View Full Version : What should we do with the Subaru?
oceanfamily
7-11-12, 2:50am
We have a 1997 Subaru and the engine is not working very well something to do with something that will cost us about $1000. The question is is that it's already got some rear damage to the rear passenger side but other wise it's pretty good. Looking for input as to what to do with it...should we spend the money on getting it fixed or should we just try and sell it the way it is?
How much could you sell it for and how much would it cost you to get a newer model (but not new) replacement? And how reliable is your mechanic? Can they give you an estimate of what likely repairs will be coming up in the next 2-5 years? That might help you make your decision.
Personally, I would probably sell and trade up to a newer used car.
lhamo
SteveinMN
7-11-12, 10:56am
I would spend the money and keep it running.
Think of it this way: if the motor wasn't having a problem, would you be looking to replace your car? I'm guessing not.
For the price of three or four new-car payments (maybe half-a-dozen used-car payments), you can fix the engine and probably can keep the Subaru going for at least another year (assuming your mechanic, whom you should trust, does not see any other major repairs ahead [wear items like struts/shocks and brakes are something else). You could, of course, sell this car and buy a newer used car. But if you sell it as-is, any prospective buyer automatically will subtract from your asking price their estimation of what it will cost to fix (usually not guessing in your favor). And you'll be buying a newer vehicle typically not knowing just what you're buying or how the previous owner cared for it. You could end up paying off a newer used car and the same thousand dollars to cover something no one saw coming.
If it were me, I'd keep it going until you no longer had confidence in the car.
miradoblackwarrior
7-11-12, 11:44am
Hi, Oceanfamily--
I have to disagree about trying to get anything out of the car. I've been trying to sell my (newer) PT cruiser for a month now, and only had a couple of non-serious nibbles. Frustrating! People are not buying cars. If your car is not drive-ready, you will be very difficult to try to sell it. There are plenty of nicer cars out there, and nobody is buying! Maybe you could donate it to a charity and take the tax deduction? Putting $1000 into a 15 year old car is never enough money--something else will probably go wrong.
Good luck!
Susan
My mom just sold a lower mileage 10 year old car (little old lady car) for $2000 to a neighbor for their kid. A plain jane car with rust. Both parties were very happy with the deal. Low price = sale. It sold just word of mouth around the neighborhood. In fact, she sold her furniture the same way.
It is the middle of the road cars that compete with the new cars that come with low interest loans.
My car is a 1998 with 191,000 miles and I plan on keeping it going as long as possible. I might not? replace the engine but will do everything else to keep it going.
Check with your state as they may have a voluntary vehicle buy-back program like they do in Calif. Here they will buy back any vehicle, for any reason as long as it is somewhat drivable and you can get up to $1500. When the transmission went out on an 2002 Hyundai Accent I had and would have cost a few thousand to fix, I opted to have the state buy the car back. The blue book value on it in good condition wasn't much more than the $1500 I got, and with the trans messed up (no reverse and other gears starting to go out) I may only have gotten a few hundred dollars if I sold it.
Hi, Oceanfamily--
I have to disagree about trying to get anything out of the car. I've been trying to sell my (newer) PT cruiser for a month now, and only had a couple of non-serious nibbles. Frustrating! People are not buying cars.
People are buying. But they are getting pretty good deals on brand new cars right now.
I liked the new SOUL cars by Kia - but I see so many of them now that I'm not interested anymore.
I'm looking and will buy something sometime this year.
PT cruisers sell pretty cheap for used. I know several people on Facebook trying to sell their cruisers and not getting many nibbles.
They seem to be very popular with the 65+ year old ladies around here but anyone younger isn't buying them. So maybe you should cruise thru some retirement communities with big FOR SALE signs.
Spartana, that's a pretty cool state buy back program. I don't think I've ever heard of that before.
OP - a lot of times I'll see cars listed on CraigsList for " X$ as is, but if I do the repairs it needs the price goes up to XX$".
.
Spartana, that's a pretty cool state buy back program. I don't think I've ever heard of that before.
