New Car Blues

Well, looks like it’s time for a new car. The current car is about ten years old and has 115k miles on it, and is having some serious engine trouble.

Buying a new car is fun when you want to do it, much less fun when you have to do it.

We’re not really in a position to afford a car at this point, and the current one is not worth spending more money on. Of course, when I say “new car” I mean “used car” (new to us) because a new one is pretty much out of the question. I don’t even know how to buy a used car, but I know I don’t have the luxury of time to wait for a good classified ad to show up - this car isn’t going to make it through the winter, and may not get through the week.

Plus, Mrs. Mancer is currently on the job market, and we have no idea (nor can we choose) where she’ll end up. There are four openings in California, where a car we buy now may not meet the emissions standards. There are some openings in Canada, where we may need a 4WD vehicle. We were really hoping the current car would last a little longer.

So anyway, no point here, just musing.

Legomancer-

10 years old and 115K miles is not typical end-of-life for most cars. What kind of car is it, and what’s wrong with it?

-Andrew L

It’s a Toyota Corolla, and this one has been used pretty hard. It really isn’t worth sinking more money into. The body is rusting out due to a botched repair job a few years ago, the heater doesn’t work at the moment, and currently it shudders constantly when driving, has no pickup, and tries to stall out when stopped.

Legomancer-

Before you give up, replace the plugs, plug wires and distributor cap. Your symptoms of shuddering and stalling sound exactly like a spark problem which would be caused by one of those parts. This is not expensive; the whole job should be under $300 done professionally, or around $100 if you do it yourself. Make those repairs and I bet it will run like new.

-Andrew L

While njufoic may be right about the engine problems, the rust problem sounds like the kind of thing that’s usually the death knell for a car. Trying to repair it is almost never worth it.

Legomancer, try looking at the GSA auto auction site. This is where the feds sell cars from their fleets. It lets you find the closest auction yard they use, or search for a particular make & model, or see what’s on the block on a given day at a given site.

Good luck!

Well, we went out last night and got us a used Saturn. It’s a nice car for the money, and our payments will be lower than we wanted, although still a slam to the budget.

Thanks for the advice!

We have a Saturn, and it has 150,000+ miles on it. They’re nice cars, and the dealership can’t be beat for taking care of their customers. Best of luck with it!