Help! Repairs cost more than the car is worth!!

stickguy · November 2004

you may not get a 110% HELOC, but if the CU already is on the hook for the car note, and if they do credit lines, a 10K line leaves lots of equity to cover their nut. Pay off the Olds, and sell it for parts. Take the 5-6K left over, and get a decent used car for cash. The 10K would run about 250/month for 4 years, and give some flexibility on payback.

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.

dougd7 · November 2004

Tweety - regarding the home equity loan. We just finished taking out a 30K 2nd mortgage to consolidate our CC's & car payment into one low monthly payment. Despite my low credit score (518) I was able to secure a 2nd mtg. I am paying a higher interest rate than I would like but I plan to refinance in a few years to a lower rate when my credit score improves. By consolidating our unsecured debt I was able to lower the payments to a more manageable payment and freed up about $450 a month. My point is it can be done. If you're credit union won't do it I can refer you to the financial institution that helped me. Another advantage is I can deduct the interest on the 2nd mortgage.

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).

tweety3 · November 2004

dougd7,

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!! :-)

stickguy · November 2004

a home equity loan is just that, a loan where you get the procedes. A credit line is basically a pre-approved home equity loan, but you don't have to take the money right away, if ever.

dougd7 · November 2004

Tweety - check you e-mail. I sent you some information.

tweety3 · November 2004

Hey dougd7,

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.

dougd7 · November 2004

Look again, I resent it.

tlcman · December 2004

Well i guess im in at the wrong time, but im sure you guys can give good advice on cars as you can on credit. Well I am in the market again for a good family car and Im tired of Toyota and Hondas midsized offerings, I am not interested in any domestic make, So i stumbled over the 929 and the 626, both of with were very apealing to me on the outside, and the 929 was the same for the inside where as the 626 i was less enthusiastic but still interested about it. The setup I would accept would be a 626 with only the V-6 and preferably the 5speed manual, and the 929 only comes with the 6 and the 4 speed to my knoledge. The 929 is seriously drawing me to it because I love the interior design and the exterior as well, plus it has RWD vs. the 626 FWD (in my opinion a + for handling) and the V6 is more powerfull. I have herd thousands of stories of auto tranys going south in the 626 and was wondering if this was true for the 5 speed as well, and the 929 since it was a RWD i thought it would have a different tranny and not have the same problems is this wrong? I dont want to spend money on fixing the car but rather making it better. The cars that i am looking at are around the 100k miles fairly good condition considering years and milage, and also im working with a 6.5k budget. It sadens me that the Mazdas were plauged with transmision problems as I really like the style of the 929 and the 626 would be the alternative, but if they are a problem I want to know so that I do not get my self in a sinking hole of money spent on a car. And which ever one i might decide on, I will most likely take it over 100mph (unsure of what speed it was governed) to venture to see how this car is, as long as i determine it is safe. The 626 in a Manual would seriously tempt me to buy it. Info PLZ! (These are the first Mazdas I have ever been interested in)

audia8q · December 2004

Good news....According to our Mazda techs the V6 626 Tranny is a good one, very good one actually. The problem child is the 626 4cyl with auto trans. We don't see very many 929's but we didnt sell many either. The rwd hurt its sales here in New England....but what few we have on the road have not been trouble.

asafonov · December 2004

My problem with Mazdas in general (very nice cars, the last gen 929 was a classy RWD sedan) is that repairs, parts and maintenance, and often insurance, are higher than on many comparable Toyotas, Hondas and domestics.

stickguy · January 2005

I bet the 929 will be expensive to own at this point. They are also getting fairly old by now, and never sold in great numbers anyway.

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.

cadillacmike · January 2005

New IRS (InFernal Revenue DisService) rulings state in essence that you can only deduct the ACTUAL amount that the charity gets for selling the car after you donate it to them.

Takes effect 1 Jan 2005. Don't get burned by the feds.

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

Oh, definitely he owes the difference between the loan amount and what the auction brings. The re-possessor is obligated for a certain amount of diligence in selling the car (he can't "dump it cheap") but an auction certainly should satisfy the law.

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.

chuck1959 · July 2005

I hope this is the right forum for this question. A couple of months ago my 1995 Explorer was totaled in an accident. It still drove perfectally fine. Considering I had just done a lot of work on it and being unemployed there was no way I could buy another vehicle. So I made a deal with the insurance company and got it back, with a salvage title of course. My question is now does this make my vehicle worth $0.00? How would I sell it or trade it in? What if it's in another accident, what then? I would appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks.

danf1 · July 2005

Salvaged vehicles aren't worth nothing, but close to it. Selling is difficult because no bank will finance it. Trading is bad because no dealer wants it. Whatever it was worth, divide by 3 or 4 and you might get close. The good news is that a 95 Exploder isn't worth too much anyway.

jlawrence01 · July 2005

You are not going to get much for the vehicle. And do realize that you MUST disclose the salvage title of the vehicle before the sale of the vehicle.

