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Llevo semanas sin comprar el repuesto porque es muy caro.

Llevo semanas sin comprar el repuesto porque es muy caro.
I haven't bought the spare part for weeks because it is very expensive.
From Lesson 354:Degrees of doubt (quizá, tal vez)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Llevo semanas sin comprar el repuesto porque es muy caro.

Why is llevo used here to mean "I haven't bought"? Doesn't it usually mean "to carry"?
While llevar often means "to carry" or "to wear," the formula llevar + [time period] + sin + [infinitive] is a very common way to express how long you haven't done something. Here, Llevo semanas sin comprar translates to "I haven't bought [it] for weeks." You can think of it literally as "I carry weeks without buying."
The English translation says "for weeks." Why isn't there a word like por before semanas?
In Spanish, when you use verbs of duration like llevar to express time, the time period itself acts directly as the object. You do not need a preposition like por or durante to mean "for." You simply say llevo semanas.
What exactly does repuesto mean in this context?
Repuesto means "spare part" or "replacement." It comes from the verb reponer (to replace or restock). You will hear it a lot when talking about fixing cars, appliances, or electronics, often as piezas de repuesto (spare parts) or simply repuestos.
Could I say está muy caro instead of es muy caro?
Yes, but there is a slight difference in nuance. Using es muy caro (with the verb ser) implies that the spare part is generally an expensive item by its very nature. If you use está muy caro (with estar), it suggests that the price is currently high compared to normal, perhaps due to inflation, a bad exchange rate, or a temporary shortage.
How would I apply this lesson's adverbs of doubt to say "because it is probably very expensive"?
You can insert an adverb like probablemente right after porque. For example: porque probablemente es muy caro. Because you are stating what you believe is a highly likely fact, you keep the indicative verb es. If you wanted to show much more doubt, you could trigger the subjunctive with a phrase like tal vez, as in: porque tal vez sea muy caro (because perhaps it is very expensive).

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