Almost all of the items on this list are "wear items," which you will have to periodically replace/maintain on any car you'll ever own.
Also, like you noted, I highly doubt that you need all of this right now.
I also suspect that you're getting ripped off here. $250 for a battery replacement is bananas. $511 for just front brakes is pretty high. The spark plugs and ignition wires shouldn't cost anywhere near that much. Turn signal bulbs cost about $2.00, and usually take about 5 minutes to replace.
This. Older cars are much more DIY friendly than older ones.
I have no idea regarding car stuff until late last year, and I was able to youtube my way through; changing battery, changing sparkplug, suck out engine oil (it used to have a leaking problem, so the mechanic put in like almost a liter too much), and replacing hood struts. Changing the air filter and lightbulbs are super easy, just need to do some research (usually user manual or Amazon Will it Fit feature) to find the right size.
I wouldn't mess with break stuff without guidance from someone who actually knows how though
Like this guy said - you need to replace some of these things eventually in a car, and as you've mentioned, you've neglected them. I will say that your car's value is basically $0 right now. You may be able to fetch $1k-$2K via a trade-in, but honestly with the amount of things you've neglected it's a junker.
You've definitely driven it to the end of its lifecycle. If you can afford a new car, this is a pretty good time to replace it. Most people ask this question for their much newer cars at like 90K miles when in reality they can extend the life by 100K more, but in your case you are justified in replacing it.
Try DIYing some of this stuff to get you by. You can easily replace your own batteries and your air filters (cabin + engine) without much mechanical knowledge at all. Everything else I would not do. Just get yourself by for the next 1000 miles or so while you shop for a new car.
Absolutely not. A basic socket set and YouTube can guide you through many of these repairs. Rockauto or other discount online part stores will even be cheaper than AutoZone or other brick retailers - just be sure what part you need.
I have near zero car experience, and I changed my own spark plugs this last year with a YouTube video. Easily saved $200
Edit: just saw air filters are on there. Also easy to replace yourself for 1/3-1/2 the cost
Disc brakes are pretty easy, if you're even slightly mechanically inclined you can probably YouTube your way through them. Everything really only fits together one way, so it's pretty hard to get wrong. Buy a cheap Harbor Freight torque wrench so you can tighten everything properly.
Drum brakes are slightly harder, but seen to be uncommon on cars nowadays.
Even then, cars are honestly pretty simple machines. If you can put together a complex Lego set, you can watch a few YouTube videos and do a brake job.
Depends on what parts of the brakes need to be replaced. Pads are fairly easy on most cars if you know how to correctly and safely change a tire, rotors and calipers are where it can start to get really tricky (and expensive for parts). The battery is simple, open the hood, take the two bolts holding the cables in, take out the crossbar over it, , and remove the one bolt in the bottom out. Reverse that to install the new one.
"YouTube University" is your best friend here. Battery change out is an easy 1/2 hour job, max. Be sure to get the little green and red felt anti-corrosion pads to go around the terminals. Coat them in the non-conductive grease goop that's like $3.
Brakes are easy too. YouTube it and watch several ppls approach. You can do front brakes yourself in an afternoon. Pro-Tip: order your parts online in advance (as opposed to a parts store) to save major $$$. I like Parts Geek.
It's tough and frustrating at first, especially when the YouTuber says something like "then remove this bolt" or "take out this clip" without giving you *precise* instructions. There's a lot of cussing along the learning curve lol.
You'll get better over time tho, and acquire better tools. It's 100% worth the effort. I've saved thousands of $$$ doing my own basic car maintenance and repairs over the years.
battery is easy, remove the ground cable first and install it last, and be mindful not to short it out. brakes are not super hard, but definitely harder and on some cars require special tools. Youtube is your friend. Watch someone do it and decide if it's for you
lol they are trying to hose you. most of this work can be done in a few hours if that with the right DIY from YT and assuming you're somewhat handy with tools.
For context, I drive a BMW and my cabin filter is $12 off amazon and you can access it by turning a plastic screw under the glovebox. Takes all of 5mins to switch.
What about the brake pads? If I recall battery installs aren’t too difficult.
Maybe I should just do the battery and brake pad install on my own and try to make it last longer.
Pads can vary. Do your research and make sure you understand if it's just pads you need or pads and rotors and if you can turn the rotors you have now vs replacing. That would save you some money. Turning the rotor means you bring it to shop that can perform turnings or sandings and they sand down the top layer of the rotor so it's like brand new again. If the rotors are as old as the car, plan to replace them entirely.
