Why I'm keeping my 16-year-old Honda Accord
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Joe's mechanic, Hoang Dinh, inside his Ferndale auto repair shop. Photo: Joe Guillen/Axios
I've always bought used cars, a habit I inherited from my dad.
Between the lines: His aging Cadillacs, usually the length of a small boat, used to embarrass me a little. Now I get it.
- Cars are personal, and buying used means somebody else takes the biggest depreciation hit.
My ride: Several years ago, I went to the Toledo area to buy a used 2010 Honda Accord.
- It now has about 160,000 miles and is the best car I've ever owned.
- I don't want a new one. I want to keep this one going.
State of play: When I moved to Ferndale over a decade ago, I didn't have a mechanic I trusted.
- Earlier this year, when my Accord needed a timing belt and brakes, I did some internet research and tried Dinh Auto Repair on West Nine Mile.
Flashback: Hoang Dinh has worked at the shop since 1982, when he joined his father there. His family bought the business in 1990.
- It took a little convincing to get him to take my car. After more than four decades fixing cars, Dinh says, the physical part of the job is getting tougher.
- But he did, and I was happy with the work.
Then came the real test: About a month ago, my Accord started shutting down while I was driving nearby.
- I managed to get it to Dinh's shop. He replaced the alternator and battery, and I had the car back the next day for a little under $1,000.
- At that moment, having a mechanic I trusted felt incredibly valuable.
I'm sentimental about my Accord.
- Dinh isn't: "Car is to me just transportation," he says. "A to B."
Yes, but: He understands why people hang on to older cars.
- A paid-off car isn't losing thousands of dollars a year in depreciation, while replacing it can mean sales tax, higher insurance and a costly loan.
- His general rule: If the repair bill doesn't badly exceed the car's value, fixing it can still make sense.
The bottom line: For me, the bigger question is whether I'd rather spend money maintaining a car I know and love or tens of thousands of dollars replacing it.
- Right now, that's an easy call.
🚗 Your turn: Who's the mechanic or repair shop you trust with your car — and what did they do to earn it?
- Email [email protected] and tell us who you keep going back to and why.