Buy older car needing repairs? (vehicle, German, Japanese, brake)

[2Go2]

My old car finally died. A private seller has a 1993 Mazda Protege LX 5-spd with 153K miles. He said he'd take $700 if I want it.

The seller said his mechanic found slow transmission leaks ($700 to fix) and worn axle parts ($10-20 per part plus labor). The car looks average and seems to run OK. The seller has receipts showing brake pads and timing belt replaced. Original clutch.

Any thoughts about buying this 1993 car? The repairs would put my expense higher than the car's blue book value.

Also, any ideas about when a car's age gets too old, when the odometer miles get too high, and when the repairs aren't worth it? Thanks!

[MustangEater82]

Personally, I wouldn't buy an old car if you don't know how to work on it a bit.

[tickyul]

Bottom line, be prepared to dump money into it. If you can do much of the work yourself you will be a lot better off. Do not expect to get away with just fixing what is obvious, other problems WILL come up.

I buy mostly junky/junkers and fix them as needed....don't bother me. But you can't freak when something goes wrong, just fix it and move on.

[2Go2]

Thanks, Mustang and Tickyul. I've had a string of old cars that ended up costing me a bundle. But I can't afford a new car.

What car age limit and odometer limit do you recommend for someone without mechanic skills? I want to buy a Civic, Corolla or Protege.

[Hemlock140]

If the original clutch, it's probably going out real soon. I have a 1997 Escort (same as Protege) that lost the original clutch at about that same mileage, and it was still not worn out. It simply fell apart due to age, and cost close to $800 to replace.
Add to that the other needed repairs and you are into it for nearly $3,000. If that's all it needs then that is still not a bad deal if it lasts another 50,000 miles, but you might get more value buying something else in better shape for $3,000.

[Praxis]

Money pit, avoid.

[Big George]

Originally Posted by 2Go2

My old car finally died. A private seller has a 1993 Mazda Protege LX 5-spd with 153K miles. He said he'd take $700 if I want it.

The seller said his mechanic found slow transmission leaks ($700 to fix) and worn axle parts ($10-20 per part plus labor). The car looks average and seems to run OK. The seller has receipts showing brake pads and timing belt replaced. Original clutch.

Any thoughts about buying this 1993 car? The repairs would put my expense higher than the car's blue book value.

Also, any ideas about when a car's age gets too old, when the odometer miles get too high, and when the repairs aren't worth it? Thanks!

If you are pretty sure you can do all of the work yourself, you'll probably be fine. That's what I've done with just about every vehicle I've ever owned.

That said, something sounds very wrong with the two prices mentioned. A transmission leak does not cost $700 to fix, and worn axle parts aren't $10-$20. On those FWD cars, you just replace the whole front axle.

[Coldjensens]

I really depends n the car. I have had old cars that need nothing and cars that are money pits. In part it also depends on what you will tolerate. My daugther has an old Dodge Caravan that has been a money pit, ut recently not so much primarily because she just lives with problems rather than repairing them. Drivers seat will no longer move, windows do not open or if you get htem open, they will not close for a while. Radio and heater blower work when they want to. Turn them on, wait until you hit a bump right and they go on then she hopes they do not go back off. Back door will not open. Transmission causes some problems, but continues to function. Lots of bad sounds coming form all over the place. I thikn the mirror adjuster motors do not work. Not sure about the wipers, the rear window wiper is gone. The way back seat will not lock into place. I cannto remmeber what all else. It woudl cost thosands to fix all that stuff, or you can just live with it.

Ont he other hand we have had oldrer cars that need nothing. My sn has a 2003 Saturn Ion with 220,000 or so miles and it has not needed a thing so far. It will need a clutch soon. He will replace the clutch in his autoshop at school, so it will cost him abotu $100. I had a clutch replaced recently in my Camaro Z28, it cost about $350, maybe $380. It all depends on the car and where you get it done. I have heard some Japanese and German cars cost an arm and a leg for a new clutch, probably some American cars do too. My son also has a 1994 T-bird that needs a new transmission. It will cost $1600 to have it rebuilt or replaced. the car is probably worth $1300. Therefore he will just drive it until it dies, and then either fix it in his class, or junk it. Sometimes it just is not worth it. have probably put $5000 into my 1995 Camaro in the past 12 months. It is worth about $5,000, maybe $6000 if I am lucky. However in the 12 months prior, I probably sent less than $500 on repairs. My daughter has driven a 1992 Town Car for the past year plus. So far, she has less than $500 into repairs (her brother did do a brake job on it for her though).

[2Go2]

Thanks, Hemlock. Yes, an $800 clutch plus transmission work and axle work would put the car way over what it's worth. I just went through that with my older Mazda that died. I guess 1993 might be too old. Maybe one guideline is not to buy when the years start dropping off the blue book lists.

[2Go2]

I agree, Praxis. Based on my last older car, I guess this car could be a real money pit. I gotta switch from looking for older cars to realizing that a newer car could save me money in the long run.