out the engine, I might still be inclined to fix it,” because replacing it would cost a lot less than replacing the whole vehicle. And since he drives a whopping 8,000 miles a month, “Why would I want to (buy) a brand new truck that I’m just going to go beat up?”

Rust is another big factor, he says. It can be a safety hazard, “Especially if the taillights or headlights are rotted out, or the doors aren’t closing anymore because the pillars are rotten.” Fixing it can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, but anything that wouldn’t pass a safety inspection has to be corrected.

Surface rust is different; beaters don’t have to be pretty. If it’s not full of holes, a little sandpaper and some “rattle-can” rust paint might add a year to a car’s life.

Other problems aren’t so simple.

“If you hit a bump and the car skips away, you could be looking at some serious front end work,” Munroe warns. Tie rods and ball joints can add up to over $1,000 in no time.

As usual, maintenance is key

On the other hand, not everything is a warning sign. If the car doesn’t start on cue when it’s cold, it could be water in the fuel line. And that squealing noise could be an alternator bearing, or a belt. But little things get worse. Get them checked right away, or pucker up and kiss your car — or your wallet — good bye.

“Any vehicle can last a long time if it’s had proper maintenance,” says Munroe, pointing to commercial trucks where engines can log hundreds of thousands of miles without needing major work.

“By transportation standards, those things are beaters. Why are they still running? Because someone’s doing the proper maintenance.” That means good oil, good filters, regular oil changes, and keeping everything properly greased, lubricated, and clean.

Rich Porco agrees. A certified automotive technician, Porco owns a repair shop and service station. Keeping a car really depends on the vehicle, he says.

“I’ve seen cars that are 20 years old and still in decent shape, so people don’t mind spending $1,000 on them. And I’ve seen cars five or six years old that you shouldn’t spend any more money on; they’re just wrecks.”

Porco recommends a thorough mechanical inspection before any final decision.

“We go bumper-to-bumper,” he says. “If we see the car needs another $2,000 worth of work, plus an engine, we usually say it’s not worth it.

“But if the car has low miles, and it’s just a lack of maintenance that made someone’s engine decide to quit, it may be worth fixing instead of buying another one, where you don’t know what you’re getting.”

It comes down to cost, he says. Take the brakes: new brake pads might run about $70; but brake calipers that don’t properly release could push that closer to $250. In some cases, that might be the cost of one caliper. Double that if your rotors need replacing, too. What’s it worth compared to your car?

Porco offers one more tip: when you size up your car, don’t miss the forest for the trees.

He recalls one car that was so loud, “I looked down and I could see the road. The whole floor was gone.

“The customer was more concerned about oil leaks.”

As for Kenning, his Topaz experience was a battle of wills.

“But then you forget. You think ‘OK, the car’s won this time . . . It’s character-building, really.”