I bike to work 5x a week. I use my car once, *maybe *twice a week to go ride in a nearby city. I was driving the ol’ fit to visit family over the weekend and once I got off the exit, I noticed a slight rattling/chattering sound. Well, I was low on oil… REAL low. Apparently my car has been eating oil and I had no idea (despite the usual interval of oil changes).
The gf’s dad owns a body shop and is an incredibly gifted auto mechanic… He listened and said the engine is shot. He was willing to help me out, find a replacement engine, and swap it out. It’d run me around $2k. The car has 160k on it, and has been fantastic since I got it in '15 (only one owner previously).
Alternatively, I miss having a truck. I used to have a '95 tacoma 4x4, and I promised myself that once my car bit the dust, I would buy another one. Toyota is offering 0% APR for 60 months… problem is that I have 65k of student loan debt that I have been paying down, and I absolutely hate having debt, especially for a truck that would be driven once or twice a week, if that. (Likely more in the winter). I’m looking at a brand new 2020 (or maybe a better deal on an '18 or '19 but no 0%) for $30, likely around a $300/mo payment… plus more insurance.
I’m 30, make pretty okay money, and could afford the payment, but don’t like committing myself to another obligation, and I can easily absorb the cost to repair.
I’ve been there several times, expensive car repair or new vehicle. It’s a no brained financially, fix the Honda. You put $2k in and it last four months you’re at a break even with a new car payment. It last five or more months, you’re way ahead of the game. I suspect you can get at least two if not three more years out of it. Pay off debt and borrow as little as possible on a new vehicle.
Fix it. Pay off the student loan then get a new truck. It sucks. Bad. We don’t have student loan debt, but when my husband hit a dear and totaled his car, we turned into a one car family instead of getting another. We didn’t have much extra cash. It’s great 99% of the time. We’ve had to rent a car about 4 times since - including after Christmas this year when the one car blew the transfer case and nearly $4k later we had it fixed. We thought about about just dumping it, but at the time, 4K was way less than $30-40 for a new one. Oh yeah - and we had ONE payment left u til it was ours… fucking cars!!
As you have learned, you should have been checking the oil between oil changes. This might have been avoidable if you just put a little oil in it. We’ll never know.
Even a new car comsumes some oil, so at 160K, it might have been a good idea to check it before the engine failed. Lesson learned, I hope.
The gf’s dad owns a body shop and is an incredibly gifted auto mechanic… He listened and said the engine is shot. He was willing to help me out, find a replacement engine, and swap it out. It’d run me around $2k.
I’m in the replace the engine camp. Especially because you have a mechanic you trust.
But if you must have a truck, hurry up and marry the GF and buy a used truck that needs a new engine put in it.
It makes financial sense to fix unless there are other potential expensive fixes in near future. ie, you don’t want to drop $2k to fix engine and then transmission goes and you’ve got another bill for $1k+.
Also, hopefully your gf’s father didn’t just listen and told you engine is shot. Hopefully he actually did a compression test and some other diagnosis. Surprised the oil light didn’t come on although those sometimes only light up right before your engine seizes.
Like others have said, pay off debt. Don’t double down.
How do you know the engine is shot? When you run out of oil your engine seizes. If it’s still running I would top it up with oil then drive it around for a bit then fully change oil/filter.
Run it into the ground then go with plan B oil change, with the caveats of course that I haven’t seen or listened to your car.
The engine may be shot but if you once or twice a week and the car runs and drives then invest in a case of oil and check the oil every time you go out. At the rate you drive it it might last a year or two. And what’s the worst that could happen, you have to replace the engine? you’re already there.
It makes financial sense to fix unless there are other potential expensive fixes in near future. ie, you don’t want to drop $2k to fix engine and then transmission goes and you’ve got another bill for $1k+.
Also, hopefully your gf’s father didn’t just listen and told you engine is shot. Hopefully he actually did a compression test and some other diagnosis. Surprised the oil light didn’t come on although those sometimes only light up right before your engine seizes.
This is what threw me off… in the past the oil light has come on and I’ve taken it to get an oil change. I was do for a change (around 5k from my last change), but didn’t expect it to be empty.
$850 for a new engine, which is much cheaper than if I were to take it to a shop (who would want to replace the clutch, etc. while the engine is out). The engine that will be put in only has 60k miles on it, so I’m stoked.
Did adding oil smooth out the engine at all? Two things to look into:
Timing chain, this is most likely kept in tension by oil pressure. With low oil, you could have low pressure and added wear to the timing chain is no good. You can’t tell if your timing chain is FUBAR without pulling it out… By that time it might easier just to put a remanu motor in it.
This is a direct injection motor, a $300 valve cleaning might smooth out the engine by cleaning carbon build up off the intake valves.
Assuming the only real work needed is the motor, I’d replace it and drive it into the ground. If you are looking at another couple grand for suspension parts and others, go get your truck.
. in the past the oil light has come on and I’ve taken it to get an oil change. I was do for a change (around 5k from my last change), but didn’t expect it to be empty.
Yikes!!! That’s a red flag to me that you’re weren’t watching your oil level/consumption at anywhere near an appropriate frequency. Going forward I’d hope you’d get in the habit of checking your oil level on a much more regular basis.Modern cars/engines have lulled us into complacency that oil seldom needs to be added in significant amounts between changes but it’s not always the case.Driving the car any distance once the oil light comes on is a recipe for disaster.
. in the past the oil light has come on and I’ve taken it to get an oil change. I was do for a change (around 5k from my last change), but didn’t expect it to be empty.
Yikes!!! That’s a red flag to me that you’re weren’t watching your oil level/consumption at anywhere near an appropriate frequency. Going forward I’d hope you’d get in the habit of checking your oil level on a much more regular basis.Modern cars/engines have lulled us into complacency that oil seldom needs to be added in significant amounts between changes but it’s not always the case.Driving the car any distance once the oil light comes on is a recipe for disaster.
YMMV,
Hugh
Agreed. The oil light is generally not a signal that you need to change the oil. If that light pops on you’ve already fucked up.
As it is, for the OP, if it’s truly just $850 do it and check the oil in the new engine from time to time. If it was much more $(2-4K) I’d say junk it and buy the truck. But, even as someone that hates putting money into old(er) cars, in your position it’s the right move.
I have an 07 Honda Fit and Im assuming the light he’s talking about isn’t the low oil light, there is maintenance notification “light” that comes on at certain intervals for an oil change or air/cabin filter change.
You are really close - go car free and realize the big savings. Having a car and driving very little costs almost the same and driving all the time.
ride share / borrow a car / public transportation for that once a week drive. No insurance, registration, wear and tear - school loans will be gone in no time. Then reevaluate.