Car Trouble (Fish or Cut Bait)Follow

How much did you pay for the car? add that with $1k a year in repairs. How many years have you been repairing it? Is the total more or less than what a new car would cost you? If its more, I say go trade it in on something new with a warranty. Perferably a Toyota. Toyota's live FOREVER!

Leaking head gasket.. big problem - see below

Leaking distibutor cap? I think they meant distributor, not the cap. That is nothing more to fix than remove the distro and replace the gasket, no biggie.

Leaking oil pressure sending unit... again, no biggie, remove and replace the gasket - heck might as well replace the sending unit while your there, reasonably cheap and very easy.

Back to the head gasket - that could be hairy. It will require, at the least, a machining of the heads to get a smooth, leak free fit. The heads may be too warped to allow for machining and may need to be replaced. Another issue could be that it isn't the heads at all but the engine block itself, which may be cracked... that's bad, as in new engine bad.

I would check into the head leak and see what the cause is, as the other 2 issues are not earth shaking. If the heads are shot or the block is cracked, go for the new vehicle. If not, repair and baby it til you're ready for the commitment to a monthly payment.

My FWIW...

Agreed, I'm just pointing out that whether or not the new car is cheaper at this point really only depends on 1) the yearly cost of keeping each car running and 2) the possible inconvenience of having difficulties with the old vehicle.

The original cost of the old vehicle is long gone and does not matter. Unless, of course, the old vehicle is not fully paid off, but I get the impression that it is.

I'm somewhat in the same boat. We have 4 cars, 1988 Plymouth Voyager, 1988 BMW 325, and 2 1995 VW Jettas. Out of the 4 cars, my BMW has the least problems and we intend at the very least to keep that car for a few more years.

My husband has got it into his head to clean up and fix one of the Jettas to sell for around $7,500. A lot of modifications went into that car and it was a show car for the previous owner. But he's going to put at least $2,500 into fixing that car to sell it. I would rather sell it for around $5,000 instead of plunking money into it to sell at a higher price. But whatever cash we get out of it, we'll use to repair the other cars. Other Jetta needs a good paint job, a couple of minor repairs to the sunroof and a good tune up. The van needs a good paint job too and the windshield replaced. The BMW just needs a paint job. And for the paint jobs for the van and BMW, I'm just looking at the Maaco specials.

I've toyed with the idea of proposing to my husband to just sell off all 4 cars and get 2 new ones. Better performance, there are warranties, maintenance wouldn't be as expensive I'm thinking too.

I say get the new car AU, sounds like you want one, but won't admit it to yourself.

Edit: Because he's NOT AngryHippo.

Edited, Jul 11th 2006 at 1:05pm EDT by Thumbelyna

I've never paid a dollar for the car, my mom (*ashamed*) gave it to me when my old Sunbird died.



Good point about the insurance and gas. This car gets a solid 24mpg average on my daily commute which is all I use it for.


This was a good point until I mentioned it to my wife, who balks at the idea of another car payment on top of her Honda Pilot. Of course she had to get a new car first.

So I've called and I'm getting it fixed. If it is a cracked block then I'll hope they notice it. The car is 14 years old now (15 really, I guess, depending on the year that that model year came out) and the gaskets and things might just be degrading even with the low mileage.

It still is a bunch cheaper every year, especially since I only pay $400/yr in insurance for me and my car. USAA FTW!

I love USAA!

This is a lie. Neither me nor my wife has ever been active duty, reserve, or even in the military.

She was a military brat with a USAA credit card that she kept when after leaving dependant status with her father. Because she is a card holder she can open other accounts.

We do home insurance and car insurance with them.

You probably need to talk to them again or apply after he retires. I'm 100% certain someone is without a clue, or that at least after retirement you'll be able to apply.

Also, my father-in-law had no problems when he retired staying insured with them.

I just realized you called me AngryHippo or somthing.

Now this thread is going somewhere.

The repairs you need done aren't that serious imo. I've replaced head gaskets with 100% success, no leaks, no training aside from my pop telling me not to ***** up. The only reason your head would be overly warped is if it had been seriously overheated at some point. I'm talking not changing the oil for 12 months and running out of water overheated.

Glad to hear you're getting the Cutlass tip top again.

Imo purchasing a new vehicle is the worst possible investment. You might as well be throwing cash like confetti as you drive off the lot. Keep your eyes open and you may soon run into an ad for one of the rarely driven play toys of the rich and stupid. Let them pay the 'lot tax'.

It is quite possible to see leaks in that many places.. all probably unrelated to each other. Just normal wear and tear.

If you doubt their words though, the easiest way to to go to the local parts store, get a couple of cans of engine degreaser, drive to the local DIY car wash (the kind with the pressure washer wand), spray the degreaser on the hot engine, go have a cigarette (or wait 5-10 minutes if you don't smoke) then pressure wash the engine off. Drive the car and everytime you stop, take a look at the engine and see if those places are leaking or if it is leaking from the top and just spilling into those other spots making it look like there are leaks originating there. That would be be first step - it will save you a ton of time and money to check that first.

Yea it could, but I already told them to fix it, and I'm not a car expert so I would be hard pressed to point to the vague regions that they say are leaking.

I could have checked it out but I work from 9-7 almost every day, and just choose not to deal with it.

This is what I'm planning to do, I see that as a convergence point in about 3-4 years at the rate things are failing and at the rate that I drive. I'll be coming up on 100,000 miles (finally) in 2008.

If I'm spending 100$/mo it is still cheap compared to a new car.