Buy or Fix?

hankjoey

1996 Ford Escort LX Wagon - 130,000 miles use like a truck Been missing on & off (When took to shop - it wasn't doing it so said nothing wrong)- Couple days later almost didn't make it to the repair shop. It was miss bad and then engine was making knocking noises - not smoking or buning oil.. Anyway, Guy says needs a new coil, but he wouldn't put anything more in it because the engines going to die soon.
Wife likes the car because it's small and easy to drive, I like it for the hauling capability. Anything similar out there now? if not, Is it worth fixing?

kyfdx

hankjoey said:

1996 Ford Escort LX Wagon - 130,000 miles use like a truck Been missing on & off (When took to shop - it wasn't doing it so said nothing wrong)- Couple days later almost didn't make it to the repair shop. It was miss bad and then engine was making knocking noises - not smoking or buning oil.. Anyway, Guy says needs a new coil, but he wouldn't put anything more in it because the engines going to die soon.
Wife likes the car because it's small and easy to drive, I like it for the hauling capability. Anything similar out there now? if not, Is it worth fixing?

I'm sure there are plenty of things you could get to replace it. What is your budget?

It's always hard to put a value on fixing a car that old. It's one major repair from being scrap. My 68-yr-old sister has been driving her Escort wagon for at least 15 years.

hankjoey

Yes, there are plenty, but they are bigger or if small size you open up the back and the seat automatically flips forward and still not enough room for what I usually haul. Will also post on the electric area about the coil. Looked at a jeep compas? Right amount of room, Wife thought it might be a little big for her. Escort turns on a dime & can park most anywhere. The Jeep at 74,000 miles at 9,000. Most other cars were over 100,000 and same price -

stever

I drive them forever but if you upgrade a decade to an '06 era or newer car, you'll gain some safety features. That said, used cars are priced higher than they've ever been.

Kia Soul, Scion xB, Chevy HHR, PT Cruiser, Focus wagon, Matrix/Vibe, and Sable/Taurus wagons could all be possibilities.

If you're thinking about new, check out the HR-V or CX-3.

hankjoey

Will take a look at those. Ford Focus wagon might have been the one we looked at - perfect size from the outside, but the inside was way too small. thanks.

hankjoey

Update: We decided to fix the engine - got a used (80,000 miles) one and had it put on. Seems to run just fine. We found another Ford Escort Wagon (LX) a couple hours away from us at about the same price as putting the engine in. But, we knew what repairs we'd made on this one. For us the size of the vehicle and the room for "stuff" was important. Hopefully it'll last another 50,000 miles.

stever

How many car payments did the used engine and install cost you?

Thanks for the update.

hankjoey

$1500, for engine & new water pump, new timing belt, he used our starter, spark plug, wires, etc our coil. If we'd found one the same year as ours we may have bought it and kept ours for parts - but needed it before winter and just couldn't find a small newer car with the storage space this little Ford Escort LX has.

stever

Sounds like a good deal! After ~4 months it'll be paid for (vs. buying new) and any miles after that will be gravy.