$1500 is cheaper than a new car anyway. I hear people talk about how expensive it is to get an engine rebuilt (or any other big-ticket repair item), and that they think of just getting a whole new or used car instead. You can keep a car until the floor falls out, the strut towers split apart, or other major very-difficult-to-repair damage like that (and even those things can be fixed if you really want to do it).

How old is your car anyway? Either you had bad luck with it or it got neglected...