Cars, giant money pits

[secuono]

Spent over 2k already from little diagnostic bills, tiny repairs, new crud cropping up in rapid succession. Ugh.

And now muffler is rusted. $400-500
Haven't set up a day to get that done.

Sick of cars so bloody much.

 

[AClark]

Turn up the radio so you can't hear everything that clanks No, I totally feel you. I went through this a couple of months ago, blew an oil cooler, had to flush everything, heater core went out...

Driving home today my AC quit working. I know what that is, just tired of replacing it.

 

[greybeard]

I once (in the last 8 years) owned 5 Pontiac Fieros at the same time and all were drivers. No parts cars.
I have 3 tractors and a backhoe/loader combo, the newest of which is older than, (according to a recent poll) most of the members on this board.
I have a wife significantly younger than I am.
$$ Pits indeed.

 

[lcertuche]

I just got through paying a lot to get my car running good. It's nice to be able to shift the gears without turning off the motor first!

 

[secuono]

Got some more stuff to add to the list.

There's a tiny hole near the gas intake. They cannot fix it, whole fuel line must be replaced. $450

Then some odd bits are leaking oil. $780 to fix those...

I'm holding out. Hoping to be able to buy a small van to use for sheep, pacas and maybe minis! Then I'll sell off my car.

 

[farmerjan]

I feel for you having all the "nickle and dime" you to death stuff now... but, I have no complaints because all of our vehicles are OLD.

My 2000 Subaru Forrester had 180,000 when I bought it from a friend when she decided she wanted a new car, so second owner. She can have the payments; 6 years at over $300 a month.... Ran it for about 80,000 miles when the engine went. Spent 1500 for a used engine and install, lasted only 3 months. I was p.oed. Found a good used engine with 5 yr or 50,000 mile warranty, for $1950 shipped to me. Will get it put in the next couple weeks. Install will be cheap since I found out that they knew that other engine had a little noise like a lifter which obviously wasn't a bad lifter. Still, to buy another decent used car, I would be looking at 3-5,000 easy, with no knowledge of the vehicle. At least this one, I like, and know that it is in pretty good shape otherwise. New struts put in when they did the engine the first time. Since I will be working alot less than before,, I ought to have it for close to the 5 yrs by the time I hit the 50,000 miles. I only paid 1500 for it and ran it almost 3 yrs before the engine let go. Still feel like it is a good deal. Bought a 1996 2 wd Ford Ranger for $1100. 5 years ago. Needs a broken spring on it fixed now, had to put on rear brake lines, needs front ones as there is a small leak, other than that have only ever done tires and routine maintenance. Have a 1986 4wd Ford Ranger that I bought for $400, about 7-8 yrs ago. Had to have engine redone.... $900 and that was about 6 years ago. Just put new tires on it, routine maintenance but now needs a new muffler. Heater/defroster works lights work, 4wd works. Great farm truck. There are all the other full size trucks we use for the farm. Diesels, 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. All have over 200,000 miles on them.
The thing is, we run them until we cannot run them or until they are not fixable. Would get in the 1996 Ford 1 ton, crew cab and go to Conn. tomorrow in it... 255,000 miles on it. Has a real stiff clutch that I cannot push easily due to this bad ankle but can drive it if I have to.

The thing is, fixing is alot cheaper than buying new. And in MOST cases ( not all) cheaper than buying someone elses' used problems unless you know some history. And then there are the taxes that are through the roof on newer vehicles. And the insurance. If I have to go very far, like trips up to my family in CT and NH, I rent a vehicle. Cheaper, easier, better mileage, and if the d@#@ed thing breaks down, you call someone to take care of it and it is their headache. But that is if you don't have to make long trips but once a year or so. If I were driving distances over 150-200 miles very often, then I might do things differently.

Another thing, on these newer vehicles, there is so much electronic crap, that it is nearly impossible to do anything on them yourself anymore. We can't see all the shop labor costs that they charge nowadays. Guess we are old school.... but I cannot see 50-100 per hour labor charges. Plus all the equipment to just run diagnostics on all the electronic components. If a stupid sensor goes bad, you are screwed because they will shut off the vehicle.....

So, god bless.....but give me an older vehicle for my day to day stuff, and I will rent a new fancy one that someone else can fix if it breaks down. With payments in the hundreds of dollars, I can't see it. But that is me. I might grumble about the cost of a muffler or something, but when I think of all that a vehicle does for me, I cannot complain.

It's like a pair of glasses. Everyone fusses about how much they cost. $3-700 a pair. But I wear my glasses 365 days a year, 10-20 hours a day. At the minimum of 10 hrs per day, that is like $.13 or .14 per hour. Small price to pay to be able to see, in my opinion.

