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The way it works. Someone gets nickled and dimed, then gets tired and sells the car. Next person comes along and buys it and had a great care with everything taken care of and never has to fix anything.
I've got an '05 Colorado that i've just made this decision on.. It's in the shop right now.. Looking at about $4500 in repairs on it.. It's only worth about $3000.. But.. I like it. And, there's no way that i'm going for one of the new Colorados being the first model year.. So.. I'm figuring.. The total repair bill was quoted at ~$4700 I believe.. Rebuild transmission, replace radiator, replace thermostat (might as well during all this), rear axle leaking.
I'm going to have the transmission rebuilt and the axle repaired.. The tranny alone is $3100 to rebuild, which.. Has a 50k warranty on it.. Get those two done, paid off.. Then get the radiator replaced in a few months to fix the small leak in it. I figure if I can keep it running up to 250k miles at least.. Which is probably another 3-4 years.. It's worth it to me.
There's probably alot of people who are sitting here reading this saying "You're out of your mind".. But, there's the other section that's saying "I know the feeling..". It's spotless under the hood.. and if I were to go out and spend $5k for a used car.. Lord knows what the condition might be.. At least with this, I pretty much know what i've got. I could spend $5k on a used car and then have to lay out another $3k in repairs on it shortly down the road.
Get a used tranny, radiator and fix the gasket or seals on the axle. I can find you good ones cheap if I know where you are. I sell used parts for a living.
I have a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire with around 117,000 miles on it, but recently (in the past 2 years) I've had to repeatedly take it in for repairs. It seems like when I fix one thing, a month later something new breaks down. I've had to replace the thermostat, exhaust system, radiator hose, power steering pump, brake line, and an idler pulley.
Things that I know are wrong with it but haven't gotten fixed are an oil leak and warped brake drums. And my motor mounts broke a couple days ago.
Is it worth getting the motor mounts fixed?
I've been driving the car for 10 years and love it, but I know parts for Pontiac's are going up and the car's not worth a lot anymore. When do you give up on older cars?
The price for parts shouldn't be going up just because it's a Pontiac. This car shares everything mechanical with the Cavalier.
And as others have mentioned, these are all nickel and dime parts, and until you have a major malfunction with the engine or trans, it's probably worth fixing. I'll second the no car payment comments.
Since it's a car you like and you've already done a lot of the little repairs to it, if it were mine, I'd just keep it until it broke something major and expensive. Then sell it for parts.
We keep cars around as long as we can get used parts for them economically. Once the parts aren't easily available anymore, then we get something else.
Get what you like, you can fix everything else. When you don't like it anymore, move it on.
those 4t65e transmissions are all over the place easy to find. I had a used one i paid $300 for with 36k miles on it put in my 1997 grand am. You can go on car-part.com and search a national database of used auto parts.
I've got an '05 Colorado that i've just made this decision on.. It's in the shop right now.. Looking at about $4500 in repairs on it.. It's only worth about $3000.. But.. I like it. And, there's no way that i'm going for one of the new Colorados being the first model year.. So.. I'm figuring.. The total repair bill was quoted at ~$4700 I believe.. Rebuild transmission, replace radiator, replace thermostat (might as well during all this), rear axle leaking.
I'm going to have the transmission rebuilt and the axle repaired.. The tranny alone is $3100 to rebuild, which.. Has a 50k warranty on it.. Get those two done, paid off.. Then get the radiator replaced in a few months to fix the small leak in it. I figure if I can keep it running up to 250k miles at least.. Which is probably another 3-4 years.. It's worth it to me.
There's probably alot of people who are sitting here reading this saying "You're out of your mind".. But, there's the other section that's saying "I know the feeling..". It's spotless under the hood.. and if I were to go out and spend $5k for a used car.. Lord knows what the condition might be.. At least with this, I pretty much know what i've got. I could spend $5k on a used car and then have to lay out another $3k in repairs on it shortly down the road.
$3100 for a transmission is very expensive. Find an honest mechanic who will install a rebuilt unit. You can take the worn out one you have and exchange it for a rebuilt unit for a lot less.
I would repair the vehicle until it is structurally unsound ( rust, totaled in a bad accident, etc.). I haven't had a car payment in three years. Dave Ramsey rocks!
It seems like when I fix one thing, a month later something new breaks down. I've had to replace the thermostat, exhaust system, radiator hose, power steering pump, brake line, and an idler pulley.
Things that I know are wrong with it but haven't gotten fixed are an oil leak and warped brake drums. And my motor mounts broke a couple days ago.
Besides overheated brake drum, non of those items is "regular maintenance". EG, I had to never replace a PS pump on any of our cars, and some of them crossed 300 000 miles. Wife's RX300 still runs on everything stock, at 150 000 miles. Ever when exhaust became a wear and tare item?
Anyhow, it'll all turn into idle discussion based on personal preferences, patriotism and stubbornness, but when we came to the country in 1993, we found a peculiar trend. Americans were selling their American cars right about after 60 000 miles on ticker. I asked buddy why, and he told me - because they start breaking down thereafter. What you have here is a typical proof to that wise rule.
OP, and it will only be getting worse, as every time you touch anything on such a car, you move, disconnect, etc parts, and that causes a chain reaction of things to follow go bad. So, unless you bored, have tools and time, and enjoy doing this - rid of the car.
And please, spare me wisdoms like "those engines run 200 000 miles". Sure do. I can't recall, when was last time I had or saw broken ENGINE. Does not change fact that THE REST of everything around that "reliable" engine falls apart. What you gonna do, drive around on the engine itself?
Besides overheated brake drum, non of those items is "regular maintenance". EG, I had to never replace a PS pump on any of our cars, and some of them crossed 300 000 miles. Wife's RX300 still runs on everything stock, at 150 000 miles. Ever when exhaust became a wear and tare item?
Anyhow, it'll all turn into idle discussion based on personal preferences, patriotism and stubbornness, but when we came to the country in 1993, we found a peculiar trend. Americans were selling their American cars right about after 60 000 miles on ticker. I asked buddy why, and he told me - because they start breaking down thereafter. What you have here is a typical proof to that wise rule.
OP, and it will only be getting worse, as every time you touch anything on such a car, you move, disconnect, etc parts, and that causes a chain reaction of things to follow go bad. So, unless you bored, have tools and time, and enjoy doing this - rid of the car.
And please, spare me wisdoms like "those engines run 200 000 miles". Sure do. I can't recall, when was last time I had or saw broken ENGINE. Does not change fact that THE REST of everything around that "reliable" engine falls apart. What you gonna do, drive around on the engine itself?
I dont see anything about patriotism or stubborness anywhere in this thread. Also an exhaust does not last forever it is a wear item. Exhaust systems rust from the inside as much as they do on the outside. Water is a bi product of combustion and every vehicle has it inside the exhaust system that will eventually rust it out. Your muffler has a weep holes to help it escape but that only does so much.
A power steering pump will fail if the fluid is not changed. If you driving your cars with 300k miles on it without every changing the power steering fluid you are just getting lucky that the power steering pump didn't fail simple as that.
I never heard of domestic american cars breaking down at 60k more made up bs from import owners.
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