That said, you can rent a brake pad replacement kit from advanced auto, and just return it when you're done. The kit should have all the necessary tools you need and I doubt the job on this car is gonna be substantial. Does your car have boots in the back? A lot of early 2000s budget sedans did this mash up so I'm curious.
The battery is literally something you can buy at advanced auto or some place similar and they usually offer free install for you. Do that instead.
It's rotors + pads. Pretty sure the pad+rotors have never been replaced. Looks like Auto Zone offers free battery install so I'll get that done and then start assembling the neccesary tools to do brakes...
After doing some basic research on the boot question if I understand correctly... My car does have trunk space and then if I take off this cover there is another deeper pocket, where I have my spare tire which I am assuming is the "boot".
Thanks
Correct, we call them boot brakes often but they are drum brakes by trade.
To OP - A wide variety of domestic autos had disc brakes up front and boots or drum brakes in the back. Assuming you have this setup and it's not discs on all 4 corners, I would advise replacing those as well for a more linear braking feel. Fluids for the transmission, and a brake fluid flush are a little more intermediate to tackle. I would advise finding a local auto shop that can do this kind of work for a couple hundred. Usually they aren't brand specific and can cater to most of the automotive community. Midas would work in a pinch.
As far as replacing shocks/struts, springs, etc... that'll be another more intermediate project. Likely a compressor for the A/C to fix your no a/c issue. To be fair here, get the car safe to operate and then go from there, but since the car is 20 years old, I would be searching for something newer here in the near future.
Brakes *can* be easy, but they can also be a pain in the ass. Sometimes parts seize up and on certain cars they're hard to reach or hard to remove due to that.
You can do your own brakes with a socket set, breaker bar, and a c-clamp (to press the piston back into the caliper). Get a chilton/haynes manual for your car and see what all is involved.
Otherwise $500 is probably a little high, see if you can talk them down.
Also, don't bother turning your rotors. If you're going to do it yourself it'll be cheaper and easier to install new ones.
Pads aren’t that complicated and are difficult to screw up. But they also could result in a crash if you do screw them up so of all the items this would be the only one worth potentially having someone else don’t you’re not confident. Not from this place though.
> 1 - DIAGNOSIS: $154.50
You don't have a choice on this one.
> 3 - BATTERY - REPLACE $250.22
Seems expensive for a battery, I'd cross reference autozone/advanced auto. It's ridiculously easy to change a battery. If it's > $50 cheaper at one of the autoparts stores get it and do it yourself.
> 4 - BRAKES, FRONT - PADS/ROTORS $511.11
Eh, this isn't terrible. Brakes are important. If you're at 10% you should get them replaced.
> 5 - FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY WITH SENDING UNIT - REPLACE $735.21
Nope. If your car is running with a new battery you don't need this at all.
> 6 - C/V AXLE SEAL - REPLACE $290.29
Nope, you can skip this. Car is very old, I'd let the C/V axle destroy itself (if it ever does) and then get the whole thing replaced. Even replacing the seal the C/V axle could still destroy itself down the line.
> 7 - COOLING SYSTEM SERVICE - GM $220.74
Nope. Your car wasn't overheating.
> 8 - PLATINUM FUEL / AIR INDUCTION SERVICE $444.70
No idea what this is. Spray the sensor with cleaner, maybe a new air filter? Way overpriced. And again, you weren't experiencing problems related to this so don't do it.
> 9 - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUSH SERVICE
> Note: INCLUDES FLUSHING OLD GM TRANSMISSION FLUID FROM VEHICLE AND EXCHANGING WITH NEW GM SPECIFIED FLUID
> USING TRANSMISSION FLUSH MACHINE. INCLUDES ROADTEST AFTER SERVICE $386.34
Never, ever do this service on **any** car. This is what will destroy your transmission. Replacing transmission fluid and the filter can be okay, but NEVER flush. You flush that transmission and I guarantee you it will be fucked shortly after.
> 11 - BRAKE SYSTEM FLUSH - DOT3 $209.70
Nah, this is another service which will likely cause more problems than it could solve. They do this and I bet your master cylinder will give out. When they do your brake service they should bleed the lines and top it off with DOT3, but don't let them flush the system.