 

[WolfeMomma]

Cars can be so expensive in our state you have to have your car state inspected every year. If they find something wrong ( muffler, needing new tires, brakes etc) and you don't fix it they won't give you your sticker which means you can't drive it anywhere, so your car has to be in good repair in order to legally drive. Fixing might be expensive but at least you don't have car payments those equal out to more money then just a couple repairs.

 

[secuono]

Yeah, I want a plain, 04-09 or so mini van. Where it might have power windows and power driver seat, but that's it.
All the rear seats will be removed and sold, so I don't want pointless TVs and crap like that in it.

I use my car to get groceries 2x a month, maybe deliver a sheep or 3 semi-locally in the summer. That's why spending money on it is annoying to me. Especially since the hole in the bottom was caused by our driveway=preventable. Still battling my husband to get a new culvert pipe installed. I have to pull in & out all wonky just to avoid scraping my car... And the tiny hole in the gas line should be repairable, like, get over it, mechanic!
Already had to switch mechanics because Merchant's decided to pull random crap outta their butts to charge me for. Went elsewhere and they had zero issues with the incredibly minor fixes that aren't even necessary.
A tiny, old fashioned Nissan truck would be great, too. Short, real low, but not gangsta low, narrow. Not the giant monster trucks everyone makes these days. They'll all be 18 wheelers soon! Lol

I know fixing is better than buying new just for the heck of it. But that's not what I'd be doing. I need the van for transporting livestock on my own.

We have state inspections here, too. And the price went up for it! Been the same for 10yrs...hmm. I see so many cars that are clearly not safe, not just once, but the same car for months and no one bats an eye. You can find shady mechanics that don't remove wheels & do the full check. Easy to get them to approve your car.

There's an excessive number of mechanics in my town...
One building had four different companies cone n go in less than 15mo!

 

[WolfeMomma]

Yeah, I want a plain, 04-09 or so mini van. Where it might have power windows and power driver seat, but that's it.
All the rear seats will be removed and sold, so I don't want pointless TVs and crap like that in it.

I use my car to get groceries 2x a month, maybe deliver a sheep or 3 semi-locally in the summer. That's why spending money on it is annoying to me. Especially since the hole in the bottom was caused by our driveway=preventable. Still battling my husband to get a new culvert pipe installed. I have to pull in & out all wonky just to avoid scraping my car... And the tiny hole in the gas line should be repairable, like, get over it, mechanic!
Already had to switch mechanics because Merchant's decided to pull random crap outta their butts to charge me for. Went elsewhere and they had zero issues with the incredibly minor fixes that aren't even necessary.
A tiny, old fashioned Nissan truck would be great, too. Short, real low, but not gangsta low, narrow. Not the giant monster trucks everyone makes these days. They'll all be 18 wheelers soon! Lol

I know fixing is better than buying new just for the heck of it. But that's not what I'd be doing. I need the van for transporting livestock on my own.

We have state inspections here, too. And the price went up for it! Been the same for 10yrs...hmm. I see so many cars that are clearly not safe, not just once, but the same car for months and no one bats an eye. You can find shady mechanics that don't remove wheels & do the full check. Easy to get them to approve your car.

There's an excessive number of mechanics in my town...
One building had four different companies cone n go in less than 15mo!

I think inspections at some places around here are only 12$
We just had one done at our dealership for free, they sent an offer in the mail, was very happy to see that
We just sold our mini van an 08, let it go for dirt cheap too. I needed something bigger that can pull the camper so hubby can tow the livestock trailer with his truck.
I will say im not a fan of inspections. BUT most of the cars driving around here seem to be in good repair.

 

[farmerjan]

Yeah, we have inspections here in Va. They aren't as bad about rust spots like my parents had up north in Ct and NH. And we get by with alot of stuff on farm use tags. They are all under the farm insurance policy, but they are trucks and all. Have to meet a few restrictions but don't have to be inspected yearly. Still it is important that they meet the basic safety regs just for your own protection.

Yep, some of the inspection places are real "bears" about it. But realize too, that if they don't do the full check, and the person driving that unsafe vehicle gets into an accident, it can come back on the inspection station. That could be why there were 4 different companies come and go in that one building you were talking about. And some are more lenient about some stuff that are not "life and death".

Sorry about the fuel line leak/hole. I have done some damage over the years driving through the fields checking cattle and such. Just had a piece of wire get in the new tire on the 4wd while driving up in the field. Slow leak, had to get it fixed. about 3 inches long, got between the treads and right into the tire. PITB. OH WELL. I get that you want the van for ease of moving a few animals around. Do you deliver much distance? Maybe a small truck with a cap on the back would be better. I watch craigslist alot. Don't know of any around off hand but will keep my eyes open.