Dealing with mechanical problems in your 70's

A

ancientmariner

New Member
Location
USA
Our 2nd car (2005 model) has been having a problem. Leaking anti-freeze. We took it to a foreign auto specialist. They charged us $280 to find the leak, no luck still paid the $280. Since it's not American made we found work & parts are very, very pricey. Changing oil costs over $100. Which has been changed at least once a year. We had it in for mostly minor problems but seems to a money pit. It has low miles (42,000) 15 years old and not worth more than $1,000 without the mileage bonus. Problem could be the water pump or not. Work & parts are estimated to run between $800 to $1,200. Will still only be able to get maybe $1,500 because of the miles.

Son is a pretty good mechanic but lives 700 miles away, son-in-law has the talent but not the time. I'm physically limited (old & not mechanically inclined). Being between a rock and hard spot we decided to call a national auto salvage company who quoted us a price of $290 and they will pick it up. It stills runs fairly good with excellent interior and exterior. Running the numbers it was better for us to take the loss. No more nickle & dime us to death, no more insurance, plate fees or annual taxes. They came yesterday, check in hand and picked it up.

Then came the nay-sayers out, our neighbor wanted to buy it and have her grandson, a mechanic fix it. Our son wanted to add it to his collection that dots his yard. We could have sold it without divulging the problem but in the end my wife didn't want to sell to a friend, relative or neighbor, no deal with giving it to one of our 3 children (we would have probably paid for all the title/plate/insurance needs). Hard feeling are created when dealing with friends or relatives. We decided we have reached an age where we could just let it go and not create a can of worms.
 

1st. the place you took it & paid $280.00 to find the leak but didn't doesn't sound like a very reputable business. If it's the same place you paid $100.00 for an oil change I would be looking for another place for any mechanical work. No way to know if you have the option to find another place.

Next.
Then came the nay-sayers out, our neighbor wanted to buy it and have her grandson, a mechanic fix it Did your neighbor know you were going to get rid of your car. Seems like she knew something because wanted to buy it and have her grandson, a mechanic fix it. I don't think she would have had hard feelings. All in all it was your choice to do as you did.
 
Guess I should have explained it further, oil changes are costly because of the filter, even at Amazon they are $42. You need special tools (oversized socket), it's in a very tight place. Walmart, most lube shops don't want to or can't mess with it. I watched a youtube video on the process. Bought all the tools, changed it and made a vow to never attempt it again. Every time we've had to take it in it seems that the starting price is $300. We taken it to several shops, some mechanics refuse to work on them or you pay through the nose to get them to do it.

They need to make the engineers who design them, work on them a few times.
 

The dealer is the best place for repair. They'll have the right tools & the right diagnostic equipment.
If your mechanic couldn't find the problem, you shouldn't have paid him.
Not selling a used car to friends/neighbors/relatives was the right decision.

Was it an exotic car? 42,000 miles is way too low for problems.
 
Much clearer picture of why you wanted to get rid of the "money pit" . Reducing expenses of two car ownership makes sense to me.
 
IMO you are doing the right thing and unfortunately, the right thing always seems to have a cost associated with it.

I think that trading a few dollars from the possible sale of the vehicle for your own peace of mind is worth every penny.

If the car gave you fifteen years of worry-free transportation it's time to let it go and move on.
 
win231 said:
The dealer is the best place for repair. They'll have the right tools & the right diagnostic equipment.
If your mechanic couldn't find the problem, you shouldn't have paid him.
Not selling a used car to friends/neighbors/relatives was the right decision.

Was it an exotic car? 42,000 miles is way too low for problems.
Click to expand...
German engineered, at 15 years old do you think the dealership would cut me a deal on the $800-1,200 quote. Nada quote was under $1,000 retail trade in. Add an additional $700 for the miles (dealers won't give you squat for your low miles) you still come up with less than $1,700 AND what if it wasn't the water pump, but something more expensive.

When we purchased it in 2005 there was only one dealership in state (150 miles away from our home). Low miles but we tried to sell it 8 years ago with 6,500 miles the dealers said we don't pay for low miles, (no but when they resell guess who pays)? Those cars are noted for the anti freeze problem, some had to be replaced with less than 10K on them. Insurance is higher because of the parts and repairs. Nothing more than a gross money pit as mentioned before.
 
ancientmariner said:
German engineered, at 15 years old do you think the dealership would cut me a deal on the $800-1,200 quote. Nada quote was under $1,000 retail trade in. Add an additional $700 for the miles (dealers won't give you squat for your low miles) you still come up with less than $1,700 AND what if it wasn't the water pump, but something more expensive.

When we purchased it in 2005 there was only one dealership in state (150 miles away from our home). Low miles but we tried to sell it 8 years ago with 6,500 miles the dealers said we don't pay for low miles, (no but when they resell guess who pays)? Those cars are noted for the anti freeze problem, some had to be replaced with less than 10K on them. Insurance is higher because of the parts and repairs. Nothing more than a gross money pit as mentioned before.
Click to expand...
Smart move to get rid of it..happy-smiley-emoticon-cartoon-giving-thumbs-up-illustration-55849949.jpg..We have 2 vehicles, tractro and riding mower to deal with, its getting harder and harder to work on them in my 70's....
 
One of the things I Always look at when buying a new vehicle is the ease of performing routine maintenance.....oil changes, filters, battery, etc., etc. The way some of the cars are made, it is almost mandatory to have to take them to a dealer/repair shop. One thing I will NEVER buy again is a car with a transverse mounted V6....changing the rear spark plugs in one of those is a major PITA. I dread the day when I am too old to do these kinds of things myself.
 
I was told that electrical things work on smoke and when the smoke comes out they stop working.
 

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