old guy need advice: sell it or keep it?

I am 59 and have troublemaking up my mind what to do.....
I have a 2004 aveo that I bought new for $9800....changed timeing belt at 70,000 miles,,,,,....this has been a great car now with 144000 miles,,,..it is a 5 speed no air and was great through the high gas prices.....
now it has signs of rust on rocker panels and I can't decide if I should have timing belt changed and drive more or sale it now($1500).... it has been a great car,,,tougher than my jeep patriot.... I can get a timing belt kit on ebay for $43 and there is a local guy that would change for less than $150......still there is a chance he could mess it up....no gurantee.
any thoughts appreciated...

I have an 04 too, just had the timing belt changed again. Since you asked my opinion is get the belt changed and drive it. If you get $1500.00 for it I would be surprised at least according to the market in my area. The local dealers aren't getting much more for that year Aveo around here, especially if it's starting to rust. Good luck.

Ask the guy how many Aveo belts he's done. If it's at least one prior, and you believe his answer, then I'd say yes. Sure, he COULD mess the job up, but so could a more expensive mechanic as well. The job isn't really that difficult, especially after having done one previously, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

However, I'd be a bit suspicious about a 4 piece belt kit selling for $43. The going price for a decent kit is around $100, so you might post the link to the belt you're looking at so that we can take a look at what you're considering buying.

I would go with AVguy and by a kit with a water pump replacement. There is a lot of crap to remove for water pump and 150$ is on the low side. Yeah you might be in for 350 on the repair however you will also get a car that you can drive for 5 more years.

I had the dealer by me do mine and was not that bad to change all of that. Under $300 and is covered by the dealer. I got my belts and adjuster at NAPA and are lifetime warranty(alt belt) and made by Gates. Timing belt covered for the service period stated by maker so 60K. Was not impressed by NAPA water pump as impeller was plastic and got one from Oreily's and impeller was steel.