Hey everyone, I've been contemplating whether it's worth keeping my AE86 and pour money into it or just sell it off to someone who has a bigger budget to fix it. I don't know much about the mechanics yet, so any input is great. The car has about 215k on the engine and body. Here are the problems:
Rust. It has left holes in the right fenders majorly eaten a chunk off the bottom rear quarter panel. It's also left a small hole in the underbody at the rear seats. There is also minor surface rust on various parts of the car.
Car makes a whining noise everytime the gas is being pressed, it's coming from the rear and it seems like it's the differential (is this normal?).
Master cylinder is leaking brake fluid.
Clutch is shot, but I can survive with it being the way it is.
Parking brake light and charge battery light flash once every so often when driving. Could be the alternator? (taking a stab at it).
Windshield is cracked, so this will eventually need to be replaced.
These are among the more serious things that I've noticed that will need repair first. A few other things are:
Suspension is pretty soft on the road (according to my uncle).
Brake pads may not have much pad left, I'm not sure on this as I can't really judge due to the master cylinder leaking.
Exhaust is showing rust and will probably need to be replaced somewhere down the road.
That's all that I can think of off the top of my head at 1:30am. Other than those mechanical problems the engine runs good, starts everytime and runs quiet. So what do you guys think? Is it worth unloading several thousand to fix? As I said before, I don't know much about car mechanics and things like replacing the clutch seems like a big job that I'd have to bring to a shop. Also, in this state what do you guys figure the car is honestly worth?
Do you have around $5,000-$7,000? Cuz thay is probably what it's gonna cost you to get all that fixed. Mabey even more.
My body work would have been $3,500 but I got a dealership price so I'm only gonna have to pay $1,500. After this it will still need around $1,000-$2,000 in additional repairs. And then I have to still add the cost of having my skirts & soiler put on as well as a new sound system. I'm fixing mine up and bringing it back to off lease quality. I have the money and the conections so it's no problem.
So if you have the money and the contacts that I do then I say keep it and get it appraised when you are done. Other wise I suggest that you part from that money pit. But remember all cars are money pits. Especially used ones. And with cars you will never get back what you put into them.
Actually, I have an inside deal from my the guy that sold it to me that can get the fenders and body work done for about $600-700, keeping in mind this is just the major rusting which is the holes in the fenders and underbody. The rest of the surface rust, I was planning to sand off and paint myself. I have a few shop connections also, so all said and done, getting the necessary things fixed would run me near $2-3000. Now, I'm just wondering if it's more wise to part it out for now because at the moment I do not have those funds to spend. I'm not sure if the repairs I need are urgent - can they be spread out through a few months? Things like the master cylinder and need to be fixed right away to pass safety but I know the clutch can hold off for a while.
Edit: just wanted to add it sucks to be a poor sap. I'm working full time this summer too, go figure.
If it's only gonna cost that much then it depends on if you are willing to pay that much or not. That sounds reasonable price wise. And as for the $500 no rust AE86. I've only heard of that once and it was in a car auction.
Other wise they are SR5's. Remember any car that can pass safty and emmissions is automaticly worth at least $1,500 and most people know that. Go look at my Dead AE86 post and thats what $400 got me. So how much better condition do you think $500 would be?
Well, the car passed emissions last month and all it needs to pass is safety. I don't know how the safety check goes, but would all that need to be fixed is the master cylinder and hole on the underbody? I know it depends on each mechanic, but things like the differential and clutch don't have much bearing on how fast the car can stop or react in a collision. Also, the crack on the windshield is not in the field of view of the driver.
sounds like a waste of time and money. to pass safety, you need to replace the windshield, fix the holes.
in any case, you can find a mint or next to mint ae86 for $3000 - $4000. almost the same price as your fix up but without all the headaches and possibilities of something going wrong or something not done right.
$500 perfect or near perfect ae86 are a rareity. I found mine for $200 and its in strong condition....but i just got lucky.
don't waste your time trying to fix those problems....find one that is in sound body shape....
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