Car trouble. Fix it or buy another junker?

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

If you live in or near a major metro area, you should be able to find either one or both of two services.
1) Junk Yard, "Pick-a-Part" where they sell everything "used", including engines. And, having the equipment to extricate an engine, they can install one; you'll probably have to ask around the back lot but for a couple hundred bucks you'll usually find some enterprising person willing to swap out the motors after work hours.
2) In most major metro areas, there are Motor and Transmission rebuild shops that sell and install rebuilt motors and transmissions. And $4K should just about do it.

Best option: sell the Scooby Doo and buy a Truck! Buy a Toyota Pick-Up Truck. Stop buying automobiles. They are junk to begin with and they are a bitch to work on. Don't buy a Domestic truck; buy a used Toyota. They're hard to find, but....well worth it. Parts are cheap and plentiful and the trucks are easy to work on.

I have owned many cars but fixed them myself most times. It used to be you could get a used engine for a few hundred bucks with low miles on them. I have bought cars for the engines and swapped them then junked the car removing lots of parts I might need. I have the equipment to do that. I still have the tools, but I have not replaced an engine in fifteen years and I actually had a transmission rebuilt at a local place since the used transmissions on 2000 explorers had a lot of problems, so a used one was not an option.

It depends on the car, if it is in good shape, swapping an engine isn't bad, but if you have to pay someone to do it it is expensive and you need to consider whether it is worth it.

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

DM me I can find you a good motor with warranty

If you're interested

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle: Keep buying crap, you end up putting more into it than if you'd gotten a loan in the first place. But something better, you ignore your disdain for owing a bank for something.

I say meet somewhere in the middle. There are plenty of decent vehicles that are mechanically sound in the $4,000-$5,000 range. Put about a grand down on it, get a loan for the rest, and pay it off quickly and early. The piece of mind of having something reliable for which you're not spending five times the amount of its worth on repairs will justify getting the loan, not to mention the constant concern that you will be stranded somewhere if the beater breaks down.

Just my two cents--I'm not a fan of car loans either, but if you don't have the few thousand to pay cash for a reliable car, I'd get the relatively small loan and just pay it off quickly.

But, if you don't want a loan, I'm sure you could find something relatively decent in the $1,500-$2,000 range, assuming that you can save up that much to pay cash. If not, I think that you're going to find yourself in a perpetual trap of throwing away money replacing cheap beaters.

a reply to: Grayarea

Thank you! That really sorts things out. I appreciate your advice.

originally posted by: neutronflux
a reply to: Gothmog

Car that paid for itself? If you want to give me 30,000 dollars now, I will gladly repay you 4,000 dollars in 11 years. Then gas, insurance, maintenance........

The first one cost me 12,000 the second 15,000 (of course there is interest, but them interest is charged on used as well) . ANd they were both SUVs

The problem with new cars is that yeah, they have a warranty, but they also lose about 30% of their value during the first few years through depreciation.

Figure that after 3 years of ownership, on a $30,000 dollar car, that's $10,000 gone, and for what? That new car smell?

I've had the best luck with 3-4 year old quality used cars. Someone else took most of the depreciation hit, and it may or may not still have a warranty.

Some examples:

2000 Camaro Z28 - bought for $13k, raced and beat on *hard* for 8 years, traded for a truck and buyer gave me some cash. I put 70k trouble free miles on it.

2002 Mazda Tribute - bought for $5k with 185k miles, driven by wife for 6 years, traded with a value of $1500 with 242k miles, no major repairs.

2004 Ion Redline - bought for $10k 5 years ago with 64k miles. Beaten, abused, drag raced, tracked. Currently has 113k miles and is about to undergo a turbo swap next week ( my choice, not necessary. Just want 400whp instead of 260whp. ) Worth about $4000 in trade. No major issues except for a necessary clutch swap and voluntary horsepower upgrades.

2011 Hyundai Tucson - wife's current car. Bought for 12k with 117k miles. Currently at 154k miles with no major issues. Will be paid off this year. Will probably go to 250k without issue.

Do some research, buy a quality used car for 10k with a small loan, pay it off ahead of time, and you can drive a car for 10 years at about a ~$1000/year cost.

originally posted by: cynicalheathen
The problem with new cars is that yeah, they have a warranty, but they also lose about 30% of their value during the first few years through depreciation.

Figure that after 3 years of ownership, on a $30,000 dollar car, that's $10,000 gone, and for what? That new car smell?

All cars depreciate in value, very true. The first three years are particularly brutal, then after that the rate they shed value slows down a lot.

