Repair or Replace?

[Nick1994]

Get rid of it, sell the $1,000 car before the transmission goes or the engine goes and it becomes a $300 car, regardless of these repairs. You can only polish a turd so much!

Spend the $1000 on the extra gas for driving the truck, that'll last a couple years for the difference of mpg.

Also a few bucks every month cheaper on insurance and one less car to put tires on, change the oil and maintain. It'll probably even out the cost with driving the truck

 

[supton]

Trucks in the Northeast have a nasty tendancy of rusting out from driving in winter. I suspect the OP would like to minimize such issues. Plus he indicated he'd rather drive a car, which likely costs less/mile also, all costs considered.

 

[Chris142]

sell that sable and use the money to fuel your truck. the sable/taurus are on my hated list,close to the top of it.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Get rid of it, sell the $1,000 car before the transmission goes or the engine goes and it becomes a $300 car, regardless of these repairs. You can only polish a turd so much!


What makes you think that they can get $1000 for it?

 

[SF0059]

I personally have no patience for nursing a dying car, but your goal of paying off your house is commendable.

My advice: putty the oil pan, aluminum tape the exhaust and keep driving it. Start saving now for when it dies due to the trans or engine. Then buy something in the $3-4k range. The difference between a $1k and a $4k car is night and day.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Get rid of it, sell the $1,000 car before the transmission goes or the engine goes and it becomes a $300 car, regardless of these repairs. You can only polish a turd so much!


What makes you think that they can get $1000 for it?


ToolHeadGear!

 

[IndyIan]

Its too bad the oil pan needs some exhaust removal to get at, otherwise it would be a quick fix to get back on the road semi-reliably.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Get rid of it, sell the $1,000 car before the transmission goes or the engine goes and it becomes a $300 car, regardless of these repairs. You can only polish a turd so much!


What makes you think that they can get $1000 for it?


Because the OP said it was a $1000 car

He said-


"The car doesn't owe me anything, I have almost 20,000 miles on a $1000 car. I can go through several beaters for what it costs to replace a good 4x4, extended cab full size truck"

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Bob5150
Car is inspected 'til October.

There is a rust hole in the oil pan, and it' leaking quite badly.

Exhaust has holes in it and catalytic converter is going.

Needs a few suspension bushings in the rear.

The car doesn't owe me anything, I have almost 20,000 miles on a $1000 car. I can go through several beaters for what it costs to replace a good 4x4, extended cab full size truck.


Suspension bushings should be easy unless they require a press, like on a control arm, or something. Exhaust parts are usually inexpensive and easy enough to replace, except for maybe the catalytic converter, which you can probably hollow out if you need to. How hard is the oil pan to replace? If you are already removing the exhaust, how much harder can it be? Or is there a crossmember in the way? Oil pan are cheap enough off Rock Auto.

Personally I would be more concerned with the rust. Or just not fix and take to the junkyard when the inspection is up. I have no idea how bad PA inspection is, and in Philadelphia rust can be not so bad like around here or horrible, like areas just outside of town. If the hole in the oil pan is caused completely by rust, I have to wonder what else is rusted away. Might matter which engine this thing has as well.

 

[zzyzzx]

How many miles are on this vehicle?

 

[Bob5150]

Current mileage is 126,000. I paid $1000 (including tax/tag, ect) in 2012.

I think I will try to patch the oil pan and continue driving her until she dies.

Replacing it with another car is not a huge issue, I just like to see how long I can reasonably keep it going.

Inspection is not a big problem, there are plenty of garages that will ignore minor problems as long as tires, brake, lights, ect are in good shape.

I wouldn't sell the car to anyone, I'll keep it until it goes to the junkyard.

 

[sciphi]

Patch the oil pan at the next oil change. Clean it really well, slap some JB Weld (?) on it, and drive it until it's dead.

 

[Kira]

Hello, Right now.
1) Locate the title and have it handy (don't laugh)
2) Wash the whole car, hit the upholstery stains. Clean the carpet. Wash the windows for real. Spray it with a cheap "liquid wet" shine product. Wash the engine compartment. Service the battery.
3) Put a FOR SALE sign in your running car.
4) Putty the oil pan and foil the exhaust
Then
5) Cut the vague B.S. and establish a budget (total cash or downstroke + payment via your bank)
6) Keep your eyes peeled for a suitable used car. fetch all the "Town News" and regional papers you can
Call your friends from 10 miles away and have them mail them to you. Ask your friends to keep their eyes peeled too. Go online to newspapers' car ads.
7) The moment you think you've heard a reasonable offer for the Sable, TAKE IT.
8) Get the rusty wonder off your insurance. It's not reliable
9) Repeat steps 5 and 6.

If any of this seems too much for you...you're lazy or nuts or both.