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.

chuck1959 · July 2005

Thanks for the advice. I do plan on keeping it. I will disclose the salvage title before any transaction. Another question I got hit from behind leaving work yesterday and it suffered another 1600.00 in damage. Do you know if the party insurance co will look at the title? Should I be upfront now or what?

gregjohnson · July 2005

Mr. C,

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

chuck1959 · July 2005

Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself when I got hit again. I'd hate to loose this Explorer. What with 173,000 miles and besides a transmission 2 years ago it has been almost trouble free.

randymech01 · June 2006

Hello all, I am new to the site and would like to see if there are any mechanics out there that could help me with a little problem

mitzij · June 2006

there's a thread called something like 'got a quick technical question?', you may get help there.

copperpony · September 2006

I have 300,000 km on my MT 626. Drive it 100 km each day and it is burning oil badly. The body is in great shape and it is the only problem with the engine. What should I do?

ie. Fix it? what exactly needs to be fixed and how much??
New engine??
Dump it??

Help needed. Thanks!!

bolivar · September 2006

I don't think you should put in a 'new engine'. A total new engine, even a 'long block' (old block rebuilt and old heads rebuilt) would be a lot of money to spend on a car with this many miles (190,000 miles?).

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.

isellhondas · September 2006

The cost of repair far exceeds the value of the car.

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!

copperpony · September 2006

Approx how much would it be to rebuild? My brother says about 2k. His option is to buy a car with 60 k miles for about 10k. I already have car payments on one car, not sure how much I can handle for another.

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??

qbrozen · September 2006

depending on the car, you certainly don't have to pay $10k.

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.

steine13 · September 2006

I just remembered something from the bad old days... I helped a friend buy a '90 Dodge Caravan years ago with the infamous Mitsu 3.0 V6 in it. And like all of them, it burned oil pretty bad, to the point where there was always blue smoke coming out the tail pipe.

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

douglerner · May 2007

My sister, Cathy, has a 1997 Ford Contour inherited from our parents, who don't drive anymore.

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

bobst · May 2007

Several years ago, we had the Check Engine Light come on in our 1998 Honda Accord.

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.

cccompson · May 2007

It would be helpful, Doug, if you provided a complete list of the recommended repairs. While it is questionable whether this vehicle will last another 100K with the suggested repairs, it certainly won't go anywhere near that far if it is not properly maintained.

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.

bobst · May 2007

"The oxygen sensor is pretty important as it affects mileage and performance."

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.

thenebean · May 2007

yeah and those hours are ridiculous. i was there many a times when the service department would report their hours for the day, and there were people working 22 hours - book hours that is...the way they make their money is to have mechanics that can complete those issues in less time than the book indicates, allowing them to still charge book, but also work on other cars too - earning more hours than they actually DID take to do the work at hand.

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:

isellhondas · June 2007

Sometimes, the best mechanics run into unexpected problems that cause them to spend more time fixing a problem than the books call for. They still get paid two hours when the job took three.

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.

exb0 · June 2007

yeah and those hours are ridiculous. i was there many a times when the service department would report their hours for the day, and there were people working 22 hours

In my industry it is called time card fraud and people go to jail for it. :confuse:

british_rover · June 2007

The average dealership technician probably has 50,000 or more invested in tools.

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.

isellhondas · June 2007

There are "gravy" jobs where a good mechanic with the right tools can beat the clock. More power to him for his skill and investment.

Then there are miserable jobs where the best guy out there can't finish using book times.

british_rover · June 2007

Yeah brake jobs are usually gravy jobs but almost anything involving major engine work is a losing proposition.

isellhondas · June 2007

Or trying to track down a nasty electrical problem.

lemko · June 2007

...than the car is worth, but it's still cheaper than buying another vehicle.

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.

joel0622 · June 2007

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:

lemko · July 2007

Blue book value for my '88 Park Avenue is probably somewhere near worthless, but everything now works on the car and should be good for the forseeable future. The car runs well and all accessories still operate. All that is wrong is that it has a few faded paint spots. The interior is still in great condition. On one hand, I felt stupid for throwing that much money into such an old car. On the other, it's still cheaper than buying another car. Sure, I could go out and get another $1K-$2K beater, but who knows what kind of problems that vehicle would have? At least I know what to expect from my current ride.

qbrozen · July 2007

but everything now works on the car and should be good for the forseeable future.

Ouch!! You just doomed it!!
Is that the death nell I'm hearing?
;b

fezo · July 2007

Yeah. Knock on dashboard.

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.

british_rover · July 2007

I sold my 89 Pontiac Bonneville with 145,000 miles, same car as Lemko's park ave, for 650 dollars two years ago.

asafonov · July 2007

I sold my 89 Pontiac Bonneville with 145,000 miles, same car as Lemko's park ave, for 650 dollars two years ago.

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.

im_brentwood · July 2007

If that Tablet is something called an AutoLogic, try $10,500.

the_big_al · June 2008

I did the same thing on an old Chrylser Laser with the 2.2 turbocharged motor. It would burn oil when ever the oil level was full and after it burned down the 1 qt low marked, the smoke out the tail pipe was significantly less.

the_big_al · June 2008

I am trying to get that into my wife's head... an engine or a tranny might cost more than the car is worth, but even a couple of grand for a major item, if it keeps the car on the road for several thousand more miles is cheaper than buying another vehicle...

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.

Help! Repairs cost more than the car is worth!!

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