However, if one is smart about it and views a car in the proper manner, a mode of transport to be kept until it needs replacing instead of being constantly updated to stay in fashion it becomes a different story.

Case example from NZ - My parents purchased a Toyota Hilux (small truck) in 2000. They paid $30,000 brand new back then. My mother still has that vehicle.

In the 16 years she has owned it, it has never needed a single thing replaced on it other than service items and tyres.
Because it is a Toyota Hilux and because she is the original owner and it is still in very presentable condition people regularly offer her $6,000 for it.

So, she has in effect lost $24,000 of the original purchase price. If we divide that $24,000 by the 16 years she has owned it she has lost $1,1500 per year. Absolute peanuts!

She also has a 2000 Daihatsu Sirion that was purchased new for a shade under $20,000. That is worth about $1,000 now so it has lost $19,000 in value - total loss per year over 16 years; $1187.50

So..... the smartest way ever to buy is to buy new, stick to to the recommended maintenance schedule and keep it till it goes no more.

Both of these cars are up around the 150,000 mile mark now. They have been serviced since day one by the dealer and have always followed the correct service schedule. The Hilux as mentioned has never needed a thing and still drives like new. The Sirion has had a couple of minor faults over time, but given that it was a cheap econobox car it too has done extremely well.

I`ve always been a firm believer that it`s cheaper to fix a car than it is to buy another one.

Get a used engine from a junk yard, they usually give you a short warranty on the used engine 30 days or 60 days, and find a small shop to put it in for you. you can get a good used engine for around $500 and they usually ship it free.
My daughter got a used engine for $400 and had it put in for $700, she drove the car for another three years before selling it and the engine was still running great.

In my opinion the only time you should start thinking about getting rid of a car instead of fixing it is when you start seeing rust holes. you could patch the holes but more are just going to appear soon.

If you can do some or all of the work yourself that`s even more of a reason to keep a car and fix it than to buy another car.

a reply to: markosity1973

I can agree with the keeping a new car until the wheels fall off. In fact, I'm in need of a new truck ( mine has become unreliable ), and I've been eyeing 3-4 year old trucks in the 25k to 30k range. I would absolutely keep it for AT LEAST 10-15 years to recoup my investment. Have to finish paying the wife's car off ( 3 years early ) first though...

Problem is, most people care ( for some strange reason ) what other people think about they drive, and play the "keeping up with the Joneses" game.

I live in a rural area, and there are a lot of actual "rich" people around, but you couldn't tell it from looking at their house, cars, or clothing. They didn't get rich by flaunting their money...

a reply to: cynicalheathen

Agreed.

I have 2 newish cars myself (bought new but a couple of years old now) and I plan to follow my mother's ideology. Her vehicles have shown me that if you buy right in the first place and then follow the maintenance schedule, they last and last.

Mine are a Korean brand that nobody buys, but much cheaper than Toyota, Ford, GM etc. So I can genuinely claim that I did not purchase to keep up with anybody. I know they will last because this manufacturer somehow got in good with Mercedes Benz and uses their drivetrains to power the vehicles.

a reply to: cynicalheathen

You`re right a lot of people think of their vehicle as some type of status symbol and don`t care how much the payments are.
not me I don`t care too much what it looks like as long as it`s reliable,and there are no rust holes or parts falling off

I figure I spend more time in my home than I do in my vehicle so I would rather spend money on my home than on a vehicle.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior
Thanks for all the points!

a reply to: tinner07
In my area, poor rural with a university, EVERYTHING is overpriced. Cars. Land. Milk. Gas. Beef. Anything with less than 150 k miles on it will be $7 k or so, and of questionable reliability. It's because college kids living on student loans pay the high prices, so why not charge em?

a reply to: Tardacus
Fixing cars is such great knowledge to have. Good on you!

a reply to: dogstar23

Showing your post to husband. Thanks so much!!!

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
a reply to: Gothmog

I wish we could! We have great credit, but we're paying off huge hospital bills. Not the time for a loan. Plus, we hate loans. I would do it, though, for a good car, if my wonderful husband was on board. He isn't.

I'm in this exact same position.

I have a Honda CR-V with undiagnosable problems. It's my fifth clunker in a row, and my husband's med bills are being paid off and he HATES buying on credit.

Just now found the thread --- but wanted to bump it to let you know you aren't alone...

a reply to: Look2theSacredHeart

Buying new cars is a big waste of money,the worst investment you can make,most of the new cars are all the same with plastic crap,thats made to break when you touch it,people who have no idea on how to work on cars should buy the new crap,they deserve it