WELL my car blew up

[stretch2011]

Bought a 1997 buick regal with a blown up motor for $500. The car had 130,000 on it and the body and interior was in really good shape. So I put a motor and other various things which adds the cost up to around $1000 plus all the labor me and my old man put into it (hes been a mechanic all his life).

Then it shut down on my dad in the middle of the road when he turned on the blinker. Turns out the alternator and starter was going bad. Replaced them. Then the motor starts knocking. So to try to save myself the hassle I try and sell it (not trying to screw anyone, the car could last 1 week or years, who knows).

I take the car to the local Kroger to meet a potential buyer, they liked it but shy away. I drive around 3 more miles and it hangs a rod. WOOOO HOOO

So the year Ive had this thing I have drove it for about 3 months.

The lessoned here. I should've just bought a brand new car and made the payments. $1200ish/3 months= $400....new car payments <$300/m

[Teleguy61]

Hate it when that happens.

[David Root]

I stopped buying used "refurbished" computers for the same reason.

[Gibsonman63]

Don't get into the car payment trap. Buy a little better car. A new car will cost $400 a month for a very long time.

[vibratoking]

I think you did it mostly right. Is the chassis, including the suspension, steering, etc... solid? If you installed a better motor would your decision have been a good one? The faulty engine appears to be the bad decision given what you have stated.

Anyway, I don't agree with your conclusion. Never buy a car on credit, unless you like giving your money away.

[Phil_S]

I quit buying new cars about 13 years ago. I found myself unemployed and in need of a replacement car. Reluctantly, I went out looking for a used Honda Civic figuring I could afford to pay cash for it. I ended up on the used car lot at a Honda dealer and found a real nice 2 year old Accord with 25K on the odometer, eligible for the certified program. I came home and talked to my wife about it. I think we paid about 60% of the cost of a new one. We still have that car. It has 180K on it. Since them we've bought 3 more used cars (don't still have all of them.) Just buy what you can pay for. Don't be a slave to car payments. New cars are an especially poor value and they make your insurance go way up.

[John_P_WI]

New cars are an especially poor value and they make your insurance go way up.

So do teenagers...

The last 2 cars that I bought were certified Hondas off the lot. Like Phil, they were about 60% of new with a good 75% of life left.

[cbass]

I've been driving the same truck since 1993. I can't believe people go out and spend $50,000 on a truck it's just insane to me. I can put a new transmission in my truck for one new truck payment.
I have been thinking about picking up a car though something fast

[Phil_S]

Yeah, they don't make 'em like they used to, and that's a good thing. Remember when a car body rusted through in 3 years and a motor was good for 75K? The quality is much better across all brands. It's nothing to see a 10 year old car on the road. Ours are 12, 16, and 18 years old. They all have plenty of life in them. This makes used cars an even better bargain. I haven't had a car payment in 20 years or more. My wife keeps asking for one with a built in GPS and heated seats and that's probably gonna happen, just don't know when.

[Leo_Gnardo]

You need some musical accompaniment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzim1iYhmGA

Sing along with the chorus:

"A thousand dollar car ain't gonna roll
til you throw at least another thousand in the hole
Sink your money in it and there you are
the owner of a two thousand dollar
thousand dollar car."

Boy howdy, yeh I been there all right, with a series of Chevy vans.

[HeeBGB]

Get a Toyota Prius. My brother bought his new in 2006. He has 450k miles on it and it's still going

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Get a Toyota Prius. My brother bought his new in 2006. He has 450k miles on it and it's still going

Original battery bank?

[HeeBGB]

Get a Toyota Prius. My brother bought his new in 2006. He has 450k miles on it and it's still going

Original battery bank?

Yes and no. The drive batteries are a bunch of smaller cells wired together for very high voltage. Usually the whole bank doesn't go bad it is just one or two cells. If you know what you are doing you can remove the batteries and disconnect the cells to test them individually to find the bad ones. They are about $40 per cell as opposed to $3500 or $4000 to replace the entire bank. So my brother has had to replace two or three cells so far.

It's the better part of a day to remove the battery bank, replace the bad cells and re-install.

[David Root]

I recommend a pre-2013 Subaru Forester. I bought a 6 month old used 2012 three years ago. Put gas in one end and oil in the other, doesn't get more reliable than that.

I did have to replace the original battery recently. Lasted 3 1/2 years--put in a 5-year guaranteed Canadian Tire battery. (Canadian Tire is Canada's Pep Boys).

Why pre-2013? The transmission changed in 2013 and is apparently problematic. Some other stuff too. "all new" to me means "unproven".

[M Fowler]

I've rebuilt my own engines, transmission, etc: for years but damn it is nice to climb into a brand spanking new vehicle. Which are now old

2005 Ford F150 Ford put in new engine on first warranty period 36,000 mile, ran that engine for about 90,000 miles and then put in after market parts to get the timing and oil pressure correct but that didn't work well so got a low mileage engine put in late last fall which has problems now. It never ends with these Triton engines.

Next car will be a new 1932 Ford highboy roadster for some summer fun.

Mark