re: Need advice (opinions) about my vehicle.

I think it depends on your financial situation. If you are strapped for cash, pay the 1200 and get what you can get out of it. If you can swing a new car note, you may save some headache. The car may be running fine now. But over the next year, you may end up with 3k more worth of repairs. 200k miles isn't terrible, but I'd rather not gamble on the reliability at that point if I had the money to get another vehicle. Plus you get a new vehicle. Being frugal is a good thing, bit getting nice things every once in a while isn2t to shabby either.