Would you buy a new AC unit or pay $500 annually?

[Allen Wu]

Hi All - I have a rental property closed back in 2015. The AC unit was installed in the late 1980s. The Unit now requires annual maintenance (Freon refill and tune up). The cost has been going up everything year. Recent cost to do this every year is $500.

Given the age of my AC unit, would you keep paying $500 every year (or more) to maintain it or would you just buy a brand new AC unit that will cost ($8k)? 
Appreciate your insights. 
Note: it’s a condo. Central air unit. 

[Scott Trench]

While you can get all theoretical about it and argue the time value of money and how your discount rate need to be higher than 6.25% to justify that capital outlay, the bottom line is that this AC unit is 35+ years, is costing you $500 per year, and is highly likely to cause you another issue in the near term. Personally, I'd either: 

- Repair it this fall (when neither heating or cooling companies have a lot of business) 

- Wait for the next big repair and just replace the whole thing. 

I bet you save money and stress, and never know it, by replacing the unit in the next offseason. If you pay utilities, you may also find that they are cheaper with a newer, more efficient unit.