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Help! Repairs cost more than the car is worth!!
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Comments
If you have other high interest debt (ie CCs), you can fold them in too. Same payment, lowere interest rate, means you pay them off faster. Just don't run them up again.
Mathias is right. It is expensive (and hard) to be poor. You also need to get a HELOC before you need it, since when you do finally need it, you may not get it. One of the little quirks of personal finance.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
By taking a 2nd mtg or line of credit you can make use of the $$$ in your home and pull yourself by your bootstraps. If I were in your shoes I would borrow enough to buy a more suitable vehicle and get enough cash out to pay off any unsecured debt (any outstanding car loans and credit card debt).
Thank you for your info.... I really appreciate it. It helps to know someone has actually been through this. Still waiting to hear from my bank. We submitted our application last week. They are supposed to be sending me more paper work as we were not automatically approved via their website. (Big Surprise!) If you'd be willing to let me know the financial institution that you got your home eq. loan with, that would be helpful as it would be nice to have someone to call if this doesn't go through.
If I'm not being too invasive could I ask a few questions?
*What is your interest rate?
*How long did the process take?
*What are your mo./payments on a 30k loan?
*Do you recommend a Lne of credit or a regular home eq. loan? (I'm unclear on the difference.)
Sorry for the 20 questions. If you don't want to post it here you can e-mail me at thebyrdcreek@aol.com .
Thanks so much for your time!! :-)
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I checked my e-mail and didn't receieve an e-mail from you. Could you maybe try to send it again? (thebyrdcreek@aol.com)
thanks.
I don't remember hearing of any issues with the 5 speed manual, and in fact this seems to be commmon on most japanese small/mid-size cars. The ATs might be problematic, but the manuals should last forever if they aren't abused.
I personally would only get a manual on a higher-milage car like that, but then again, I only buy sticks on new cars!
Also, on the 626, don't discount the 4 cyl/5 speed combo. It's reasonably spritely, and should cost less to buy/own than the V6, plus it gets pretty good mileage.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Takes effect 1 Jan 2005. Don't get burned by the feds.
So yes, if your buddy "walks away" from the car, he both ruins his credit and still owes the bank or finance institution, and they WILL do everything in their power to harass him for it. He owes every penny of the loan outstanding.
Not a good idea to walk away. He'd be much better off hiring an attorney and trying to negotiate a buy out of some kind.
Never EVER walk from a car loan without legal counsel and a pretty darn good reason for walking, other than "I can't pay". I've done some expert witness work on this matter and the consumer who walks usually gets beat up in court.
You would be better off keeping the vehicle as long as it is operational in order to give you time to save up a significant downpayment for a newer vehicle.
Might I humbly suggest that if you have to ask... you should disclose.
OTOH, with a few more hits you might be a contender for "most totals of a sport-utility"... (Since you don't seem too distressed by the latest ding)
-Greg
ie. Fix it? what exactly needs to be fixed and how much??
New engine??
Dump it??
Help needed. Thanks!!
But maybe a salvage motor from a wreck?
I have no idea what either of these would cost, but if you really want to keep the body, I would try to find and price a salvage motor. One with at least a 90 day/3,000 mile warranty.
If you REALLY like this car, try to find a used engine.
The trouble is, these "junkyards" aren't cheap anymore like in the old days!
What else could I do with it? Drive it till it really dies at the side of the road? Should I sell it to a wrecker as is? Or would someone buy it to rebuild it themselves??
you should be able to find a nice reliable car for half that.
I assume you are in Canada, so I don't know what the market is like there ... but here is an example of what I see. A low miles V6 automatic 626 for $4k.
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/car/202880935.html
And that's just the asking price.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Well, one of the gearheads at work clued him in to using heavier oil... but synthetic, so it would still lubricate well enough when cold. So he put Mobil 1 20W50 in the engine, and the problem went down to what seemed like barely 10% of the smoke from before. It's certainly worth trying.