I sold my mother's 1991 Taurus 3.0 (practically the same car) with the balky transmission to a guy who wanted to give it to a friend in Kentucky who'd drive it 4 miles/day to work. There is a buyer for your car.

10) Yell at me for hurting your sensitivities by making these suggestions.

 

[BurrWinder]

Agree with Kira... wholeheartedly... There is always someone "further down the food chain" that needs a car.. and as long as you aren't knowingly selling something that has "no brakes - doesn't move - seriously,knowingly unsafe " it is not your job to judge suitability for someone else.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: BurrWinder
Agree with Kira... wholeheartedly... There is always someone "further down the food chain" that needs a car.. and as long as you aren't knowingly selling something that has "no brakes - doesn't move - seriously,knowingly unsafe " it is not your job to judge suitability for someone else.


Yup, I turned a truck into a junkyard b/c I didn't want to stick some other human with a dozen competing issues. It reappeared on craigslist... I was not impressed.

Notable was my rednecky weld of the rear frame where the spring hanger went through... it "looked good" but I've never had my welding checked by a professional.

It also had a leaky radiator, bad battery, low oil pressure (light on!) at hot idle, a broken door handle, bald tires. I was impressed I was able to time all major systems failures to coincide while still allowing me to drive it onto the scales.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, Right now.
1) Locate the title and have it handy (don't laugh)
2) Wash the whole car, hit the upholstery stains. Clean the carpet. Wash the windows for real. Spray it with a cheap "liquid wet" shine product. Wash the engine compartment. Service the battery.
3) Put a FOR SALE sign in your running car.
4) Putty the oil pan and foil the exhaust
Then
5) Cut the vague B.S. and establish a budget (total cash or downstroke + payment via your bank)
6) Keep your eyes peeled for a suitable used car. fetch all the "Town News" and regional papers you can
Call your friends from 10 miles away and have them mail them to you. Ask your friends to keep their eyes peeled too. Go online to newspapers' car ads.
7) The moment you think you've heard a reasonable offer for the Sable, TAKE IT.
8) Get the rusty wonder off your insurance. It's not reliable
9) Repeat steps 5 and 6.

If any of this seems too much for you...you're lazy or nuts or both.

I sold my mother's 1991 Taurus 3.0 (practically the same car) with the balky transmission to a guy who wanted to give it to a friend in Kentucky who'd drive it 4 miles/day to work. There is a buyer for your car.

10) Yell at me for hurting your sensitivities by making these suggestions.



Sounds like a workable plan. If I was in your position, I'd start down the list.

 

[hattaresguy]

Kira nailed it, time to get some value out of it while it still has it.

 

[mjk]

Actually, wouldn't this be an opportunity to try some 'snake oils' in the transmission, and see if it prolongs the life? Do you really have anything to lose, at this point in time?

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: mjk
Actually, wouldn't this be an opportunity to try some 'snake oils' in the transmission, and see if it prolongs the life? Do you really have anything to lose, at this point in time?


I agree. While I do occasionally fix automatic transmissions, I suspect that there are plenty of Taurus/Sable specific forums that the OP could go to for better advice on how to deal with the transmission issues. The whole Trans does not shift right doesn't give me much to go on. If it were my 1995 Ford, I would check for codes and report back here, since transmission codes won't light the dash light on an EEC-IV car. That and I would need a better description of the actual shifting problem. 126K miles really isn't all that much, but rust pictures would still help more than anything to determine if this car should be fixed.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, Right now.
1) Locate the title and have it handy (don't laugh)
2) Wash the whole car, hit the upholstery stains. Clean the carpet. Wash the windows for real. Spray it with a cheap "liquid wet" shine product. Wash the engine compartment. Service the battery.
3) Put a FOR SALE sign in your running car.
4) Putty the oil pan and foil the exhaust
Then
5) Cut the vague B.S. and establish a budget (total cash or downstroke + payment via your bank)
6) Keep your eyes peeled for a suitable used car. fetch all the "Town News" and regional papers you can
Call your friends from 10 miles away and have them mail them to you. Ask your friends to keep their eyes peeled too. Go online to newspapers' car ads.
7) The moment you think you've heard a reasonable offer for the Sable, TAKE IT.
8) Get the rusty wonder off your insurance. It's not reliable
9) Repeat steps 5 and 6.

If any of this seems too much for you...you're lazy or nuts or both.

I sold my mother's 1991 Taurus 3.0 (practically the same car) with the balky transmission to a guy who wanted to give it to a friend in Kentucky who'd drive it 4 miles/day to work. There is a buyer for your car.

10) Yell at me for hurting your sensitivities by making these suggestions.





Now this was definitely on the highlight reel of posts for today.
Well said.