Car Trouble, Oh Yeah

[sirmatt]

So my wife hears noises and a thump in her 2001 Saturn today, turns out there is a hole blown in the engine.




$1000 for a used engine with 90,000 mi (!) and $900 labor, and then the dude wasn't sure if there was transmission problems or not due to overheating or other damage. So dropping the $2k on the new-old engine is a bit of a gamble.

Sucks because I just put in a $1200 A/C. Just. Like a month ago.

So I am thinking I am going to cash out on it, take it's tires and put my tired old ones on it and sell it for pennies to some salvage yard...and get some sort of pin-haulin' truck of some kind.

Any recommendations for a fuel efficient truck that can haul a pin or two, maybe some drywall, etc.?

I need a cash deal, reliable, looking to keep it under 3k. Craigslist??

- Matt

[funky49]

that sucks man. sorry! i put a hole in a motor before (i over-revved it)

[sirmatt]

Actually it's pretty cool. Now I just need recommendations on what kind of small truck to seek out, what year range, etc. to get a good price-age-performance synergy going. Looking to keep it 3k or under. I realize that's not ideal, but seeing what's out there.

Found this tacoma for a low cost relative to lower miles plus automatic:

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/1442960890.html


- Matt

[The Renegade]

Assuming this wasn't a mechanical over-rev, the motor likely went due to oil starvation. In that case, the transmission will have no issues that it didn't have before.

Put the engine in yourself, rent an engine puller. Shouldn't take you more than a day.

[sirmatt]

Well here is the thing, and maybe you can tell me I'm an idiot for thinking this way, BUT...

The engine repair is going to cost $2k roughly for a used engine with 90k miles on it. For the same $2k plus a few hundred maybe, I get a vehicle I can use on property renovations, hauling games, etc.

So I dunno. It's a close call.

- Matt

[micksimmonds]

there are a lot of cheap mini trucks which should serve your needs, like the S10, Nissans, Isuzu all should return ok fuel economy and be more useful, might struggle with a Air Hockey table but a Pin will be fine 

[The Renegade]

Well here is the thing, and maybe you can tell me I'm an idiot for thinking this way, BUT...

The engine repair is going to cost $2k roughly for a used engine with 90k miles on it. For the same $2k plus a few hundred maybe, I get a vehicle I can use on property renovations, hauling games, etc.

So I dunno. It's a close call.

- Matt

Depends on what you can find for 3k honestly.. if you did the work yourself it would be closer to a $1k. A vehicle for all the rest of that stuff isn't a bad idea obviously, just depends on what you can find for 3k for so.

[sirmatt]

Wouldn't you have to have an engine lift and all of that? I know nothing about car repair. I replaced an O2 sensor once lol...that's about it.

[The Renegade]

Wouldn't you have to have an engine lift and all of that? I know nothing about car repair. I replaced an O2 sensor once lol...that's about it.

You should be able to rent an engine hoist.

It's a lot of work, but not generally difficult, just a lot of time. Depends on what your time is worth to you versas $900.

However, if you've been wanting a small truck anyways, that's still probably the best way to go since it fixes two problems for not too much more money, if you can afford it.

[sirmatt]

Yeah I would not do that work, I am more interested in finishing university than fooling with an engine. Plus I need a vehicle by Monday, so that definitely rules that out lol.

I think I am just going to switch to a truck, just to amuse myself. I have a line on a red 1995 Nissan XE (?) for $1500 from a good friend who I trust, and his mechanic-friend both saying it's solid and has been well-maintained.
Ugly design, but well maintained lol.

Either that or some ghetto-bangers lowrider truck. That would just put a proud smile on my face everyday. The irony of a freckly white kid (am I a kid anymore? I suppose I still think of myself that way at 28) in one of those - priceless. Especially living where I live (S. St Pete) hehe.

