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I'm just looking to get some opinions...I drive an older car that's worth around 800 KBB wise. It was bought for nearly 3 years ago. It isn't cute but it hasn't had any major issues over the past few years. I've had to replace the serpentine belt, water pump, spark plugs, radiator hose...but the repairs have never been excessive to me considering the age of the car.
Recently the car began to run hot while driving and I realized it was badly leaking coolant. I managed to get it to a repair shop. They have diagnosed the issue as a leaking intake gasket and the repair around $500-600. This is the first time I've had such an expensive repair bill. The mechanic said he sees no other major issues with the car.
Seeing as the car is a beater, is it worth fixing?
It's a crap shoot. You might get it fixed and not have any more trouble for several years. Then again, you might start having one thing after another go wrong.
You could buy another beater for 800 which is actually more than the repair estimate. But who knows what problems a new to you beater might have. If the car has no other obvious major issues, and has been dependable so far, it might be worth it. You don't mention the car make/model/engine. On many cars intake gaskets are easy to fix yourself.
I would get a second opinion on the repair so that you are sure when you spend the money, it would be fixed.
The math is simple. How many months of car payments would the repair cost. The big question is what is the next thing to break in the car. Might want to ask your mechanic to just go over everything before spending for this repair.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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How many miles, what did you pay, and what is i? I have had a 1997 Escort 5 speed about that long, and paid $950 for it with 146,000 miles. Now at 170k I feel like I have gotten my money's worth just driving it to the park & ride every day, and it gets 30 mpg, more than our newer cars. I'd go ahead and fix it because it's manual. If automatic, the transmission rebuild
could well be coming. Actually though with the little 4 banger I'd do the head gasket myself.
It's according to where you live. If in a big city, you wouldn't have to worry about theft, door dings and those who park in the 'touch and go' system. Also huge insurance savings, as collision and comprehensive is not needed.
It's 1997 Chevrolet Lumina. It has around 215000 miles on it.
I agree with the poster who suggested getting a second opinion. I would inspect the usual suspects for coolant leaks first - radiator, water pump, overflow tank, upper radiator hoses (if equipped) etc. The other possibility that would come to my mind is the head gasket, not the intake gasket which seals the manifold to the block. (someone feel free to correct me if my reasoning is faulty here) Changing the head gasket is a very time consuming (and costly job) which may also require machining the heads if warping has occurred due to overheating. And sometimes the job isn't done right, and the car never runs right again anyway..
Get the second opinion and report back!
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