Here’s a way to keep your car on the road to safety and savings: If the vehicle ever develops serious engine trouble, ask yourself whether you should repower or replace the vehicle. The choice can mean a difference of thousands of dollars.

An apt analogy

If you had a serious plumbing problem, would you repair your current plumbing or install all-new plumbing? What if covering the cost of the new plumbing meant you had to apply for a loan that would take you years to pay off? What if your homeowner’s insurance rate would increase significantly if you bought the new plumbing?

“This may seem like an absurd scenario, but when engine trouble hits, many vehicle owners don’t even consider repowering their engine instead of taking on the financial burden of buying a whole new car,” said Ken Carter, chairman of the Engine Repower Council, a nonprofit organization that supports the “Be Car Care Aware” consumer education campaign.

Cost comparison

For example, to replace a worn-out engine with a remanufactured/rebuilt engine in a 1980?1995 full-size V-8 domestic pickup would cost $2,700?$3,450 compared to an average cost of $30,000 to purchase a new vehicle. “The cost savings is significant and that’s without taking into account auto loan interest and increased insurance rates,” continued Carter.

A look at repowering

With repowering, a vehicle’s engine or an identical one from a similar vehicle is completely disassembled, cleaned, machined and remanufactured or rebuilt. Unlike used or junkyard engines with an unknown performance and maintenance history, repowered engines are dependable, reliable and backed by excellent warranty programs.

Learn more

To learn more about engine repowering and view a cost comparison chart for many popular vehicles, visit www.enginerepower.org and click on Cost Comparisons. (NAPSI)