Yeah and probably one of the reasons Calif's budget is BILLIONs in deficeit. That and the multi-billion dollar high-speed rail line that is planned to go between LA and San fran. Oh wait...it'll only go between Fresno and Bakersfield for the first 10 years or so. Places no one actually wants to visit - ever :-)!
I am also in the car shopping market - finally deciding to get rid of the old gas guzzling truck. Not sure what to get though but probably will end up with a compact car - or maybe a bit bigger compact sedan like a Hyundai Elantra or Ford Focus instead of an Accent or Fiesta ( both too small) - for the fuel economy.
Check with your state as they may have a voluntary vehicle buy-back program like they do in Calif. Here they will buy back any vehicle, for any reason as long as it is somewhat drivable and you can get up to $1500. ...
Oh dear god, only in Calif. Well they can certainly afford it. WTF.
SheRah I read your 2nd post later after my first thought above. Good god who THINKS of these programs in your state? Do ya'll purposely elect the jack*ss who can figure out the fastest way to throw away taxpaer dollars? Get out of there, I'm telling you. St. Louis is nice, but really, I think you should look at Tennessee. I think it is pretty and modest and outdoorsy and low taxed.
People are buying. But they are getting pretty good deals on brand new cars right now.
I liked the new SOUL cars by Kia - but I see so many of them now that I'm not interested anymore.
I'm looking and will buy something sometime this year.
PT cruisers sell pretty cheap for used. I know several people on Facebook trying to sell their cruisers and not getting many nibbles.
They seem to be very popular with the 65+ year old ladies around here but anyone younger isn't buying them. So maybe you should cruise thru some retirement communities with big FOR SALE signs.
Spartana, that's a pretty cool state buy back program. I don't think I've ever heard of that before.
OP - a lot of times I'll see cars listed on CraigsList for " X$ as is, but if I do the repairs it needs the price goes up to XX$".
I liked the Kia Soul a lot, it was brand new the summer we were buying a new car, but I ended up with something boring for various reasons. Whatcha think of The Cube? It was also new the summer of 2009 and I really liked its strange asymmetrical and boxy design. One of my favorite cars for humor is the Scion XB, the original ones. They are boxy and are a scream, I just love them!
I think I've made my opinion known on PT Cruisers, too much at any price. Sorry.
Float On, I'm sorry to say that if our state moved to such a silly old car buy back program, I would have to take my Uzi to the State house in Columbia and mow them down because such ridiculousness belongs only in Calif.
Yeah, that buy-back plan is too far out even for me. I must be missing something. California needs scrap metal?
Hi, Oceanfamily--
I have to disagree about trying to get anything out of the car.
<snip>
Putting $1000 into a 15 year old car is never enough money--something else will probably go wrong.
I'm with you. Just spent $1400 on our old car, and within a few weeks got a repair estimate for $2800 more.
The old car is gone now, there's a brand new replacement in our driveway. I've long been in a tiny minority of people here who will own up to buying brand new cars.
If my PT Cruiser (ahem) ever has a problem, I'm trading it in. I drove a lemon for thirty-some years, and I've had more tow jobs than Dick Morris. No more. I sold the old bucket of bolts to my mechanic for a nominal fee, as he had an inordinate fondness for it.
iris lily
7-11-12, 10:05pm
I'm with you. Just spent $1400 on our old car, and within a few weeks got a repair estimate for $2800 more.
The old car is gone now, there's a brand new replacement in our driveway. I've long been in a tiny minority of people here who will own up to buying brand new cars.
I will buy what I want at the time. I like used cars, I like new ones. While I think that buying brand new and losing that $$$ the moment you drive off of the lot is a bad financial move, we make enough good financial moves to counter it (no payments ever, and we drive them a fairly long time. DH's "new" truck was 20 years old when he traded it in.)
We lucked out for a couple of used cars and got ones that we knew history on. That makes a difference. This last go 'round we didn't have time to run around looking for a "good" used car and the market was high then on used cars, anyway.
We lucked out for a couple of used cars and got ones that we knew history on. That makes a difference. This last go 'round we didn't have time to run around looking for a "good" used car and the market was high then on used cars, anyway.
