Need Advice: Sell or Keep car

[Tim Sweeney]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2008 WRX that has 155,000 miles on it and I’m considering selling it after it’s next repair. Just the other day I found I have a bad valve and it’s going to cost roughly $1500 more or less to fix. I’m going to get it fixed at the shop because I don’t have time to do it myself. They are going to machine it, replace the timing belt, valve cover gasket, and they said the rest of the car looks good.

The car is worth about $6,000 (on KBB) and I’m just worried that something else will go wrong considering the high miles… It’s stage 2 but I don’t drive it like I stole it. Other than this issue everything else seems solid on the car.

I replaced the battery, alternator, A/c clutch, a/c belt, starter, air filter, do oil changes regularly, new sway bar links, all stainless steel exhaust, spark plugs, air filter, changed all fluids recently.

Only thing that hasn’t been done in a while is the clutch but it doesn’t feel like it’s slipping… im not sure when it was done last because im the second owner.

But all in all I like the car but I don’t want to put a fortune into it and I’m considering getting something like a honda or toyota that is very reliable. I do still owe about $3000 on my car loan because I got the car when it had 100,000 miles on it only 3 years ago.

Can I get some ideas?

Thanks guys!

Topic

[Bill Holt]

If the repair is going to cost you 1/4 of the 6-grand Kelly Blue Book value — which is given far too much credence, as it reflects ‘For Sale By Owner’ hopefulness and not hardball dealership-level value — and you still owe $3,ooo, it would appear that you have an otherwise reliable car that is essentially ‘worth’ what you’ve been quoted for repair costs: $6,000 perceived value, minus $3,000 owed, minus $1,500 for repair that you might not recover by padding the asking price, equals a 1,500-dollar car that’s nearly a decade old.

155,000 is arguably nominal mileage if the car hasn’t been beaten mercilessly or horribly neglected, such as with regard to oil level and changes. Unless you’re less fond of the car than you say, I’d suggest keeping it as long as the downtime for repair isn’t unmanageable. If you might be able to gain long-term access to another ride — preferably in the form of a borrowed rig, not begged taxi service — I’d still suggest taking on the repair task yourself, provided you have the facilities to permit it, given the likelihood of incremental progress.

It sounds like you have the aptitude to do the job if so inclined. That said, being a bit cynical, may I presume that you received an honest estimate from a reputable shop? Did they diagnose, or did you? Leak-down and compression tests, or guesswork from charlatans? It just pays to be sure rather than paying to be disappointed. :dry: Before I started doing my own repair work — far from being a pro — I had a head gasket replacement done by a licensed mechanic who was highly recommended by an overbooked friend who is a fine mechanic. To add insult to injury, my car ran horribly after about a week in the shop for an expensive repair that I expected would cost $500 or $600. It cost both. $1,130 for an admittedly lasting repair that inexcusably came with a lot of collateral crap.

My figures aren’t exact, but I recently heard about a guy who was quoted something like $6,000 to replace a lifter in a Mercedes with over 100,000 miles on it. Kudos to him, for as a guy with no prior mechanical experience, he garaged the car and spent eight months gradually DIY-ing his way through the repair with the help of YouTube tutorials — all for the cost of materials, which was a mere fraction of the repair quote. Just sayin’.

If you can reconsider and find the means to do the work yourself while maintaining mobility, I’d say to keep the car. My long-winded ‘2-cents’. B)

[Author]

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