cars for kids

[clyde]

When I talked to the shop again to tell them to put it back together, he clarified the availability stuff. Used engines are available in not-too-distant yards, but none of their vendors have them right now. If I buy one, they'll put it in, but won't warranty it. Book rate seems to be 10 or 12 hours and they'll do it for $1000-$1500 depending on whether they have to replace any seals, gaskets, etc.

car-part.com lists about 30 engines within 200 miles mostly in the $1800-$2500 range (and about half are "$Call")

I think this is the way.

But thinking through a bit...

Objectively, I get the "it doesn't make sense to put $5k into a $6k car. My wife and I basically committed to keeping her in a car until spring 2024 (initially scheduled college graduation). The money question here is: "What's the cheapest way to get there from here?"

I think I have three first cut options:

Lease a Hyundai or Kia: $12,000
Sell existing, buy another beater: $10,400
Replace engine with used engine: $8,000 (reman from Powertrain Products at $11,000)

Lease projection includes insurance guess that may be way off base (in either direction) and the beater replacement assumes $2k repairs to get going which could be $2k high or way, way low.

Missing from all of them is my and my family's time, time, aggro and stress. Also missing is what position my daughter is left in two years from now. I'd prefer her to have a car that she can keep driving while picking up the expenses as opposed to having to turn in a lease and fend for herself. And there are many other conflicting advantages and disadvantages to each.

Used engine looks like the right thing here. Yes?

There's a second cut of ideas that are worth taking a bit of a look at just to rule them out...

Does a late model used car make sense?

There's that Jaguar decorating my driveway.

My mother has a 2008(?) Lexus RX330 that has been driven very little in the past nine years.

I think I'm going to look into those a bit before I buy an engine

[JST]

Originally Posted by clyde

When I talked to the shop again to tell them to put it back together, he clarified the availability stuff. Used engines are available in not-too-distant yards, but none of their vendors have them right now. If I buy one, they'll put it in, but won't warranty it. Book rate seems to be 10 or 12 hours and they'll do it for $1000-$1500 depending on whether they have to replace any seals, gaskets, etc.

car-part.com lists about 30 engines within 200 miles mostly in the $1800-$2500 range (and about half are "$Call")

I think this is the way.

But thinking through a bit...

Objectively, I get the "it doesn't make sense to put $5k into a $6k car. My wife and I basically committed to keeping her in a car until spring 2024 (initially scheduled college graduation). The money question here is: "What's the cheapest way to get there from here?"

I think I have three first cut options:

Lease a Hyundai or Kia: $12,000
Sell existing, buy another beater: $10,400
Replace engine with used engine: $8,000 (reman from Powertrain Products at $11,000)

Lease projection includes insurance guess that may be way off base (in either direction) and the beater replacement assumes $2k repairs to get going which could be $2k high or way, way low.

Missing from all of them is my and my family's time, time, aggro and stress. Also missing is what position my daughter is left in two years from now. I'd prefer her to have a car that she can keep driving while picking up the expenses as opposed to having to turn in a lease and fend for herself. And there are many other conflicting advantages and disadvantages to each.

Used engine looks like the right thing here. Yes?

There's a second cut of ideas that are worth taking a bit of a look at just to rule them out...

Does a late model used car make sense?

There's that Jaguar decorating my driveway.

My mother has a 2008(?) Lexus RX330 that has been driven very little in the past nine years.

I think I'm going to look into those a bit before I buy an engine

Wait, so the engine is $8-11K? On a $6K car? Why do that? I mean, I get the points that you're making above about time and aggravation, and I suppose if I were pretty certain that $8K was the last money I'd spend on the car I'd make a different choice, but that just seems like a lot of money to end up basically where you started 3 weeks ago--with a 200,000 mile car that has an engine of unknown provenance.

If it were me, I'd take the $11K, add whatever you can get from the car now in scrap value, and go looking for something else. Maybe the answer is that there's literally nothing better for 12K right now (that's certainly possible), but if your car is a $6K car, I have to imagine that a $12K car is somewhat nicer.

I mean, here's a 2010 Accord with less than half that mileage for about what you're planning to spend on an engine. Only a four cylinder but honestly maybe that's better.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/1...-c2f65cc69e44/

Or like this Corolla, which is more money but can it really only have 17K miles on it?

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/9...-eb129de45342/

[ZBB]

I vote for CarMaxing it this weekend. If you get $5-6k for it, put that towards something used (or rent your mom's Lexus for a year in the hope that used prices go down as the chip shortage works itself out).