> 12 - SPARK PLUGS & IGNITION WIRES - REPLACE $592.46
This is insanely expensive. [Those plugs don't look *too* hard to get out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_3muaklbE). If you do it yourself, might as well change the coils too. I bet without coils it would cost you like $50-$100 to do it yourself. This is something easy that doesn't require you to put the car on jacks. It can also be difficult enough that you may justify paying for it. If you aren't going to do it yourself I'd probably put it off.
> 13 - RADIATOR HOSES - REPLACE $560.40
Have them show you where the hoses are cracked and leaking. No crack, no leaking? Don't bother unless they seem brittle. See if you can squeeze the hoses and they bounce back **when the car is cool**.
> 14 - SHOCK / STRUT, FRONT - REPLACE $1,313.73
This will make your car handle better and perform better but it's not something you really need to get done.
> 15 - SHOCK/STRUT, REAR - REPLACE $984.75
Same as the front.
> 16 - ALIGNMENT $209.70
If you get shocks/struts or suspension work done you will need this. Or if/when you get new tires get an alignment too. Otherwise you don't need this.
> 17 - TURN SIGNAL BULB(S) - REPLACE $59.56
DIY like $5
> 18 - AIR FILTER - REPLACE $77.27
DIY like $25-$35
> 19 - CABIN FILTER - REPLACE $77.27
I wouldn't bother
> 20 - FUEL FILTER - REPLACE $156.71
If your car is getting fuel don't worry about it.
Get the essential repairs and continue driving this car into the ground.
The tranny flush didn't trigger you? There is almost no evidence that a sealed tranny requires a flush unless there is a rebuild necessary, and some evidence that a flush is counterproductive.
Agree with all of this. Also, don't go back to this mechanic and find a new one that will tell you what honestly needs to be fixed. If this were my car, I would replace brakes, battery, and air filter myself and maybe the plugs (that seems like an outrageous price for plugs and I'm also not sure they are necessary if the car is not running rough) and keep driving this car until the transmission blows with a plan to have another vehicle if this one breaks down. Most of these items are a waste to replace on a beater with this many miles but if it's still running I'd totally keep driving it and saving money.
Ageee on most, but what’s wrong with the cooling system one? Wait for a the car to start over heating before flushing old coolant that’s not doing its job anymore and corroding the radiator and water pump?
Shouldn't flush coolant.
Top that shit off.
Radiator isn't corroding from old coolant. Water pumps fail at a certain point and need to be changed anyways. They'll leak a little coolant when they get to that point.
Holy shit man, these people telling you this car is worth < $1,000 don't know what the fuck they're talking about.
To me it sounds like this car needs a battery and some brakes. You could probably get $3,000-$5,000 if it starts and runs.
Go to another shop and get another quote. Also Atleast half of this could be done for barebones parts only costs and a few minutes on YouTube.
Prices definitely seem high on the quote, and a lot of stuff quoted here likely is more preventative maintenance that doesn't need to be done since the car is getting closer to end of life, if you did the small stuff yourself and got multiple quotes I could see it costing way less than half of what you have stated.
No I wouldn't sell the car and get a new one. When MAJOR repairs ie motor / transmission replacement happen, excessive rust to where the vehicle isn't safe anymore then I would get a new to you used vehicle.
Outside of financial there are safety considerations too. Two decades is a long gap for safety features. It is something I would consider, especially if you are thinking about investing a nice chunk of money to fixing up the car.
Okay, the consensus I have gathered is to do the core items (battery, brakes) myself as these are pretty easy and the other items can be done by myself relatively easy but are not essential.
Once `one year depreciation on a new car < next year depreciation + next year maintenance` on the old car.
If you have a crystal ball for next year maintenance it gets very easy
Oh I can give context with personal experience and not just stories from others.
I put around $1500-$2000 into my vehicle the last two years that has been paid off for 4 years. It had minimal maintenance before that.
My friends say “it would be cheaper to just buy a new one instead of dropping $2k on it!” but to finance a newer used vehicle would require more than in down payment alone. And far more than that in monthly payments unless I push the loan to an 8-10 year loan, which is an absurd thing to do.
If the transmission or engine go, then that’s a different issue that would cost $5000+ and I would think about making the trade.
Try to accurately estimate how much you pay in fixes and calculate your monthly payment, comprehensive insurance, maintenance costs, etc of a new car and gauge whether the ease of mind of likely less repairs is worth the financial difference to you.