- Matt

[klassic]

Hey! i love mini trucks.

as for the saturn, throwing a 90K+ engine into the car, when that engine has been sitting for years on a pallet outside, i would bet, is throwing a 1000 dollars away, in my opinion. plus, if they say 90K, they can't prove that, so figure it has 150,000 on it.

and saturn parts are horribly overpriced. i've seen it, 2 chevy mechanic buddies have confirmed it, another friend that had one guaranteed it, etc. $1600.00 for A/C repair proves it as well.

but, your tranny will be fine. overheating an engine won't affect the tranny 99.5% of the time. part the saturn out, you'll make good money if you have a bit of patience.

go for the truck. i've owned a lot of them, so let me just add my 2 cents in opinions below:

88-95 isuzu pickup: +5
toyota tacoma - +3
nissan hardbody - +2
94 and up s10/isuzu hombre - -4 (worked on a couple for friend's and owned 1, all problematic)
97-03 f150 - -1 (lasted 4 months for me, poor gasket design)
mazda B series - +1 (worked on a friend's, parts are cheap, easy to access everything)
ford ranger - +2 (cheapest on gas out of any small pickup, per epa.gov and easy to maintain)
jeep cherokee - +3 (so far)

[sirmatt]

Went out looking this weekend. Trucks "cheap enough" were in pretty short supply: pieces of shit, too old or too uncomfortable - I believe due to a higher demand right now (I think there is a laid-off-guys-doing-manual-labor-in-a-down-economy-needing-to-haul-stuff-in-a-fuel-efficient-daily-driver aspect to that apparently strong demand for small trucks), and I wanted something I could pay cash for, preferably something I could pay the amount I was going to have to pay for the engine replacement anyways.

The main benefit I was was not having to borrow my mom's SUV to pick up games. That is both embarassing, annoying and a liability when it comes to family goodwill, because the multi-city exchange aspect of it is a pain in the ass for all involved when I want to go get a game.

So, I ended up not with a truck, but I still got a "perfect pin hauler" (well, for a single pin, but that is good enough for me "for now" lol...no aggressive auction culls in my near future). Far more stylish and comfy than any truck, fuel effcient enough and boxy enough lol.





2000 Volvo V70 wagon. Immaculate carfax and a major score at $1700 cash (when other ghetto-lot sellers wanted $4000+ by the time you paid their dealer fee for the same make/model/year, and then that doesn't include your standard tax, tag and title...or there were driveway personal sellers wanting $2900 for mid-90's models, which was too old for me), then I took it to Tire Kingdom and put a few hundred into new brakes and struts.

Low price was partially due to a lot of dents, dings, scratches, etc. on the exterior. It's pretty bad. Closer up it looks like it was driven through dense forest one too many times.

But for a car with nice internals, practically new tires (one ghetto lot seller above had one with tires that needed rapid replacement, probably $500-ish right off the bat) and NO PAYMENTS, I can 100% deal with my self-image and ego being flattened by cosmetic damage. Internals cost money. Cosmetics only cost pride.

It's true, it's true, it hurts the ego to see such ugliness on your own vehicle, but for consolation to my bruised and battered vanity, I channel the immortal words of Marcellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction:

The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride.

Plus I get a moon roof, all leather seating, an outside thermometer (I get off on that for some reason, probably just previous deprivation), automatic-adjust A/C and that awesome hearse-like styling.

I keep teasing my wife (with emphasis on the "serious" part of "half-serious") that I am going to tint the windows as black as I can and put a sticker of that long stylized "S" over the back window or two...




So...problem solved, for short change.

Thanks for the input guys.

- Matt

[klassic]

good score. i haven't owned any volvo's, but i have worked on a friend's, and it's a smart engine, and easy to get to everything (at least in the 98 i worked with). as far as that backfire valve you'll probably read about, it's way overpriced. if your's is shot, F it...lol.

consensus is that volvo's are good long term cars. my ford F150 looked like it jumped off a few cliffs...bodywork ain't important. cargo space is