I will ditto what El is saying having had my own experience with old cars through the years. What I've always done was determine the cost per month it averages out to keep the car going and then see if a newer used one that is certified isn't much more. In most cases if I was already spending enough to average to 150 to 200 a month over a year I started shopping. If I had issues like you have, I really went shopping. There are plenty of much newer cars out there that you can get for less than 300 a month for a good certified used vehicle that could last you another decade or more depending on what you get and how old it already is. If you need a bigger vehicle, it will cost more, of course. But you are looking at a good 2500 dollars and probably already have damage to other things like El said, so that is already 200+ a month if it lasts a year.