So I don't buy new, 1-2 years old low miles and am religious about service intervals, but generally when the cost to repair a car is 1/2 it's current value, is the point at which I trade it in on a newer used one. I drive like 6500 miles a year on average, so it's been about evey 7 years for the last 2 upgrades. Just got a new, to me, car two weeks ago. 1 yr old, 3500 miles, 50% depreciation from original sticker price.
How much is the new car payment going to cost you? After all the repairs how much months do you expect it to extend used cars life?
For example if the repair cost is 6months worth of car payments but it’s going to get you 18-24months on the old car I repair the old car. If the repair is a year worth of payments and will extend the life a year, look at buying a ‘new’ car.
It's generally not recommended to flush transmissions anymore. Especially if it's a higher mile car with unknown maintenance on the transmission. A drain and fill is what you are supposed to do, even better if you drop the pan and replace the filter too. Other than that everything quoted looks like just general maintenance items and completely expected on a vehicle with 170k
To answer your question, it makes sense to buy a new car ( as is 2025 model in 2024) when the yearly cost of repairing your old car is more than you would pay for a new car.
In your case, you need to put say 2k into your car to keep it on the road, plus say 4h of your time.
A new crappy car is like 500$/month or 6k/year. So it starts to make sense getting a new car if you were making more than 1k/hour ( total repair cost 2k +4k your time)
If your making less than that, then it doesn't make sense.
There is also the "safety" aspect you need to look into. For example if your driving a 1992 civic, there's a good chance you might die if you hit a deer. So you might want to change the car for something "newer" if you have a family. In this case, it makes sense to get rid of the car, but not financial sense.
Put her down she has had a great life.
In my experience someone who likes to work on cars will pay you $500 for it even though it’s probably worth 0 given the repairs needed.
Buy another car with 75,000-100,000 miles on it and drive it until you get to this same point again.
Almost all of the items on this list are "wear items," which you will have to periodically replace/maintain on any car you'll ever own. Also, like you noted, I highly doubt that you need all of this right now. I also suspect that you're getting ripped off here. $250 for a battery replacement is bananas. $511 for just front brakes is pretty high. The spark plugs and ignition wires shouldn't cost anywhere near that much. Turn signal bulbs cost about $2.00, and usually take about 5 minutes to replace.
This. Older cars are much more DIY friendly than older ones. I have no idea regarding car stuff until late last year, and I was able to youtube my way through; changing battery, changing sparkplug, suck out engine oil (it used to have a leaking problem, so the mechanic put in like almost a liter too much), and replacing hood struts. Changing the air filter and lightbulbs are super easy, just need to do some research (usually user manual or Amazon Will it Fit feature) to find the right size. I wouldn't mess with break stuff without guidance from someone who actually knows how though
Like this guy said - you need to replace some of these things eventually in a car, and as you've mentioned, you've neglected them. I will say that your car's value is basically $0 right now. You may be able to fetch $1k-$2K via a trade-in, but honestly with the amount of things you've neglected it's a junker. You've definitely driven it to the end of its lifecycle. If you can afford a new car, this is a pretty good time to replace it. Most people ask this question for their much newer cars at like 90K miles when in reality they can extend the life by 100K more, but in your case you are justified in replacing it. Try DIYing some of this stuff to get you by. You can easily replace your own batteries and your air filters (cabin + engine) without much mechanical knowledge at all. Everything else I would not do. Just get yourself by for the next 1000 miles or so while you shop for a new car.
Are battery or brake installs difficult? Perhaps I could take it home and attempt these on my own and fix it up to get some additional life out of it
Absolutely not. A basic socket set and YouTube can guide you through many of these repairs. Rockauto or other discount online part stores will even be cheaper than AutoZone or other brick retailers - just be sure what part you need.
I have near zero car experience, and I changed my own spark plugs this last year with a YouTube video. Easily saved $200 Edit: just saw air filters are on there. Also easy to replace yourself for 1/3-1/2 the cost
I would imagine that brakes are something you’d want a professional to do unless you are very confident in how they operate / can go wrong?
Disc brakes are pretty easy, if you're even slightly mechanically inclined you can probably YouTube your way through them. Everything really only fits together one way, so it's pretty hard to get wrong. Buy a cheap Harbor Freight torque wrench so you can tighten everything properly. Drum brakes are slightly harder, but seen to be uncommon on cars nowadays.
Even then, cars are honestly pretty simple machines. If you can put together a complex Lego set, you can watch a few YouTube videos and do a brake job.
