Is my car worth keeping and repairing? I have a list a mile long :(

[cassie]

Okay so I just got my car inspected. It defiintely didn't pass....but I got stickers anyways. Well he gave me a list of things that were wrong with my car. (This guy is a close family friend and someone we've all been going to for years)

1. Rear Axle Pinion is F'ed up, need a new one
2. Rear main seal
3. At least 2 of my injectors are bad
4. Power Steering is leaking
5. Oil Pan is cracked and SLOWLY leaking
6. There is a short in my steering column which causes my horn to work intermitently
7. I need new rear brakes
8. Also, new front rotors


Okay, about 1/2 of this stuff I can do MYSELF, and the parts aren't too expensive. However I need some advice:

1. Do I just get rid of the car and see what I can get out of it? (I owe less than $2500 on it and it'll be paid off in a little over a year)

2. Do I do some repairs (which ones?) and then get rid of it and trade it in for an older LT1

3. Do I just fix everything up as I can. (it's going to work out to being like one major thing can get fixed/month) And keep the car and pay it off


I always planned on paying my car off and keeping it for as long as I possibly can. You see, I'm so pissed. I paid about $13,500 2 years ago for it, NOW i'd be lucky if I could get $7,000 so I don't want to get beat when trading it in/selling it.

I love camaros and would get another one if i HAD to get rid of this one.

When I purchased the car 2 years ago I also purchased an extended warranty. THe warranty was for 10 years or until my odometer reached 100,000. (I purchased it with 25,000) Anyways about 5 months ago I took it to the chevy dealership b/c I was having problems getting the car to turn over when I started it. I blew thru 2 starters and 2 alternators. My SES light was on but the dealership told me that there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR (ahem, the list above...all that didn't happen in 5 months) THEN I found out that the company thru whom I had my extended warranty went out of business. I contacted the dealership where I bought the car and they told me that they'd "help me out" and fix whatever I currently had wrong with my car. I took it to them about 3-4 weeks after going to the chevy dealership and they too told me that they coudln't find anything wrong with my car whatsoever.

At this point I had begun to get very very frustrated. But, didn't have the time, energy, or $$ to be getting my car diagnosed by people constnatly. I finally took it to Autozone and they pulled codes that stated my car was running rich AND that i was misfiring on cylindar 6. The plug on Cyl 6 was replaced. Nothing changed.

FASTFORWARD to 2 weeks ago. My inspection is up at the end of the month. I took it to my mechanic (who is a long time family friend and the mechanic we all go to ) and he told me to change the plugs and wires, but that he suspected it was a problem with the fuel system, possibly the injectors (which are a hefty $90/each and I have 6) So, I changed my plugs, wires, and PCV and while I did notice a gain in performance, I still had problems with the car taking forever to turn over while starting it up. It would crank for like 10 seconds before it would turn over! I have been "giving it gas" to help it along and NOT kill another starter.

ANYWAYS, I'm super pissed off and I don't know what to do about my current situation. I'm working p/t now, soon to be f/t but I have bills to pay. I need help finding the most economical solution to my problem.

OH YEA, should I take it back to the dealership wehre I bought the car and ask them to do the major repairs?

[MustangEater8251]

Honestly I wodul keep it...

IS it the rear pinoin seal? or something else? I have a new GM seal jsut sitting around somewhere(gotta find it)

Injectors, I am not too sure how they are on 3.8Ls, they are a ***** on a 3.4LO but I woudl do it myself.

-Power steering how bad? Mine has been leaking for years, I put in fluid once when it was whining and notrouble since.

-The horn.. is it you press the bottom and it sometimes work or does it go off by itself?

-Disc brakes? They are not that hard to do, drums, I looked at them and decided to convert ot 4 wheel disc. YOu coudl do all 4 pads, and rotors on discs for like $100

Oil pan... that is rough.. Know anyone that welds and does cars? I know a guy that welded a hole in his 02 6-speed tranny. And it held up.

But if you do replace the oil pan, I woudl do the rear main seal at the same time. Probably make it easier.


And is there any type of warrant on the car? they should fix some things like teh rear main seal and injectors, and horn.

Sorry to hear but, if you get rid of your car now, with $2500 against it, you will get $4500, not that much to go find a decent car. I woudl consider waiting till its paid off.

With the oil and power steering they will work fine as long as you keep oil and power steering fluid in it. Just check your levels and keep adding.

BTW how do you know your oil pan is cracked?