The buy an engine and have them install it with no warranty works out to $3-4k. That gives you a "budget" of $8-10k before you spend more out of pocket than replacing the engine. And whatever you get might have some sort of warranty...

(sure... you have to get it registered and a more valuable car may cost more in insurance), but what is the price of a bit of peace of mind?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by JST

Wait, so the engine is $8-11K?

No, no, no. Apolgoies is that wasn't clear.

The exercise is how much money does it cost to keep my kid in a car through a finite end date?

That $8-$11k estimate includes engine replacement ($4-7k) plus projected maint/repairs for the next two years(+$4k more).

The other two options in that group are also ballparked for what the total out of pocket cost would be from here through 2024. (The lease option also includes insurance coverage I'd need that I'm not paying now.)

Only a four cylinder but honestly maybe that's better.

At the time I bought it I was hoping for a 4 cylinder for now obvious reasons.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by ZBB

I vote for CarMaxing it this weekend. If you get $5-6k for it, put that towards something used (or rent your mom's Lexus for a year in the hope that used prices go down as the chip shortage works itself out).

The buy an engine and have them install it with no warranty works out to $3-4k. That gives you a "budget" of $8-10k before you spend more out of pocket than replacing the engine. And whatever you get might have some sort of warranty...

(sure... you have to get it registered and a more valuable car may cost more in insurance), but what is the price of a bit of peace of mind?

Carmax online offer was $2000. I don't know if they would honor it upon hearing the noises it's making. I think I could sell it for more as-is privately in a way that I'd be comfortable with.

If I follow you, I think that would give me $5-$7k to work with instead of $8-$10k. $500 (or a little more) off the top goes to the state for tax and tags. Another $100 for a state inspection that will allow me to have tags. And to pass that inspection, there's a very good chance I'm going to have to spend some money and I'd very much expect to find additional things that need doing almost immediately. $2000 feels like the right amount to hold in reserve for that. That doesn't leave much left for the car. Even if I halve that reserve, I still only have $3400-$5400 available for a car with entirely unknown provenance.

Or am I missing something?

[clyde]

Another thing in the selling it and buying another beater model...there is the time in between selling and buying the next one that comes with an uncountable but very real family cost.

[Nick M3]

Can she drive the Jag? Also, finding an engine and putting it in will take a lot of time too.

The more that the "fix it" budget expands, the more a different beater makes sense. Putting $8k+ into a $5k car that isn't even in particularly good shape (IIRC, pretty decent rust starting) seems nuts to me.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Can she drive the Jag? Also, finding an engine and putting it in will take a lot of time too.

Jag needs unknown money to make roadworthy. Also, unmothballing an old British car that's been sitting for five and half years after sitting for three years does not seem like the smartest of choices. I'm also not sure that the limited top up rear visibility is a good match for her.

The time and effort that goes into finding an engine is unknown to me, but I kind of like its odds vs finding a cheap beater. Putting it in...I either have it shipped or pick it up and bring it into the shop and I pay them to do the rest.

The more that the "fix it" budget expands, the more a different beater makes sense. Putting $8k+ into a $5k car that isn't even in particularly good shape (IIRC, pretty decent rust starting) seems nuts to me.

The rust you think you're seeing is not anything I am at all concerned with. The car is actually in pretty decent shape.

And again, it's not putting $8k into a car today. It's what I'm going to have to spend from here to a date two years in the future.

[robg]

Honestly, your mom's Lexus seems like the most intriguing option. How much would she sell it to you for? If its in the ballpark of the other options that would give a used car with known provenance and a strong reupation for reliability that would likely give your daughter something to drive past the 2 year mark.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by clyde

Carmax online offer was $2000. I don't know if they would honor it upon hearing the noises it's making. I think I could sell it for more as-is privately in a way that I'd be comfortable with.

If I follow you, I think that would give me $5-$7k to work with instead of $8-$10k. $500 (or a little more) off the top goes to the state for tax and tags. Another $100 for a state inspection that will allow me to have tags. And to pass that inspection, there's a very good chance I'm going to have to spend some money and I'd very much expect to find additional things that need doing almost immediately. $2000 feels like the right amount to hold in reserve for that. That doesn't leave much left for the car. Even if I halve that reserve, I still only have $3400-$5400 available for a car with entirely unknown provenance.

Or am I missing something?

I wouldn’t deduct $2k for reserve for future repairs - sounds like you already expect to pay for repairs going forward.

If you could get something for $5-7k, it sounds like a wash with repairing the current car via engine swap…