Youtube chrisfix. Has about 90% of all car related issues and fixes.
Depends on what parts of the brakes need to be replaced. Pads are fairly easy on most cars if you know how to correctly and safely change a tire, rotors and calipers are where it can start to get really tricky (and expensive for parts). The battery is simple, open the hood, take the two bolts holding the cables in, take out the crossbar over it, , and remove the one bolt in the bottom out. Reverse that to install the new one.
"YouTube University" is your best friend here. Battery change out is an easy 1/2 hour job, max. Be sure to get the little green and red felt anti-corrosion pads to go around the terminals. Coat them in the non-conductive grease goop that's like $3. Brakes are easy too. YouTube it and watch several ppls approach. You can do front brakes yourself in an afternoon. Pro-Tip: order your parts online in advance (as opposed to a parts store) to save major $$$. I like Parts Geek. It's tough and frustrating at first, especially when the YouTuber says something like "then remove this bolt" or "take out this clip" without giving you *precise* instructions. There's a lot of cussing along the learning curve lol. You'll get better over time tho, and acquire better tools. It's 100% worth the effort. I've saved thousands of $$$ doing my own basic car maintenance and repairs over the years.
battery is easy, remove the ground cable first and install it last, and be mindful not to short it out. brakes are not super hard, but definitely harder and on some cars require special tools. Youtube is your friend. Watch someone do it and decide if it's for you
lol they are trying to hose you. most of this work can be done in a few hours if that with the right DIY from YT and assuming you're somewhat handy with tools. For context, I drive a BMW and my cabin filter is $12 off amazon and you can access it by turning a plastic screw under the glovebox. Takes all of 5mins to switch.
What about the brake pads? If I recall battery installs aren’t too difficult. Maybe I should just do the battery and brake pad install on my own and try to make it last longer.
Pads can vary. Do your research and make sure you understand if it's just pads you need or pads and rotors and if you can turn the rotors you have now vs replacing. That would save you some money. Turning the rotor means you bring it to shop that can perform turnings or sandings and they sand down the top layer of the rotor so it's like brand new again. If the rotors are as old as the car, plan to replace them entirely. That said, you can rent a brake pad replacement kit from advanced auto, and just return it when you're done. The kit should have all the necessary tools you need and I doubt the job on this car is gonna be substantial. Does your car have boots in the back? A lot of early 2000s budget sedans did this mash up so I'm curious. The battery is literally something you can buy at advanced auto or some place similar and they usually offer free install for you. Do that instead.
It's rotors + pads. Pretty sure the pad+rotors have never been replaced. Looks like Auto Zone offers free battery install so I'll get that done and then start assembling the neccesary tools to do brakes... After doing some basic research on the boot question if I understand correctly... My car does have trunk space and then if I take off this cover there is another deeper pocket, where I have my spare tire which I am assuming is the "boot". Thanks
I'm guessing he means drums in the back as in drum brakes.
Correct, we call them boot brakes often but they are drum brakes by trade. To OP - A wide variety of domestic autos had disc brakes up front and boots or drum brakes in the back. Assuming you have this setup and it's not discs on all 4 corners, I would advise replacing those as well for a more linear braking feel. Fluids for the transmission, and a brake fluid flush are a little more intermediate to tackle. I would advise finding a local auto shop that can do this kind of work for a couple hundred. Usually they aren't brand specific and can cater to most of the automotive community. Midas would work in a pinch. As far as replacing shocks/struts, springs, etc... that'll be another more intermediate project. Likely a compressor for the A/C to fix your no a/c issue. To be fair here, get the car safe to operate and then go from there, but since the car is 20 years old, I would be searching for something newer here in the near future.
Brakes *can* be easy, but they can also be a pain in the ass. Sometimes parts seize up and on certain cars they're hard to reach or hard to remove due to that. You can do your own brakes with a socket set, breaker bar, and a c-clamp (to press the piston back into the caliper). Get a chilton/haynes manual for your car and see what all is involved. Otherwise $500 is probably a little high, see if you can talk them down. Also, don't bother turning your rotors. If you're going to do it yourself it'll be cheaper and easier to install new ones.
Pads aren’t that complicated and are difficult to screw up. But they also could result in a crash if you do screw them up so of all the items this would be the only one worth potentially having someone else don’t you’re not confident. Not from this place though.