[Camaro_SLP]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by MustangEater8251:
Honestly I wodul keep it...
<hr></blockquote>

Isn't that a little hypocritical? Weren't you talking about selling your car because of 'all the problems' you're having?

Most of the problems you are having, or told you are having, aren't too serious. I would fix the main problems, and keep the car.

[navyblue2000]

keep it, cass.

it'll be worth it. you don't owe that much, and you'll like it a whole lot more once it's paid off and it's finally fixed.

you wanna build some credit? take out a say..i dunno 500 dollar loan on it or something, and pay it off over some months. i bet that might work ...

[awesomeame]

keep it. any car you buy will require repairs, no matter what.

you almost have the car paid off...put some money into it now, and then maintain the vehicle...it's easier to put out a couple hundered $$ every few months, then a couple grand at one time.

btw-what about getting your injectors cleaned? maybe get aftermarket injectors...they're way cheaper then GM.

--matt

[awesomeame]

oh, and rear pinion seal is easy to do, ditto with rotors, & rear brakes. (drum or disk)

i'd just keep topping up the power steering fluid & engine oil until you can afford to fix those.

how often do you actually use your horn? i don't think i've ever used mine b4...

main seals are a PITA, imho.

--matt

[MustangEater8251]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Camaro_SLP:


Isn't that a little hypocritical? Weren't you talking about selling your car because of 'all the problems' you're having?

Most of the problems you are having, or told you are having, aren't too serious. I would fix the main problems, and keep the car.<hr></blockquote>

uhmm no different situation...

-My power steering pump is leaking
-I need a new, or rebuilt tranny
-My healiner is trashed
-My egr valve is screwed up
-I need new rear brakes and rotors
-I am having electrical problems inside the dash
-I need new tires
-My vaccum system is messed up on my AV vent system
-MY car is 10 years old
-It has 130k, my 2.8L shattered a piston in normal driving at 120k
-My interior is trashed beyond belief(my 85 camaro had a better condition interior)

Jsut money to make my car even normal driveable..
Tranny lets say, $350 for a junkyard one, I do all the labor, now tires, $80 a piece is pretty cheap for f-body tires so $160 and I still have mismatched tires. Brakes, rear rotors are $50, rear pads can be cheapo $30 ones.

Thats $640 to make it acceptable drivng.

Now, Ac system looking at a few hours, maybe free repairs.

To fix my egr I have to pull the passenger side exhasut manifold.

Power steering would be $350, but I can keep pouring fluid in it.

interior elecrical, another few hours to figure out.

My interior I am looking at nearly $200 in stuff if not more to clean up and make my interior look nice.


To get my car up to a nice standard I might be looking at nearly $1k in stuff and my car isn't going to get anymroe reliabe, my radiator has 110k on it, which is alot for a Florida car, I expect it to go out within the year. Waterpump is stock I can see that going out soon, same with the Fuel pump.

I dump nearly 1k into my car get it running perfect, spend hours on everything, and lets say nothing goes wrong, then my car is worth $2k, or I trade it in now for $1k, spend no time or money, and basically get the same money I would get if I did fix it up.

If I break up the money I have spent on my car in the last year it comes out to roughly $135 a month, I woudl rather spend another $120 a month, have a new car that hasn't left me stranded twice, is waay faster stock.

Her situation is different her car is at least 4 or more years newer then mine. And her problems are not too bad except hte imjectors.

[Tyler]

hey mustang eater...

about your AC problem.. is it only blowing at your feet and through the window defoggers? thats what its doing on mine. i attempted to take the dashboard off a couple days ago.. i gave up and put it all back together. GOOD LUCK on that. the vacuum lines are a ***** to get to.


anyways, cassie. keep the car. its a nice car! cars break.. it happens

[hockeyman]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by cassie:

1. Rear Axle Pinion is F'ed up, need a new one
2. Rear main seal
3. At least 2 of my injectors are bad
4. Power Steering is leaking
5. Oil Pan is cracked and SLOWLY leaking
6. There is a short in my steering column which causes my horn to work intermitently
7. I need new rear brakes
8. Also, new front rotors
<hr></blockquote>

