Yet another decision.

[Loganwiththe'93]

Well, let me lay it down.
I payed $1900 for my 1993 Toyota Camry, at 130,xxx miles.
It looks fantastic, but we took it to the mechanic for an oil leak.
He called back today, and gave me a shopping list of things that need to be fixed. I know him well, so I know he's not BSing me, all of the issues he is talking about are things that I'm aware of.
First off, the oil leak
The motor under the dash that 'partially controls' the ac swich thing is going bad, and has been making a bad noise as of late. He told me he was concerned about how long it has been making that noise, as it can overheat and be a potential fire hazzard.
The front two struts need to be replaced.
The timing belt needs to be replaced.
The trans fluid looked like it needs to be replaced, but he dosen't know the condition of the tranny.
The front left ABS sensor is broke.
Those are just pretty much all of the issues that he outlined, there are others, but I don't remember.
I have $1300 to spend. The repairs would total in the Thousands from what he said.
So, he told me I could probably get $2000 out of the car if I was to sell it now. If I did that, that would leave me 3300 to buy a different vehicle. There is a few nice vehicles, including an Acura for 2400.
Is it better to put another few thousand dollars in a car that I bought for 1900, and is 16 years old, or should I move on? The Camry and the Acura I'm looking at have the same KBB scores, 4.8, which is good.
Imput?

[CrawlingEye]

it's really up to you. it's my personal opinion not to car hop from one used card to another.
why? you can spend an equal amount of money on a different car with a different set of issues and repeat the cycle ad infinity.

or... you have a reliable car at the moment that needs some work done to it. you should look at it in the view of "which gets me a better car? a reliable base with the issues being addressed that need to be, or cutting my losses and rolling the dice on another used car?"

for what it's worth, my camry is my first car and I've shortblocked it after spinning a bearing and rebuilt the tranny. I couldn't be happier though. It's a bit of money invested, but as far as reliability goes, my car is essentially brand new.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Your mechanic kinda is bsing you.
the oil leak - needs to be fixed

The motor under the dash that 'partially controls' the ac swich thing is going bad, and has been making a bad noise as of late. He told me he was concerned about how long it has been making that noise, as it can overheat and be a potential fire hazzard. - no idea what your talking about. But you could prob find that part in a junkyard for cheep.

The front two struts need to be replaced. How bad are the struts? I mean just because they arent in oem new condition, doesnt mean YOU HAVE to replace them.

The timing belt needs to be replaced. It might, but that doesnt mean it needs to be done right now. As long as the belt works, your good.

The trans fluid looked like it needs to be replaced, but he dosen't know the condition of the tranny. That costs like what 50-100 dollars to do?

The front left ABS sensor is broke. Again junkyard the part for like 50 bucks.

Depending on what seal is broken, it might cost a good bit to fix. But still its not like YOU NEED to fix everything thats kinda broken.

IMO I mean honestly i wouldnt be investing any money into a gen 3 camry. If your going to be fixing up an old car, atleast the car should be something your proud to drive. The camry, no matter what you do, will never be a classy ride.

[Loganwiththe'93]

I didn't say how much any of the parts are going for. He told me the part would be 60 - 100 bucks typically.
I didn't ask for a thorough cost- he wanted me and my dad to discuss this first. He said the parts we need are hard to get, his supplier is having a hard time finding them.
He told me that the timing belt NEEDS to be replaced. It was never replaced when my aunt had the car, 2003-2008, and he said he was looking for an indication that it was replaced, but could not find one. He said it is likley it was never changed. It is cracked and looks unstable.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Originally Posted by Loganwiththe'93

I didn't say how much any of the parts are going for. He told me the part would be 60 - 100 bucks typically.
I didn't ask for a thorough cost- he wanted me and my dad to discuss this first. He said the parts we need are hard to get, his supplier is having a hard time finding them.
He told me that the timing belt NEEDS to be replaced. It was never replaced when my aunt had the car, 2003-2008, and he said he was looking for an indication that it was replaced, but could not find one. He said it is likley it was never changed. It is cracked and looks unstable.

Call up junkyards yourself. Gen 3 camrys are very common cars. Also you might even be able to use gen 4 camry parts for stuff like the abs sensor.

The timing belt only costs like 50 bucks. BTW if your changing that, you should change out the water pump as well.

Honestly if you really wanted to save on money, you could do most of the work yourself.

Abs sensor. tranny fluid change are incredibly easy to do yourself.
Timing belt and water pump is moderatly hard but still doable yourself.
And you could also change our your own sturts if you had the right tools. And odds are tools will be cheeper then labor.

[Loganwiththe'93]

Clerance's labor is pretty low. Even if I was mechanically inclined, I only get 2 days a week where I actually have time for anything. And even if I bought the tools needed to do the work (The only tools we have are home improvement tools), what would I do with them after? How often will I need to use them... I can't really justify the cost.
And I don't honestly feel comfortable with putting used parts into my car - spending 50 bucks on somthing that costs 80 new will eventually add up, when the used one dies... you don't know how much time you get out of a used item, because there is no factory records or warranty on it.
It seems to me like it comes down to which car I would rather blow money on.
And the acura is FANTASTIC looking. Brand new paint job, sunroof, ect.
Here is a link.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Originally Posted by Loganwiththe'93

Clerance's labor is pretty low. Even if I was mechanically inclined, I only get 2 days a week where I actually have time for anything. And even if I bought the tools needed to do the work (The only tools we have are home improvement tools), what would I do with them after? How often will I need to use them... I can't really justify the cost.
And I don't honestly feel comfortable with putting used parts into my car - spending 50 bucks on somthing that costs 80 new will eventually add up, when the used one dies... you don't know how much time you get out of a used item, because there is no factory records or warranty on it.
It seems to me like it comes down to which car I would rather blow money on.
And the acura is FANTASTIC looking. Brand new paint job, sunroof, ect.
Here is a link.

Honestly if that guy is selling the car for that low, odds are the paint job is cheep.

[ALarsh]

Look at the gaps on the trunk and front hood. Has been rear ended for sure, maybe slight accident in front also.