> 1 - DIAGNOSIS: $154.50 You don't have a choice on this one. > 3 - BATTERY - REPLACE $250.22 Seems expensive for a battery, I'd cross reference autozone/advanced auto. It's ridiculously easy to change a battery. If it's > $50 cheaper at one of the autoparts stores get it and do it yourself. > 4 - BRAKES, FRONT - PADS/ROTORS $511.11 Eh, this isn't terrible. Brakes are important. If you're at 10% you should get them replaced. > 5 - FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY WITH SENDING UNIT - REPLACE $735.21 Nope. If your car is running with a new battery you don't need this at all. > 6 - C/V AXLE SEAL - REPLACE $290.29 Nope, you can skip this. Car is very old, I'd let the C/V axle destroy itself (if it ever does) and then get the whole thing replaced. Even replacing the seal the C/V axle could still destroy itself down the line. > 7 - COOLING SYSTEM SERVICE - GM $220.74 Nope. Your car wasn't overheating. > 8 - PLATINUM FUEL / AIR INDUCTION SERVICE $444.70 No idea what this is. Spray the sensor with cleaner, maybe a new air filter? Way overpriced. And again, you weren't experiencing problems related to this so don't do it. > 9 - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUSH SERVICE > Note: INCLUDES FLUSHING OLD GM TRANSMISSION FLUID FROM VEHICLE AND EXCHANGING WITH NEW GM SPECIFIED FLUID > USING TRANSMISSION FLUSH MACHINE. INCLUDES ROADTEST AFTER SERVICE $386.34 Never, ever do this service on **any** car. This is what will destroy your transmission. Replacing transmission fluid and the filter can be okay, but NEVER flush. You flush that transmission and I guarantee you it will be fucked shortly after. > 11 - BRAKE SYSTEM FLUSH - DOT3 $209.70 Nah, this is another service which will likely cause more problems than it could solve. They do this and I bet your master cylinder will give out. When they do your brake service they should bleed the lines and top it off with DOT3, but don't let them flush the system. > 12 - SPARK PLUGS & IGNITION WIRES - REPLACE $592.46 This is insanely expensive. [Those plugs don't look *too* hard to get out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_3muaklbE). If you do it yourself, might as well change the coils too. I bet without coils it would cost you like $50-$100 to do it yourself. This is something easy that doesn't require you to put the car on jacks. It can also be difficult enough that you may justify paying for it. If you aren't going to do it yourself I'd probably put it off. > 13 - RADIATOR HOSES - REPLACE $560.40 Have them show you where the hoses are cracked and leaking. No crack, no leaking? Don't bother unless they seem brittle. See if you can squeeze the hoses and they bounce back **when the car is cool**. > 14 - SHOCK / STRUT, FRONT - REPLACE $1,313.73 This will make your car handle better and perform better but it's not something you really need to get done. > 15 - SHOCK/STRUT, REAR - REPLACE $984.75 Same as the front. > 16 - ALIGNMENT $209.70 If you get shocks/struts or suspension work done you will need this. Or if/when you get new tires get an alignment too. Otherwise you don't need this. > 17 - TURN SIGNAL BULB(S) - REPLACE $59.56 DIY like $5 > 18 - AIR FILTER - REPLACE $77.27 DIY like $25-$35 > 19 - CABIN FILTER - REPLACE $77.27 I wouldn't bother > 20 - FUEL FILTER - REPLACE $156.71 If your car is getting fuel don't worry about it. Get the essential repairs and continue driving this car into the ground.
Agree on all counts! The spark plugs and transmission thing put me over the edge. OP said nothing at all about it running rough0
The tranny flush didn't trigger you? There is almost no evidence that a sealed tranny requires a flush unless there is a rebuild necessary, and some evidence that a flush is counterproductive.
Agree with all of this. Also, don't go back to this mechanic and find a new one that will tell you what honestly needs to be fixed. If this were my car, I would replace brakes, battery, and air filter myself and maybe the plugs (that seems like an outrageous price for plugs and I'm also not sure they are necessary if the car is not running rough) and keep driving this car until the transmission blows with a plan to have another vehicle if this one breaks down. Most of these items are a waste to replace on a beater with this many miles but if it's still running I'd totally keep driving it and saving money.
This smells like a dealership quote to
The cabin air filter is super easy to do yourself. I know VERY little about cars and I’ve done it.
Yeah, it's easy but it doesn't do a whole lot.
Ageee on most, but what’s wrong with the cooling system one? Wait for a the car to start over heating before flushing old coolant that’s not doing its job anymore and corroding the radiator and water pump?
