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bohdi

CEG'er
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
47
Location
dallas
I'm probably in the vast minority here, but oh well. Life would be boring without a dissenting view once in a while.

I've got a ridiculous laundry list of crap wrong with my car. And I plan on fixing as little as possible before I trade it in in the spring.

1. Sunroof motor is shot.
2. Sunroof headliner has relieved itself from duty.
3. Headlights are hazed and the tabs are broken.
4. front grill is smashed to smithereans (my fault)
5. ball joints are toast
6. front rotors are warped
7. power steering went on strike 3 days ago
8. any time the RPM's rise above 5 or 6k, the battery light comes on and the AC all of a sudden will blow harder until the revs drop
9. clutch is in need of replacement
10. most of the gears require coaxing to come out to play
11. 3 of the 4 speakers work
12. trunk struts are shot
13. 2 jack point skirt insert things are missing
14. air bag light blinks to the tune tune of hey jude
15. cd player is picky (with store bought discs)
16. the car apparently doesn't like gasoline, because filling it can be an exercise in patience
17. the interior lights work at random
18. EVERYTHING RATTLES
19. alignment is out
20. it chews through tires (see #19)
21. AC works on high only. sometimes.
22. paint is faded on the bumpers (it's been garaged 50% of its life)
23. fuel economy has dropped from 26 combined to 22ish combined (driving routes and habits have not changed)
24. winshield appears to have served time in Iraq.
25. wipers engage randomly - apparently excited by horn blasts.
26. right front wheel bearing is in an on again, off again relationship
27. lower rear grill ate a couple of its tabs

There's more, but I'm running late for something.

Who can beat that?
 
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Long list but most that stuff really ain't that bad. But I know what it's like having to repair things, sucks but eventually you gotta do it.
 
Kremithefrog said:
Long list but most that stuff really ain't that bad. But I know what it's like having to repair things, sucks but eventually you gotta do it.
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Seriously! The vast majority of those are easily diagnosable and repairable.

I can almost guarantee your car will fail you on an important trip if you don't start repairing some of those things. Alternator, for example, and the wiring.
 
Rouar said:
Seriously! The vast majority of those are easily diagnosable and repairable.

I can almost guarantee your car will fail you on an important trip if you don't start repairing some of those things. Alternator, for example, and the wiring.
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Blah... Problem was different and had been addressed this year by someone better paid than I to work on cars. It morphed into this recently. I'm done. Too much money spent and too much time wasted. It runs. Good 'nuff until that magic moment after the first of the year.
 
Yeah, that list while very long is all simple repairs for the most part. It appears it was all left ignored for a long time and now the list has grown big.

I can cut that list down in no time if it was my car.

I'll take it off your hands cheap!
 
Once cars get over 4-5 years old, count on $1K(?) per year for maintenance, on average. If you spend less, you're ahead. If you spend more, you're still WAY ahead of what a new car costs.

In term of the pure economics, there is no justification for buying new vs maintaining old. However, new cars often have safety features old cars sometimes don't have; often new cars are made from new materials that last longer and are of higher quality/performance (for example, quieter and/or better gas mileage); new manufacturing methods can yield parts made to higher tolerances that last longer and function better; etc etc. There is a case for buying a new car.

If you don't like your ride, and you can afford a new one, go for it.

As a rule, I don't like to put a lot of money into something that depreciates - if I have a car that I like, I tend to keep it...

The SVT is a pretty good car. If it were me, I'd keep it, fix it up, bring it back to something you like, something want to drive (but that's just me...).

Good luck -
 
That's funny! LOL

Most of those things can be fixed with a few trips to your local salvage (U-pull-it) yard.

Sounds like you have some bad ground wires in there too!!

Bohdi - you bought the wrong one!!! I've never paid more than $1,800 for a CSVT
 
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clcell2 said:
Once cars get over 4-5 years old, count on $1K(?) per year for maintenance, on average.
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Thats a bunch of crap, I spent less then that on my Mystique a year and I had it for 5 years. My Escort I have less then $500 in it and I had it a little over half a year.
Good luck with fixing the car and yes after your done fixing all that put it on here in the classifieds someone will buy it and take good care of it.
 
clcell you're drawing me into a damned rational discussion. I'm not sure if I like it... :troutslap:

Anywho. A thousand bucks a year on maintenance? I was there two weeks after Jesusday. I haven't got the time or for most jobs, proper tools to maintain this car. Don't get me wrong, I like wrenching - as a hobby. But there is nothing that I hate more, except maybe for a missing sock, than having to wrench my auto back into service after it just ****ed me in the worst way.

Fellas, I realize it would technically be cheaper to fix the issues than buying new. But after it all, regret would inevitably follow as the realization sinks in that I just sunk two grand into a ten year old Ford. Owning a new car carries a certain intrinsic value that, in my personal opinion, supercedes the pure economics of owning an auto in the first place.
 
Dont mind the 16 post nub...1k every year past 4-5 years? Stop driving Hyundais and get a real car...even a freaking 96 neon doesn't need 1k a year to keep going...
 
bohdi said:
8. any time the RPM's rise above 5 or 6k, the battery light comes on and the AC all of a sudden will blow harder until the revs drop
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Your alternator windings are shorted and it has messed up your voltage regulator, My car did the same thing, It kept blowing fuses and lights and stuff that is also why your airbag light keeps flashing. replace the alternator and those problems will go away. besides the window the rest is cheap to fix your self if you have a junkyard and auto parts store close. You could getter done for around 600-800 bones. Good luck and if you want somebody to take it off your hands PM me w/ price.
 
Mystique97 said:
Thats a bunch of crap, I spent less then that on my Mystique a year and I had it for 5 years. My Escort I have less then $500 in it and I had it a little over half a year.
Good luck with fixing the car and yes after your done fixing all that put it on here in the classifieds someone will buy it and take good care of it.
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He said on average.

In terms of repairs and maintenance, I put well over 4K into my Maxima last year (unexpected repairs FTL :( ), and $600 this year so far (brakes/rotors/tires/oil). I find it hard to believe you had so little into your car unless you just drive the thing less than 15K miles a year.

This year my maintenance items all came in May and June, around 95K miles, and given my annual mileage I consider his estimate an accurate one.
 
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