repair old or cut losses? 2004 hyundai elantra...

[pandus13]

2004 hyundai elantra gls, sedan 96,000 miles.
in family from 2007 and 18,000 miles.
timing belt, water pump, alternator, changed at 67,000 miles.
rebuilt transmission in april this year
new front+back brakes in october
now, radiator is broken (fissure up top, in plastic) and probably need also rad hoses and thermostat.(300 for rad, around 450 for rad+hoses+thermostat(including labor))

so now i can change this and hope next month is without events, or just change the radiator and look for a family hauler....

what's your take on this?

 

[gregk24]

A 2004 LOADED Hyundai Elantra is worth $3,400 in EXCELLENT conditon, not sure if yours is loaded, or in excellent shape, but $3,400 isnt a whole lot, and thats private party value. Trade in in excellent shape is $2,300. Its up to you really, If it were my car I would probably have the work done, because its not going to be worth hardly anything if the radiator is bad. Plus is has a rebuilt tranny and relatively new timing belt and breaks. If the rest of the car is in good shape and has been well cared for I say keep it, if it need a whole list of other things fixed then I say sell it. Also, its probably paid off. If it is then the repairs are most likely cheaper than a car payment.

 

[Sawdusted]

Radiator and thermostat should cost about $150. It's an easy DIY job.

I'd repair it and keep the car.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

You already invested in the trans repair, so this is a much smaller decision. Repair the radiator, hoses & thermostat and see how it goes.

 

[Donald]

Wow, alternator at 67K and transmission at less than 100K?

I assume it had a 100K power train warranty so transmission was covered.

Get a radiator, but look around (RockAuto). You may or may not need hoses.

 

[tomcat27]

fix it. it has relatively low miles and should still be very serviceable. are you handy? as said before, $150 in parts....

 

[Chris142]

Even if he spends $1k to get it up to par that's a deal compared to 7 yrs of payments.

 

[Nick1994]

Do it yourself, not sure how much easier a radiator can be. It's $50 with free shipping in eBay, I know 4 people who have used eBay radiators and they're just fine. $10 for a jug of antifreeze and mix yourself with 1 gallon of Distilled water $1.

Radiator hoses are $13 for upper hose and $23 for lower

The thermostat is $12 and the gasket for it is $1.

Now it's $110.

 

[The_Eric]

I agree with the others. Minimal tools required for this one. Not sure about the e-bay rad though. I'd much prefer a parts store rad, just for the fact of warranty replacement if necessary.

You'll need something like a 10mm and 12 mm socket and pliers for the clamps. Maybe a wrench for the transmission cooler line fittings.

Get a new radiator cap too and keep an eye on the coolant level for about 2 weeks because it'll creep down as the air works out of the system. For reference, it will need about 6qts (mixed) of coolant.

As for the shop charge of 300.00, that sounds fair. I'm doing a nearly identical car on Friday. New rad, oe cap, coolant and labor for a bit less.

 

[SLATRON]

One of my EX's had an '02 elantra and the plastic split on top of the radiator, I found one at a junk yard used for $100, no warranty on repair but lasted 2 & 1/2 years before we were done & she gone. Its not an extremely hard job, you don't know anyone could DIY? We even used old hose & thermostat. I didnt think would last but performed better than hoped, just my experience, good luck

 

[97tbird]

I'd say repair and keep!

Our 2003 Elantra (grocery getter/beater) is now at 211k miles (only 1 repair luckily) and I have set a new goal for it: 300k miles - I think it will make it.
It will get new struts soon. And I have taken over oil changes and minor maintenance.

 

[crazyoildude]

keep the car a new rad hoses ,anti freeze,clamps and thermostat should cost under $150.00
buy oem thermostat the others are hit and miss in my opinion

 

[crashtestdummy]

With all the fairly recent work done and the relative cheap rad repair I would do it.

Good winter driver till the spring if you decide to sell then.

 

[eljefino]

The parts store rad will probably be the same quality if not from the same factory with a different white box, compared to rockauto, radiatorbarn, etc.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'm not sure how you can come up with $450 for a simple radiator, hoses and thermostat-it's about $200 in parts and maybe an hours' work to replace them. As simple as that car is to work on it's a no-brainer DIY project.

I have a Elantra that has about 135,000 miles on it and it's still going strong, with nothing other than routine maintenance.

 

[pandus13]

thanks all for the reply.
car is paid off. but is base version not full
also has a new windshield.
will do the radiator (10 year old car in salt belt.... i prefer the lots of tools of this mechanic to some tools of mine) and pause the hoses+thermostat for dyi. hoses still look good, heat is still get hot, just a bit later (thermostat)

 

[The_Eric]

I really think you're overestimating this job.

The coolant drain takes wide bladed flat screw driver, drain coolant and remove hoses (2). Remove ATF cooler lines. Remove the upper radiator mounts (2), unplug cooling fan harness (2). Remove radiator.

Switch cooling fans over to new rad, switch ATF cooler line fittings over (if not provided) and slip the new radiator in and hook everything back up. Make sure that when you put the spring clamps back, they go in the same spot as they did before. Add coolant and new radiator cap. You're done!

 

[The_Eric]

Also, the comment about the rust belt made me think: Have you had the lower control arms checked on this car? Hyundai had a recall inspection for these cars for rusted control arms. I've seen what happens when they don't get inspected...

 

[kkreit01]

That's a lot of issues for being < 100k. If you were to dump it, and get another, I'd highly suggest buying new -- so you can get the 100K warranty. I'd say fix it now. But, if it breaks again, dump it locally (private party sale).

 

[mclasser]

I would cut your losses and unload it. I sold my 05 Elantra with 82K miles on it earlier this year. It was a nice little car but I wasn't confident about its longevity. The steering would bind and become very stiff even after changing the PS pump. Shop told me the rack-and-pinion was going out and was a very labor intensive job in these cars. Both CV axles were also shot, there was a coolant leak and alternator was noisy. I loved the peppy engine, though; had plenty of get-up-and go power. Hyundai really has come a long way since 2005.