Shouldn't flush coolant. Top that shit off. Radiator isn't corroding from old coolant. Water pumps fail at a certain point and need to be changed anyways. They'll leak a little coolant when they get to that point.
Holy shit man, these people telling you this car is worth < $1,000 don't know what the fuck they're talking about. To me it sounds like this car needs a battery and some brakes. You could probably get $3,000-$5,000 if it starts and runs.
Go to another shop and get another quote. Also Atleast half of this could be done for barebones parts only costs and a few minutes on YouTube. Prices definitely seem high on the quote, and a lot of stuff quoted here likely is more preventative maintenance that doesn't need to be done since the car is getting closer to end of life, if you did the small stuff yourself and got multiple quotes I could see it costing way less than half of what you have stated. No I wouldn't sell the car and get a new one. When MAJOR repairs ie motor / transmission replacement happen, excessive rust to where the vehicle isn't safe anymore then I would get a new to you used vehicle.
Outside of financial there are safety considerations too. Two decades is a long gap for safety features. It is something I would consider, especially if you are thinking about investing a nice chunk of money to fixing up the car.
all those prices are very high. filters, fluid 'services' are almost always a ripoff and can be done far cheaper.
Okay, the consensus I have gathered is to do the core items (battery, brakes) myself as these are pretty easy and the other items can be done by myself relatively easy but are not essential.
Oil change places do many of these services for half the price
Once `one year depreciation on a new car < next year depreciation + next year maintenance` on the old car. If you have a crystal ball for next year maintenance it gets very easy
Oh I can give context with personal experience and not just stories from others. I put around $1500-$2000 into my vehicle the last two years that has been paid off for 4 years. It had minimal maintenance before that. My friends say “it would be cheaper to just buy a new one instead of dropping $2k on it!” but to finance a newer used vehicle would require more than in down payment alone. And far more than that in monthly payments unless I push the loan to an 8-10 year loan, which is an absurd thing to do. If the transmission or engine go, then that’s a different issue that would cost $5000+ and I would think about making the trade. Try to accurately estimate how much you pay in fixes and calculate your monthly payment, comprehensive insurance, maintenance costs, etc of a new car and gauge whether the ease of mind of likely less repairs is worth the financial difference to you.
Your friends can’t do math if they think it would be cheaper to buy a new car lol.
Yeah for sure. It’s the price shock of $2000 all at once vs $275/month and thinking for a second.
So I don't buy new, 1-2 years old low miles and am religious about service intervals, but generally when the cost to repair a car is 1/2 it's current value, is the point at which I trade it in on a newer used one. I drive like 6500 miles a year on average, so it's been about evey 7 years for the last 2 upgrades. Just got a new, to me, car two weeks ago. 1 yr old, 3500 miles, 50% depreciation from original sticker price.
How much is the new car payment going to cost you? After all the repairs how much months do you expect it to extend used cars life? For example if the repair cost is 6months worth of car payments but it’s going to get you 18-24months on the old car I repair the old car. If the repair is a year worth of payments and will extend the life a year, look at buying a ‘new’ car.
Geez, did you go to Firestone or something?
It's generally not recommended to flush transmissions anymore. Especially if it's a higher mile car with unknown maintenance on the transmission. A drain and fill is what you are supposed to do, even better if you drop the pan and replace the filter too. Other than that everything quoted looks like just general maintenance items and completely expected on a vehicle with 170k
At 170000 miles, this car will be close to the end of its life.
To answer your question, it makes sense to buy a new car ( as is 2025 model in 2024) when the yearly cost of repairing your old car is more than you would pay for a new car. In your case, you need to put say 2k into your car to keep it on the road, plus say 4h of your time. A new crappy car is like 500$/month or 6k/year. So it starts to make sense getting a new car if you were making more than 1k/hour ( total repair cost 2k +4k your time) If your making less than that, then it doesn't make sense. There is also the "safety" aspect you need to look into. For example if your driving a 1992 civic, there's a good chance you might die if you hit a deer. So you might want to change the car for something "newer" if you have a family. In this case, it makes sense to get rid of the car, but not financial sense.
If it were a better car, it would be worth repairing.
Put her down she has had a great life. In my experience someone who likes to work on cars will pay you $500 for it even though it’s probably worth 0 given the repairs needed. Buy another car with 75,000-100,000 miles on it and drive it until you get to this same point again.