Timing Belt Change???

I had my timing belt & water pump changed in 1998 at 95,000 miles. I now
have 148,000 miles on a car I barely use. Am I still good intil I hit
180,000 miles to get it changed???

 

IN addition to mileage, there is also a time factor. Your belt is 8 years
old. Time for a change. These things deteriorate with time.

 

wrote in 3331.bay.webtv.net:

Nope. 105K or seven years, whichever comes first.

 

ok, so this what I am looking at:

Radiator repair
timing belt & possible water pump
oil pan repair

Is this all worth it? The car is a 1993 Civic with 148,000 miles on
it...what do you think....junk it??

 

Assuming the rest of the car is in great condition, you'd be a nutter to
junk that car. A new rad and oil pan are relatively affordable and just as
easily replaced.

 

wrote in 3337.bay.webtv.net:

Loaded questions, my friend.

My replies:
What does the car *look* like?
How much do YOU like it?
Are you happy driving it, or do you feel like you'd like something newer,
nicer?
Could you afford to acquire a vehicle with a known history as good or
better as your current car?

Lotsa questions here. You need to mount the summit and commune with nature
to determine your ultimate answer.

 

I love the car & fought hard to get ownership from my ex-wife. I have
put lots of new parts into the car already, including an alternator,
spark plugs, distributor, battery, etc... I love the car, I would just
like to know what I would be looking at dollar wise to get these parts
for the car? I am living paycheck to paycheck & I am not sure if it's
worth it anymore for a 1993 car. Cxan I afford something newer..no I can
not

 

i'll do you a favor and take it off your hands for free!...

seriously dude, a well cared for honda will do double that mileage.
repairs are /way/ cheaper than a new car payment. keep driving and enjoy.

 

How does the car look? Does it run OK otherwise? Any suspension issues?

When the timing belt is replaced, it is a given that you should replace
the water pump. The part is cheap, and everything else is already apart.
Just simple common sense to get it done...

If the car looks good, and runs well, then yeah, I would have it fixed. A
Honda with good maintenance can easily reach 300k. And since you don't
drive it much, you could get several more years out of it...

 

Well, then, you have answered your own question...

All of the stuff you listed as already replaced are pretty much normal
maintenance, as is the timing belt and water pump. Oil Pans and radiators
do go, over time, too.

With a reasonable shop, all of those repairs will likely be a little north
of a grand, but much cheaper than trying to replace the car.

Really, if it looks nice, and you decide to junk it, let people here know
first. I am sure there are plenty that will give you the $50-100 you'll
get from a scrapyard to take it off your hands...

 

Well thanks for all the good feedback, I decided to take it to my
mecahnic who deals with Honda's & have everything looked at and get a
price for all the damage that needs to be replaced or fixed. With only
148,000 original miles, I guess this car has the potential to go another
148,000 with the propper upkeep

 

Annual depreciation and maintenance on a three year
civic is about $1200 a year. A 1993 is almost fully
depreciated. So this would be my repair threshhold
for replacement.

 

The Blue Book value on it is still about $2,000 for fair condition.

But that shouldn't really matter, since he is not trying to sell it. He
can fix it for reasonable amount, and reasonably expect to have it last a
good long time more, so what does the car's value have to do with
anything? Especially since he already stated that he can't really afford
to get something newer...

 

A mechanic who has (had?) a radio show in Phoenix had an interesting way of
appraising whether a car was worth repair. The method was to determine how
much it would cost to lease a car in the same size class, a purely
functional equivalent. For example, say it would cost $250 per month for an
equivalent car. If you are facing a $2500 repair bill, after ten months the
cost is the same as if you had leased a car for that time. When the
aggregate and expected repair costs are more than you would pay for a
replacement, it's time to replace the car. Of course, a really good crystal
ball helps.
;-)

Mike

Mike

 

The repairs that I am gonna need should not exceed anymore than
$800.00....I can do the trunk myself. I am gonna get a good deal from a
very reliable mechanic

 

wrote in 3333.bay.webtv.net:

A timing belt and water pump change (with OEM parts) will run you somewhere
in the region of $400 or so. If you do it yourself, it's around $150 for
the parts.

The oil pan is about $200 for the part alone. Maybe 2 hours labor to change
it. If it just has a stripped drain plug hole, there is a Heli-Coil fix
available that is a lot cheaper than that.

 

So bacically it's worth fixing it for now than starting with another car
payment

 

That's my approach. Last year, my car cost me $300Cdn ($260US) per month.
That's everything from maintenance to repairs to tires, excluding gas. And
I did a *lot* of elective stuff (the rear bushings were a thousand on their
own). Absent the elective stuff, I would have spent less than half that.
Try carrying a new car for less than $150 per month.

The biggest problem with dumping lots of money into an old car is
insurance. The insurance company doesn't care whether your car is
mechanically brand-new or a worn-out deathtrap, so if you had to claim, you
would have to fight to get anything for all the mechanical work you might
have done. Basically, you will not be covered for money spent on mechanical
condition.

The strange thing is that they WILL pay you a portion of your expenses if
you spend your money on something stupid and useless, like fancy wheels or
a stereo, or a snazzy paint job.

And it is impossible to find an insurance company that will sell you an
"agreed-value" policy (at ANY price) unless you have a classic car.

 

Hmmmmmmm?

Short of cash. You have a car you love, have invested parts in, it's
just about broken in and seemingly your only option is to go out and buy
a USED "pig in a poke" about which you know nothing _OR_ throw some more
money at a known entity.

Uh, what was the question again?<g>

 

This may be a case of "YMMV" - when my eight-year-old Prelude was
totalled in 1990, a couple of months after I'd spent over $1000 on an
engine rebuild, I successfully argued to my insurance company that they
needed to factor in the cost of that work in determining the amount of
the check they were going to cut. Once I supplied receipts, they agreed
to do so, and IIRC the upward adjustment they finally settled on was a
significant percentage of the amount incurred for the rebuild.

Of course, it's entirely possible that insurance companies have gotten
considerably more hard-ass about this in the intervening years, and
since I haven't had a total loss claim since then, I (thankfully)
haven't had the opportunity to find out.

Dave