[Today’s run: 9 x 400 yards at 5k race pace]
My son’s car is starting to get to the point where we don’t know whether to fix it or pitch it.
I do some car repairs, and I have not yet decided if I want to dive in and see what I can do. Next on the option list is to take it to a shop and see what they can do.
The third option is to just put a “for sale” sign on it and let someone else worry about it. The problem with that option is that we would need to buy something else, and that something else will have it’s own set of needs and foibles.
I think it would be easier if I had some relationship with a shop and knew they would give me a straight story once they get it apart. Car repair guys have a mixed reputation, unfortunately. I’m not sure its because they want to sell more service. I think the problem is that they don’t always have the same point of view as the customer. The repair guy may be thinking about getting the car back into good shape. The customer may be perfectly happy with band-aids and duct tape if the thing will just last for another year or two.
The major symptom in this case is a persistent leak of coolant. from the back area of the engine. I’m thinking that may mean a bad gasket on the intake manifold or maybe a cracked manifold.
I guess what I ought to do is call around and see if someone will check it out for me and tell me what is what.
2 replies on “Car Repair”
Have you already tried radiator stop leak? If the winter doesn’t freeze, just keep topping it off with water. If you want to get fancy put in UV dye – $5. Three DIY options.
I am reminded that Car Talk (new shows) is no more. Click and Clack are no longer producing fresh laughs.
Given the high quality of car manufacturing compared now to when I grew up, cars are cheap today. A used Civic or Corolla will get you up to 200K on the odometer. (An exception: Nowadays there are critical electronic systems so a flood damaged car could be a hidden curse that older vintage cars would escape.)
My car was made in Finland 25 years ago next month. 86,000 miles and the heated seat (driver side – the one I care about most) went out, the power antenna went out, the rear window defogger went out, and the fog lights never worked since I bought it on Craigslist ten years ago. But it starts every time without complaint and passes the smog inspections. At this point, getting a new car would be akin to setting cash on fire just to smell fresh plastic and dread that first door ding.
I got a recommendation about a shop today and we took it over this evening and dropped it off.
I’m hoping they can give us a diagnostic for not to much $$ and we can figure out whether it is worth fixing. The rest of the car is not in that bad of shape, and it only has 125K on it.
I understand the appeal of sticking with the old car, if it can be made to work.