Time to say Goodbye?

I am still trying to decide if it is time to move on to another car, or
keep the faithfull 2 door Neon around. The car is running as smooth as
it usually does, with some oil smoke if you are hard on the throtle. A
grawl has started in the front passenger side wheel area. Pulled the
tire off and now suspect CV Joint. Body is in great shape, with only
some paint touchups needed. (paint is flacking away, but no rust under
it).

The question is, with a tight budget, do I consider a total rebuild, or
move on to another car? This is my second car, and it is not required
for us to get to work. I have a garage large enough to work on the car.
Should I keep her, or look for a new one?

The car is a 95, 2 Door SOHC, with about 430,000KM on it.

Modifications:
55MM throtle body added
Cold Air (no Name)
Pop Can muffler (it was free, minus the 6 pack consumed installing it)
Clutch (can't remember the name of it)

Stock Replacement parts:
Oil Pan
axil seals
Front bearings
Clutch cable
Timing belt (twise)
DRM (day time running light module)
Head gasket


Mike
mlawrenc(at)gmail.com

 

I'd just patch it until I could afford to put it too rest.

My '95 Concord has 125K kms, runs like new and I'll just patch it until
something is made that turns my fancy.

 

If you don't need the car, then it's only function is a pleasure car. If
you don't enjoy driving it anymore then sell it.

If it was mine I'd sell it, I've read many times that these years Neons
were disposable cars that were thrashed to death. I also understand
these are very popular cars with the young and stupid 20 somethings to
"pimp out" which means if you did sell it, your going to get more for
it than it's worth. On the other hand, I'm riding a motorcycle nowadays
and having a lot more fun doing that than I ever had driving around my
small cars (all of which are sold, now)

It's been said before by a lot of folks and it's not bad advice, that if
you are going to own a "spare" car, that a truck is a pretty smart thing
to have for a spare.

Now, I've gone through rebuilds on both transmission and engine on
my past and current cars. Here's some things I've learned that you
might want to chew on:

1) You can usually find wrecking yard engines that are in lots better
condition and are way cheaper than having your engine rebuilt - unless
your engine is a known weak design. For example, any 3.0L Chrysler
Mitsubishi engine you find in a wrecking yard is going to be no better
than what you have. But, the yards are full of 3.3L and 3.8L Chrysler
engines in great condition.

2) If you sink the money into a rebuild on the engine then the transmission
is guarenteed to die while there's still plenty of mileage left in the
rebuild,
so when you make the decision to put the money into a rebuilt engine, your
also making the decision to put the money into a rebuilt transmission
whether
you realize it or not

3) A rebuilt engine will have plenty of longevity unless the rebuilder
botches it,
and no matter how good the rebuilder is, they are not as good as the
factory when the engine rolled off the assembly line. (unless of course
the engine is a known weak design) In other words, you are assuming more
risk when you buy a rebuild on an engine than when you buy the engine
new in the new car. Warranties can take care of this, look carefully.

4) If a tree falls on the car the day after it comes back from the
rebuilder,
will the insurance company pay you what you put into the car? Talk to
your agent.

5) You will NEVER get the money out of the vehicle that you put into the
rebuild if you ever sell it before it just completely conks out. So plan on
owning this vehicle for a LONG time. If you really like it a lot, great.
If
your just looking at it for economic reasons, if there's any small niggling
annoyances on the car, those annoyances will become major annoyances
long before you have recovered what you put into the powertrain rebuild.

6) The older the vehicle body the harder it is to get parts for it. A 10
year
old vehicle is still easy enough to find body parts out of the wrecking
yards,
a 20 year old vehicle is completely different. If your vehicle is 10 years
old
now and you do an engine rebuild, by the time the rebuilt engine is ready
to die, you will have a 20 year old vehicle.

7) It is usually wiser to rebuild a vehicle that started life out with a
high
dollar value.

Engine rebuilds work great for commerical vehicles that see a lot of
yearly mileage, like in the 20K miles a year or above. The reason is
that what you got going is a practically new body with a worn out engine.
A rebuild is a nobrainer.

But a 10 year old vehicle with borderline paint, that is different, a
rebuild is more difficult to justify economically. Your taking a lot
higher risk, and you need to weigh things carefully. If you can do your
own work, then it will probably work out - but it will only be a good
deal, not a fantastic deal.

Ted

 

Do you enjoy driving the car? If yes, do some work to keep it going. If it is
just another appliance, get rid of it and get another replacement appliance.