<prompt> Human: I drive a 2003 Kia Rio. In August I did about 850 worth of routine maintenance tune up, radiator flush, hoses and such. Then in September I spent 850 on a new clutch. I recently found two large puddles in my garage of transmission fluid and something else. First place I took it to said its roughly 1200 but they cant fix everything. They referred me to another place that Im waiting for a quote on. The Kelley Blue Book value for very good condition is only 1588 for private sell or 367 trade in. Is it worth fixing? Or should I buy a new car? My main concern is that I have a baby due in 3 weeks. If I buy something new, I want something safe, but Im also not sure if I can afford a car payment on top of day care. Im currently putting 333 biweekly towards retirement 14 that I could back off on if necessary. Assistant: I dont personally believe the overall value of the vehicle should play much into the decision to repair it or not. You should look at the big picture. How much have you spent over, say, the last 3 years maintaining and repairing this vehicle? How long will spending the money on this repair likely keep the vehicle going? Is the vehicle otherwise in good shape? etc.I would avoid taking on a car payment just prior to a new baby unless it has been specifically planned for and budgeted for in advance. There are additional costs that a newer car will bring as well - higher insurance, possibly higher registration costs, and maintenance and repair costs of their own. Do you have cash to buy another used car if you dont repair this one?Human: The car is in otherwise good shape. I would hope that this fix would last another year, but with it being so old, I dont know that for sure. I could have sold it three months ago thinking it had zero problems. Im hesitant to buy another used car because I could run into similar problems as with this one. Ive been wanting to upgrade cars soon but had hoped it would be in a year or two instead of now. Ill be getting a 12k per year raise next August that would make car payments easy. Its the daycare starting in January that Im worried about. Assistant: I think you are right to be really cautious about taking on any additional fixed expenses just before a baby is due. Lets see what this shop says. A leaking transmission doesnt mean it necessarily needs to be replaced. I think a better course of action would be to start saving the amount of money youd be spending on a car payment and insurance while keeping this car for the time being. Say that is 300month. In a year you will have 3600 minus whatever keeping this vehicle running costs you. Even if it runs another 1500 in repairs, you are still positive 2100 in your new car fund. At that point you re-assess, with some cash in your pocket.Human: I have about 12k on hand, but that includes emergency fund. I recently got a government job, so theres almost no chance of losing my job. Im paying extra towards student loans and retirement account that I could back off of a bit, but, of course, still want to be cautious with unknown baby costs.  <response>: Buying a replacement vehicle counts as an emergency, I would say buy something more reliable for half your emergency fund. 