-Mathias
Last week the engine light showed yellow and she took it to a car place who charged her $90 and ran diagnostics and came up with about $2,000 worth of repairs needed. Since that is about the book value of the car now, she is in a quandary about what to do.
The car place prioritized the work that needed to be done and said the O2 sensor was the most critical. That, and some other sensor replacement, with labor, comes to about $500. Priority 1 and 2 stuff together come to about $1200.
I know zero about cars. What is the O2 sensor and is it really that critical?
The yellow light has since gone out.
The dealer says if this stuff is done the car is good for another 100,000 miles. Could that be true? There are 98,000 miles on the car now - lowish for a car that old.
The car was bought new in 1997 and has been meticulously maintained by my parents and now by Cathy. So that is a consideration too, when it comes to considering trading it in and getting another used car of unknown providence. (Buying a new car right now is not financially possible).
I wish we knew somebody locally who knew about cars. I think Cathy gets ripped off a lot as a woman walking into car places where they assume, correctly, that she knows nothing about cars.
Any thoughts?
The labor costs are what makes it so expensive. And it seems they don't "consolidate the labor charges" - so even if they do 5 things and because they do it all at the same time they get done quicker they don't charge less. It is "this much labor charge for this job" period. Is that common car repair practice?
Thanks,
doug
I talked to the mechanics about this problem and read several internet sites with comments from other people who had the same problem.
I decided to put black tape over the light and ignore it.
We gave the car to our daughter a couple years later. A year later, they found that they had to get the light fixed before the car could pass the auto inspection in our area. However, if they spent at least $600 and the light was still on, it would pass inspection.
They paid $600 for some work, the light stayed on, and the car was allowed to pass inspection. The car runs great.
The oxygen sensor is pretty important as it affects mileage and performance. That said, it could be "bad" and not really have a noticeable negative impact. Or it could. Perhaps someone who knows this motor will chime in here. The light went off after the dealer cleared the trouble
code(s). It likely will return in shortly. Is the car running okay?
Dealers are always going to be high. Labor costs are frequently "book based" - if the book says it takes 3 hours to complete a particular job, that's what you'll be charged for.
I agree. If the oxygen sensor is bad, the mileage and performance will suffer.
Of course, the contrapositive is also true. If the mileage and performance are good, the oxygen sensor is fine.
Therefore, I suggest that doug just keep driving the car as it is. If the mileage and performance are good, it means the oxygen sensor is fine and the CEL is simply a false alarm.
its a silly setup if you ask me. though i guess it could be abused the other way too...if you paid strictly on actual labor, and the service guys dragged their feet so as to make more on you....
lose lose either way i s'pose!
-thene :shades:
And in order to beat the book times, they invest thousands of dollars into the special tools that allow them to beat the clock.
The average dealership technician probably has 50,000 or more invested in tools.
In my industry it is called time card fraud and people go to jail for it. :confuse:
Oh yeah one of our techs has this ultimate multimeter type thing that is like a tablet PC thing. It can do EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING. I think it cost him 5,000 dollars.
He can get real time info on almost every system of a vehicle.
Then there are miserable jobs where the best guy out there can't finish using book times.
The A/C compressor finally quit after nearly 20 years on my 1988 Buick Park Avenue. The repair will definately cost more than the car is worth, but it's going to be a hot summer and I drive this car the most. Other than that, the car runs fine. Trying to find a car in comparable condition at a reasonable price is tough.
Ya $300 cars are tough to find :shades:
Ouch!! You just doomed it!!
Is that the death nell I'm hearing?
;b
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Lemko - I for one think you are doing the right thing. You like the car and a repair on it is only a payment or two on something newer. I envy your willpower.
I think it means one is finally getting depreciation-free miles out of his/her car, only paying for gas/repairs/insurance. I would probably not hesitate to put 2000 in a car worth less than that if I owned it since new or nearly new.
unless you always buy 2K cars and I know people who get along just fine doing that. They buy 1 oe 2K vehicles and when they poop, they dump it and buy another one.