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My wife religiously had her timing belt and spark plugs replaced on schedule on her previous car, a 1997 Mazda Protege 1.5L LX. She had it until 2009 when an SUV ran a stop sign. She was within 10,000 of reaching 200,000 miles. Most radiator hoses are an easy DIY job. Tires? Don't buy tires from the dealership if you're on a budget. Shop around. There are plenty of very affordable name brand tires that will fit this car. If the struts hadn't been replaced, they could likely have gone bad at this time. Struts are expensive. If is too expensive, try to replace two struts. Do either the two in the front or the two in the back then put money aside to replace the other two.
Suggestion: have her ask for an itomized list and prices and then visit a non-dealership repair shop and a tire store. Tires are something else you can replace two at a time.
> C'mon, boys. Go to junk yard and find a local Mexican's run tire shop. Tires start at $20 and up, mounting+balancing $12, and so on.
Waaay too extravagant. Duct tape is good enough for anyone.
Look here guys- this is a twenties woman. I'm guessing she's not going to be replacing timing belts, wrestling her tires, and safely bringing to a stop a car with a broken tie rod end.
What's needed is a short course in adequate maintenance of a car, and swallow hard this time and do the stuff that really needs to be done.
You can buy new tires on the internet now...at www . tirerack . com
the ship them to your front door. They have relationships with mechanics/tire shops in your area and will send you there to get the tires installed. The install price is known up front.
This is usually less expensive than getting new tires any other way. I got this info from someone that got new tires this way and was very happy. I plan to do this the next time I get tires.
We just sold my wife's 17 year old Civic. It got to the point that the gas lines and brake lines were corroded so badly that they needed to be replaced. Our Honda dealer wanted $3,500 and we got them replaced at an independent place for $700.
I have a lot of history with various Honda models. The CV boot, if torn, really needs to be replaced. Otherwise the dirt and grit gets in there and ruins the joint itself. Been there, done that and it's only a short amount of time before the CV joint gets ruined after the boot lets in the grime.
Same with timing belt. It's pretty standard on most Honda models to get it replaced at a particular interval. It's one of those things where it could ruin the engine if it broke while the engine was running. The problem with inspecting the belt itself is that most of the wear is on the inside of the belt and can be invisible until you get a chance to remove the belt and flex it in the opposite direction in which it is mounted. By the time you get the belt off then you've already done 90% of the work.
I'd have an independent repair place look over the entire car to give you an idea of what upcoming repairs might be necessary. I've a lot of high mileage Honda vehicles but they do get to a point where too many things are breaking at one time.
If it is rust free she should take the repair list to a local independent Honda mechanic and arrange to have the work done in order of importance. I agree with her buying a book, I think the "Click & Clack Bros. have one, on car maintenance and repair or taking an adult education course at the local HS auto shop.
Seventeen years old is pretty old. Newer cars have more airbags. (Heck, how reliable are 17 year old airbags anyway)?
Small car, old airbags, probably not the safest car in the world.
Would you consider a new, safer, larger car? I would.
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