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I am 24, and have always had brand new, or slightly used cars up until recently. I had some bad luck in 2008 as I was laid off and lost my car I wasn't able to locate another job until 2009 so my credit pretty much went to the bottom.
When I was able to locate a job, I took part of my savings and got an old beater... a 1998 Chevy Lumina (Police Package 3.8L engine) with 81,000 miles on it. I got it because it seemed in fairly decent shape and had the low miles.
It wasn't until after I got it that I noticed this car was in rough shape. So far, I have put over $1000 into the car since I have it (I only paid $900 for the car, which seemed like a good deal) which includes all new tires, alignment, new belts, transmission flush, coolant flush, and several oil changes (the car has 88,000 miles now)
Recently, I found out that the car needs $1600 worth of work just to keep it running and have pretty much decided that it's just not worth dumping more money into this car. It needs the following just to keep it running:
New Fuel Pump/Filter (It's loud and car has hard time starting)
New Intake Manifold (Current one is starting to leak, which will eventually cause coolant to mix with oil)
New Fuel Rail (current one is leaking, can smell gas while driving)
This doesn't include anything else on the car that I haven't had checked, like the brakes, tie rods, ball joints, etc. This car is just a headache.
However, my problem is that I cannot get a car loan due to my job history and because of my bad credit (score is in very low 400's with many write off's) and I do not have a cosigner. The only place I know where I can get a car are these "buy here pay here" places but the cars are usually over 10 years old with 150,000 or more miles on them and tend to be in bad shape. In my car, $2000 doesn't get you a decent car, $2000 will most likely get you a car with over 200,000 miles, or lots of problems, or a blown engine. A $4000 car is usually 150,000+ miles with issues.
I travel a lot and put at least 30,000 miles on my cars per year. What could you guys suggestion that I do? I don't have $2000 to just throw into this car or another car at the moment. The "buy here pay here" place offered me $1200 for my car to get me into another car for around $300 a month, but am worried I would just be stepping into another death trap and be worst off than I am now.
The problem is the beater you bought is known not to be a good car. Everything you mentioned also happened to my 1991 Chevy Corsica with the V6. That car ended up blowing a power steering hose, and caught fire. Whatever you do, do not do the buy here pay here thing. They buy junkers for under a grand from a dealer auction, sell them for $5,000 with 30% interest. Your best bet is to find a late 1980's to early 1990's Toyota Camry or Corolla. You will not have the headaches, and they are generally cheap to fix.
Can you do any of the items yourself? Labor is what costs the most.
A fuel filter is usually an easy fix, it usually just unscrews from the underside with a wrench...usually inline with the fuel line.
The fuel pump, if it's in tank would require a drop of the tank and r&r....done it on my Buick Regal, piece of cake. Just make sure the tank is almost empty and borrow a floor jack to take it down/put it up...or call up a few friends and buy 'em beer and pizza to help.
Not sure why you'd need a new intake manifold....they're usually made out of aluminum or cast iron and don't just wear out....at best the intake manifold gasket might be leaking...if one went bad yes it would allow some coolant to bypass and make it's way into the lifter valley which would eventually end up in your crank case.....not sure how much labor on your car it would be, I've only replaced them on 350 Chevy's while doing an intake upgrade.
Where is the fuel rail leaking? IIRC where the injectors go into the rail is an o ring. If those o rings go bad it'll leak.
Have you had another shop check out your car? Something is telling me whoever looked at your car is blowing a lot of smoke up your rear trying to get you to spend more than you should.
find a decent ford f-150 and chevy 1500 they are cheap and easy to fix last forever and parts are east to find and any shop can fix them the cons are they are not good and gas and are rough riding but that's to be expected in a truck
find a decent ford f-150 and chevy 1500 they are cheap and easy to fix last forever and parts are east to find and any shop can fix them the cons are they are not good and gas and are rough riding but that's to be expected in a truck
Remember, he drives 30,000 miles a year. Those are terrible choices as they are gas hogs. I will agree they are reliable at least.
It would be a waste of money to repair your car. Any decent running car is worth a min of 1k dollars. Drive around & maybe someone (private party) has a nice car for sale or put a car wanted ad on craigslist. My car is 25 yrs old & runs good. Its no beauty (needs paint, vinyle top, front windshield, headliner & sun visor) but its decent transportation. Gas milage is so so (15/20). Good-luck!
It would be a waste of money to repair your car. Any decent running car is worth a min of 1k dollars. Drive around & maybe someone (private party) has a nice car for sale or put a car wanted ad on craigslist. My car is 25 yrs old & runs good. Its no beauty (needs paint, vinyle top, front windshield, headliner & sun visor) but its decent transportation. Gas milage is so so (15/20). Good-luck!
I agree. Don't spend any money on that Lumina. You bought one of GM's worst cars ever. Used as a police car makes it even worse.
I think I'd look for a used Ford Focus or Mazda Protege. My BIL bought a used Mazda 626 for $2500 and although the interior doesn't look good it is very good mechanically.
Can you do any of the items yourself? Labor is what costs the most.
A fuel filter is usually an easy fix, it usually just unscrews from the underside with a wrench...usually inline with the fuel line.
The fuel pump, if it's in tank would require a drop of the tank and r&r....done it on my Buick Regal, piece of cake. Just make sure the tank is almost empty and borrow a floor jack to take it down/put it up...or call up a few friends and buy 'em beer and pizza to help.
Not sure why you'd need a new intake manifold....they're usually made out of aluminum or cast iron and don't just wear out....at best the intake manifold gasket might be leaking...if one went bad yes it would allow some coolant to bypass and make it's way into the lifter valley which would eventually end up in your crank case.....not sure how much labor on your car it would be, I've only replaced them on 350 Chevy's while doing an intake upgrade.
Where is the fuel rail leaking? IIRC where the injectors go into the rail is an o ring. If those o rings go bad it'll leak.
Have you had another shop check out your car? Something is telling me whoever looked at your car is blowing a lot of smoke up your rear trying to get you to spend more than you should.
Yeah...the three things mentioned would be much cheaper to fix DIY. And I agree that the shop who did the estimate may be blowing smoke.
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I wasn't able to locate another job until 2009 so my credit pretty much went to the bottom. 
