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We had almost the exact same situation as you. A 2000 Subaru, needed similar costing repairs, had just done repairs a few months earlier. Had one car payment already, but decided a second car payment would be easier to manage than a money pit!

@NCSUchick27: we had the same situation as you. DH had a 2006 impreza with over 200,000 miles that was starting to rust. We traded it in and bought a 2015!

I would buy another car.
We're getting close to having to make that decision. Husband has a car that has 100k+ miles, he uses it for work and it's needed some repairs lately. We're going to consider trading it in for a certified pre-owned with less miles and a good warranty and see how low we can get the payment. (All the others we've bought new, so I'm curious)

How much is your car even worth? I gave up on my first car when the transmission went out because it would have cost more to fix it than the car was worth.

I used the money I would have had to spend for the repair as a down payment.

We just put $2k into our 200,000 mile 2003 accord. We can also afford a new car but it made more sense to us to keep this one going. Our other car also has 200,000 and we plan to replace it first.

I'd probably keep it going!

For me it would depend on what has been repaired/what work it needs currently and whether that will likely keep the car going for years longer. If you can make one more expensive repair and drive it for a few more years with only minor maintenance needed, that's not a bad deal compared to a regular car payment. DH drives an old 1990s SUV to work (very short commute, though) and I drive a much newer car. Just about everything has been replaced on his ride and it runs well so our plan is to keep that going and put off buying a newer one for as long as possible. BUT I stay at home and if his were to suddenly crap out we could make it work on 1 until we got another car purchased. That wouldn't be an option for everyone!