- This topic has 13 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Hey guys, I’m new to used car shopping and I’ve figured out that a car’s mileage is ‘reduceable’ by putting in a new engine. Some of you may know what ‘Kijiji’ is and that’s where I look to find cars in my area. I found a nice Honda Cr-V but it’s got 300014km on it. The person advertises ‘low km’s’ and I’ve asked him how many km’s he’s driven w/ his new engine (he will reply later, it’s pretty late right now). What I’m wondering is, Is everything else under the hood safe just because it got a new engine? What are the things that I have to look out for and how much will they cost for repair/replacement? Thanks so much guys.
-
Replies
-
I would question the transmission. Even if then engine is new, you can’t call the mileage lower at all except for the engine as all the other components still have the original mileage. If the tranny goes on you, you will have spent that money for a headache. With that many miles on the transmission unless it has been replaced already I would check it out really good before committing. A tranny will cost anywhere from 1000-4000 dollars depending on numerous factors.
[quote=”HonAc” post=120186]Does anybody have any suggestions on what I could say that would reduce the price? :P[/quote] Obviously he will try to sell you the price of the engine, otherwise he would be taking a loss, however I would base what I would pay off the actual mileage(everything other than the engine) and condition and then find out what he paid for the engine and try to make a fair adjustment to the previous number based on the original mileage. Or, you can try to get him to subtract at least 1,500 from the price to help cover a transmission repair/replace. Without knowing the asking price and what he payed for the engine replacement/rebuild, my negotiation skills are hard to share with you.
[quote=”HonAc” post=120183]Is everything else under the hood safe just because it got a new engine?[/quote]
Absolutely not.
The huge amount of different circumstances surrounding engine jobs make it almost impossible to tell just by opening the hood and looking at it. The single best indicator that the job was “done right” is that the engine bay will be clean because it has been washed, but that’s not likely. You’ll open the hood and it will be a dirty disgusting filthy mess like every car that come in for service, and you won’t be able to tell what parts are original and what came with the new engine.
Over 50% of engine jobs re-use everything possible no matter how old it is, unless something breaks during the job and needs to be replaced. It’s really pretty disgusting actually, but it happens because nobody ever want to pay for a engine replacement in the first place. Most times trying to get new belts, hoses, engine bay cleaning, fixing other leaks with the motor out of the way, etc. is just a pipe dream for the tech that wants to do the job right. Customers even complain that they just changed their oil (for the 1st time since the problem started, which didn’t fix it) and shouldn’t have to pay for new oil and a filter.
[quote=”Fopeano” post=120236][quote=”HonAc” post=120183]Is everything else under the hood safe just because it got a new engine?[/quote]
Absolutely not.
The huge amount of different circumstances surrounding engine jobs make it almost impossible to tell just by opening the hood and looking at it. The single best indicator that the job was “done right” is that the engine bay will be clean because it has been washed, but that’s not likely. You’ll open the hood and it will be a dirty disgusting filthy mess like every car that come in for service, and you won’t be able to tell what parts are original and what came with the new engine.
Over 50% of engine jobs re-use everything possible no matter how old it is, unless something breaks during the job and needs to be replaced. It’s really pretty disgusting actually, but it happens because nobody ever want to pay for a engine replacement in the first place. Most times trying to get new belts, hoses, engine bay cleaning, fixing other leaks with the motor out of the way, etc. is just a pipe dream for the tech that wants to do the job right. Customers even complain that they just changed their oil (for the 1st time since the problem started, which didn’t fix it) and shouldn’t have to pay for new oil and a filter.[/quote] Correct. The original pistons, connecting rods, valves, etc etc may still be in the rebuilt engine. There is no guarantee that all the parts in the engine have been replaced and there is a good chance that the rebuild was not done properly. Sometimes, all people do is a rering and hone job which is the cheap way to “rebuild” an engine. I would ask for a receipt on the engine rebuild/replacement. For all you know he could have thrown a scrapyard engine in there!
The definition of the word “new” is often tossed around a bit too freely.
Many people consider a 150k miles salvage yard engine or transmission being installed into a vehicle as meeting that “new” criteria.Some people will install a 100k miles engine, drive 10k miles on it, and then through some misguided logic claim the engine has 10k miles from new which then makes the car worth more.
It’s a high miles vehicle no matter how they define it. Transmission, suspension, electrics, etc are all 300+Kms unless they can prove all of that has been replaced. Unlikely.
He’s asking $3400 and idk the rebuilt price. I think I’m pass on this one. There are other CR-V’s around.
[quote=”HonAc” post=120339]He’s asking $3400 and idk the rebuilt price. I think I’m pass on this one. There are other CR-V’s around.[/quote] Good call! First rule of car buying know when to walk away 🙂
If anything, a compression test will tell you a lot. I rebuild engines alot while flipping cars.
But I take measurements and try to do it right, but also reuse what is actually good. Often valves are almost always reusable, pistons most of the time, but if I have to replace any, they all get replaced.
Oil pump, always replace.
Anyways, point is, rebuilt engines can definitely be great engines
..but how good was the builder?And also, once an engine has been bored out (sometimes a rebuild will do) it usually can’t be bored out again.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Honestly, expecting a car’s mileage to be “reduceable” due to the installation of a new or used engine is ridiculous. The rest of the car still has 300Kms+ on it and may (and likely does) need a number of other repairs.
Some people also consider a high miles salvage yard engine a “new” one and that is as far from the truth as can be. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people refer to a half worn out used engine as a “new” engine or they refer to an engine which got a new head gasket as a “new engine”.
So just how much are they asking for this peach?
I’d be more impressed that it has the original engine in it and it’s not excessively burning oil an still runs well. So it has a new motor, probably because the old one was neglected.
[quote=”Bluesnut” post=163566]Honestly, expecting a car’s mileage to be “reduceable” due to the installation of a new or used engine is ridiculous. The rest of the car still has 300Kms+ on it and may (and likely does) need a number of other repairs.
Some people also consider a high miles salvage yard engine a “new” one and that is as far from the truth as can be. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people refer to a half worn out used engine as a “new” engine or they refer to an engine which got a new head gasket as a “new engine”.
So just how much are they asking for this peach?[/quote]
Took the words out of my mouth. (keys off my keyboard) If a car is worth $3,000 “but” it has a new motor, it’s still worth only $3000 because if they didn’t fix it then it would be worth $300. Repairs do not increase a vehicle’s value, but not repairing reduces value. The value is based on the vehicle running.
A word about rebuilds. The rebuild is only as good as the rebuilder. They can vary. Some rebuilds are better than factory, but those are rare and you won’t find that is a vehicle that is being repaired to sell I can bet you that. A lot of them they basically rering the pistons, do a quick rehone of the block, put in some generic bearings and call it a day. That is honestly a “refresh”, not a true rebuild.
Very true. Along the same lines a guy in my area about a dozen years ago put a 1981 Buick Regal up for sale. It was a clean car but worth maybe 1500 dollars or so at best. He was asking 11,000 dollars for that car.
Why? Because he had almost 9,000 dollars in stereo equipment and through some misguided thinking thought this meant that his car should be worth many times more because of a bad investment.
It was still a 1500 dollar car; maybe 2 grand if someone was dazzled enough by the music rig in it.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.