cars for kids

[clyde]

Originally Posted by ZBB

Base model leases for $229/mo for 36 months with $2k up front.

I guess it all comes down to how much to spend per year on average…

That's pretty comparable to what I was budgeting and my planning assumed a $0 value at this point.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by clyde

That's pretty comparable to what I was budgeting and my planning assumed a $0 value at this point.

And used car prices are just a bit higher now than 2 years ago…

[clyde]

Originally Posted by clyde

Anyway, I'm a little concerned about the oil leak, but maybe it's not too bad.

One of the other things was a kinda-vibrating-kinda-ticking-as-opposed-to-knocking sound.

Initial diagnosis was VTEC spool valve. In opening it up for that and doing a valve adjustment, they found all kinds of metal shavings and damage to the camshafts. They stopped work and called because they don't think there's a point to continuing work. I asked for quotes on engine replacement. He guesstimated $5-$6k. Not sure if he was thinking reman or used and he said he'd give me quotes tomorrow for each. Used engines go for about $1500-$2500 on car-part.com and it looks remans are generally about $3500-$4000. Internet suggests it's about 10-12 hour job.

Even for a car that would barely be worth $6k with a newly remanufactured engine at a cost of $5k (or even a little more), replacement seems preferable to spending that much on another beater of unknown history plus the time and effort to find it.

If the price difference between used and reman is like what I think, reman is the way to go, right? The delta isn't huge and used would be of unknown history.

Going to bite the bullet on labor vs attempting myself and trying to convince friends to help since I don't have time to make that happen.

Sigh.

[kognito]

Originally Posted by ZBB

Congrats. Guess you only need it to last a couple years and another ~20k miles, right?

Originally Posted by clyde

That's the goal.

Bummer about the diagnosis, but s it worth putting this money into it?

[wdc330i]

Yikes. That’s a tough call…Is there a good Honda forum you can go down this rabbit hole with?

Does this car have Takata airbags?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by kognito

Bummer about the diagnosis, but s it worth putting this money into it?

I think so. The alternative is spending a good amount of time I don't have over the next while to find another car to spend about the same amount of money with an unknown history. The car has been well maintained its whole life and is in really good shape otherwise. if the whole thing was a falling apart piece of shit, I'd be more inclined to walk away.

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Yikes. That’s a tough call…Is there a good Honda forum you can go down this rabbit hole with?

Does this car have Takata airbags?

There might be one or two Honda forums with good info.

But I'm not doing the work myself. The only question is whether to roll the dice to save ~$2k on a used engine that will probably have 75-150k on it. I'm thinking that spending extra for a reman is the better play.

And the Takata recall was done on the car before I bought it.

[JST]

Originally Posted by clyde

One of the other things was a kinda-vibrating-kinda-ticking-as-opposed-to-knocking sound.

Initial diagnosis was VTEC spool valve. In opening it up for that and doing a valve adjustment, they found all kinds of metal shavings and damage to the camshafts. They stopped work and called because they don't think there's a point to continuing work. I asked for quotes on engine replacement. He guesstimated $5-$6k. Not sure if he was thinking reman or used and he said he'd give me quotes tomorrow for each. Used engines go for about $1500-$2500 on car-part.com and it looks remans are generally about $3500-$4000. Internet suggests it's about 10-12 hour job.

Even for a car that would barely be worth $6k with a newly remanufactured engine at a cost of $5k (or even a little more), replacement seems preferable to spending that much on another beater of unknown history plus the time and effort to find it.

If the price difference between used and reman is like what I think, reman is the way to go, right? The delta isn't huge and used would be of unknown history.

Going to bite the bullet on labor vs attempting myself and trying to convince friends to help since I don't have time to make that happen.

Sigh.

LS swap.

https://www.copart.com/lot/70131301/...-atlanta-south

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by clyde

One of the other things was a kinda-vibrating-kinda-ticking-as-opposed-to-knocking sound.

Initial diagnosis was VTEC spool valve. In opening it up for that and doing a valve adjustment, they found all kinds of metal shavings and damage to the camshafts. They stopped work and called because they don't think there's a point to continuing work. I asked for quotes on engine replacement. He guesstimated $5-$6k. Not sure if he was thinking reman or used and he said he'd give me quotes tomorrow for each. Used engines go for about $1500-$2500 on car-part.com and it looks remans are generally about $3500-$4000. Internet suggests it's about 10-12 hour job.

Even for a car that would barely be worth $6k with a newly remanufactured engine at a cost of $5k (or even a little more), replacement seems preferable to spending that much on another beater of unknown history plus the time and effort to find it.

If the price difference between used and reman is like what I think, reman is the way to go, right? The delta isn't huge and used would be of unknown history.

Going to bite the bullet on labor vs attempting myself and trying to convince friends to help since I don't have time to make that happen.

Sigh.

Unless you believe in the remanufacturer, I’d go used.

Low end remanufacturing is about replacing the obviously failed gaskets and applying a cost of spray paint.

[John V]

I agree with Nick. Low-end remanufacturing would make me worry. A lot.

The salvage yard from whom I've been buying engines has not done me wrong yet and I have bought four of them. They actually compression test each one, though it's clear they don't pop the valve covers and look at the cams or anything.

John

[kognito]

Originally Posted by clyde

I think so. The alternative is spending a good amount of time I don't have over the next while to find another car to spend about the same amount of money with an unknown history. The car has been well maintained its whole life and is in really good shape otherwise. if the whole thing was a falling apart piece of shit, I'd be more inclined to walk away.


.

yeah, I'd also guess not having to deal with DMV is worth a grand or two