1. Is the pinion just leaking, or is it more serious? If it's just leaking a drop or two a week, you'll probably spend about $250-$300 to get the pinion fixed, and it'll still leak after a few weeks...guaranteed!
2 & 5. Rear main seal can be fixed when the oil pan is dropped. You really don't need to weld the oil pan if it has a hairline crack. They sell a "brazing kit" at Home Depot. Looks like a propane torch, but yellow in color (MAP Gas), and brazing rods for about $40. The brazing will definately hold a hairline crack! I know, because I did it to my 86 T/A.
3. Injectors are easy to come by. I have 8 used ones for my 96 3.8 (22lb), and if you need two of them, lemme know.
4. If the power steering has a small leak, screw it! Fix it when you get a chance, just always keep an extra bottle of fluid with you.
We already covered #5
6. If the horn thing is bothering you, send it to a specialist to get it pinpointed. Cost should be around $80.
7 & 8. Brakes/rotors are simple to do if you have a basic knowledge of them. I'm sure there are plenty of people here that are willing to walk you thorugh the steps of replacing them if you don't.

Bottom line, keep it...things break. Just trying to keep ahead of the gremlins is a job in it's own.
NONE of my cars are in perfect working order...NONE. Everytime I get something outta the way, another problem pops up. It's the f-body curse.

-Marc

[ September 28, 2003: Message edited by: hockeyman ]</p>

[camaro_speedemon]

OK first off, your injectors should NOT cost almost $600 in just parts to replace.

Intense-racing has a set of 42lb fuel injectors, which are a bigger than stock, for only $280...

Go somewhere else, or if you need to bring the injectors to the dealer.

BTW you don't need those, just saying $600 is way too much money.


Eric: I bought a reman PS pump at autozone for $50.

[MustangEater8251]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Tyler:
hey mustang eater...

about your AC problem.. is it only blowing at your feet and through the window defoggers? thats what its doing on mine. i attempted to take the dashboard off a couple days ago.. i gave up and put it all back together. GOOD LUCK on that. the vacuum lines are a ***** to get to.


anyways, cassie. keep the car. its a nice car! cars break.. it happens<hr></blockquote>

Exactly my problem, and exactly the solution is a *****...

I am not the biggest AC guy anyways so its at the bottom of my list of crap to do.

MAin reason I say she keeps hers while I look to get rid of mine...

Her's has value, mine doesn't.

I say at least stretch it out till you have it paid off.

$50 for a reman waterpump, I think they are like $27 for me, thats what it cost on my 85 Camaro [img]smile.gif[/img] But still involves the time of it going out, and me fixing it.

Doing soem pricing in my current situation I might be able to get an spanking new 03 GT with what I want for $263 a month, thats all taxes, and fees afterwards.

It is really really peaking my interest.

[Ichoptop]

whenever someone gets a new car in our car club we figure out all the problems (you have already done this). Save up some cash, enough for all the necessary parts and a few pizzas. Invite all your buddies whith likeminded skills and cars over for a saturday and go to town. You would be suprized how much you can get fixed with the stereo cranked an 5 guys going to town on it.

[ellik]

Cassie-
I hear ya'
I'm just dishin out 800 to rebuild my rear-end.
My rear main seal is bad.
Tires are starting to be questoinable.
My cat is cracked and throwing a code.
Inspection due end of month.

Im attempting the rear main seal myself.... or will once i recover from the rear end rebuild.
I gonna squeek by with the tires and cat (hopefully) till i get some more cash.

I was pondering the same thing...should i trade it in for a LT1... i bought the 6 to save on insurance, but the repairs i am making are more than the insurance difference... only had the car a year and been dumping major cash into it already, rear end will put it up at 2,000 in first year of owning it. even if you got something else used, you stand the same chances of having to put money into it. at least this one is almost paid off like you said and you know what it is. by the time i get mine paid off i figure it will basically be a brand new car [img]smile.gif[/img]

If you need any help working on your car, let me know.... i live in Crafton/ Greentree about 10 minutes from downtown Pitt.

[ September 29, 2003: Message edited by: ellik ]

[ September 29, 2003: Message edited by: ellik ]</p>

[99CamaroV6]

If you don't mind...

A) Putting time into it
B) pumping money into it

keep it.

Personally I would get rid of it. My car is on the verge of going out the window. I didn't buy a new car to have it break down or sneeze everytime I give it WOT, try to open the power windows, try to open the trunk, have piston slap, etc...

Face it F-bdoies = F-rated reliability. You don't believe me? Read everyone's above posts. :D

[Ichoptop]

I must be just lucky or do enough preventative mainteneance. 106 thousand miles and the only thing that has ever broke was the plastic idler pulley shattered and tore up the serpentine belt. Replaced it with a steel roller and have had no problems since.