Honda fail

[equ]

Well, just when we start thinking about a MCS or some other replacement on the Honda... Ka-boom, or more accurately, gf heard a SCREECH, SNAP! while exiting garage today. Helpful neighbors and building super helped her push it back up the slight incline back into the garage. Car normally lives outside, it was in last night in a temp spot to avoid snow clearing this morning.

Current status: engine starts/runs smooth (got oil/air filter/tire rotation yesterday). Gear lever moves through the gates when on clutch or car is off. When releasing clutch it whines (and generally sounds/feels unpleasant, like it's engaging but about to grind gears) and nothing happens. There is no first, there is no reverse. So putting the lever in the gate does not put the car in gear. I surmised a transmission cable, but mechanic said if that were the case the lever would hang limp. He suspects axle or diff...

We're going to tow it to a Honda shop we haven't tried before. Time for a cat converter as well (as she's been driving with a CEL on for a long time).

Stay tuned.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by equ

Well, just when we start thinking about a MCS or some other replacement on the Honda... Ka-boom, or more accurately, gf heard a SCREECH, SNAP! while exiting garage today. Helpful neighbors and building super helped her push it back up the slight incline back into the garage. Car normally lives outside, it was in last night in a temp spot to avoid snow clearing this morning.

Current status: engine starts/runs smooth (got oil/air filter/tire rotation yesterday). Gear lever moves through the gates when on clutch or car is off. When releasing clutch it whines (and generally sounds/feels unpleasant, like it's engaging but about to grind gears) and nothing happens. There is no first, there is no reverse. So putting the lever in the gate does not put the car in gear. I surmised a transmission cable, but mechanic said if that were the case the lever would hang limp. He suspects axle or diff...

We're going to tow it to a Honda shop we haven't tried before. Time for a cat converter as well (as she's been driving with a CEL on for a long time).

Stay tuned.

Maybe time to fast-track the replacement and save the money on repairs?

[equ]

How do you sell a car that needs a cat converter and an axle or god knows what? And once we fix these, then we're going to feel invested (the classic fallacy of sunk costs).

[JST]

Originally Posted by equ

How do you sell a car that needs a cat converter and an axle or god knows what? And once we fix these, then we're going to feel invested (the classic fallacy of sunk costs).

How much is the engine/bodyshell/other big parts worth in the Honda tuner community? You might get more for that car than for others in similarly undriveable condition.

How much is a car like that realistically worth in driveable condition?

In either event, I'd get rid of it, sunk costs be damned.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by equ

How do you sell a car that needs a cat converter and an axle or god knows what? And once we fix these, then we're going to feel invested (the classic fallacy of sunk costs).

see below. Also, after you fix these, how long until the next thing blows up?

Originally Posted by JST

How much is the engine/bodyshell/other big parts worth in the Honda tuner community? You might get more for that car than for others in similarly undriveable condition.

How much is a car like that realistically worth in driveable condition?

In either event, I'd get rid of it, sunk costs be damned.

I have no clue what this car is worth, but you should take a minute to figure out what you could realistically get for it in "good" shape. Then take a look at what this shop is going to charge you to fix it. You might be able to get enough for it in its current state to make that your best option.

A couple of things come to mind: (a) getting rid of it for parts or (b) selling it to someone that is handy and can fix it at a fraction of the cost (like a Honda mechanic)... a few of the techs at our shop used to buy cars like this and they would then buy the parts at cost (or used) and use their own time to get the cars running again.

[equ]

Fil, what do you think of this car?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...r_id=289637194

I'm really a mini-moron, don't know much about the brand. How much should a CPO add?

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by equ

Fil, what do you think of this car?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...r_id=289637194

I'm really a mini-moron, don't know much about the brand. How much should a CPO add?

Unless it was increased since I left, the MINI CPO cost is still ~$1000 plus any recon work needed.

That car looks pretty nice. I'd want to see the original option list and MSRP. From what I can tell, it has Premium + Cold Weather Pkgs. It also has the 17" Web Spoke Wheels but not the entire Sport Package, since there are no xenons.

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by JST

How much is the engine/bodyshell/other big parts worth in the Honda tuner community? You might get more for that car than for others in similarly undriveable condition.

How much is a car like that realistically worth in driveable condition?

In either event, I'd get rid of it, sunk costs be damned.

[lupinsea]

So. . . once it's fixed, drive it for a year to get some thing out of the repair costs then sell it.

We recently put about $3k into the BMW over the course of the last year. I'm hoping there are no more big problems (or, frankly, small problems) and we can coast for another 2 years until it's time to replace it. That's maybe another 30k miles out. . . to 145k - 150k miles total on the car.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

So. . . once it's fixed, drive it for a year to get some thing out of the repair costs then sell it.

We recently put about $3k into the BMW over the course of the last year. I'm hoping there are no more big problems (or, frankly, small problems) and we can coast for another 2 years until it's time to replace it. That's maybe another 30k miles out. . . to 145k - 150k miles total on the car.

Until something else breaks 4 months later, then he has to keep it longer to amortize the cost, but then something else breaks 5 months after that... and before we know it, we're reading a post from him in 2 years complaining about how the car keeps costing him money.

Putting in money for maintenance is one thing, since you can reasonably estimate how much longer you'll be able to drive it until you need to do more maintenance and you can therefore keep it just long enough to get the value out of it but not long enough to have to do the maintenance all over again. Out-of-warranty mechanical repairs on an old car are an entirely different story-- you have no clue how long you have until your next problem pops up.