Also bought an older used car with a known history early this year, it's doing fine so far. It will eventually become our daughter's.
I have hobbies and family relationships that involve long distance driving, as well as a long commute. While I'll try most anything in home repair, I don't have much aptitude at cars. With arthritis in my hands, in any case, my days of handling the small parts involved in fixing my own cars are over.
Whatcha think of The Cube? It was also new the summer of 2009 and I really liked its strange asymmetrical and boxy design. One of my favorite cars for humor is the Scion XB, the original ones. They are boxy and are a scream, I just love them!
I have one friend with a Cube and they really like it. There are only about 3 in all the Branson area (a few extras when tourists are around). I thought the box Scion was a little scary - just looked like you might pull up to a stop sign and all four sides would fall off (comic book style)...I do like the newer design of those. I think I must see 50 Souls a day and they seem to be the new choice of car for 50+ year old ladies.
I just never could follow the crowd on car styles - I couldn't do the mini-van for more than 1 year when the boys were babies. Too domestic for me....I went back to a truck. Only added the SUV because I needed something that could haul kids and product long distance when we'd go to the trade show in Philly. At heart I will always be a truck girl.
The Cube always looks like a woman's one-shouldered evening gown from the rear to me. Or sort of like an up-graded Flintstones car - probably because it has slightly rounded windows. It's cute - as is the Scion and Soul ( I LOVE the Rapping Rats (or whatever they are) Kia Soul commercials). But they are too....er... uni-styled for me. Don't know how else to say it. A body style that is not only very distinct and fashionable, but likely to go out of style quicly and may begin to look sort of like a GMC Pacer or Gremlin or similair (i.e. very outdated) 5 or 10 years from now. So since I try to keep any new car I buy at least 10 years, I want something that sort of is regular looking - a basic classic sedan, truck, small SUV, etc... - that doesn't seem like I'm driving a throw-back from the '70s.
This should probably be on the political board (sorry won't hog the thread after this little rant) but.... Iris Lily - WTF is right. I think the Calif Car buy back thing originally started as a means to get older, polluting, and gas guzzling cars that didn't pass their smog test off the road (we have the toughist emissons standards in the country - a good thing I think). But it seems to have morphed into a program that says it'll buy back any car (yes, for scrappage - metal for the high speed rail maybe :devil:) no matter if it passed it smog test or not. So I highly doubt that my 2002 40 mpg Hyundai Accent with 95K mules on it (that passed it's smog test) would have qualified under the old rules, but it did under the new ones and, putting my moral outrage aside for the sake of fiances >8), I sold it to the state for more than I could get selling it myself (thank you state of Calif taxpayers (sarcasm!). But seriously, in a state where they are cutting medicaid for the sick, elderly and disabled, where cities are going bankrupt and can't pay their employees, and austerity cuts are happening at all levels, how can they justify such a program? How can they justicfy a high speed rail to really no where (like a Bridge to Nowhere) that costs billions and billions? And the car buy back program isn't even based on income or assets so it helps the wealthy and not just the poor. Donald Trunp could turn in his old beater too. OK, political rant over, now back to car ideas!
At heart I will always be a truck girl.
I have to admit in my heart I am a truck girl too. Having trouble parting with my truck (a 2001 Ford Ranger extra cab with a shell and V-6) but at less than 18mpg and with the rise in fuel prices (especially in Calif) it really affected me when i was travelling. It cost me double what my 40 mpg Hyundai Accent did. So i will eventually get rid of my truck and get another compact car. I really don't need a truck anymore anyways so might as well save on fuel costs and over all maintenence for the 10 or 15 years I have it. But I'll be sad to see it go.
I wish Subaru would make the Baja again.
I wish Subaru would make the Baja again.
Remember the Suburu Brat? Probably appropriate for us :-)! I would LOVE to get an Outback - probably my favorite wagon - but they are very expensive even used. I wish other auto makers made more small wagons. Ford had a Focus wagon that was great as did Saturn, Hyundai, and several others, but I guess small SUVs and crossovers are much more popular than wagons. Love the old Volvo wagons too but even more expensive then the Outback. Hyundai make an the Elantra Touring Model (something like that) which is sort of a small wagonish sedan. But like the Matrix et al, the back is just too small to be of any real use to replace a small truck bed.
But like the Matrix et al, the back is just too small to be of any real use to replace a small truck bed.
Despite the fact that I will (frugally) keep my Jetta Station Wagon another 15-20 years if I can, I would be so on top of a real compact pickup. Too bad no one selling in the U.S. and Canada offers one. I do treat my Jetta a bit like a pickup truck. Over the 9 years I've had it, I've hauled sofas, La-Z-Boys, tall bookcases, un-collapsed NordicTraks, a queen-sized futon, a garage's worth of junk, and lawnfull of mulch, and a six-foot Christmas tree. And I don't even have a hitch or a trailer on it. One problem I do see with the Matrix and some of the other hatchbacks, though, is that the hatch is so narrow compared to what you can fit inside. Makes it much less useful than it could be.
My wife has a Soul and really likes it. Lots of room for people, some for hauling. She does -- umm -- seem to fit right into the target demographic mentioned here. I won't be telling her that. :laff:
.... I wish other auto makers made more small wagons. Ford had a Focus wagon that was great as did Saturn, Hyundai, and several others, but I guess small SUVs and crossovers are much more popular than wagons. Love the old Volvo wagons too but even more expensive then the Outback. Hyundai make an the Elantra Touring Model (something like that) which is sort of a small wagonish sedan. But like the Matrix et al, the back is just too small to be of any real use to replace a small truck bed.
Boy could I have written this! I wanted a station wagon when our old one went kaput. Station wagons are The Thing for us because we've got short legged dogs who can ride in the back but still see out. They require a station wagon!
So DH and I who have a hard time agreeing much of the time and after negotiating, decided to move down in size and get the Focus station wagon rather than the big one. We went to the dealer with our checkbook, ready to order one but--GUESS WHAT! They are no longer making them. Thud. We are such poor consumers we did not know that.
Sure there are foreign makes but I'll not spend that money on a Subroo nor a Volvoo.
So we ended up getting a stupid generic SUV. The dogs have to sit way down in the well and they cannot see out and they are not happy. But I will say that that deep floor to ceiling height allows me to haul liles 'n iris around to shows without bending many of them, so that is an unexpected plus.
I like small trucks myself, we are never without one.
Despite the fact that I will (frugally) keep my Jetta Station Wagon another 15-20 years if I can, I would be so on top of a real compact pickup. Too bad no one selling in the U.S. and Canada offers one. or hauling. She does -- umm -- seem to fit right into the target demographic mentioned here. I won't be telling her that. :laff:
What does this mean? What is a TRUE compact pickup?
My question too - I have a Toyota Tacoma and consider it a true small pickup. Not like the old Datsuns or Nissans, but still quite small.
SteveinMN
7-12-12, 10:59pm
My question too - I have a Toyota Tacoma and consider it a true small pickup. Not like the old Datsuns or Nissans, but still quite small.
The Tacoma may be smaller than an F-150 or a Silverado, but it's about 10-20 inches longer than cars considered "compacts" (like the Toyota Corolla or Hyundai Accent). In fact, the Tacoma and the Ranger are more the size of the Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion, cars which no one really considers "compact". I'd love to see another pickup the size of the BRAT or the Volkswagen "Caddy (http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2010/04/1982-volkswagen-rabbit-lx-diesel-pickup.html)", especially with a diesel!
When I do own cars, I tend to drive them until they fall apart. I would fix the engine.
That said, I have to weigh in that going back to car ownership after eight years of not having a car, I'm finding it not really worth the money. We're spending about eighty dollars a month on gas, and we're still using bicycles as our primary mode of transportation.
So if I were faced with fix the engine for $1000, buy a newer used car, or get rid of the car altogether, I might go back to being carfree.
We still need to see how much we're going to need to shuffle our daughter by car out to her charter middle school this coming year. I'm afraid we're stuck with a car for a while.
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